It will be in vain for me to stock my library,
or organize societies,
or project schemes,
if I neglect the culture of myself:
for books and agencies and systems
are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling;
my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service;
my spiritual faculties, and my inner life,
are my battle axe and weapons of war.
--Charles Spurgeon (aka the Prince of Preachers), Lectures to My Students
This is the latest book I have been reading through--such timeless wisdom as he instructs new preachers for their coming tasks.
Dear friends, do you not see the battle that constantly wages against our souls on a daily basis? May we all faithfully and zealously sharpen the battle axe for the spiritual war that lies before us!
And hold fast to His promises:
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not carrying on our
warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the
weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood],
but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of
strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10: 3-4
2 Corinthians 10: 3-4
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at
all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion
roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset--rooted, established,
strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical)
sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of
Christians) throughout the world.
1 Peter 5: 8-9
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my keen and firm Strength, Who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight
Psalm 144: 1
Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God
supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all]
the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
Ephesians 6: 11
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6: 12
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5 comments:
Oh this is such a powerful post.
I strongly believe the devil's #1 tool is to make himself invisible to us.
We don't realize what hit us, if it were obvious to us that he's in the picture, then we'd all be on guard and in full attack. But by weaving himself in subtle ways into our doings, we can easily become blinded to what is really in front of us.
Yes, our soul is always sought after. How utterly important it is to stand on guard, every single moment.
Thanks for the encouraging verses - and for getting this message out there. May God help it reach the ends of the earth!!!
Patty (fanta4two.com)
I just read an excellent book about Spurgeon called The Gospel Focus of Spurgeon. It talked about how Spurgeon regretted not taking better care of his physical health. He felt it was a poor witness as he could have had more years to preach if he had not neglected taking care of himself.
Some thoughts:
A real soldier needs to keep in shape, as does a soldier for the Lord.
Lately the Lord has been reminding me of how important it is to keep up our physical bodies as well. I think many people often see this as "carnal" but especially as mothers if we are not strong and healthy, it wears us down mentally.
This means getting adequate rest and good exercise and eating well. It is especially challenging with the holiday season full of too much sugar and sweets. I know when I eat too much of these, I get foggy headed and depressed and I really struggle mentally and it is much harder to pray and think clearly.
I used to struggle with feeling it was "selfish" to exercise, but the Lord showed me that it was selfish NOT to take care of myself. It makes it harder to serve my family when I haven't been taking care of myself in the physical realm. We have so many little ones depending on us, that we can't afford not to take care of ourselves.
Just some rambling thoughts that came to mind when thinking about soldiers and warfare.
Great thoughts, Patty!
Yes, I often here of many pastors and church planters who struggle with the same thing (caring for himself). Each man has his own struggle!
Many blessings...
What an awesome reminder. It's so easy to think every thing is ok and turn a blind eye to what's really happening.
And I just read the above comments and find it so interesting how we each took a little something different from this post. :)
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