On maps you can always find dividing lines of states and countries and those lines are firm in place lines that are to be honored. In our Christian walk there are lines as well, and today's question is this "How Much Territory Have You Lost by giving up areas of your life to a worldly point of view. Daniel 1:8 But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.9 Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.10 But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.” Taking a stand for God can be difficult, especially if you are standing alone, but God is faithful to take care of you when you need it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were young jews from the tribe of Judah and they were selected to be brought to King Nebuchadnezzar because they were strong, healthy, and good-looking young men. They were grooming these young men to be an example of what could happen if they ate the Babylonians food, learned from their scholars, and dressed according to the King's style. Daniel was also one of these young men and he refused to defile himself with the food and training of the king into their way of thinking.
So they spent countless hours and money to train all of these men and then ask them, like all the others, to bow before a very tall gold idol when the horn blows. So the horn blows and it looks pretty obvious that none of those young men were bowing like everyone else. They were not going to bow to a pagan idol and so the king had the furnace heated to maximum and had them thrown in expecting them to be burned alive. To His surprise he saw four men in the furnace and they were walking around not burned at all and the king said "The one man looks like a god!" The king then went to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted.,"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here! " They stepped out of the fire and all saw that the fire had not touched them and they didn't even smell of smoke. They stood for their God and God protected them!
When was the last time you stood for God? In the condition of our country right now, you will have plenty of chances. The world is going to take more and more territory if we give it to them and we must stand by our convictions. But it is important to have convictions about eternity, morality, life, and many other things. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. Paul went on to say the following in the verse after these opening verses. 6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
So giving the world some of our territory is not a new problem, but it is still a problem. If we don't stand we will be overwhelmed by the attack of the world and we must stand, and stand I will. I have already given up too much of my territory and it is time to get it back , even though it may be very difficult. May you stand with me and we will challenge each other to move forward with the gospel message of hope. Just like the guardposts that don't let you into other countries if you don't have a passport for identification, we must be guarding our territory and making sure that we know who is trying to invade our territory with lies and deceit. Identify the enemy and stop them. Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren
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