Assault on Healthy Relationships
Have you considered the practical implication of Jesus’ response when He was asked which are the most important commandments?
I recommend a brief opening prayer to you…
Lord Jesus, you stressed the importance of God-honoring relationships. Lord, you know those of us who are afraid of relationship. Help us Lord to focus on our relationship to God and those around us.
In this post I would like to focus on two simple passages of scripture. As you might have guessed already, this post will discuss the victory Jesus intends EVERY believer to walk in while we’re still in the earth. Upon hearing my previous statement, the first thought that might come to mind is, well, I really do believe we should be walking in victory but I don’t see it happening around me. As a matter of fact, it looks like things are going in the opposite direction. If your initial response is something similar, please read on.
Consider the following passages of scripture:
Whoever sins against me harms himself
Proverbs 8:36a (God’s Word Bible)They treat my people’s wounds as though they were not serious, saying, ‘Everything is alright! Everything is alright!’ But it’s not alright
Jeremiah 6:14 (God’s Word Bible)
Well, the passage from Proverbs above clearly reveals one way we as God’s children become wounded. This is clearly the reason the Word of God is referred to as a lamp and a light. Have you ever stumped your toe because you were attempting to navigate some area in the dark? Well, according to the passage from Proverbs above, in the realm of the spirit, attempting to operate as a believer apart from God is sure to bring us harm. Let’s take a look at the next passage.
Now, I pulled one verse out of the context of a larger narrative where God is really attempting to warn the people that destruction is coming, but some of the spiritual leaders of that time where telling the people war would not come. Instead they lulled the people into complacency by telling them to expect peace. So God reveals war to the Prophet but those who opposed God prophesied peace. That’s really not what I want to focus on in this post.
What I want to focus on is the fact that the people have been wounded and by not addressing the wound properly, the people had no idea of the impending danger. The King James version of the bible says that the false words of these men healed the hurts of the people SLIGHTLY. This is so significant, I don’t want you to miss it. Telling someone they are okay when in reality they are truly wounded, is worse than doing nothing at all.
Let’s consider a natural example to better understand why. Say a friend of yours happens to be near a car with the hood up and all of a sudden a loud bang and metal pieces start flying everywhere from the engine. Your friend realizes that a piece of the metal has punctured their shoulder, and is still inside your friend. You both immediately rush to the hospital. However, when you get there the attending physician listens to the story, looks at the wound, cleans the blood and puts a band-aid on the wound and sends your friend home.
Would you leave it at that? No…why? Of course, because the piece of metal was never removed. So although the blood was cleaned and the wound looked good from the outside, leaving the metal inside would ultimately cause much more harm than good to your friend. Well, the passage from Jeremiah clearly tells us that telling a person they are alright when they’re not has the same harmful consequences.
So, we suffer wounds when we’re unwilling to do things according to the pattern set forth in the Word of God. Then, if the wound is glossed over as not being serious, we run the risk of suffering greater damage. Now I ask you to consider the final passage of scripture.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death
Revelation 12:11 (NIV)
We have heard and probably read this passage of scripture many times over. I want to kindly remind you of the topic of this post, the victorious lives Jesus intends for us to live on earth…NOW!
Let’s take a quick look at the pattern set by those who will escape Satan’s wrath during the tribulation. I look at it this way, if the people during the last 3 and a half years of the Great Tribulation can overcome Satan using this warfare strategy, it must be mighty powerful during the Church age.
- They overcame the accusations and attacks of Satan by the blood of the Lamb. This represents all that Jesus did for us. This part really doesn’t involve us at all and was complete when Jesus sprinkled the blood on the alter of the tabernacle in heaven.
- They overcame the accusations and attacks of Satan by the word of their testimony. Hmmmm, this one doesn’t involve us doing anything either other than telling others what God has done.
- Finally they overcame the accusations and attacks of Satan by being willing to sacrifice their physical lives on earth in service to the King of Glory (Jesus). The sacrifice of a life doesn’t always mean a physical death. Many times it simply means being willing to endure the backlash that comes when we take the risk of helping those we know are severely wounded. The book of Proverbs tells us quite clearly that many times speaking the truth to wounded people will actually cause the speaker to suffer wounds or even death; as we see in the fate of the Old Testament prophets. You do remember how Jesus recalled the fate of many of God’s Prophets in the Old Testament right? Matthew 23:31
The third warfare strategy is the one I want to focus on. Of the three, it is the only one that purely involves the human will. It’s important at this point that we recognize that according to the Greek text, all three are required to obtain victory.
Now, during the great tribulation, physical death will be a reality for many believers. However, I want to suggest that this strategy has power today to guarantee our victory, even though many of us especially in the United States, rarely face the prospect of physical death for our belief in Jesus. The time has arrived for many of God’s servants to become clarion voices that cried loud and spare not concerning the deep wounds that are destroying the Body of Christ from the inside out.
There can be no deliverance, no healing, no victory without a change in course. The wounded warriors must be healed!
I recommend a brief prayer to you…
Lord Jesus, your Word says that you are He that opens doors no man can shut and closes doors no man can open. Jesus, open the doors of healing, reconciliation and renewal in the Body of Christ on the earth and close the doors that usher in repeating cycles of hurt and woundedness.