Valerie Rae Hanneman
1 Peter 5:8-9 ( Message) “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world.”
Psalm 118:24 (King James Version) “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
I am involved with the ministry “Walk to Emmaus” I took my Walk as a pilgrim a year ago and I can say with great joy that my Walk changed my life, changed my relationship with God and changed how I view ministry. That’s what Emmaus does it changes the lives of Christians.
I recently worked an Emmaus weekend. I have worked two Walks and there have been “challenges” on both of them. I love that term “challenges.” It is such a polite way to say “disasters.” On the first Walk that I worked the food truck showed up a day late. On this second weekend the oven at the church broke. By God’s grace, one of our team members attends a nearby church so we were taking the food down to that other church, baking it, and bringing it back, trying to keep it warm until it could be served. That was our greatest challenge but there were plenty of other challenges as well.
We go into the Walks knowing that there are going to be challenges. We all know from personal experience just how life changing these weekends are for the participants and how they change the Kingdom of God, so we also know that the last thing that satan is going to do on one of these weekends is to roll over and play dead. On the contrary, he is sharpening his claws and coming after us with everything that he’s got. Because that is what he does. He tries to destroy the Kingdom of God. That is his mission statement, his motto, his goal and his plan. There nothing else for him, 24/07/365 he lives, breathes and exists only to destroy the Kingdom.
satan doesn’t care about the lost, they are already his. he keeps an eye on the pew-potatoes, just in case they realize that serving Jesus goes beyond showing up and staying awake for an hour on Sonday - but as long as they are ineffective he doesn’t do much about them either. His attention is on the Christ-followers who make a difference in the Kingdom. If you are serving Jesus you can count on it - you are in satan’s cross-hairs and he is coming for you. In another version of today’s verse Peter says that satan prowls the earth like a lion seeking whom he can devour. Beloved of Christ, he is actively seeking to destroy us.
LORD in heaven! What do we do?
One thing we need to do is realize that we can’t do it. We are too weak to stand against a lion by ourselves. If we try to we are going to be shredded meat. So we don’t go on our power. Jesus says “In your weakness, I am strong” so we give Jesus our weakness and go forward on His power. And we find our power on our knees
Teamwork is another key. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (MSG) says, “By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.” By ourselves, we are toast, but with Jesus we can overcome. And with close friends to stand with us we are even stronger.
But do you know what is even more important? Determination. I have been facing some “challenges” at my job recently. I was driving to work repeating “Today is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”and thinking that my attitude is my choice. I could chose to rejoice in spite of everything. Then I realized that I was not getting it! This verse doesn’t say that I will chose to rejoice and be glad in it. It says I WILL rejoice and be glad in it. That’s determination. A determination that says no matter what - I WILL! We must be determined to stand firm in our faith. We can call on Jesus and we can surround ourselves with friends, but if our determination to stand is as firm as Jell-O we are going to be jiggling all over the place. Our determination to stand must be as firm as an oak tree whose roots are sunk deep into God’s love. satan is coming against us. If we say “I WILL”, if we call on Jesus’ strength, if we work together as a team then we are going to discover the truth. And that is that satan is as dangerous as the Cowardly Lion. he is declawed, defanged and powerless because He Who is with us is mightier than he who is against us.
When the oven at Emmaus broke we gathered together as a team, we prayed to Jesus for His power and guidance in the situation. But we determined long before we arrived for the weekend that we would stand firm when satan came against us. Because of our determination, prayer and teamwork, the pilgrims never knew that anything had gone wrong. They experienced God as they were intended to and the Kingdom of God was strengthened.
I WILL stand firm, I WILL depend on Jesus, and I WILL depend on a support team. And I WILL rejoice.
LORD Jesus, help me to daily strengthen my determination to stand firm for You and to serve You first and foremost with my life.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministries of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at November 24, 2006 06:29 PM