I am continuing the series that God has convicted me to write:  Violent Like The Kingdom.

 

Let me start by saying that you would not even be reading this today were it not for something Jesus did 2000 years ago:

He came from nothing, stood up to the oppressive Roman rule, called out the ungodly Jewish council, and declared that the devil would no longer rule here on earth unless we chose to let him.

For His great efforts, He was captured unjustly, patronized with an unfair trial, and sentenced to the harshest of punishments.

They beat Him within an inch of His life and had Him carry the instrument of His execution to the hill where He would be killed.  There….He was treated with disregard and dishonor, was humiliated in every way, and suffered an excruciating finale.  

His resurrection from death and the gift of His Spirit was the seed that leads us to where we stand today.  We are the recipients of a gift that we can neither fathom nor pay back.  All we need do is RESPOND—which is all He has ever asked us to do.

 

In 1938, Time Magazine recognized a man as their Man of the Year.  He was a political leader, an influencer, and had restored his country back to a worldly power house.  

 

His name was Adolf Hitler.

 

In the months that ensued, he barked out plans, intimidated, made deals that gained strategic power, and eventually set out on a course to conquer the world.

 

Looking back, I am sure we now ask:  How could he have become the Man of the Year?  How could we have negotiated with him?  How could we have been so foolish?

 

But we were.

 

We allowed him to have his way until it was almost too late.

 

There are certain things, and people, that we simply cannot negotiate with…..

 

Our society is in a state of flux.  The moral fiber that used to once hold us together seems to be coming unraveled all around us….and the Bible warns us of this:

 

Isaiah 5:20  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil

 

Our simple reality is this:  when you take the light away, things become dark.  Our world is in desperate need of our Savior….He is our only hope…..

 

God is calling us to step up…..and He is calling us to stand up no matter how we feel about our ability:

Not equipped?

Too young?

Uneducated?

Lacking influence?

Unable?

God has called us to stand up and be accounted for…..and it is not about faith in ourselves, it is about FAITH IN HIM.

 

When Timothy felt unqualified, Paul wrote this to him:

1 Timothy 4:12  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

 

We must not forget that God equips the called—-He does not call the equipped.  If He can bring us to it—He can get us through it.  We must heed Paul’s words to Timothy no matter what we think we lack…..because our God is bigger than our deficiencies.

 

And so I say:  Who Will Stand?  

We can no longer sit quietly as things move in directions where they weren’t meant to go.

We can not trade the truth of the gospel for the lies of the world.

We can no longer stand idle from the side and negotiate with the enemy.

 

We must begin to put honor where honor is due and praise where praise is due.

 

Our Father in heaven put it all on the line for us so that we could stand up and put it all on the line for Him.

 

And so we must decide…..Which side of the fence will we choose to sit on?  The one with the world…..or the one with Jesus?

 

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J