When Things Go Badly

Here are some great words when you are in the height of a battle:

2 Chronicles 20:15 15And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. We have to make sure that our battle isn't because we acted inappropriately.  If I create a battle because of my own making, I need to take responsibility for the outcome.  If I punch someone in the nose, and they turn around and beat the tar out me, whose to blame??  The Devil?  No, my angry punch created that kind of battle, and to be honest, I desire what I get.  However, as believers we often find ourselves in a battle  because we believe in the Lord, and we are standing up for a moral society.  Ideology is the battle all believers are facing today.  As time continues to march toward the coming of the Lord, the battle will increase, and either we join the battle, or be swept up into the mire of a society without God. Many times people just don't want to cause any waves, they don't want to say anything that would offend anyone. This kind of strategy I don't understand, and I think God doesn't either.   27What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on jthe housetops. Does this advise from scripture create waves?  How about the putting a sword through the heart of man's ideology?  34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law The one thing we get from scripture is that we are not to be silent, but pro-actively loud, and determined to succeed in proclaiming the message, or die trying.  Has your pastor said anything like this?  You should know by now that I am an outspoken critic of the pulpit in America. Few Christian leaders are telling the whole truth.  They proclaim a message that thinks we will win the world by a passive, don't create waves, don't offend anyone kind of theology. The Bible says we will be brought before the magistrates of the world because of what we believe and proclaim.  The church in China has been enduring persecution for the past seventy years because they refuse to die away.  Now, believers are so battle hardened they are ready to go into the Middle East to preach the gospel directly to the muslim nations.  Silence doesn't produce this kind of warrior, and can not be a strategy for today's church. People tell me to tone things down, because love isn't forceful.  Sorry, that is no strategy of mine. Love speaks truth, and truth is forceful.  If truth didn't affect people, there would be no ideological war today.  Love can't be silent and if your love has a strategy of silence, then it's not the kind of love that comes from God, it is an invention of your own making.  So, my point is simple.  You might be in a battle because you are not silent about your faith. God says, He will reward warriors who stand up for Him, regardless of the battle they may face.  He also says that the battle is not fought by you, but by Him.  When things go badly, continue to stand your ground in living for Him. They may take your things, your family, and even your life, but they can't take your soul, that belongs to God.  The Apostle Paul was right when he penned, "all things work together for good, for those who love God.  Stand your ground, defend the turf of your faith, and don't let anyone silence your voice.  Keeping it honest and truthful....K