Hope for God’s Kingdom in a Dark World

Our nation is mourning, struggling to deal with horrific, unprovoked attacks on human life. We’re sickened by the evil and wonder where and when the next attack will be.

How can it happen in a safe place like WalMart? How can an activity be more innocent than buying school supplies? Too many questions go unanswered. Confusion and fear linger with the grief.

The violence must be stopped. Politicians and pundits offer answers that don’t satisfy. Reasons for the increase in mass shootings that are being pushed include mental illness, guns, racial strife, hatred, violent movies and video games, social media, loss of morals, immigration, the breakdown of families, and white males.

It’s complicated. The proposed topics could possibly be part of the problem, but I don’t believe that any are the cause.

We need to stop the carnage, but I don’t believe we looking deeply enough.

The first rule of battle is to know your enemy. What/who is the enemy leading the attacks?

Ephesians 6:12 lends a clue. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We won’t solve the problem by dealing with earthly problems when the battle is against the principalities and powers that rule the darkness of our age. The real battle is with hosts of wickedness. It is a spiritual battle.

What is the strategy of our enemy, the devil? What does he want to do?

According to Jesus, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (Jn. 10:10). He’s trying to destroy us, to kill us and is attacking on many fronts. Mass shootings are “the thief” in action.

God told Abram, “I am a shield to you” (Gen 15:1). Through covenant, that shield is still available to the children of God. Our nation was founded on Christian principles and many faithful followers remain. So, why does he have freedom to bring such destruction to our land?

It’s obvious that the effort to push God out of our culture opens the door for attack. But permission to kill innocent people has a more specific beginning.

I believe Satan was given authority to to kill in January 1973 when abortion was officially approved by the Supreme Court. On that day our nation gave its official sanction to murder the most helpless people among us.

The physical consequences of that decision are obvious. Millions of babies have lost their lives. But the effects are even bigger than the loss of individual lives. The value placed on life has also diminished.

Consequently, it is easier for someone to disrespect and put down those who disagree or get in their way. It’s also easier to deny them life itself. We see it happening to flesh and blood, but the battle is a spiritual one.

If we want to win the battle for life, we need to focus our energies against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

That seems like a formidable foe. One that makes me acutely aware of my neediness. I don’t want to combat principalities and powers of darkness in the flesh. For this battle, I need someone much more powerful than I. I want to be hidden in Christ and to fight in and through Him.

Jesus called us to represent Him on the earth. Furthermore, He set the example by defeating the enemy, but He leaves it to us to take dominion here.

Jesus said, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). We have the keys. In Jesus, we have authority to bind back the spirits of death and murder.

If we are intimidated and feel unqualified for that, we can pray like an archangel. Jude tells us, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, …, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 1:9). After all, He is the one with ultimate power and authority.

Furthermore, Jesus’ goal is in sharp contrast to the devil’s. He said, “I come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

I’m sick and tired of the senseless killings, and I know you are too. I want to support life, but have felt helpless to bring change, to bring life in the midst of the darkness.

Helplessness is cousin to hopelessness. If we’re feeling hopeless, it’s because the thief has stolen our hope.

We can’t just throw up our hands while the battle is raging—not if we want to win. We must put on our armor (Eph 6:11-18) and take our positions in the fight for light and life. We can begin by binding the spirits of conflict, darkness, death, destruction, and . . ., and loosing the spirits of life, love, joy, peace. . .. We can also ask the Lord to rebuke the enemy.

The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom. 14:17), as opposed to hatred, carnage and death. Let’s work together to see, “[His] kingdom come, [and His] will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10).

Time for Renovation

Have you noticed how God uses every day circumstances to speak into life? Our latest project is a case in point.

We’ve just begun remodeling our kitchen. We’re tearing out so we can rebuild. The ceiling, walls, and floor are all in various stages of disruption.

And I’m thrilled.

The kitchen has needed renovations for years and I’m grateful that the task has begun—in spite of the mess and challenges it brings. Our dining room has become a temporary kitchen, and we’ll live in make-do confusion for at least a month and likely longer.

At the moment there is a large hole in the ceiling, so the center portion can be raised and lights rearranged. Wallpaper is mostly stripped, flooring is mostly removed, extensive backsplash is partially stripped, and the sink—with surrounding cabinet—has been removed. In short, it’s a mess.

Furthermore, each step seems to be revealing unexpected complications. (Though I don’t know why challenges are a surprise, because it seems that all renovations include “unexpected” problems.)

Within a week of starting the project, Robert began our noon meal blessing with, “Lord, what have we gotten ourselves into?”

Also, within a week, in our Bible study, we considered Jesus’ words, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (Jn. 12:24-25).

Jesus was referring to spiritual matters, laying down our lives for Him, increase in the kingdom, and such. He was speaking of things that really matter in life, not about kitchens.

However, since I’m immersed in demolishing our kitchen, I was very aware that we could never have the kitchen we dream of if we hold onto (love) our former kitchen—whether because we choose the style or because we dreaded the mess, expense, and hard work.

That’s obvious, but the analogy showed me less apparent things as I considered it from the other perspective.

When we choose to trust our lives to Jesus Christ, we die to self to trust in Him. We choose to love Him more than ourselves, resulting in eternal life in Him and all that entails.

We are new beings in Him, but the transformation in our daily lives has just begun. The old doesn’t suddenly take on the full essence and expression of a new life.

We spend the rest of our lives being remodeled as He shapes us into His image.

The old things in our lives need to be removed to make room for the new. Sometimes it is messy. And complicated.

We run into unexpected problems we hadn’t been aware of, but they need to be fixed before we can move on in Him.

Sometimes, we don’t know how to fix the snags. We have to take it one step at a time, and maybe get counsel from someone with more experience and knowledge. (An short visit from a friend solved an electrical problem that baffled us.)

We may get weary, but we press on for the hope that is set before us.

With our kitchen, we’re committed. It’s now in total disrepair. If we want a functioning kitchen, we must press through.

In our lives, it isn’t that simple. Our God allows us to stay in chaos. It doesn’t matter what kind of mess we are, we can choose to say, “No. I’m not willing to go any deeper.” Or, “No, I’m not willing to open up to someone else about my problem.”

God wants the best for us, but we must choose to embrace the process of change in order to keep moving forward with Him.

It’s often hard and feels like death as we turn loose of our old nature. That’s probably why Jesus chose to tell His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Lk. 9:23).

We may have died to self to become a Christian, but to follow Jesus daily, we must deny ourselves and die daily, pressing through the hard and messy times.

The problem with our remodeling is that we don’t choose the time or the method. It usually happens through hardships. Whether through interruptions in our agenda, health issues, financial insecurity, or loss, we rarely invite those things into our lives. Neither do they come with a sign, “Time for Renovation.”

Consequently, we don’t immediately recognize them as an opportunity for our growth in Christlikeness. If, when we face adversity, we learn to look to God with expectancy–for His provision as well as for our growth and change–we’ll find a new measure of grace for the challenge. We’ll have added strength for pressing through.

As I type this, I’m taking a break from sweeping up and throwing away ripped up flooring, stripping wallpaper, and preparing a meal that required running between dining room, kitchen, and bathroom to meet all my needs. My body aches. I want to quit, but I press on because of my hope and dream of a new kitchen.

What is a measly kitchen compared to being all that the Lord wants me to be? I’m not even all I want me to be, much less what He envisions for me.

But I have a hope and dream of being more like Christ. If, in the midst of the project, I can be thrilled about a lowly kitchen, I surely can learn to be expectant and welcoming when it’s time for my personal renovation. How about you?

A Key for Keeping Resolutions

January is the time of making resolutions to overcome bad habits and sins, to change our behavior and become better. February to June is the time when those resolutions are often broken. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you want to be faithful to the commitment you make, there are a few guidelines.

Remember that we make our plans but God directs our paths. We can’t see what tomorrow will bring that could interrupt our efforts. However, if we are listening, we can hear when God convicts us that we need to make a change. If God directs a change, His grace will be available to carry it out. So, the first thing we need to do is make God part of the equation—from setting the goals all the way to completion.
Make all your efforts as a commitment to the Lord and look to Him for your reward. Seek to please Him. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive your reward” (Col. 3:23-24).
Ask the Lord for help along the way. When it’s tough, look to Him. When you fail, run to Him, repent, confess, and ask for help, When you succeed, give Him the praise and glory. He made us to be dependent on Him.

When you lose heart, remember that the Lord is sufficient to help you succeed. As an example, consider a resolution to overcome anger. God clearly tells us to get rid of anger. That would be a worthy goal for 2016.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:29,31).

Life is better without anger, and it’s clear that God doesn’t want any expression of anger left in our lives. He wants it all gone, all put away. If we’ve been convicted that we need to get rid of anger, we can expect to gain freedom.

But, it’s not that easy when faced with life situations that anger us. Anger is an emotion. It just happens. In fact, we might not make that resolution because we’ve tried and failed so often, that we have no hope of success.

Focus on our failures will defeat us. Instead of looking at the past and at our strength to prevail, we need to keep our eyes on God.

He is our hope. His grace is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9), and all things are possible through Him (Matt. 19:26, Lk. 18:27). He would not ask this of us if it were something that couldn’t happen.

But we we are not alone. God is with us, but we need to grasp His hand for the journey. It is through Him that all things are possible. If we keep our hopes on ourselves and our own efforts, we will probably fail. Only as we look to Him for our salvation and transformation do we find His grace sufficient.

Sometimes, after a failure, we become disappointed in God for not answering our prayers. However, if we run to Him only in the crisis, only when we have a pressing need, we will never fully tap into the grace that is available.

Our God is a relational God, not a problem solver on call. We grow in grace and strength and are conformed into His image through an intimate relationship with Him.

Jesus faced the ultimate abuse, and He never lost His temper or spoke a word in His own defense–but He maintained daily communion with His Father. He often slipped away for time alone with Him.

For whatever resolution we make or need we face, God’s strength is available. His grace is sufficient. The question is. Are we sufficiently related with Him?

(Adapted from Lesson One of Uprooting Anger: Destroying the Monster Within, a Bible study that will guide you through steps to overcome anger by walking with God through the journey.)

It’s Worth It All

For the last month, my life has revolved around home repair and remodeling. Normal duties have gotten cursory attention because of the chaos and distractions caused by remodeling. One day, meal preparation was so distracted that I forgot to season any of the dishes I prepared.

One of our projects was to replace the floor in the bathroom. We knew we had to pull up the old, lay down a backer board and put tile on top of that. We didn’t know that the old floor had twice as many nails in it as necessary, making it very difficult to pull out. Neither did we know that we would find rotting wood that required us to go even deeper.

We spent over a week preparing that floor for its transformation. (One 12-inch long, inch-and-a-half board had 13 nails in it.) As we labored, I realized how much upgrading a hundred-year-old house can be like making changes in our lives. I couldn’t help but compare it to a difficult time for me.

I went through a period when I was impatient and easily angered at Robert. I couldn’t seem to help myself and asked the Lord to fix me. The process was much like the bathroom. It consumed my life. Even when completing tasks at hand, my mind was distracted by chaos and upheaval. I wanted to avoid the pain and restore order and normalcy.

While knowing change needed to be made in my heart, that the old man would need to be removed. I didn’t know there was rot that needed to be dug out from deep within. Nor did I realize how painful and prolonged the process would be. I became hopeless, depressed, confused about who I was. It seemed God had deserted me.

But it was me that had deserted Him. God was faithful. He was working on me the whole time. He not only stayed beside me, He didn’t quit until His light revealed the rotten spots in my heart—the judgment and bitterness that were destroying my relationships.

He didn’t just cover them up and put a new tile on top, so I would look fixed. He went deep and dealt with the rottenness that was eating me up.

It was the most difficult time of my life. It hurt and I thought it would never end, but I’m grateful for every minute of it, because I love the transformation.

Not only did I get rid of judgment and bitterness, but I gained the ability to see when I’m tempted to judge or get bitter today. I don’t want to go down that path again, so I’m quick to work through those attitudes. Consequently, it’s easier to walk in righteousness in those areas. As a result, my relationships with God and others are sweeter and richer.

Because of that time, I am also more confident of God’s love for me. He really does work all things together for good—even when it feels like our very insides are being torn out.

We’re delighted with the new tile floor. We wish we had done it long ago. When we get a fresh coat of white paint on the cabinets and install the new window, it will look like a new room!

The same is true with transformation in our lives. The end product is always good if we hang in there and cooperate with Him until it is finished. It’s worth it all.

Robert & Kay Camenisch encouraging and equipping relationships