The Devotional – 159 – Philippians 4:13

The Devotional – 159 – Philippians 4:13

 

Launching from a thought of J.I. Packer “Christian doctrine is grace and Christian living is gratitude” I say that – “Jesus is Grace and living with Him is gratitude”   Philippians 4:21-23

 

Comments and Challenges

I was just thinking this morning of how easy it is to be “double minded”. Some years ago when it was against Navy Regulations to have pornographic material onboard any Navy vessel, I opened one of our less used “parts locker” and found fifty-two magazines of various filth.

The locker normally contained repair parts that seldom failed so some keen sailor or sailors knew how to override the lock (an easy task, by the way) and used the locker to hide their morally unrestrained (licentious) behavior.  Some would agree with those sailors that in the light of reprimand or some other action; hiding ones behavior is “good”! “Humbug”!

There was an investigation of who may have been responsible, but there was little proof so the matter was dropped into the ship’s TDU (Trash Disposal Unit). Here is the rub – in the search for the person or persons, the material of filth found its way through the Chief’s quarters, the Officer’s quarters and into the Captain’s cabin. Each of these temporary lay over stations were obviously challenged by the double-mindedness of man.

Believer and unbeliever alike were being confronted with immorality that actually crippled the ship’s main objective, making all on board vulnerable to satanic influence. How do I know this? Good question! The conversation on board any navy vessel is less than pure on any given day; but when it becomes common knowledge of someone’s impurity even if you do not know who that one is, then this becomes the common conversation of the days ahead.

Now we do not normally dwell of “stuff” like this and that is good, but we should be knowledgeable in our heart of hearts to be careful. The believer in Jesus Christ suffers in much the same manner as the LORD Jesus. Today; saints of Jesus Christ are seeing increased rejection from the elders of the world system and from the religious factions rapidly creeping into our country these days.

Under the cloak of “human good” or “false religious piety” people are increasingly seeking neutralize “faith in God” when we speak openly about “faith in Jesus Christ” they actually say rebuking words that sound much like the words of Peter in Mark 8:31-33. And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him for talking about His rejection, death and resurrection.

The faithful believer has “TWO” front lines of battle. One is the battle of influence from secular human viewpoint that says; times have changed, now it is okay to be okay about the sexual viewpoints of others and, Two is the battle to keep the double mind from penetrating the church doctrines of the grace of God and pure faith. Galatians 2:20-21.