Alone In The Field

Scripture Reading: I Kings 19:4-18

Do you ever feel as if you are the only Christian on the planet? Maybe at times you may feel as if you're the only Christian still committed to the Faith while others are making tragic compromises. We all make allusions to what it is like to be a Christian or a servant of the Lord. I have likened the life of service as a Christian in most cases as a soldier, possibly a Knight or one of the "mighty men" as described about in the Bible. Paul used this allusion when he wrote to Timothy, "endure harness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." So oftne we get caught up in the battle of trying to maintain our lives in the present evil world while balancing a life that should witness for Christ, that we feel discouraged as a soldier does when he or she feels cut off.
The picture above sort of illustrates this feeling we have from time to time. The other day I was parking my car in the work lot as usual. While getting out and going to the office door I spied what I thought was a little green army man. I had to do a double take to make sure. Sure enough, there this little soldier all of 3/4 inch tall was laying on his side in what was to his scale a massive territory of asphalt. All alone he was holding up his gun looking around for the enemy (ok not really) but you get the idea. So I picked him up and he now sits on my desk.
Many times in a battle, a squad or company of soldiers will fan out to take charge of an area. Many times though they can stray too far away from the others and not visibly see or be seen by their comrades. They fear the worst. "I am alone to fight as the rest of my comrades have already fallen."

Seeing that little guy reminds me of how it can look to us in life. There is this huge seemingly endless world of evil and we are the tiny speck of Christ's Light. We should be on the offensive, but we cower in fear most times on the defensive. We huddle in our Spiritual fox holes as the enemy is all around us. Should this be our viewpoint? Certainly not.

You will recall the time the prophet Elijah had won a tremendous victory over the Devil and his hosts at Mt. Carmel. God had just sent fire down and consumed a burnt offering and the altar it was on. Later, Elijsh ran from the wicked Queen Jezabel and hid himself in a cave. He feared for his life, he feared it was over, but God had a different asnwer. He told Elijah there was yet 7,000 faithful followers of God that had not gone over to Baal. In facing stern worldly opposition, what can we learn by this "lone soldier's" account to put into practice in our lives today.
First, God is mightier than the hosts of evil.
Elijah saw something on Mt. Carmel that none had seen before. The awesome display of God's power over puny mortal idol worshippers was astounding. The Enemy, Satan, is strong and cannot be defeated by ourselves. Yet the Scriptures say that demons tremble in fear (greatly afraid) of the same God who is on OUR side. The reason for the apparent increase of evil in our day and time is that Satan knows his time is short to afflict the Church. Yet in all this we can boldly say because of Jesus Christ, "Greater is He that is within me, than he that is in the world." If you have any doubts that evil will seize the day, read the book of Revelation, it graphically spells out the horrible doom of all those who oppose Christ and His Church. Martin Luther said in his famous hymn, "the prince of darkness grimm, we tremble not at him, his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him."
Second, God will not be without a faithful remnant.
No matter what time period or event that takes place in the Bible, God is never completely destitute of true faithful followers. Even when times seem the darkest, like today, there is still a mighty army present. It is my personal belief that the reason why evil has not conquered more of the world than it has is because the church is still in the world holding the onslaught at bay. Once removed in the Rapture, the man of sin, the Anti-Christ will be revealed and despair will take on new meaning. Not for us the church. We will be literally "Air Lifted" out of the battle zone and shall return victorious as we watch our matchless King of Kings speak the evil world out of existence. In the meantime, where are all the Christians? It is true that some who profess to be are turning away from the Lord, never really being one of His. There are others who are fearful not knowing the power of the Lord. There are those who have compromised the faith and have let evil run over them, and there are those who stand unashamed to proclaim the Gospel as it is written for the Lord has His remnant. Are you a part of this remnant? Do you stand firm for the faith? If you do, seek out the discouraged and encourage them to stand firm too.
Lastly, God will encourage us when no one else will.
Look who came to minister to Elijah holed up in the cave and in the wilderness. First God sent His angel to bring him food. Secondly God spoke audibly to Elijsh and personally told him where he stood in numbers after Elijah surely knew he was the last one left. I am not knocking Elijsh. I can honestly say though I have never felt totally alone in spiritual battle (though I have felt this way many times about other matters) but I have noticed our numbers of the faithful shrinking. I am seeing many good churches close because it was not popular to attend there. I have heard sermons get politically correct and never mention Hell because it was no longer popular. I have seen worship songs go from majestic hymns to pop culture entertainment. I could go on. However, its important to remember that Jesus said in Matt 28:20, "I will be with you to the end of the world." So no matter how loud sin booms around us, no matter how many brethren falter, God will encourage us through His Word and the Holy Spirit. We know we are not cut off from Headquarters when we hear the voice of the Spirit of God within us. He urges us to hold on a little longer and serve Him faithfully. One thing we know for sure is that God will not judge us by the group, but by our individual faithfulness to Him. So keep on.

I know at times we find ourselves seemingly cut off from all things Godly. Even now it seems that some Chrisitans don't know what Truth of Godliness even is. We dare not boast ourselves of having arrived, rather, we need to encourage one another to fight another day for the King. Do you feel cut off as if there is no one out there to have comradery with? This is one of the reasons why I write this blog every week. I don't know how many subscribers there are, but as many as get this, please forward it on to saved and lost people alike. Don't isolate yourself from others, help the broken, lift up the fallen, remind them of Jesus by bearing His heart and Spirit in you. Get involved in the local church, go to Prayer Meetings, come back to Sunday PM services. You will be blessed and you will not feel so alone in the battle.

Heavenly Father, I know I feel very lonely at times, I am sure others do too. Help us Lord to look to You. Take away our fears of the enemy and help us to stand firm in You. In Your Name, Amen.

Mother's Day Poem

I know Mother's day has come and gone by the time you read this, but I think we always ought to honor our mothers daily...mine especially. The following was written on Mom's day for Mom and my Grandma, then distributed at a local Assisted Living home where the Gospel was proclaimed. So here it is, its short, as well as this post which you all are probably thankful for.

LORD GIVE US MOTHERS

By Jon Browning

Lord give us Mothers of the highest integrity,

So men may see the soul’s strength and unfeigned purity.

Lord give us Mothers of which possess the boldest faith, that we may learn from them of whom they trust for their precious one’s sake.

Lord give us Mothers who sacrifice their own self, that no comfort or joy is spared for our own being and our own health.

Lord give us Mothers who others as examples look unto, that many might pattern their lives and thereby encounter You.

Lord give us Mothers that bear our sorrows and joy for the coming day, who take time for our problems and gladly help us on our way.

Lord give us Mothers who constantly pray, that when we go near or far we are upheld by Thy Hand no matter what comes our way.

Lord give us Mothers who we are proud to call our own, when all of life has ceased may they be richly rewarded before Thy Holy Throne.

Thank you Lord that the Mothers in our lives, bless each exponentially more than they realize. If we have mothers amoung our family which do not know You as Lord and Saviour, may this year be the year which their eternal direction is changed forever. In Your Name, most Holy. Amen.

Sticky Trap of False Doctrines

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2:1-9

The posts I have been writing have been behind in their delivery to you. Partly this is because we are doing some home repair and it takes more time and energy than I have either of. When done I am wiped out. However the reading for this week grows out of the repair project. I am currently laying a vinyl square tile floor in a basement. The process is rather simple and two fold. Spread the glue evenly with a small notched trowel, and then lay the tile taking care to fit one up against the other so there is no gaps. Well, its the first part of the process I refer to today. The glue is like Elmer's school glue but it is not ready to be adhered to the tile until it gets clear and tacky. Once clear anything stuck to it stays to it.

The humorous part is in the beginning I spread a large area of glue not thinking to get back to the corner I needed to start laying tile in was now impassable. Not thinking the glue was that sticky I put my foot down in the center of the area to get the first row started and I was firmly planted in the glue! Yes I got out but it took a lot of strength to rip my shoe from off the glue. What I had done is sort of laid out a large scale Fly Paper trap in which I caught myself in.

All this to say that there is a lesson we all can learn from my mishap when we look at the subject of false doctrines. It is a known fact that the unbelieving world is drawn to some weird religion that does not contain the full doctrines of God, but rather mixes in enough truth with a lot of lies. People seem to think that what the teaching says is good and they get involved a little, a little more, then they find themselves trapped in it. Even people who profess to know Jesus Christ as Saviour can be trapped as we find in today's reading.

So subtle and yet so dangerous is the destructive nature of false doctrine.

So why is it so attractive and why do the unbelieving world seem to go after it.
Well, of course there are so many religions out there, many of them claim to be part of Christendom, yet all have a common flaw, they deviate from the doctrines of Christ particularly in the area of salvation or the deity of Christ. So in knowing this we cannot answer every person's desire to follow after them but we can say for sure that the Devil is behind every plot to take a person's eyes off of Christ and place them on a cheap substitute. When this is accomplished, the unbeliever, not knowing better has thought he or she has found peace because the folly they believe makes rational sense. False doctrine thrives on the basis of appealing to the human intellect. Man reasons if he can understand it with the mind it must be okay. They feel confident in what they believer because there is a bit of religion mixed in, but not enough to challenge them to know the Lord (if at all) let alone be convicted of sin. This all inclusive tolerance is the bait in many cases. Man wants to feel okay about himself and yet he or she cannot have this feeling when we are faced with Christ. The difference is that Christ offers true hope from sin's penalty, Satan puts off awareness of the consequences of sin, judge for yourself the better course to follow.

For the unbeliever, the first steps in the sticky glue of false doctrine begins lightly and seemingly innocent. Someone shares a piece of literature with them, or, some philosophy on TV arouses their curiosity. Later on the real dissatisfaction in their souls shows up more vividly and because they are soaking in false teachings they figure that there may be some help. So they go to a friend or meeting and believe some more lies. They do this not because they are stupid, but simply because they are being taught a worldly appealing story which agrees with a worldly mind that fails to mention the Truth. They find out that the teachings they are apart of do not satisfy and they keep going deeper into them to find that satisfaction of the troubled heart. Like any narcotic, the more they get involved the more they desire. What is happening is that their minds in place of being enlightened, is being darkened to something that has them assured that things will be alright somehow in the end. No need to talk of Christ, in fact Christ may not be necessary they think. They never want to face up to sin. They never take a stand on much if anything. They seldom see their false teachings as pertinent but as sort of an nice addition to their lives (providing everything is going ok). Finally and sadly, persistence against the Truth of God in the form of reliance upon the false doctrine seals over the heart with an eternally condemnable glaze. They go about either passionately believing a lie or non chalantly claiming a religion that does nothing for them except give a sense of belonging to something that is only made known at weddings and funerals. No matter what the angle or interest, the result is the same, condemnation for rejecting the Christ as Saviour and Lord, for some meaningless belief.

The tragedy is that even Christians can get involved in false doctrines. Its not always that they go after some sort of strange religion, but it can be simply deviating from what God says and incorporating their own ambitions and selfish notions to pacify some lifestyle or habit. In fact most Christians fall into false doctrines very subtly and very gradually. Peter reminds us that false teachers come in silently and begin to work in such a manner that they are hardly recognized. Satan knows that a believer will not look at a full fledged falsehood for it brings up too many flags. So the gradual desensitizing route is the way.

I am reminded of what Paul says in Romans 1:16 about not being ashamed of the Gospel. Though virtually no Christian would not admit to be ashamed of Christ, some would admit of being bored or lacking in Christ. Thus they open their minds up to doubts and questions such as: "Could there be something more than the Gospel? Could there really be peace in some other person other than Christ? Maybe the Scriptures are errant and all this could be a fairy tale." A wandering believer will start wandering towards the traps of Satan, thus rendering them ineffective. He or she does so because they have become discouraged and disillusioned. Some may ask then, "Does this doubtful curiosity turned wandering away indicate that the person is not really a Christian?" This is a big question that cannot be answered by mankind, save only in the understanding of the words of Christ in Matthew 7:18-21 "...by their fruits ye shall know them." One point we can all agree on is that a true believer will eventually never find any satisfaction in worldly ideals or teachings.

The goal should be if we know someone is overcome with false teachings, we must go to them, if possible, and help them understand the Truth from error.

Whenever we take our eyes away from Christ, there is only one place they can go, the way of the world. The world's teachings and its ways look attractive because they are attractive to the flesh we live in. If we war against the flesh, it is a mark of true identity in Christ.
So what do we do as an individual if we realize ourselves stuck in false teachings?

1. Confess our desire and pathways as sin before the Lord
2. Renew a desire to get into the Word of God and put away all connections you
have had to the false influences.
3. Ask God for a daily awareness of His presence.

Have you been ensnared if only slightly in worldly philosophies or teachings? Forgiveness and restoration is always available for the asking. Be on guard because no one is exempt from the temptation of going astray.

Dear Lord, as the world gets darker around us and we become sometimes discouraged, help us to persevere and be preserved from the trappings of false teachings that may on the surface seem appealing, but on the whole is destructive. Help us Lord daily to desire to live for You and be a living testimony for others. Forgive us when we stray and put within us a new desire for Godliness as unto Your praise and Glory. Amen.

Please forward this on to a person that it may help.


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