Living In Enemy Territory – And Loving It!
Quick disclaimer: The opinions here are 100% mine (Adam Parmenter) and not necessarily the views of Sojourn. Also, if there are spelling or grammar goofs, that’s my fault too.
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During a war, the most dangerous place to be is in the heart of the enemy’s territory. It’s even worse to be captured and placed in a detention camp. Imagine that it’s World War II, and you’re an American soldier who finds himself stuck in the heart of Hitler’s Germany. You spend every day trying to find a way out. You hide or use a disguise to avoid being captured. There in the heart of the enemy’s power, all you can think about is going home.
What if over time you gave up on getting out and just settled down to make the best of it. You learned German, got a job, and even started raising a family. The newspapers would remind you of where you are, but more and more you are able to ignore Hitler and the war and simply enjoy the good things that are so abundant in your new home. When the war finally ends, you are discovered and branded a traitor by your home land.
Sounds like a crazy story? Who would do that? People did, and still do. We have an enemy. The Bible calls him the Devil.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” I Peter 5:7 NIV translation of the Bible.
The devil is everyone’s enemy. If you’re a Christian then the Devil is your arch-enemy. The Bible teaches that when Adam and Eve, the first humans, rebelled against God it was at the deceptive promptings of the Devil. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, sin entered into human kind, and the Devil became the “Prince of the Power of the Air”.
It may sound weird, but at that point, the Devil became an authority over this world. God has always been the sovereign king, but when men and women chose sin over God, they also chose the Devil as their prince. For a time, this world became the Devil’s territory.
The Devil is also known as Satan, the Deceiver or Accuser. He was originally called Lucifer which means Morning Star. Lucifer was not originally our arch-enemy, but was an arch angel. He was the most beautiful and wisest angel in creation, the top of the order, and served in the presence of God. In the Bible, the book of the prophet Isaiah records this:
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:12-15
Lucifer wanted to be like God. Not in the good way, but in a way that put Him at God’s level. There is only one God. Satan was thrown down. That’s when the war started. Problem is the earth is now enemy territory. If you’re a Christian, your home land is not this present earth. Your homeland is in the presence of God in heaven. For this short life on earth, we are living in enemy territory.
Lucifer, deceptively beautiful and crafty, is bent on twisting and destroying what God has made. His lies and destructive agenda have infiltrated the cultures throughout the world. Problem is that most of us like it here. We’ve lost site of what is normal and good and have come to see this broken and twisted world as normal.
We’re living in enemy territory and loving it.
More tomorrow.
Adam
www.sojournband.com
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During a war, the most dangerous place to be is in the heart of the enemy’s territory. It’s even worse to be captured and placed in a detention camp. Imagine that it’s World War II, and you’re an American soldier who finds himself stuck in the heart of Hitler’s Germany. You spend every day trying to find a way out. You hide or use a disguise to avoid being captured. There in the heart of the enemy’s power, all you can think about is going home.
What if over time you gave up on getting out and just settled down to make the best of it. You learned German, got a job, and even started raising a family. The newspapers would remind you of where you are, but more and more you are able to ignore Hitler and the war and simply enjoy the good things that are so abundant in your new home. When the war finally ends, you are discovered and branded a traitor by your home land.
Sounds like a crazy story? Who would do that? People did, and still do. We have an enemy. The Bible calls him the Devil.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” I Peter 5:7 NIV translation of the Bible.
The devil is everyone’s enemy. If you’re a Christian then the Devil is your arch-enemy. The Bible teaches that when Adam and Eve, the first humans, rebelled against God it was at the deceptive promptings of the Devil. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, sin entered into human kind, and the Devil became the “Prince of the Power of the Air”.
It may sound weird, but at that point, the Devil became an authority over this world. God has always been the sovereign king, but when men and women chose sin over God, they also chose the Devil as their prince. For a time, this world became the Devil’s territory.
The Devil is also known as Satan, the Deceiver or Accuser. He was originally called Lucifer which means Morning Star. Lucifer was not originally our arch-enemy, but was an arch angel. He was the most beautiful and wisest angel in creation, the top of the order, and served in the presence of God. In the Bible, the book of the prophet Isaiah records this:
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:12-15
Lucifer wanted to be like God. Not in the good way, but in a way that put Him at God’s level. There is only one God. Satan was thrown down. That’s when the war started. Problem is the earth is now enemy territory. If you’re a Christian, your home land is not this present earth. Your homeland is in the presence of God in heaven. For this short life on earth, we are living in enemy territory.
Lucifer, deceptively beautiful and crafty, is bent on twisting and destroying what God has made. His lies and destructive agenda have infiltrated the cultures throughout the world. Problem is that most of us like it here. We’ve lost site of what is normal and good and have come to see this broken and twisted world as normal.
We’re living in enemy territory and loving it.
More tomorrow.
Adam
www.sojournband.com
posted by Sojourn @ 1:16 PM
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