Colossians 2:8-3:2

Ephesians 4:11-16

Colossians 2:8 – “A See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”  NASB

            We are in a World at War!  Our present world is a world of warfare and sadly many are not even aware of it and do not know where the battlefield is or what the real battle is.  Many have misidentified SYMPTOM as being the Battle!  The result is Frustration, Disappointment, Despair, Disillusionment, and Defeat!  That is tragic and not the purpose or plan of God!

• We (The Body of Christ) have Great and Precious Promises That Often Do Not Seem to Be Working or Being Fulfilled in Us.
• We (The Body of Christ) have Expended Tremendous Energy, Finances, and Time with Too Little Success.
• Too often it seems that the devil’s forces have mocked and ridiculed a Powerless Church.  (Perception not reality).

Nationally we have a declared War!  There is a War on Poverty, Drugs, Aids, Crime, Terror, etc.   War on this and war on that –War! War! War!  My question is not where, is the War but where is the Winning?  If we are taking God’s Word and wielding it against the Strongholds of Darkness and not seeing those Strongholds crumble – Something is Wrong!  Right?  We must have missed something somewhere!

Are there problems in the Religious World of Christianity? ABSOLUTELY!  There are massive problems and denial will not bring us to victory only further denial and propel us toward defeat.  (Not God’s Plan or Purpose).  Tragically, most of the things that the nation and church are at war with are symptoms rather than root causes.  We will never defeat a problem by battling the symptom.  If we are to resolve the problem, we have to address the cause. Our Destiny and Mandate is to bring the Healing of God, not just temporary relief.  God has not called us to bring ‘religiousness’ to our communities but LIFE!  How do we do that?

An honest student of God’s Word will look at the complex problems of our generation and recognize the biblical signs pointing to the End of the Age!  In Matthew 24 we find Jesus’ disciples pondering the circumstances in their world and asking Jesus for ‘signs’ of the ‘end’.  He listed:  Wars, Famines, Earthquakes, Pestilences, Persecutions, Betrayals, False Doctrine, Lawlessness, and Kingdom against Kingdom Conflicts.  While that might fit many ages, few have seen the level of intensity as this age but again Symptoms are not the Real Battlefield or Battle.

Nationally our War on the things we have declared War on has had precious little positive impact most of the time.  The same could be said of many efforts of most of the organized churches today.  The same could be said for many lives individually and personally.  Are we Winning the Battle or just Putting Out little fires here and there?

The symptoms of a deadly disease are apparent in our world and UNTIL we realize this, earn How, and Commit Ourselves to dealing with the root cause(s) we will continue to just put out a few fires here and there with little real impact on our world.  The problem is SIN!  The problem is Matters of the Heart!  The Battleground is Inside the Cup not Outside! 

It is time that we turn the focus inwardly and allow the Holy Spirit to place us under the ‘spotlight’ of Heaven and weigh us in the balance and if we are found wanting then allow Him to restore, renew, and revive us!

I have more on this but will pause here and ask that you allow the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and pour the balm of God into your life bringing healing and transformation wherever needed. 

Blessings as you go through your day!