More Questions

 I want to share three provoking questions I've written down in my prayer journal.....

" And the evil spirit said to them, 'I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?' " Acts 19:15...Does the devil know who our Lord is but is unaware of who we are?......The Scripture verse from Acts has to do with 7 men, called the sons of Sceva, a Jewish priest, who were attempting to exorcise a demon possessed man. They were using the name of Jesus in their attempt. As they did so, the demonic spirit asked the above question, and then after asking, leaped upon them and severely beat them. They had tried to use the name of Jesus but had no personal knowledge of the One who had the name. The evil spirit recognized the power and authority of Jesus Christ, and of the apostle Paul. He recognized no such thing against the sons, and they were powerless against it.....This account brings me to the question for each of us. Does the enemy well know the identity of our Lord and Savior, and that of various spiritual warriors in the Body, yet has no real "knowledge" of who you and I are? Is the witness of our lives, of the authority we have in Christ as His followers, so weak and shallow as to render us "non-entities" in the spiritual realm? I remember hearing a preacher once say that they wanted to be "on the devil's most wanted list." To be such a threat to the kingdom of darkness and death as to be a target of his attention. Do we? Or, are we more concerned with our comfort, security, happiness, and self-advancement as to render us powerless in spiritual things? Does the enemy render a verdict upon us in spiritual things by saying to us, "I know who your Jesus is. I know who the great saints who have gone before you are, and the men and women filled with Holy Spirit power around you. But I don't know you, because you are not, and have never been, a threat to me." May we who take His name, yearn to be a sharp thorn in the side of the devil.

"Let me say plainly that I have been faithful. No one's damnation can be blamed on me, for I didn't shrink from declaring all that God wants for you." Acts 20:26-27....Paul said no one's damnation could be blamed on him, that he'd been faithful to declare the whole message of the gospel. At the end of all things, will we, will I be able to say the same?....This is a haunting question to me. Though it is true that we have personal responsibility as to what we will do with the truth and claims of Jesus Christ and our spiritual destiny depends on what we do with Him, we who have been given His message to proclaim, have personal responsibility as well. If we have received the Good News of the Gospel, then we are compelled to proclaim that message to those who've not heard it, even if they have little interest in doing so. This doesn't mean that we seek to use a hardline approach of getting them to believe in and receive Him. This rarely is successful. We do however have a responsibility to be spiritually sensitive to all those around us and be aware of opening we have to tell another about the joy of the Jesus we have come to know, love, and follow. It is to be our burden that those without Him would not be. We are to reach out to them, love them, pray for them, and as much as possible, be a witness of His life before them. Central to our lives should be a deep desire to see others come to know Him, be made free in Him, and brought into the Kingdom through Him. Paul lived with a love for souls and his deepest desire was that everyone should know Jesus. The witness of His life is that as much as it depended on him, he would live for and proclaim Jesus before all, so that when the end of His life came, he could declare that no soul lost could be blamed upon him. He'd been faithful. May it be that we, you and I, live out the remainder of our lives with that same desire. When our time, witness, and ministry draw to a close, may no soul be lost because of our failure to be faithful to our calling.

"And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead." Acts 23:6......"We will continually be tried as to our belief and trust in the resurrection power of Christ. What will be the verdict?"....Paul had been brought before the Jewish religious leaders to answer for his preaching the message of Christ crucified and risen from the dead. He was on trial that day, but he also knew that he would be on trial before the eyes of the world every day as to whether he, in all things, trusted in the overwhelming resurrection power of Jesus Christ. Power that gives victory over death in every form it may take in this world. We who take His name will also be on trial before a watching world as to our trust in that same resurrection power. What will be the verdict upon our life and witness? Will we be found guilty of living in all the fullness of His resurrection life, facing every challenge and danger of life with confidence in His resurrection and total victory? Or will we be "innocent" on all counts? Will we show that we are as much at the mercy of this world and the enemy who works through it as those who don't know Him? Will we be victims of them, or Victors over them? In Christ and His resurrection life, we have received all we need to live in victory. In abundance. What is the verdict on how well we live? Do we live defeated, discouraged, beaten down, or are we overcomers, more than conquerors, victors in Jesus? There will be a final verdict on your life and mine. What is the current evidence pointing towards what that verdict will be?

Just a few questions for us to contemplate......Blessings to all.