Two Thoughts

I have two thoughts that have to do with evangelism, as well as other parts of our Christian lives. One of them is the issue of pride, and the other is the issue of prayer. They are both very, very important issues in our walk with the Lord.
   Why is pride so bad? Are Christians proud? What does the Bible say? The Bible does talk about pride, and uses the word pride often. It also uses other words like haughty, or lifted up. Pride goes before a fall, every time. Pride is the root of our sin. Many of our sins are rooted in prideful thinking. Most of all God will resist the proud.
  How do we know if we have pride? The question is not if we have pride, but where pride is in our lives. We have to find it and dig it out. I know when I get angry, many times the issue really is pride. It has to be dealt with. It can't continue. I have to take the log out of my eyes before I can help others to get their own logs out. Mine has to be removed first.
  I do have a concern I see though. I see a lot of zealous Christians who are faithful in preaching the Gospel. I see a perseverance through challenges and difficulties. I see a vision in these people. But what I don't see is a true compassion for people. They would say that the most compassionate thing we can do is to preach the Gospel. When many of these people are challenged in what they are doing, I see a defensiveness come up. This is a fruit of undealt with pride. I don't see these people taking an interest in other people and showing compassion to them. I once saw a group of people who went to a third world country to preach the Gospel. They prided themselves in not giving out water bottles, or anything to these poor people. They said the only thing they needed to do was to preach the Gospel. How well do you think the people responded to this? What do you think about just preaching the Gospel, and leaving any other kind of service out?
  The second thought I have is the one on prayer. I have to admit, I am starting to see what looks like the Enemy trying to get my to not get to my prayer time. It has happened so often now, that I am able to work with it. I have to make the time to pray earlier than I have been doing.
   Prayer is one of the spiritual weapons, according to Ephesians 6. Satan hates it when you pray. You might be thinking that your prayer is not very meaningful, or you might not be strong in faith. But that is exactly where God wants to meet you. Satan would lie to you and tell you all kinds of lies about your praying. He doesn't want you to pray. He also doesn't want you to know that God is all powerful, and He is a powerful, mighty God. Satan will tell you that God doesn't hear you or that you aren't good enough and God won't hear your prayers. He will keep the Gospel from your eyes and heart. Please go to the blog page on the Gospel Conversation http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com .
  Tied in with prayer is the subject of faith. Satan wants to attack your faith because your faith will destroy the lies he is trying to tell you. You need to bathe your mind in Scriptures. You need to get to know this wonderful, all powerful God who created you, and sent His Son to redeem you and deliver you from your sins. The power of the Cross can break all the powers of Satan, and it will break any hold it has in your life. This is another area that we need to cultivate humility in. God will help us, but we must have humility or God will resist us. We need God's help more than anything. We can come boldly to the throne of grace. We need to pursue this with all our hearts. Remember, we have an Enemy who doesn't want us to know all this. Let's learn what God says and go for it! We can turn the world upside down when we do!

Everyday Evangelism - Many Claim the Bible is a Book of Fairy Tales

  Ever wonder why people make claims about the Bible that are false? Now we know they are false claims, but why are people so eager about making sure that these false claims are made known?

   A common false claim is that the Bible was written by men. Actually, the words of the Bible were penned by men, so that part of it is correct. But what the Skeptic is trying to communicate is that basically, the Bible is not God's Word to us. The statement is taking a partial truth, and adding a lie to it, to make the whole premise false.
 
  Another one I have seen a lot of recently is the one about the Bible being a book of fairy-tales. I have to marvel at this one, for, I have not yet seen a debate forum on whether Aesop's Fables are from God or not. Nor have I seen anyone struggling to figure out what God was saying to Zeus and the other Roman/Greek gods and goddesses. I think Greek mythology is interesting. While it is interesting, there is no controversy about those writings being from God or not. No one is concerned, and no one has seemed to have thought about it.

  But when it comes to the Bible, there has always been a struggle with that book. Did you know that in at least 52 countries, the Bible is forbidden? Now let me ask you a question; If the Bible is a book of fairy-tales or mythology, why is it forbidden in so many places? I haven't seen the Iliad forbidden anywhere. Nor have I seen Aesop's Fables forbidden. In some countries, a person will go to prison if they are found possessing a Bible. They must keep their Bibles well hidden for those who would, by force, break into the house if the people living there are suspected of being Christians.

   Could it be that there is a real force behind the hiding of the truth of the Bible? Could we really have an Enemy of our souls that hates us and wants to keep us from the Truth? Remember, Satan is angry at God, and he is angry at people, Christians in particular. (By Christian, I mean people who have realized their sinful state before God and repented of their sins, and who trust in the sacrifice that Jesus provided on the Cross for them). I am aware that another trick of Satan is to take words like 'Christian' or 'religion' and twist their meaning around so people get a warped view of what they are. We need to see through the tricks of the Enemy and not give into his wishes, for his desire is to deceive us and destroy us. He would like to destroy you and your family, and he will if you let him. He comes in the door by telling us lies that we are likely to believe in. Then he has us where he wants us.