Enemy on a mission

Satan’s mission and strategy
A little while back my friend Matthijs wrote something on his weblog that I found very interesting and helpful. It was about Satan's mission and the strategies he uses to accomplish his goal. The enemy doesn't get a whole lot of attention on my blog, but knowing and recognizing his cunning ways is essential if we want to grow in our Christian walk and even more so if working on a dream or assignment! I roughly translated his post:

Mission: take possession of God’s creation
Strategy 1: through distraction prevent people from coming to Christ. If, however, they manage to do so, strategy 2 follows.
Strategy 2: Through distraction prevent the Christians from discovering their personal destiny, their identity and their talents. If, however, they manage to do so, strategy 3 follows.
Strategy 3: through discouragement prevent Christians from reaching their personal destiny. If, however, they manage to do so, strategy 4 follows.
Strategy 4: through separation, division and conflict prevent them from becoming a unity. If, however, they manage to do so, strategy 5 follows.
Strategy 5: Mix their talents and their worship with pride, egoism, fear and jealousy. If, for whatever reason, this has no effect, leave them alone.

Always know where you are and never, ever give up. God’s Kingdom is breaking through with force. Stay connected with Him and you will come through every obstacle.

Land of 'no effort'

Who wants the prize without a fight?

While working out at my gym I heard an ad on the radio. It talked about a program that would have your 3-year old read like a 3rd grader in no time, no effort… really! It struck me as odd that the promise to accomplish a goal without effort would be attractive to anyone. Who wants the prize without the fight, the glory without the blood, sweat and tears? And yet, we seem to live in a land of ‘no effort’. Loose weight without a diet! Now, you can have a great body without exercise! Learn another language in no time! Well, you know what I mean…

I wonder, even if it would be possible to reach a goal without working for it, what would be the fun? Why would we even be tempted by promises that clearly go against Kingdom principles? Jesus said, make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Every effort, right?! There is not even such a thing as little or half effort, let alone NO effort! The Bible goes on to say in Romans 14:19,

- Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification

- Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)

- Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy (Hebr. 12:14)

Based on these scriptures I feel free to say that an effortless life is an ungodly life.
We can do nothing to earn our salvation, but we can do everything to make it a lifestyle!