Long before the next growing season, the master gardener carefully selects the desired seeds to be used for the next crop. These ideal seeds are chosen, inspected, and later planted into the prepared soil with the expectation that they will produce. Nevertheless, because of the dangers of disease, insects, and uncontrollable weather, not all of the selected seeds will produce. Moreover, just like these preferred seeds, the chosen of God have been planted into the soil of humanity with the same expectation to produce. However, because of the cares of life as well as much worldly opposition, some of the chosen of God have decided to remain unseen by the enemy. These truant children of God have blended into the fabric of our society like weeds hiding out in the wheat field. Of course, they still do not tell dirty jokes and certainly do not gossip; but they also never produce a spiritual harvest that would identify them as being a part of the household of God.
These carnal minded men and women remain covertly concealed because they value their reputations or even their jobs more than their position as the chosen of God. For them, it is very trying to make a stand as well as walk according to the Scriptures. For the underdeveloped men and women of God, it is very difficult because we live in a world that is hostile to our Godly life walk. As the Chosen of God, it’s hard to hold onto our convictions for fear of what the world will do to us unless we continue to nourish ourselves on the entire word of God. As the chosen of God, we are in a fight for our spiritual life. Therefore, we need to be strong in order to fight against our spiritual enemies. Since, God is the only powerful supernatural spiritual force available to help us fight against Lucifer and his evil followers, let us first strengthen ourselves according to the word of God. When we stand upon the Gospel of Christ, we can stand for God and God will stand for us. Paul suggests that the gospel is something that we are to hold firmly to because our grip on the gospel will determine our faith. Therefore, our grip on or understanding of the meat of the gospel should be just as important to us as drinking the nourishing milk of the word of God.
As babies in our life walk and for the sake of our spiritual growth, we suckled upon the nourishing milk of the gospel that we receive every Sunday from the organized church. Nevertheless, for the benefit of humanity and to strengthen us in our life walk, God instructs us to daily dine upon the meat of the word of God. We must eat the meat to be strengthened as we fight a spiritual battle for our minds and lives. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that our fight is not against flesh and blood rather we battle an evil spiritual force led by Lucifer and he is an opponent that should be encounter only after a fortifying conversation with God. James 4:7 counsels us to submit to God; resist the devil and he will flee from us. Before the chosen of God can successfully challenge Lucifer or his forces, we must not only hear but also understand these truths or the pieces of meat found in the word of God. By dining upon the meat of the gospel of Christ, we submit our minds to the Spirit of God and his wisdom.
As the Chosen of God, we must first consult God because although defeated, Lucifer is still a vicious fighter. Furthermore, God is the only one that can fight Lucifer and God will win. Moreover, Lucifer is describes as a roaring lion because of his viciousness. He and his army of demons attack the spiritually sick, the underdeveloped, and the spiritually malnourished that are just straggling along behind the pack. Lucifer will devour those that are not alert and are wandering through life as if they were a cloud drifting across the sky. These people fall for unsound doctrine, follow false prophets, and only have a form of righteousness but lack the godliness that comes with a right standing before God. However, as the chosen of God, we need to be aware of Lucifer’s position, activities, and tricks in these last days. Lucifer will try to deceive even the elect of God, except God will shorten the last days. Paul calls on us to examine ourselves because even the chosen of God can be deceived. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul gives each of us a challenge. He says, ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you; unless, of course, you fail the test?’
Before God ejected Adam and Eve from the Garden of Humanities Beginnings for failing their test against Lucifer, our spiritual being was encased inside a physical body. As the result of being placed outside the protective hedge of the garden, mankind became involved in a constant physical struggle to survive and embroiled in a great spiritual war against the principalities, powers, and wickedness that ruled the earth. In our modern society, we have developed advance weapons to protect us from our physical adversaries. However, in our spiritual war we constantly wage against Lucifer and our wicked spiritual foes, the power of God is the only supernatural armament needed. Likewise, when our physical circumstances and prosecutions offer us no relief; when our wisdom and intellect reveal no answers, the divine power of God can be used by the chosen of God to aid us. However, this power comes only because of the living Word of God. Additionally, the power of God can only be deployed through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. Therefore, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God are our partners in our fight to physically and spiritually stand. When we use them, we become victorious in our spiritual war against Lucifer and stronger in our stand against our physical enemies.
In this spiritual war, we are trained to be soldiers and are outfitted by God to use our spiritual arsenal. We use or deploy our defenses by accepting and believing according to what the Scriptures reveals. Accepting means that we understand what God said is what God means. Believing means that we know God will do what He said He will do. Once we accept and believe the Scriptures, we can follow the way of Jesus. As we do, many trials and tribulations will come against us; however the Holy Spirit of God will show and help us to ask for the power of God to intervene on our behalf. However, when we receive the power of God, it is only because we asked according to the Scriptures because as the chosen of God, we believe according to the Scriptures and live according to the Scriptures.
Moreover, accepting and believing according to the Scriptures is the most important lesson that the life of Jesus reveals to us. As Paul states in I Corinthians 15: 3-4, ‘For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’ Jesus, the Christ lived, died, was buried, and was raised according to the Scriptures just so we can also live, die, be buried, and raised according to the Scriptures. As Peter states in I Peter 2: 21-25, ‘To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.’
Therefore, as the men and women chosen by God, the Holy Spirit of God is dispatched to help us to become all we can be according to the Scriptures. On our journey toward the mountaintop, there are many things that we will do however our development from babes in Christ into the men and women chosen by God starts with our humility. God instructs us in II Chronicles 7:14 with these words, ‘if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ To be humble means we do not think nor act as if we are more than we were created to be according to the Scripture. It means we understand that God identifies us as either saved or unsaved because with God there is no in between. Humility means that we understand that we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God to help us do God’s will. The Holy Spirit of God helps us to work for God as we live our lives. He allows us to see life from the viewpoint of God and understand our purpose inside the household of God. Through the Holy Spirit of God, what we perceive, we achieve as long as it is within the will of God. God made the promise to Abraham and He intends to keep His promise. We, the saved children of God, are the result of that promise. However, our salvation is not the end of our journey. We are saved for a purpose. This purpose is to seek and save that which is lost. This is our stand because we stand according to the Holy Scriptures of God.
