Friendly Fire 2… Stop, Drop, and Rock ‘n Roll !

Genesis 4:6 the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

We do indeed have an enemy. We do indeed have a powerful enemy. We do indeed have a persistent enemy. We do indeed have an ingenious enemy who not only sends FLAMING arrows – weapons of mass destruction, he uses our own lusts, our own lives and our own friends and family to plant bombs – ticking time bombs – set to trigger at times we are unaware and unprepared for an attack. Set to trigger at those times we are most pleased with the life we have planned, created, and enjoying… the life we KNOW is God-given because we tell Him so.

As I wrote last week, I am not a fan of suffering the first degree burns the  enemy sends into our life. I hate him for the devastation and destruction he gleefully heaps upon us and our world. His weapons do have power and ability to cause tremendous pain and suffering (to the point of death), I don’t pretend nor demand anyone else to pretend it doesn’t hurt! IT HURTS!

But… worse than any weapon our enemy can and does create… using our own bodies – our own ways – our own loved ones as both the bomb and the trigger (what I call Friendly Fire) is the ultimate victory for him.

If we are aware of who he is and how he operates, we can spot his weapons and war tactics. We cannot always stop them from hitting and wounding but we can SEE his future demise. We can SEE WHO WINS

When he is crouching at our door and disguising himself as a friend, it is more difficult to identify the enemy and way more difficult to call for the hand to hand combat when it might be ourselves and/or our loved ones we must battle.

It’s one thing to watch Satan fall like lightning (Luke 10:18), it’s quite another when we must watch (and help) the Holy Spirit destroy the carefully erected strongholds of lust and pride.

Just as with the enemy, we must recognize and identify… If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? Then we must master it – allow me to use a word we might understand better… we must STOP it!

In my experience – with myself – I have found that I need simpler directions. In my younger days, when I perceived myself as a WARRIOR in training, I imagined that I was becoming the ultimate fighting machine with the power and authority to COMMAND/SEND/KILL … so…  I did. I was becoming a Jedi Master… by the grace of God – of course! Not only did I not STOP my occasional friendly fire, I continued to build stronger strongholds of lust and pride.

I have learned since, I must STOP being the WARRIOR and DROP in submission to my Lord and my God. I am a warrior IN TRAINING.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

We must STOP helping our enemy… We must DROP to our knees in submission to God’s Will and His Work.

Finally, to fight both the flaming missiles of our enemy and the “friendly”fire from our natural man, we must… hears these words God (the ROCK) and act on them (roll WITH THEM)… we must ROCK ‘N ROLL

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 

We have an enemy and his name is evil! No matter what your status or lifestyle, or spiritual maturity, the rain does fall – the floods do come – and the wind does slam against the house.

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Wise or foolish… you decide.  

Whether it is flaming missiles directly from our enemy, or friendly fire from those (including self) we love… our enemy is crouching at the door; and his desire is for you…

Will you lift up your shield of faith showing him WHO you believe and WHAT you will do in His name?

Or will hear but think YOU can mitigate the damage and still hoard the sinking/stinking sand of your old nature – lust of the eye – lust of the flesh – the pride of life?

Just so you know… our enemy knows the difference… maybe even better than we do!

Stop… Drop… and… Rock ‘n Roll!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible