Before I started Isaiah 1:18 Ministries I did a personal blog with the desire to be a full time author. I blogged about my hobbies and interests but as I let God lead me I came to write more and more about spiritual matters in the world. And it was after this had continued that I decided to follow the prompting to create this website because my mind would never stop thinking deeply about these subjects.
In the past my Mom told me that she could notice the difference in what I wrote. Some pieces were just me writing on my own and others she said were noticeably inbreathed with Holy Spirit and his power. It is why I choose to go on breaks in those years and dive deep into the word and to crave His guidance. This is why there will be times when this site appears inactive and you don’t get the regular flow of thought of articles in your email.
We as Christians need to abide in Christ as He tells us in the fifteenth chapter of John using the analogy of a fruit vine that has offshooting branches which produce fruit. Our ability to do this requires us to draw on Christ continually because we live in a world of darkness as John makes clear at the beginning of his gospel by describing Christ as the light.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:1-5 (NIV)
Christ also describes Himself as light when he is teaching Nicodemus who came to Him with questions and a desire to understand what was being taught. This whole account is in John chapter three if you’d like to read it on your own time. But the verse speaking about light and darkness starts at verse 16 and continues to verse 21 which ends the section about Jesus and Nicodemus’ meeting.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
John 3:16-21 (NIV)
Jesus would once again bring up the fact that the world is hostile in spirit to Christians in later chapters but before I continue with those chapters I want to make one thing clear. It is the “Spirit of this World” that’s hostile, not the people. And this distinction is important because it is about how we characterize others.
All people have eternity on their hearts as it is written by Solomon in his book Ecclesiastes but not everyone recognizes it. To someone not interested in the topic of religion or things pertaining to more than just our physical being they might say they have a desire to do something grand to be remembered. But those who are a bit more open to there being more to existence might say that they have some feeling or pull that urges them on in pursuit of something that could best be described as “more.” And there are countless religions from history that have been formed and forgotten as time passed. What these people have in common is that they are seeking for a deep longing to be fulfilled. People go to social gatherings because they want to be part of something and hope it is found in the activity.
But the spirit which is active in our world is that of Satan and his legions who are purposefully leading people astray. When they have a successful hold on a thing, person, or group that is continuing to draw people away from the life of Christ they will mount resistance and challenge it. There are two reasons for the hostility by Satan. First it’s that it is drawing people away from worshipping him and the second is that people are being saved from hell which brings joy to God.
People can actually be pretty conversational when approached properly. One of my most stalwart intellectual opponents in High School could be quite reasonable when we spoke. Even if he at times took me to unexpected places of questioning. But there was more to our relationship than just debate. We had shared hobbies and interests and while we didn’t speak outside of the time before school started and when we had free time during class that was allowed for discussion with each other we still could relate on some stuff. And I think this is what allowed for some work to be done on his soul to open him up a little bit. I don’t know where he or any of the others I was a witness to during High School are but I trust that God will send others to continue the process of nurturing those truth seeds.
But whether a person knows it or not,they are susceptible to the misleadings of demons and can go astray when they aren’t in firm alignment with God and actively work to maintain it. That is why there can come opposition in more forms than just a disagreement when it feels like the person you care about is putting up a stone wall to accept Christ. When Jesus spoke to the disciples in His Last Lecture, which takes place from John chapter thirteen to chapter seventeen, He addressed this directly saying thus;
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”
John 15:18-20 (NIV)
He brings up an important fact that we often miss as well. Specifically that we are servants of Christ and are not greater than Him. Thus what He experienced be it good or bad we are also fair game to experience in our lives. That is why we must continue to keep our eyes on Him. As the Magi followed the star to Bethlehem in Judea so too must we keep our eyes on what scripture teaches because it keeps us sharp and lets us know how to distinguish right from wrong. It is the bread of life and provides us strength just as Jesus told Satan “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word of God.”
That is why I will take the breaks to focus on replanting myself in the word and ensuring I am taken care of spiritually. When someone writes things like these articles we become teachers to those who read and thus fall under a higher scrutiny by God because we will have an influence on the eternal destination of those who apply the teachings. While many may pursue the role of a teacher and leader for the glory they would be better served passing it up out of respect for the responsibility that comes with it.
I will say that for teachers, and those with influence, it becomes even more vital that they keep their eyes focussed on the true teachings of God because of what they can do. By our actions or inactions we are bringing people closer or further from a good relationship with Him and that will impact their eternity. To others we must be gentle but not without strength and conviction to stand on the truth and direct people in the right direction. It requires patience and all of the other “Fruits of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23 but they need us to remain in the word and for God’s Spirit to have freedom in our lives.
Until next time,
Courage and Godspeed!