January 25, 2012 … Flee … Flee … Flee!!!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Genesis, Chapters 38-40 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Genesis 39: 6-12: … [Integrity in the Face of Temptation] ... 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” … 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

My Journal for Today: If you’ve read through Chapters 38-40 of Genesis, which was my chronological reading assignment today, you read first, in Chapter 38, of the broken leadership and character of Judah, the oldest son and designated heir of Jacob (aka, “Israel”). Then, for a character contrast lesson, in these next two chapters, we read of the plight and walk of faith of Joseph, the young brother Judah and his brothers had sold into slavery in Egypt. And in the focus passage today from Genesis 39: 6-12, which I’ve copied for you this morning, we come to a passage which means a lot to me, … personally.

It’s the very revealing confrontation between the wife of Potiphar, the rich man who had become Joseph’s slave master, and Joseph, whom Potiphar had appointed as steward of his home. “Potipharina,” as my Pastor likes to call this sex-driven temptress, came after Joseph repeatedly, doing all she could to lure the young man into a sexual encounter. But we see Joseph being a model for us of Godly character, doing all he can to avoid Potiphar’s wife and finally just simply fleeing this sex-starved woman, … who then, unjustly, had Joseph thrown into prison because of the rejection.

I say here that this story is very close to me personally because for many years I was not able to do what Joseph did, … to flee from the temptation of sexual sin; and my unGodly behavior almost cost me my marriage, my family, and my career. It was only much later in my life, after I came to know Christ as LORD, that our merciful God, whom Joseph stood for (see Verse 9 of Gen. 39 above), was able to disciple me into learning the strategy of righteousness, taught by Paul in 2nd Timothy 2: 22, which Joseph exhibited as a personal model, … and that is to do all one can to resist sexual temptations; … and then – if all else fails – to simply FLEE – no matter what the human cost.

I now lead a Christian discipleship ministry, called Battle Plan Ministry (“BPM” – website linked here), formed to help men of God to become more Godly and battle-strong warriors in our hypersexual culture. We call Joseph’s battle strategy the “2.2:22” battle plan, which is labeled after Paul’s exhortation in 2 Tim. 2: 22 [which I hope you know by heart – if not, please look it up!]. This strategy of spiritual warfare was exemplified in the encounter Joseph had with Potiphar’s wife. In BPM, we teach our men to do all they can to anticipate and avoid sexual temptations in their lives (which are extremely pervasive these days); but when all proactive strategies of avoidance are exhausted, the “2.2:22” strategy MUST be implemented … and we simply do what Paul exhorted, … to … Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Today, we live in a world where sexual triggers and temptations abound. Men, and women, but especially men, are surrounded by a culture which tries to lure them into dishonoring God by giving in to the ever-present sexual temptations we face EVERYDAY. Quite often, all one can do is to go to the “2.2:22” battle strategy and FLEE … FLEE … FLEE, remembering that – as with Joseph – bad things may happen. However, … in the end we know that God always – as HE did with Joseph, honors the warrior who’s willing to stand in the gap for righteousness and do the right thing.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me flee any ploy of the enemy which is stronger than my own will to resist. Amen

2010 – December 21 – Warding Off Alien Invaders

Study from God’s Word… The entire letter from Peter (i.e., 1st Peter) to Christians in Asia-Minor in his day, which was a time when Christians were being severely persecuted by non-believing Jews and the Roman authorities under Nero … Passage for Reflection: 1st Peter 2: 11 … NIV Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires [“fleshly lusts” in the NKJV], which war against your soul.

My Journal for Today: Today’s reading from the first letter Peter wrote to persecuted Christians in Asia-Minor and more specifically the highlighted text for today, chosen by Dr. Smith in his devotional, mean a lot to me. I have been called to lead a ministry, called Battle Plan Ministry - website linked here, which is primarily for Christian men who have fallen on the spiritual battle fields and surrendered to the flesh [i.e., sexual sin] rather than stand for the righteousness of Christ. And in today’s text, Peter is warning Christians, who feel like they are alien warriors fighting the good fight of Christ in a strange and perverse world, to abstain from the very natural desire to succumb to the fleshly ways of the enemy in this alien world.

Yes, as Christians, we’re definitely not residents or citizens of this world. When we become truly born-again Christians, we become aliens to a world which has been occupied and ruled by Satan; and we’ve also become warriors for Christ because of Him choosing to set aside His glory to come among us, to live, to minister, and to die as the Lamb of God for our sins. So, when we really/truly receive Christ as our Commander in Chief, we become alien warriors who always must be on guard in following the steps of our field Captain, the Holy Spirit, who shines a light on our path through this hostile land.

And Peter was trying to enlighten, encourage, and empower Christians who were under severe attack in the arenas of battle in Asia-Minor (as well as any Christians today who feel the attacks of our spiritual enemies). Surely you recognize, fellow Christian warrior, that you’re in a battle every day of your life; and we have natural weaknesses [not the least of which is our own spiritual being – see Jer. 17: 9]; and as warrior enemies, we are vulnerable to the strategies/ploys of our enemy, Satan, who has established some serious beachheads and developed some very powerful weaponry, all designed to bring down Christian warriors in battle.

And even our allies in the Church have become either naïve to our situation or complacent as fighting agents of our Lord. Too many in the church have become double-agents, claiming allegiance with Christ, but wearing the uniform of the world and following all too comfortably its lead. Dr. Smith’s challenging question for today is directed to any Christian warrior in this alien world. He writes, ”What success am I having in abstaining from the sinful desires hurled at me as a believing alien in a hostile world?”

It pains me to see many Christians becoming easy prey for Satan and his sophisticated ploys, using his very certain power, as he does battle to attempt to render the witness and testimonies of alien Christians null-and-void in this world. When we surrender and fall to the world, we have no power of witness in this world. And God has given us that warrior power, as well as the charge to use it as His witnesses. [see Acts 1: 8]. And, my friends, His power, when we choose to follow it and use it, is always greater than that of the enemy [see 1st John 4: 4]. But as alien soldiers in God’s army, we have to CHOOSE to receive/use the enabling/empowering grace within us as we CHOOSE to follow the Savior rather than self or Satan. The operant word – in caps there – is the crux of the matter. It’s always a matter of CHOICE.

Hey, my fellow alien warriors, how’re doin? I pray that we all fall in line behind our Commander and Chief, Who Captains our army, following Him into battle every day.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You and my Captain; I follow YOU; I fight for YOU!! Amen

2010 – December 15 – Deadly Spiritual Warfare

Study from God’s Word… The entire letter from Paul which we traditionally attribute to him writing as a Roman prisoner to the church at Ephesus, i.e., Ephesians, Chapters 1 – 6 … Passage for Reflection: Ephesians 6: 12 … NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

My Journal for Today: Isn’t it interesting that today many people, especially young people, can imagine – or even obsessively play games – in “cyberspace,” living as an avatar and trying to overcome the evil warriors they see in the cybernetic world of their computer; YET, they cannot – or don’t choose to – believe that there is a world of truly powerful forces, which we cannot see, but live in the spiritual realm to do battle and to be a force against God in our spiritual lives.

To depict the reality of this spiritual warfare, which goes on even as I type this, Paul exhorted the Ephesian Christians, and you/me by extension, to be ready for and arm ourselves, spiritually, for the warfare which we all face everyday in this life, depicted by today’s highlight text. But then Paul goes on to portray the armament, weapons, and strategies we need in our daily battles with our spiritual enemies, … Satan, the world, and our own flesh, … formidable foes against which we must be prepared.

To help us do that, Paul painted a word picture of the “full armor of God” in Ephesians 6, which are those elements of defensive armament such as the belt of truth (our integrity), the breastplate of righteousness (our purity), the sandals of peace (our surety), the shield of faith (our certainty), and our helmet of salvation (our sanity), all of which, when properly worn, protect us against any/all of our spiritual enemies in the daily battles we’ll face in life.

Then we must take up our only offensive weapon against these spiritual forces and that is the sword of the spirit, which in Eph. 6: 17, we read is the world of God. And just as Jesus used this same weapon as the God-Man (see, Matt. 4 or Luke 4) against His spiritual arch-enemy, Satan, we can – and must – wield a ready, sharpened, and practiced sword, wielding it as God had charged Joshua as His warrior in Joshua 1: 8 or as the author of Psalm 119: 9-11 said he had to use God’s sword – i.e., God’s word – as his weapon against his own sinfulness.

And finally in this passage of Ephesians 6, we read of the primary battle strategy we have as Christian warriors; and that is taking the high ground, which is prayer. If we don’t use our prayer strategy at all times in life (see 1st Thess. 5: 17), we will be fighting the battles from the lowlands with our enemies taking the high ground. BUT … anytime we wear our full armor, and take our sharpened and well-practiced sword to the high ground in prayer, we will be in a position to not only do battle effectively, but to win against our enemies just as Christ did against Satan on that mountaintop in the wilderness (again in Luke 4 or Matt 4).

I hope you’re well versed and well dressed for today’s battle, my dear one. Because to deny that you’re going to be in a battle or to dismiss all of this as biblical fantasy is playing right into the hands of our spiritual enemies, many of whom, as Satan, are far more powerful than are we with our deceitful hearts (see Jer. 17: 9). Everyday I get ready for battle by dressing myself, mentally and spiritually, checking to determine if any of the elements of my armor are weak, being sure that I have my sword sharpened and ready for battle, and going to the high ground in prayer to get myself into the posture and place I need to be for battle.

How about you; are you ready for battle today?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, my armor is in place; and I carry Your mighty sword. Now, I’m here on this pinnacle of prayer, ready to do battle. And I follow You, my Captain, ready to be victorious in Your Name and for Your glory. Amen

2010 – October 9 – Workers Prepared for Battle

Study from God’s Word… Nehemiah, Chapters 4 – 6 … Passage for Reflection: Nehemiah: 4: 17 – 18 … NIV Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.

My Journal for Today: Today I was taken, in my Bible reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order, to a passage that means a lot to me from the 4th Chapter of Nehemiah, … the story of how Nehemiah implemented a wall-building and battle strategy which was the epitome of spiritual multitasking. He convinced the builders to also become vigilant for attacks and to wear their armor and carry their swords at all times, even when they went out for water (and some think that this phrase in Hebrew, verse 22 of Nehemiah 4, could mean even when they were in the shower or out, taking a leak – don’t you just love God’s sense of humor in the Bible).

In other words, the workers, who were working for God’s project, i.e., His task of building the walls of God’s
Temple, were to not only to be workers, but they were to be ready warriors as well. And that is the same picture that the Apostle Paul used when he penned the famous spiritual warfare passage in Ephesians 6: 10 – 18, exhorting God’s people, the Christians, to ALWAYS be wearing the full armor of God [Eph. 6: 13-17a and carrying the sword of the Spirit [Eph. 6: 17b] so that God’s army, we Christians, can be vigilant and stand against our spiritual enemies (i.e., Satan, the world, and our own flesh) whenever the battle come to us, … which it will on a daily – even momentary – basis.

Those of you who follow my devotional blogging probably know that I lead a ministry called Battle Plan Ministry [BPM] [website linked here] for Christians who’re dealing with past patterns of habitual sexual sin. In our BPM discipleship training, we put a heavy emphasis on the battle strategies taught by Nehemiah and by the Apostle Paul, … that we MUST recognize that we’re in a constant – daily, even momentary – battle with our common spiritual enemies (again, Satan, His world, and our own flesh); and we MUST be constantly vigilant, wearing the full armor of God and carrying a well-sharpened and well- practiced sword of the Spirit (which, of course, is God’s word). Without this armament and weaponry, we would be extremely vulnerable to some very powerful and ever-present spiritual enemies who want to take us down in battle. Satan knows that he cannot have the soul of a Christian; but if he can take away the validity of our testimony and weaken the witness of a warrior for God, he can render the Christian almost useless in the warfare any Christian stands for in battle.

Therefore, we need to take up the strategy Nehemiah used and the Apostle Paul advocated in our daily spiritual task of building up the walls around our “temple,” which is, of course, our own hearts, since that is where God, the Holy Spirit, resides. And I have it on good authority, i.e., nothing less than God’s own word, that when we do become trained and experienced Christian warriors, always wearing His full armor and ever carrying a sharpened and well-practiced Sword of the Spirit, we can – and will – become like our model in battle, Jesus Christ, who showed us how to do battle in those powerful encounters with Satan (read about it in the first verses of Matthew 4 or Luke 4). Yes, I know that Satan was dealing with God in the flesh in his encounter with Christ in the wilderness; but Jesus showed all of us how to be prepared and how to do battle with our arch spiritual enemy.

We have to be – as Jesus was – on the high ground for battle, being covered by prayer in the Spirit (see also Eph. 6: 18); and then we need to ALWAYS carry and utilize our only offensive weapon against our enemies when we’re confronted by spiritual warfare; and that is to whip out and wield the sword of the Spirit, i.e., God’s word. But this implies that we are well-practiced and have well-sharpened our swords; and that implies getting God’s word deeply into our hearts (as you can read about in God’s prescription for our dealing with God’s word – i.e., see Joshua 1: 8 and Ps. 119: 9-11); so that we can whip out that sword at any time, as Jesus did in the wilderness against Satan, and wield the one weapon which our spiritual enemies cannot handle, … and that is the truth of God.

I could go on with this a lot more, as I do in being the “drill sergeant” and discipleship leader for BPM. But all of us need to heed Nehemiah’s builder/warrior strategy in today’s highlight passage. So, my dear one, if your armor for defense is not tuned up and being worn – all the time; and … if you’re not an accomplished swordsman with God’s word; and, … if you’re not continually on the high-ground with prayer, in the Spirit, you’re going to find yourself vulnerable on the battlefields of life, my friend. Oh how I hope you pray with me that we can all become ready wall builders and spiritual warriors for God as we rebuild the walls of His temple, … our very hearts.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be ever ready for battle, wearing your full armor, carrying Your well-practiced Sword, and going to the high ground of prayer daily for the battles I know I will encounter as I keep rebuilding the walls of Your Temple, … my heart. Amen

2010 – August 26 – The Devil, You Say!

Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 26 – 28 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 28: 17 … NIV Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

My Journal for Today: What are your thoughts about Satan? Unfortunately I think some people either think of him as a silly, but sappy, cartoon figure depicting the evil side of mankind. It’s the result of how man thinks of the opposite of “god” or maybe “good,” which is no more real to them as satan [with a small “s”]. And then there are those who ascribe too much power to The Devil, declaring “the Devil made me do it” to every mistake or improper decision that such a person might make.

Yes, Satan is very powerful; and he is much more powerful than I am (or you are). But he is a created being, an angel who fell from God’s grace; and now, though he has a free-will like man, he and his angelic followers, pridefully think of themselves as gods or adversaries of God Almighty, Yahweh. And there are two passages in scriptures, one of them found in my Scripture studies for today, Ezekiel 28, and the other in Isaiah 14, which are, according to scholars. who are much more well versed in Scripture than I, human depictions of God’s created adversary, the Devil.

And it is fascinating for any Scripture student, like me, to wonder why the Almighty Yahweh, who created His angels, would allow a lesser being, like Satan, to stick around after he fell from heaven to take up residence on earth as the prince of darkness, masquerading as an angel of light. But it’s clear that Satan, the Devil, and his demon minions, are part of God’s plan. But they create an atmosphere – i.e., Satan’s system, the world – which is to some degree – hell on earth.

But the one characteristic of our enemy, the Devil, which is emphasized in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, is pridefulness. And if there is an “original sin,” pride is it. Pride – or the desire to become a god by controlling our own destiny – is that character trait which is most Satan like. And thereby the opposite of pride, humility, is likely the character trait which is most like Christ; and I believe that God has allowed Satan to continue to exist on earth while HE, the Lord, pursues His beloved human race so that we, the pursued who must come to faith in God, can see what anti-God characteristics are like. We cannot see Whom God is without having an arch-type who depicts all that God is not; and that is Satan in all his malevolent being.

So, as I move forward in my life, I must have faith that God is God; and He is in control of even a very powerful adversary like the Devil. Yes, Satan is much, much more powerful that I; but I have the power of the Living God, in His Spirit, dwelling in me so that I can be victorious over Satan and his world – and yes, even over my own deceitful, prideful heart. The truth of 1st John 4: 4 bubbles up from my consciousness as I write this, declaring, You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [your spiritual enemies], because the One who is in you [God's Spirit] is greater than the one [Satan] who is in the world. And I will go with that thought today as I do battles with God’s enemy, The Devil, who will always be my enemy … every day of my life.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You, and You alone give me the power to be victorious over you arch enemy, the Devil. Amen

2010 – August 21 – Mark This Day

Blogger's Note: This entry is dated 8/22; but was actually generated for 8/21, ... not being entered on the correct date because of lack of access to Wifi while I was on an Elder's retreat. Hence it's being posted on this date (8/22). For any readers who follow daily, please forgive my tardiness. ;>)
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Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings 24: 20 [2Chron 36: 1; Jer. 52: 3]; 2Kgs 25: 1 [Jer. 39: 1 and 52: 4]; Ezekiel, Chapter 24 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 24: 1 – 2 … NIV 1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

My Journal for Today: As Dr. Smith points to days which will live, as FDR said, “… in infamy.” There was that day to which FDR was referring, Dec. 7, 1941, … the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. And there was certainly the more modern cataclysmic date of Sept. 11, 2001, which we now just refer to as “9/11.” They will never be forgotten because they were days when the world was alerted of the warlike intent of an enemy, causing our nation to go to war. And in today’s highlight passage we read of a date which was marked in the history of God’s chosen people, a day when Nebuchanezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, a day which a number of God’s Prophets had predicted would happen.

And I’m drawn to the question which LaGard Smith uses as a wake-up call at the end of his Aug. 21st devotional entry with Ezek. 24: 1-2 in mind. He writes, ”Could this seemingly ordinary day actually be a day on which, behind the scenes, God is doing something extraordinary in my life?” We could reframe the question saying, “Is this a 9/11 date, where we should recognize the damage that the siege of sin has done in our lives, and where we should declare commitment to God that we’re going to surrender our allegiance to Him but take up warfare against our spiritual enemies?”

May 20th, 2000 was such a day for me. It’s the day that Central Church in Collierville, TN, … my local church, declared war against Satan and the world, who had established a stronghold of hypersexual sin in our culture. It was on 5/20/2000 that Central Church declared, “Enough is enough;” and we launched Battle Plan Ministry [BPM] in our church to do battle for God and against Satan for as long as it takes in this life to stand against our spiritual enemies who use sexual sin to separate the men of God from their Good Shepherd. The launching of BPM was our church’s declaration of war to honor God and do battle against enemies who would pervert and use sexual temptation to tear down God’s army of men. BPM has now been doing battle for 10 years as a warfare discipleship ministry in God’s arsenal; and though the battle still rages, many victories have been won; and for that we can only stop to declare, ”Praise the LORD!!!”

My Prayer for Today: We fight on, Lord, for Your glory! Amen

2010 – August 9 – A Surprising Work of God

Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings 24: 1 – 4; Jeremiah, Chapters 48 – 49 and Jer. 22: 18-23 + 2Kgs 24: 5-6 [2Chron 36: 8] … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 48: 10 … NIV “A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’s work! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!”

My Journal for Today: As my devotional author, Dr. LaGard Smith, points out, these are tough words in today’s highlight passage, a judgment from God, in this case against the Moabites, who were unwilling to take up their swords to defend the God of Israel; and instead, became victims of their worship of “Chemosh,” the national god of these mountain people.

So, how do we apply this historical curse in today’s text to our lives today?

Actually it says a lot to me, being leader of a ministry called “Battle Plan Ministries [BPM].” Because one of the battle strategies we teach our men, men who’ve become “lax in doing the LORD’s work,” is to become swordsman, doing battle for the Lord in their quest to be warriors for righteousness in their lives. We know from studying and teaching the truths of Isaiah 55: 11, Ephesians 6: 17 and Hebrews 4: 12 that God’s word is our strongest – and really, the only - offensive weapon when fighting against the temptations of Satan and his worldly forces. Jesus showed us this strategy when he fought off Satan in the wilderness (see Luke 4: 1-13 - linked). And so, in BPM we teach our men, who desire to be victorious in spiritual warfare, to use “the sword” of God, i.e., His word, to fight and fend off the enemy.

And in today’s passage we read that God was pronouncing a curse on Moab because they had been “lax in doing God’s word,” unwilling to take up “the sword” for the One, True God and His righteousness. Rather they yielded to allow themselves to worship gods who had no power, idols in their land, gods which they were not willing to crush with the “sword of God.” And today we find many, if not most, in the world being unwilling to take up the “Sword of the Spirit,” i.e., God’s word, against the idols of the flesh, such as pornography. And to such a people, as He did with the Moabites, God pronounces His curse of death.

I hope and pray that any who read this are not living as did the Moabites. I pray that we all are wielding a ready, sharpened, and practiced Sword of the Spirit when we fight the daily battles WE WILL HAVE TO FIGHT (and we will !!). Because not becoming an accomplished swordsman for God, in His army, will make us vulnerable to the gods of the flesh and the deceit of our own evil desires (see Jer. 17: 9 and Rom. 3: 23). But the hope and promise and power of such truths as I cited above in Isaiah 55: 11, Ephesians 6: 17 and Hebrews 4: 12 [PLEASE go search out and meditate on those truths!] can give us victory in battle as we go forth in the Name of the Lord. Ignoring taking up the Sword, for God’s righteousness, however, will bring on any people the same curse that we read above from God leveled against the Moabites.

May we not be lax in taking up God’s sword to defend His truth.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray victory for those who’re willing to take up Your Sword and do battle in Your Name. Amen

2010 – Day 15. Jan. 15 – Choosing Your Battles

Study from Genesis 34 – 25; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 34: 31 … NIV But they (Jacob’s sons) said to him (Jacob after they had avenged their sister’s defilement), “Should we have treated our sister like a prostitute.”

My Journal for Today: When one reads and studies, in Gen. 34, this rather extreme, and somewhat bazaar, story of Dinah’s defilement by Schechem, the ruler of the area where Jacob had settled, we might react by thinking that the revenge taken by Dinah’s brothers was justifiable revenge. But Jacob realized that their act of revenge was ill-begotten and unwise because it would bring with it too much social chaos, misperception, and political recoil in the region.

So, what are we to learn from this story? And there is a plain truth here; and that is, “Pick your battles wisely.” And the most obvious, pertinent example God brought to my consciousness this morning had to do with parenting. As our kids grow into and through those “terrible teen years,” we are going to be at odds with our kiddos as they try to test our limits and boundaries (and they will!). And the question will become, “Where do we draw the lines of battle?” Will it be that earring my son wants or the tattoo our daughter desires? Which of the music their downloading from I-Tunes do we allow? Should we let our son have a laptop behind closed doors in our home? Do we let our kids have Internet accessible cell phones?

Some of those battles are worthy battlefields where battles must be fought to protect the purity and growth of our kids; but some of them will be fought with the collateral damage (the relationship between parent and child) being too much to go to battle. And unfortunately it takes the wisdom of Solomon and the war vigilance of Joshua to do battle as parents in this sexually charged culture.

Today parents are faced with battlefield decisions which are mind boggling at times. When my parents were raising me, about the most vigilant they had to be was to watch the friends with whom I hung out. But today, parents have to be vigilant about protecting their kids from the drug wars, the hypersexualized media, and all the rapidly advancing technologies on the horizon. When I was growing up, my parents could easily monitor my whereabouts; but today a parent almost needs to have a GPS device implanted under the skin of their kids to know where they are and to sense what they’re doing.

Parent … if you have kids today, as a grandparent, I hope (and pray below) that you can pick your battles and let God be your guide, as was Jacob in moving to a place where God led him for protection. I pray that your kids recognize your love in settling on clear boundaries for their lives; because the world is ever trying to draw these young ones into the godlessness of our culture; and it’s becoming harder and harder to do the right thing – to pick the right battles – in raising our youth as Christians.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I lift up the kids of our culture. May those who raise them in Christian homes have the wisdom and discernment that only You can provide to pick their battles and win them over for You. Oh, and how I pray that for our daughters, their families, and our grandchildren. Amen

Blogger’s note: My reader-followers, please forgive me for getting a bit personal with my entry for today. Normally, I try to go “generic” with the lessons God gives me to share in this place. However, today, when it came to applying what my devotional had to teach from Genesis 34, the examples above, which are quite personal, came to mind. So, being faithful to God’s leading, I have posted them above as commitments to Godly direction for me … and prayerfully for you as well.

2009 – Day 248.Sept 06 – Harsh, But Realistic

Passage of the Day: Job 21: 23 - 34 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: Well, reading this passage again today, perhaps you’ve been where Job was – at least to some degree. Maybe you were accused of something falsely. Perhaps a friend or two have given you advice laced with lies. Maybe you were the focus of some social attack on your character. Whatever the circumstances, it probably caused you great concern, anxiety, or angst.

Well, it’s in times such as these where the harsh realism of life tests our faith and trust in God, doesn’t it? It’s in these character-bending times where we learn whether we really believe in the truth of Romans 8: 28 or we exercise the reality of Proverbs 3: 5-6 or Philippians 4: 6-7. And by the way, my fellow Christian soldier, since we’re always going to be battling our enemies in the everyday spiritual warfare we call “life,” it would also be good to heed the old Revolutionary War saying which Swindoll quotes in his devotional today: "Trust in God; but keep your power dry.”

My dear one, WE ARE IN A WAR; and it is stark reality that we have enemies which could bring us down if we are not vigilant and well fortified, especially with the heart knowledge of God’s truth. Another old saying which will also prove true in the harsh reality of spiritual warfare is one you probably know: "Pray like it all depends upon God; but work like it all depends on you.”

Both of these old adages have much truth in them. And it’s in times like Job faced that our faith and trust in God gets tested to the limits of our human abilities. It’s in the testing times that we’re going to learn whether we really BELIEVE in what Jesus commanded in Matt. 11: 28-30, to let Him help carry the burden; and in Isaiah 41: 10, to let our God lift us up with His might right hand.

I can’t speak for you, my dear reader; but I’ve been through the “valley of the shadow of death” more than once. And God was always with me, just like He promised in Joshua 1: 5 or Hebrews 13: 5. My friend, you’re going to be tried, and you WILL be tested. So, now is the time to prepare yourself for the battles ahead. And if you do, you will discover that you can have the fortitude of a Job in facing the harsh, but realistic challenges that we face in life.

Test yourself now, my friend, in the safety of meditating on what I’ve written here. Do you know each of the passages which I quoted in this journal entry – BY HEART? If not, perhaps you need to bury more of God’s word deeply into your heart to prepare for the warfare ahead. I learned long ago that you can’t be a Spirit Swordsman if you don’t carry a well-sharpened and well-practiced sword (see Eph. 6: 17). And no battlefield leader would ever take his soldiers into battle without a well thought out battle plan. Do you have a written and personalized battle plan to prepare you, as much as you can be prepared, to face the spiritual battles you will face in life?

My dear one, these are perilous times; and you leave yourself vulnerable for the battles of life if you don’t have a battle plan and if your mind/heart are not saturated by God’s truth from His word. So, I leave it to you to become a warrior like Job … or to succumb to the enemy’s lies and attacks from the world or the vulnerabilities from your own deceit-ridden heart. I pray that we’re all prepared for the harsh realities of our future.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, God, set our course to follow You, no matter where You lead us so that You will be glorified when we stand and deliver. Amen