war

In the Lord’s prayer we ask God to “deliver us from evil”.

And I am sure David was saying something along the same lines in Psalm 3:

Psalm 3 ¹ O Lord , how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

² Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah

³ But you are a shield around me, O Lord ; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. ⁴ To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. ⁶ I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

⁷ Arise, O Lord ! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. ⁸ From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah

Hidden in a cave, David was surrounded. Broken. And probably without confidence.

I like this, because it encourages me. And it encourages me because sometimes I stand in courage … and sometimes I am a coward, hidden in a cave, begging for God to knock the teeth out of my enemies.

But here’s the good news:

The War Is Over

The War Is Over is over Jesus said it was. In the state of a Lamb, He declared war on our enemies and defeated them in an unbelievable fashion.

Colossians 2 … ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Today, my prayer is this:

Lord, help me to remember that The War Is Over … Deliver Me From Evil.

When I am hiding in that cave in fear, I need to remember this: Jesus is eternal. And when Jesus delivers us, we become eternal too. And our outcome, because of that, is certain. Period.

When we bring that certainty into the carnal earth, what should we fear? The War Is Over. He disarmed the powers and authorities, made a public spectacle of them, and defeated them on the cross.

So oftentimes our lives are difficult. The money is not easy. The job is not easy. The relationships are not easy.

But God is simple. And, yes, we must take the time to connect with Him. And, yes, we must make sacrifices to fulfill the greater good. And, yes, the mountains in front of us can appear insurmountable.

But God is going to Deliver Us From Evil. It is certain.

Because He already has.

The War Is Over

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

When you are sharing the gospel, encourage your friends to ask the right questions.

When I researched about Patton growing up, I read about him in books, watched the movie, and studied history. I very well could have asked 3 questions:

Who was Patton?
Why was he killed?
What happened afterwards?

Patton was a general in the United States army who was a key figure in World War 2. His men fought hard for him. It seemed that they related to him. And it is certain that he had much success in the war.

I do not know why he was killed. But I do know that it was a suspicious car accident.

One theory was that he was killed because of his dislike for Russia and communism. He was very outspoken about it.

After he was killed, we signed a treaty that ended the war. We were able to work with Russia to divide Germany and come to a resolution.

What more do I know? Not much.

But I am confident that I know a good bit about Patton based on history books.

I could now ask the same things about Jesus:

Who was Jesus?
Why was He killed?
What happened afterwards?

These questions I can more easily answer.

He was killed for saying things like this:

John 10 ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Jesus, by historical accounts, was a “magician or prophet” who many followed. He was killed because of what He said: He claimed, as in this verse, that He was God–that He … was the Messiah.

Both Jesus and Patton were killed for things that they said. Patton, while successful among his men, was not a politician and upset many with his beliefs and comments.

Jesus was much the same in that His words angered many—especially in the upper class of wealth, power, and social status.

So what are we to do with this?

My recommendation to those I talk to is this:

When someone comes and claims to be God and we have much of our current culture, traditions, dates, and beliefs based on Him, we should consider research.

It is my belief that, while we do not do a good job in basing our lives upon Him, there is great reason to research who He was and make a WHOLE-HEARTED decision based on what we discover.

And so my question to someone who may not be a Christian is this:

If someone stands at a door that gives entrance to the greatest place you could ever go in terms of protection, wealth, happiness, and well being, would you want to know how to get in?

I want to know how to get in.

If what Jesus said is true … you might want to surrender to Him.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Know anyone who might like these? Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

Tag

504 The War Is Over

454 Ask The Right Questions