PAUL’S ADMONITION TO US.
I am reminded of Paul warning and admonition to the Corinthians in 1 Cor.16:13-14 N.L.T. Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.
PASSION Remember to stay alert and hold firmly to all that you believe. Be mighty and full of courage. Let love and kindness be the motivation behind all that you do
MESSAGE Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
I guess it is human nature as well as the subtle influence of the evil one so that we start to simply relax (spiritually) and don’t always quickly recognise the “wiles” of the enemy, we need to be reminded that we are in a war 24/7.
We must KEEP OUR EYES CONTINUALLY OPEN AND STAY ALERT and “stand in faith” using the Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) which creates FAITH in us, so that we can be ” mighty and full of courage” and resolute continually against our enemy.
I sure want to be JESUS CENTRED in my walk with God and not “devil centred” in my thinking. So the answer is that we CENTRE OUR HEART AND MIND ON JESUS AND HIS WORD, and the outworking fruit will be that we will stay an ALERT GUARD WITH OUR EYES OPEN, and being JESUS CENTRED produces the courage and faith and resolute determination and 20/20 hearing so that we always hear the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and as we continually resist him he must run away.
I find it so interesting that Paul goes on to say WE MUST CONTINUALLY DO EVERYTHING WITH A HEART FILLED WITH LOVE AND KINDNESS.
The word translated love or charity here is Agape, that divine love that has been poured into our life when we were born again, I think is suggesting that if in all we do and say is motivated by that agape love then we will not give any room for the enemy to find a foothold to cause us to stumble.
There is nothing new in this blog, but I trust it is a perpetual reminder of what we all need to do, and the result will always be walking in victory and purity amen.
