True Humility

            I’ve been reading through the book of John quite slowly.  I don’t want to miss anything that the Lord might want to show me.  As I came to the second half of John chapter 3, I began to notice some interesting qualities about John the Baptist.  If anyone in scripture was truly humble it was John the Baptist.  He had a mission and a calling from God, but he never considered himself to be anything great.  As a matter of fact, he was continually asked if he was the Messiah or a great prophet, and his response was always, “I am not.”  In this article I want to look at three qualities that I noticed in the life of John the Baptist that every one should exhibit if they want to be a humble person.

The first trait I want to look at is John’s attitude.  John knew who he was.  He knew his calling, and he was content in his calling and did not try to become someone or something greater. The humble person accepts his position and does not try to become someone or something greater on his own.

In verse 26 of John 3, John’s disciples came to him worried.  They said, “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” (NIV).  Basically they were saying, “John, you are the one called to baptize.  This Jesus has started baptizing, and we are losing our flock.”

But this was John’s reply, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.”  In other words John was content in his mission.  He knew from the beginning that his mission was to prepare the way for someone greater to come.  If he had tried to push himself into a greater position, God would have removed him from that position. 

I know of a youth pastor who became so successful in his ministry that he eventually ran more students in the youth service than the church did on Sundays.  The pastor of that church became extremely jealous and made life very difficult for that youth pastor until he eventually left, and the church never fully recovered.  The pastor was jealous because his ministry was not the greatest ministry in the church.  He took on a prideful attitude instead of a humble one.  A humble person is always content to do only what he has been called to do.

            The next thing about John that showed his humility was that he rejoiced in the success of Jesus.  In verses 29-30 he said, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom.  The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.  That joy is mine, and it is now complete.”

            The bride belongs to the bridegroom.  John knew that Jesus – not he – was sent to save the world.  He knew that even those that he had baptized did not belong to him, but they belonged to Jesus.  John compared Jesus to the bridegroom, and he compared himself to the attendant.  His mission was to come prepare the way for Jesus and to serve him in any way possible.  Now that Jesus was on the scene John showed his true character by saying, “My joy is now complete.”

            John rejoiced in the success of Jesus.   He did not become jealous when Jesus “stole his flock”.  He did not try to ruin Jesus’ ministry by talking behind his back.  He lifted up the name of Jesus and declared, “My joy is now complete.”  Back to the story of pastor versus youth pastor.  The pastor could have rejoiced with the youth pastor.  He could have rejoiced in his success, and he could have rejoiced in the fact that so many young lives were being changed.  But instead he took the jealous route and tried to ruin the ministry of the youth pastor.  The humble person always rejoices in the success of others – even those under his care.

            The final point I want to look at is the fact that John always pointed to Jesus.  Now that Jesus was on the scene, John’s mission became less about baptism and more about leading people to Jesus.  John himself said, “I am not the Christ, but the one coming after me is.”    In John 1:29, Jesus came to be baptized by John.  John knew who he was because the Spirit had opened his eyes.  He could have allowed pride to grow up in his heart because he was getting ready to baptize the Messiah.  Instead he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  The first thing John did when he recognized Jesus was to turn the people’s attention away from him and onto Jesus.

            The humble person is always content to fade into the background so that Jesus can be fully seen and recognized.  Too many ministers today have tried to gain fame and popularity for themselves instead of pointing to Jesus.  While people have been saved under their ministry, I believe that there is some very harsh judgment coming to those ministers.  God only exalts those that will point to him, and when they begin pointing to themselves, they will fall.

            John the Baptist said it best in verse 30 of chapter 3 when he said, “He must become greater, and I must become less.”  The humble person is sincerely content with staying out of the spotlight.  The humble person is not concerned with being seen or heard, but they are always deflecting the glory to Jesus.

            Those that strive to be truly humble need to remember the life of John the Baptist.  A humble person is always content to do only what he has been called to do and not force his way up the ladder.   A humble person always rejoices in the success of others – even those under his care.  And finally, the humble person always points to Jesus and is not concerned with being seen or heard.

From Darkness Into the Light

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.””

John 3:1-3, NIV.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.  Most of these men opposed the ministry of Jesus, and it was ultimately these men that had Jesus crucified.  But Nicodemus was different.  While he was still not “saved”, the teachings of Jesus had definitely caught his attention, and he was searching for truth.  Let’s look specifically at verse 2.

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.

This passage states that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.   I believe this is literal, and he really did come at night.  However, coming from John, I believe that this statement also had a deeper spiritual significance.

The greek word used for “night” literally means night.  Figuratively, however, it can mean: the time when work ceases, the time of death, the time for deeds of sin and shame, the time of moral stupidity and darkness, the time when the weary and also the drunken give themselves up to slumber.

Let’s look at Nicodemus’s statement again.  He said, “we know…[you have] come from God.”  Nicodemus had head knowledge of the truth, but he had not yet made it a part of his life.  He knew the right things to say, even the right things to preach, but he was not living by his teaching.  (Remember when Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites and white-washed tombs?)  Nicodemus was well educated in the scriptures and in the ways of God, but he was still in darkness.  He had never been exposed to the light and truth of Jesus.  He was a spiritual leader, but he was still living under the shadow of the Old Covenant. 

Jesus knew this, because the remainder of their conversation centered on one thing:  the truth and light that Jesus came into this world to bring.  This was Jesus’ first reply,  “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  Jesus did not even wait for Nicodemus to ask his question.  He went right in for kill and began speaking truth.  That truth was that he needed light, and Jesus began showing him how to move from the darkness and into the light.

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.””

 John 3:19-21, NIV.

Take a moment and examine your life.  Do you find yourself in darkness?  Do you know the truth but have yet to give yourself fully to the light of God?  Why?  Are you afraid of being exposed?  Are you too proud and would rather stay in the darkness because you are comfortable there?

The will of God is that no one would be in darkness:

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

John 12:46, NIV

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

1 Peter 2:9, NIV

Darkness is a terrible place to be for several reasons:

1.  Darkness blinds.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, NIV.

Notice the relationship between blindness and unbelieving.  Jesus was saying that the unbelieving mind is blind.  Unbelief and faithlessness leaves us in darkness.  Jesus used this same relation in John 3:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

John 3:18, 19, NIV.

“Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn--and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”

 John 12:35-41, NIV.

As long as the sinner remains in unbelief and darkness, he will never be able to see the light of Jesus’ face.  He has been blinded to the truth. 

2.  Darkness hides.

We’ve all played hide and seek.  When I was a kid and it was my turn to hide, I would pick the darkest place I could find and sit perfectly still.  I even remember playing hide and seek with my oldest son.  I knew that if I picked the darkest spot, I would win because he would be too scared to look for me.

We hide in the dark because we can’t be seen.  We hide in the dark so that we won’t be exposed.  However, w were never meant to hide from anything or anyone, but with the introduction of sin came the need to hide (Genesis 3:8).  Look at what scripture says about those who try to hide in the darkness.

“His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.” Job 34:21, 22, NIV.

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”

 Isaiah 29:13-15, NIV.

Notice here that the Lord is comparing those who hide with those who give God false worship.  We cannot truly honor and worship the Lord when we have things that we are trying to hide.  But the saddest part of all is the fact that we never are really hiding.  The Lord sees and knows it all.

3. Darkness immobilizes.

Maybe it is the light color of my eyes, or maybe it’s just the fact that I am getting older, but I do not see well in the dark.  On second thought, let me rephrase that.  I can’t see at all in the dark.  When darkness surrounds me it leaves me completely unable to move. 

One bright, summer day my wife called me at my office and said that she was taking the kids to a movie if I would like to join them.  I quickly packed up my things and headed over to the theater.  As I walked in to the theater, the movie had already started.  It was dark, and I couldn’t move.  I couldn’t see a thing.  You would think that immediately, my wife or one of the kids would come and get me, but instead they just sat and laughed at me for a couple of minutes.

My point here is that once the darkness engulfed me, I was useless.  I couldn’t take another step because I didn’t know what was in front of me.  I couldn’t see if there were any empty chairs, and I couldn’t see where my family was sitting.  I could only stand until someone came to help me.

When we live in darkness we are 100% useless.  God can’t use us and people can’t depend on us.  We are of no use to God and His kingdom.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand towards the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”

Exodus 10:21-23, NIV.

“Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains,” Psalms 107:10, NIV.

As long as we remain in darkness, we are bound.  Chains are wrapped around our hands and a noose is around our necks.  There is nowhere we can go, and nothing we can do.  All we can do is sit.  The only way of escape is to move toward the light.

Friends, there is freedom in the light.  There is no fear in light, because there is no darkness in light.  There is no blindness in light, and we can continue to move forward in the light.  Come out of the darkness and into the light.  Come out of your sinful ways and expose yourself to the truth and light of Jesus Christ.  Come out of your hiding and experience the joy and freedom of walking in the light.

The Elisha Moment (part 1)

“Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.” 2 Kings 2:8-14, NIV.

In this article I want to examine the moment when Elisha became the prophet that he was destined to become. There were three key ingredients that led to this moment. Without these three things Elisha would not have become the man of God that he was. These ingredients are crucial to you as well if you are going to move in the anointing and calling that the Lord has for you. These three ingredients are (1)request, (2)receive, and (3)respond. Today we are going to look at the first ingredient.

 The first thing that Elisha did was to make a request of his master, Elijah. In 2 Kings 2:9 Elijah asked Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” And Elisha replied, “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.” This question from Elijah was not something that had caught Elisha by surprise. According to the scripture, Elisha answered immediately. He did not say, “Well, let’s see. I’ve never really thought about it. Give me a week to pray about it and then I’ll tell you what I want.” No, Elisha had been thinking about this for a while, and he was waiting for the right moment to put in his request.

 What, exactly, was Elisha asking by asking for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit? I can tell you that he was not making a covetous statement, nor was he asking to be twice as good as his master. For the ancient Jewish family it was customary for a father to bless the eldest son with a double portion blessing. (Deut. 21:15-17) It was also that son’s responsibility to carry on the family name and business. Elisha was asking to be the one to carry on Elijah’s ministry. He was asking Elijah to regard him as a first-born son. He knew that there were other prophets that Elijah had trained, and any one of them could have carried on the ministry, but Elisha was so dedicated to his master that he wanted to be Elijah’s successor. I believe he was also saying, “Elijah, you are so anointed that in order for me to be half the prophet you are, I need twice the anointing.” 

The question we must now ask is, “Why did Elisha have to make that request? Wasn’t he already called to be Elijah’s successor?” Yes, he was. In 1 Kings 19:19 Elijah threw his cloak around Elisha signifying that he was to carry on the ministry someday. However, Elijah was not going to force the job on him. He taught and trained him for the position, but there had to come a time when Elisha had to speak up and say, “Master, I want to carry on your ministry. I want your anointing.” Elisha was given several opportunities to back out of the deal, but he continued to stay with his master. Elijah now knew that he could leave his ministry in good hands. How does this apply to us today? The fact is that we have all been called to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We have all been given gifts, talents, and abilities to do the work that God wants us to do. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has made plans for us. However, just because we have been given abilities and just because God has created us for a purpose does not automatically mean we will become what God has planned. There has to come a time when we physically surrender to the call on our lives and say, “Okay, God, I am ready to be who you’ve created me to be. I want to be your voice in this world.” At that moment God will start moving our life in a direction to fulfill that call.

 Have you discovered God’s plan for your life? If so, are you moving towards that plan or away from it? Have you fled at the first open door out, or have you waded through the muddy waters and the pain just to be closer to Him? If you are ready to move into that call it’s time to speak up and make your request known to God. Ask Him today for the anointing that is necessary to carry on the ministry of Jesus in the world today.

Chosen By God

“For many are called but few are chosen.” Matt. 22:14 (NKJV)

Today I want to look at what it means to be chosen by God. This passage from Matthew 22:14 can really mess with one’s head if it is read by itself. You might ask, “How is it possible that God would call someone, and not choose him?”

In reality everyone is called. Everyone on this planet was created with a call of God on his/her life. For some it is a call to full-time ministry. For others it is a call to be a minister in the marketplace. Whatever it may be, we all have been called. So, how is it that we can all be called, but not chosen? The fact is that God wants to choose everyone he has called, but in the end it is up to us. To understand this better, we need to look at the context of this passage.

In Matthew 22 Jesus tells a parable about a king whose son was getting married, and he wanted to throw a huge banquet for him. They sent out invitations to all their friends, but they all made excuses and refused to come. So the king told his servants to go out to the streets and bring people in to the banquet. The bible says the place was filled with all sorts of people “good and bad”. I believe that in that one setting there were rich and poor, criminals and upstanding citizens, homeless and noble.

The thing that distinguished this group of people from the first group that were invited was the fact that they said, “yes” to the invitation. As a result, Jesus said that even though everyone is called, the only way to be chosen is to say, “yes” to the invitation. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “When you say yes, then I will choose you.”

The second part of this is even more disturbing to me. Verse 11 says that the king saw a guest (someone who had been invited) who was not wearing wedding clothes, and as a result he was thrown out of the banquet. This goes a step further. Some people will answer the call, but they just want to be with the “in” crowd. They don’t want to participate; they just want to be with the cool people at the party. Today we would call them “pew warmers”.

Just like the person who refused the invitation that person will not be chosen. Truthfully, according to this passage, that person cannot even enter the Kingdom of God. You see, when we say, “yes” to the call of God, we are agreeing to give ourselves completely to the will of God. We have to make ourselves ready to obey whatever He would ask us to do.

Have you been chosen by God? Do you want to be chosen by God? The ball is in your court. He is waiting for you to answer His call, and be willing to be a full participant in the furthering of His kingdom.

Lessons from Daniel (part 4): Rewards of Faith

In Daniel chapter 1 we looked at three ways that the enemy will try to destroy our walk with God. He will try to remove us from God’s presence, he will try to remove God from us, and he will try to get us to fall into temptation. But the first chapter of Daniel doesn’t end there. Rather, it ends by showing how Daniel was blessed because of his faith and his stand for God.

“To [Daniel] God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel….; so [he] entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned [him], he found [Daniel] ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.” (Daniel 1:17-21, NIV)

Daniel made the decision to stand firm in his faith, and he was rewarded with earthly knowledge and understanding as well as spiritual understanding and discernment. As a matter of fact we are told that his earthly wisdom was ten times greater than that of all the “wise men” of the land. Because of this Daniel was given a very high position in the king’s service even beyond the reign of the Babylonians and into the reign of the Medo-Persians.

The word of God is very clear that there are rewards for those who put their faith in God. Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “So do not throw away your confidence (bold stance); it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” It goes on to say in verse 39, “…we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”

You see, Daniel was determined not to shrink back from his faith in God, and because of that he was rewarded with both physical and spiritual blessings. It’s important to note in verse 39 that the phrase “shrink back” is directly related to destruction. The Greek translation of this is not a physical destruction, but a spiritual destruction. In other words, it is an eternity of separation from God.

I’m convinced that if Daniel had not made the decision to stand for God in his youth, he would have never been given another opportunity, and his soul would have perished. But thanks be to God, we live in an age of grace. If you have failed God in the past, or if you have previously shrunk back be encouraged because God is still holding out hope to you. You have a new opportunity TODAY to stand for God. No matter how difficult things get, no matter how the world may ridicule and persecute you, stand for God. When you do there is an assurance that you will be blessed with the rewards of God which surpass anything we could ever imagine. And remember the words of Hebrews 11:6 “….He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

"Courageous" in retrospect

Two days ago, I went with my family to see the movie Courageous. While this blog is not intended to be a movie review, I do want to mention a few things about it.

First of all I highly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. Even my 6 year old son liked it. If you don’t know anything about it, it was written, directed, and produced by a team from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. Sherwood has had 3 major motion pictures that they have released on very small budgets, and each one gets better than the last.

Some of you have already written this movie off because it is a “Christian” movie, but let me tell you the quality was outstanding. Others of you have already written it off because you feel that it won’t have enough action, blood, guts, swearing, or any of those other things that supposedly make for a great movie.

However, I can tell you first hand that this movie had some great suspenseful action. It made me laugh out loud more than most comedies I’ve watched; there were a couple of pretty intense fight scenes. And, yes, it tugged at my heartstrings, and I did not come away dry-eyed. (And for you TLC fans, there are also a couple of surprise cameo appearances.)

What Courageous did for me.
The main purpose of Courageous is to wake men up and inspire them to step up and be the husband and father that God has called them to be. And while I was definitely inspired in that area, that is not all of what the movie did for me.

There is a scene in the movie where the five main characters (all men) are sitting around a picnic table, and one of them asks the question, “So when did you know that you were a man?” A couple of the men were taken by surprise by the question, while the others knew immediately when they knew.

That question hit me hard. I am 35 years old, I’ve been married for almost 12 years, I have three children, and I still have never really felt like a man. I’ve accomplished some great things in my life, but I’ve always felt like I was just another kid in the crowd, and no one would take me seriously.

Society has taught us that if a male is not loud, tough, and take-charge then he is not a man. A man must love sports, he must shoot a certain amount of animals in his lifetime. He has to climb the ladder higher and faster than those around him, and he must be able to provide a large home and multiple cars for his family. If he falls short in any of these areas then he is reduced to what Hans and Franz would call a “girly-man”.

I don’t meet any of those criterion. I don’t like sports or hunting, I’m not an aggressive, take-charge person, and I have one car and no home. I love music, drama, and anything artsy. Over the years people have labeled me as a weak, second-class “girly-man”. Even as a minister, I have not been taken as seriously as other ministers (and at times I’ve even been teased and put down) because I prefer to minister through artistic ways such as music and drama.

Because of that I have pulled away from any type of close relationship with another man because I figure that they all see me the same. I figure they don't see me as a real man so I’m not worth their time. So I just stay to myself and do my required work then go home to my family that loves me regardless.

Having said all of that, Courageous is teaching me a lesson. I am learning that a man is not made by what he can accomplish or how big and bad he is. Manhood is not determined by any amount of money or possessions. A man is someone who loves God above anything else. He loves his wife unconditionally, and he would even lay down his life for his wife and family. A man is someone who loves his kids and trains them not in the ways of the world but in the ways of God.

So you can call me what you want. You can tease me and even put me down. But I know this one thing, I have a family that loves me and they love God. My kids are learning the word of God through the ways that we train and teach them. I know that my family will spend eternity with me in heaven and with Jesus, and that makes me a happy MAN.

Lessons from Daniel (part 3): Compromise

In my two previous posts we saw the first two ways that the enemy attacked Daniel. He tried to physically remove Daniel from the presence of God. When that didn't work, he tried to remove every trace of God from Daniel's life. Again, epic fail.

The final way we see that the enemy attacked Daniel was through temptation. Temptation is funny because it can come in so many ways. In this instance in Daniel Chapter 1, the temptation was not necessarily to sin, but merely to compromise.

Verse 5 tells us that the king assigned Daniel and all of the other young Hebrew slaves a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s own table. On the surface it seems like nothing would be wrong with that. They had a lot of work to do in their training, and they were going to need a lot of strength, and this was better food than they had probably ever had.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…”(v.8). I see two reasons why Daniel’s decision was so important. First of all, the food was probably food that was forbidden for Jews to eat. The king’s meat more than likely included pork. As we saw earlier, Daniel was always reminded of God’s judgment over his life, and he didn’t want to face the judgment of God for any reason. Still this probably wouldn’t have been so bad. After all, all of the other young men were eating the king’s food.

But, the second reason for Daniel’s resolve is the most important. I believe that Daniel recognized the temptation to compromise. Eating forbidden food might not have been the most evil thing in the world, but if he compromised and disobeyed God in this one, little thing then it would be much easier to compromise later in something bigger.

Compromise is one of the biggest killers out there because it will gradually lead you to your destruction without you even knowing it. The enemy knows that. He doesn’t stop attacking someone just because they are strong in their faith. He knows that the strong would not intentionally fall in to sin, so he will attack with things that might not even be sin.

I don’t say this to puff myself up, but I don’t listen to secular music at all. My radio station in my car will never deviate from a Christian station. And if I’m not listening to the radio then I am listening to a Christian CD. I know the power of music in my life. Being a musician, I am always looking for ways to grow and stretch myself. Unfortunately, Christian music sometimes has a reputation of being average or even below average when it comes to quality. But God has called me to use music for his glory, and I don’t want to allow anything in my life that would lead me to create music for any other reason. There are many Christians, and many Christian musicians that don’t agree with my decision, but that is one area of my life that I will not compromise.

As children of God we must always keep our faith in front of us. We need to make a conscious decision of what we will allow into our lives and what we will not. Daniel drew a line in the sand and in essence said, “I will not allow anything into my life that could possibly lead me away from God.” Why is this important? We all know the story of Daniel in the lion’s den (Chapter 6). I believe that if Daniel had allowed himself to compromise early on, we would never have this story because Daniel would have eventually fallen in with the rest of the crowd. But because of Daniel’s resolve in the small matter of the king’s food, he was later able to stand against the king and continue to pray to the God of Israel when it was politically incorrect.

Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but we are in a war against demonic powers. The only way that we can fight against them is to first decide to be strong in God’s power and stand firm in the full armor of God.

What areas have you allowed compromise into your life? Have you noticed yourself slowly drifting away from the Lord? Have you noticed yourself sin in ways that you thought you never would? I would venture to guess that if we could trace the origin of the sin, we could trace it back to a simple compromise that we allowed into our lives. It is time to put your foot down and draw a line in the sand and say, “No more! This is how I will live and I will not deviate from this path.” God will bless those who are faithful to Him, and there are great rewards for those who choose to stand for Him.