“O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.” – Psalm 51:15-17 (NKJV)
I have often said that if any Christian is still wearing shiny new armor years after their salvation call, then they ain’t fightin’ the same battles I am. My armor has been gettin’ beat up ever since I put it on, and I’ll be honest here, sometimes this armor is just too heavy to wear and I really feel like taking it off. “Man, if I could just get this helmet off, I could breathe easier” is a lie I usually tell myself to justify the simple fact that I ain’t in the mood to go to battle in the everyday occurrences known as life. However, I do realize this one simple fact, because of sin, life is war…so I put the helmet on anyway and press on.
When we see the world we’re living in, it’s easy to notice that because of sin, life is war. There is no doubt that things aren’t the way the Creator meant them to be. The destructive nature of sin has indeed caused chaos within the environment, too hot or too cold. We don’t need any members of our government to tell us that. Our current pattern of culture definitely shows us that “Do what thou wilt” is the whole of its law and it’s showing no boundaries that it won’t cross. And just like genders, we have folks adding jots and tittles to Scripture. Basically, this world is a complete hot mess.
When we see what Paul wrote in Romans 8:19-25 there are three things outstanding that can best describe our present world, “subjected to futility”, “bondage to corruption” (decay) and “in the pains of childbirth”. Now, if this was Paul’s description of his present state of the world back in 57 A.D., it’s no wonder he was telling his audiences of their need for a Savior. It was gonna take and is still gonna take the redeeming power of Jesus Christ to undo what Adam done did. “Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” Thanx Adam!!
“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.” – Romans 7:21-23
After his heinous transgression with Bathsheba, Uraih and Israel, David probably coulda related to exactly what Paul says in Romans 7:14-21. We need to take a hard look at how David felt when we look at Psalm 51 and see how boils it down, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.” (Psalm 51:3, emphasis mine) Once we acknowledge how much we have sinned against a holy God, those things I shared the last time, David’s cry of contrition, his cry for cleansing and his cry of consecration need to be made our own. We don’t wanna get caught up in saying, “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.” (Psalm 32:3) This isn’t a really edifying position to be in.
As I wrap up my time today (and this little series) allow me to encourage you to keep that sin list short and to stay on the part of the road that doesn’t justify transgression. Do what the apostle Paul encouraged the Ephesians to do and “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, TO STAND.” (Ephesians 6:13) Yes armor is heavy but I seem to remember something Jesus said, “’Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Nothing would please the adversary more than you waking up one morning and not feeling like puttin’ on a belt and a comfortable pair of shoes. Let alone grabbing a shield and a sword, pray and then, by all means PUT THAT HELMET ON!! You’re at war, either for El Elyon or for the guy trying to say “I WILL ASCEND.” All that’s left for that guy is the lake of fire because, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.” (Psalm 32:10) Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a child of El Elyon, a son, a husband, a father, who has an education in Biblical Doctrine and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy 2003. He also has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can e-mail him at cphughes515@verizon.net
