Keeping Secrets

The older I get the more I realize that not everyone can handle everything that happens in a life. We do not purposely keep secrets, we are just a little selective in whom we share our intimate experiences with. The things we share bonds us together. Worship, actually true worship, is such an intimate vulnerable experience that it binds us together. "Let me sing of my Beloved, how He loves us, how we adore Him. He is fairer than ten thousand to my soul. I can't get enough of You, Jesus." This is the language of intimacy. This is an open heart letting it all hang out. Can we worship together consistently and not learn to love one another? How often I thought of someone: " I love how you love Him." I want to be swept up together with those that love Him to the point of pain. Tears streaming down our faces. Singing in English, Afrikaans, Spanish, tongues..... just singing and embracing Him with our voices and spirits. This is oneness, this is unity, this is the secret of Christians gathering together. This is why some of us risk life and livelihood to gather together.

When we gather together as one to adore Him, He starts to share His secrets with those who love Him and search for Him. We become aware of a new revelation, as fresh as a black forest chocolate cake that has to rest before it can be consumed...  Such is His secrets, His revelations, we have to let it sit inside of us and rest for a while. Let it percolate. Steep your soul in His words. Let it drench you. Let it become part of you. Keep it untill it becomes a river inside of you. Hold it untill it burns like fire shut up in your bones.

Then when He moves you, share it with those He wants in to the secret. Let Him direct your passion. Let the full body of the wine of His Spirit flow from you to the thirsty soul. See how the parts of you that have been soaked up in Him are changed and how it now has power to bring life.

Two year olds, toddlers, do not have the ability to immerse in something. They scatter things. The run through a room like a tornado. How many secrets can they keep? None. How long will we stay babes, infants, toddlers... not able to hear or keep His secrets.

"Jesus, here I am Your favorite one.
What are You thinking what are You feeling I'd like to know.
I am after Your heart!
I'm after You."

The Weapons of our Warfare

"For though we walk in the flesh, as mortal men/people, we are not on our warfare according to the flesh and using weapons of carnality. The weapons of our warfare are not physical - of flesh/carnal. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

These weapons are not the same as the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6. These are spiritual weapons that makes no sense in the flesh. They are to defeat and destroy the fortresses in the soul, the life of a human being. Look at what it says:" We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every lofty, exalted, proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. These things have become strongholds inside of people to keep them from walking in an intimate, close relationship with God and to enjoy the fellowship in Jesus Christ of other people.

Weapons are useless and even dangerous in the hands of someone who do not know how to use them. I was maybe 10 when I fired my first rifle. Surprisingly, I had a natural aptitude for being accurate with firearms. Later on, I could reach targets with reasonable accuracy but I would be useless in a gun battle because this skill was never developed. A person skilled has to keep practicing every day to keep their skills up and current. Concert musicians practise every day to keep the quality of their performance at best. Athletes does the same and so does soldiers. We are in a war of eternal consequences. How much more do we have to hone our skills at using the weapons of our warfare? We need training in using these weapons and using them well. We need mentors and trainers to help us be effective. I used to be enthralled at the fencing skills of the knights in medieval movies. It takes some practise to stay out of the way of a blade coming towards you that hard and fast.

What are these weapons?

The first and most important one is Love; Godly, self-sacrificing, agape love. It is the same love that God the Father manifested when He sent His Only begotten Son to die in our place. It is given to us when the Holy Spirit is deposited in our hearts. Romans 5:5

How is Love a weapon? It destroys strongholds, fortresses of rejection, abandonment, incorrect self image, lies and a myriad of other internal flaws. It comes at a hardened heart that cannot feel anymore or to a high minded, arrogant, proud mind and melts these things away. It disarms and creates vulnerability. This kind of love does not give up. It stays no matter the return. Just follow the history of God and Israel. This is Godly love as a weapon.

There is much written in the New Testament about this. Love, this God-kind-of-love is the theme of the Gospel of John, the First Epistle of John and of course the 13 chapter of 1 Corinthians. It sometimes takes a lifetime to learn how to skillfully love; how to have His love flow through us to those who needs it. His love in the heart of a human who are skilled in letting that love reach out to others, is a weapon of mass destruction to the works of the enemy. Love lifts us up. Love heals. Love validates us. Love conquers fear. Love makes us whole and gives us a hope and vision for  the future. It asks nothing in return. It has no strings attached. This is weaponized love.

The second, that comes as a companion to the first, is unity. Colossians 3:14 O, how inept are we at using this weapon. We are weak-wristed, dropping this weapon, and with so little skill end up wounded and destroyed. Unity, the true unity of spirit brings a blessing from God. Psalm 133 It fortifies against assault from the enemy and ward of temptation much like the herds on the African plain keep the weak and young in the middle. Unity that has been practised to the level of mastery will not allow offense to set in. It does  not allow stranglers or straying. Unity deals with issues in a mature and Godly way to keep darkness out of the camp. Unity reflects the Divine Trinity in our midst and it multiplies our strength. Unity is like a vacuum cleaner against the enemy's broom.

This weapon is not easy to master since there are many levels of unity. It is easy to pervert and unify around offense, issue or opposition. Unity is modeled in the life of Old Testament Israel and spoken about quite often in the  New Testament. Jesus prayed in John 17 for unity amongst His disciples. Paul writes about it in Ephesians 4. Interesting how people use this very chapter to justify their elitism and divisiveness.

Unity as a weapon puts the enemy out of the camp. It protects and brings a blessing from God.

Another weapon, spiritual weapon, is peace. It is told that when Wesley traveled to America via ship there were some Moravian Christians on the ship. During a particular nasty storm these Christians behaved in such a peaceful way that it impacted Wesley, founder of the Methodist denomination.

Peace takes skill to develop because there are a few counterfeits. Even Jesus mentions it:" Peace I give you, My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives, do I give to you." He continues to warn against letting your heart be troubled and fearful. Now this takes practise. It is easy to run around in hysteria and be swept away by every wind of drama. It is easy to be afraid, anxious and letting the storms of life take over our souls.

His peace rules and reigns if we let it. We have to allow peace into our souls and guard it to keep it there. It is like the armory on a military base, worth protecting.
We practise peace by being on guard about the things we allow into our mind, heart and life. When it robs you of your peace, you are not skilled  in this weapon. You can refuse to be robbed. You can keep the thieves out.

Peace keeps us from making hasty, wrongly motivated decisions. Peace keeps us from running in wrong directions. Peace umpire our hearts in teaching us to listen to God's voice. Peace guides, protects and leads. Peace is an effective weapon against the war, divisions and destruction of the enemy. When peace keeps us from fighting his way, we win.

The last weapon I would like to highlight.....and there are many more.....  is Faithfulness. Faithfulness says:"I will not quit. I have put my hand to the plough. I am not looking back. Faithfulness as a weapon destroys the enemy's  plan to destroy our destiny in God. If we get skilled in faithfulness we will receive our reward in the end. This is a difficult weapon to master because there is no immediate satisfaction. The victories are not easily noticed. We kind of wake up one day and  realize that a stronghold has  fallen. This has something to do with covenants, commitments and the courage to not give up when the  going gets hard. It has a bit of a stubborn streak.

Faithfulness works with every one  of the other weapons mentioned here and skillfulness in this will strengthen the mastery of the others. We are faithful when we love and keep on loving. We use faithfulness when we endeavor to keep the peace and not be swayed to walk away. We use faithfulness to keep the unity of the saints when we remember our covenant of oneness before God.

The weapons of our warfare are handed down to us by our Master and Commander in Chief. It is however, our responsibility to practise and master the skills. We pray and ask God to reveal to us other weapons of spiritual warfare but also to show  us how to use these skillfully to defeat the enemy in our own souls and also in the Body of Christ.