Active Christianity

Yesterday Jim posted about resisting and receiving. There are certain things that the Bible tells us to resist and others we are to receive. This implies action on our part. We have to do something in order to live the Christian life sucessfully. If we choose to sit idly by, we will not receive what God has for us, and we will live lives without meaning or purpose. What a waste!

Everyday, Christians die who never fulfilled their destiny, They left earth without tapping into their potential and without fighting a real fight of faith. They got saved and they held on until they went to heaven. They sat at the side of life’s highway and let it pass them by. Not much was accomplished by them except they escaped hell. That isn’t what God has in mind for any of us. We are to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:8 (New American Standard Bible, NASB)

Christianity is not a spectator sport. The only way to win over the schemes of the enemy is to actively resist him and fight the fight of faith- to win. We have been give weapons and we are to use them- weapons like prayer, worship, and authority. All of these things give the devil a migraine- if we use them.

So many of us want soemone else to pray for us, to declare victory over us, to resist the devil on our behalf. While there is benefit in having someone pray for you, there s more power in praying yourself and having someone agree with you. It is up to each of us to give the devil a knuckle sandwich with our praise and worship, to wrap Him over the head with the Word of God spoken out of our mouths, to send him packing with our decrees of authority, and to keep him under our feet by standing strong in faith. Our faithful endurance is what will win us the prize.

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, II Corinthians 10:4 (Amplified Bible Classic Edition, AMPC)

We have great and powerful weaponry, but it won’t do any good if we decide to sit out the fight. Choose to stand against the enemy and decide to be in this for the long run. If we make the effort to fight the enemy and have no plans to quit, we’ll receive what we’re believing for. That’s the result of active Christianity, not passive Chrsitanity.