“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” 2 Cor. 10:3-6…..
“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38………
“The devil doesn’t care about you,” my long-time pastor who is now with the Lord taught his congregation one day. “He cares about the gift God has placed in you.”
My pastor was explaining to us that the reason the devil goes after us in his three-fold mission to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) is not because we matter to him in the least, but because he wants to stop the gifts the Lord has placed in us from being used for the glory of God almighty.
What I didn’t understand back then is that while the devil can’t take away from Christ’s followers God’s promise of everlasting life, he can try to stop us from fulfilling our life’s purpose for God, from following God’s calling on our lives, from doing what God has placed on this earth to do.
God’s purpose for all of us is to love Him with all our hearts and to love others, to help build His Kingdom of followers by sharing the Gospel message and helping His followers to grow in their relationship with Him, and to use the gifts He has given each and every one of us to fulfill the individual calling He gives each of us all to be done in the context of loving and serving and glorifying God forever.
Let me give you an example. As His follower, the Lord has called me to and gifted me in evangelism and writing and streets ministry. The devil can’t steal from me God’s promise of an everlasting relationship with Him through faith in and a life committed to Christ, but the devil can use an endless array of tactics and ploys like temptation, distraction, confusion, fear, doubt, and worry, discouragement, etc. to try to stop me from fulfilling God’s calling on my life and the use of that with which the Lord has gifted me. The devil might, for instance, try to get me so discouraged and fearful that I stop writing. Why would the devil want to do this? Because the Lord gave me the gift of writing to love and glorify Him and to help others to find and follow Him.
A wise person locks the front door of his home at night to keep robbers from getting in and harming him and stealing from his home. A wise Christ follower follows the leading of the Spirit of God and the teaching of the Word of God to stay safe and protected from any thievery from the devil. Why? So he can live in the fulness of God’s will and calling for his life.
Protect the gifts the Lord has given you for His glory, and be faithful in fulfilling your life’s calling for Him. Spend time with Him daily, study His Word diligently, ask for and receive the gift of His Spirit, seek Him continually, hear and obey Him, and remember to give the Lord the glory as you use your God-given gifts to bring glory to His holy most blessed most magnificent awesome forever and ever name!
The greatest gifts God gives us are a forever relationship with Himself through repentance and faith in Christ as Lord who died for us and was raised from the dead, and the gift of His Spirit to live inside us, empower us, equip us, and lead us in life. And God gives us spiritual gifts as He teaches in His Word and other gifts such as giftedness with song, with dance, with building, with inventing, with encouragement, with writing, serving, art, etc. May we be filled with and led by His Spirit, and filled with the individual gifts He gives us – and live to bring Him glory, yes!