I Fight The Good Fight

I fight the good fight,

Everyday

Some days I don’t fight as well as others

But I still fight.

What am I fighting?

The sin in my heart, the darkness in my soul,

The constant attacks from the evil one who wants me

The evil one wants to destroy me.

Because I know he wants to destroy me,

I have strength

Because the One that has me wants me to have life

Because He is life

I love life, I hate death and darkness.

I fight to keep life and hold on to love.

I fight to hold on to faith and hope.

Hope is critical, hope is necessary, with out hope,

We fall.

I don’t want to fall, I don’t want to fail

So I fight.

Everyday, all day long

Sometimes I fight well,

Sometimes I don’t do so well,

But I fight,

I always fight,

I always fight for hope and faith and love,

And I never give up, not completely

Because I don’t want to lose

I like life, I love life

And I love the one who gave me life.

He lives in me and gives me strength

And hope

And love

And He keeps me fighting

So because of Him

I fight the good fight,

Everyday

© 2005 R. K. Keith

Ready or Not here HE COMES!

The Holy Spirit has been placing this on my mind since about a week before Christmas; "Ready or not here I come!"

Yes I am one of "those" that think the Lord will appear at any moment or second...well even right now while you read this post!! And if he doesn't, you may ask? Then maybe this afternoon or tomorrow, the thing is HE WILL! Are you ready?

Here is one reason I am more sure today than I was 20 years ago; most everyone I talk to (including Christians) believe He "could" come back but very, very few believe He WILL!

Mt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Lu 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Jesus said He will come back at an hour "You think NOT!" So....when will He come back? Be honest, when do think or do you even think about His return!

Don't Run From the Wilderness

We read in Matthew 4 that the Spirit of God drove Jesus into the wilderness. So many times over the years I have heard teaching on the wilderness as very negative. I had an experience about eighteen months ago that was one of the most remarkable times the Lord has ever led me through. (I will email you a copy if you request) From this time of transforming, I am convinced the church needs to embrace the wilderness instead of running from it. even if it is from the enemy, the things we can learn from it are rich and valuable!

The other day a young lady told me of a young man who went to Bible College for one year. Then he said God told him to quit college and go home. The young man said God told him He was going to teach him some things, grow him up as it were. So the young man quit college and went back home to live with his parents. He has lived at home with his parents for over a year. It didn't resonate in my spirit that this was of the Lord. I sensed it was nothing more than his flesh telling him to go back home and he mistook it for the Lord. She asked why I thought that because she was sure it was the Lord. This young man was working part time at a church and she felt had really grown so much since she last saw him. The church was the church his father was Youth Pastor of and so we see a real safety net here.

I remarked to this person that I have never seen God send someone to a safe harbor when He was really dealing with them in their lives. To give an example; suppose you want to lose weight and firm up your over all physical shape. This means you began to work out in some sort of program. You have to exercise which can be difficult and usually you experience great pain during this time, as we all know. Your body will respond but sometimes it takes a while. You have to relearn how to eat, sleep and in general to be successful, you must learn a new life style.

After a period of time, the results will begin to show. If you follow this new lifestyle, you will remain healthy and the weight will stay off.

Likewise in the spirit, God will put us through a time of exercise, dieting, tough teaching and yes, we will probably experience pain. If we stay in His program, if we embrace His wilderness, when we come out the other side we will be stronger, leaner and fitter for life.

Young men who join the armed forces must go through training and sacrifice during boot camp to become ready to defend our country if needed. The armed forces would never send a person straight off the streets into battle, they would be trained first. Then during the times of battle, they become seasoned and experienced.

We all learn through times of trial, testing and the wilderness. In most instances we must leave the safety net to learn and grow. I know there are probably exceptions to the rule as always, but in general, this is what I have experienced

The Spirit of God sent Jesus into the wilderness, to be tempted. To say it a different way, it was time for Jesus to grow up and get on with His Father's business. During this time he fasted for forty days. If you have ever been on an extended fast (my longest has been 30 days) you KNOW to a small extent of the pain Jesus went through during this time. Of course satan came after Him with all he had. It was tough and it was hard. It was a battle royal. We can only expect the same if we desire to be prepared for service to the Lord or if we just need some pruning in areas of our lives. When the battle was over, Jesus was the victor and He was now ready for service to the Father.

If you want victory in your life; if you want to grow in the Lord don't expect to be sent into a safe harbor. Don't expect to grow spiritual muscles without exercise and don't expect to have it easy. Every great victory comes only after a great battle. But trust me it is worth it! So don't hide when He points to the desert; don't run away when he leads to the wilderness. Don't run from the wilderness, run to it. It will be worth it when it's over! Trust me, I know!

Its Amazing!

I was reading in Ephesians 2 about the terrible state we were in before we accepted Jesus as our Savior. Now if you have never accepted Jesus, then you are still in this state. However the Good News is, you don't have to stay in that condition.

The Holy Spirit tells us we were slaves to the prince of the power of the air. (satan) We were obligated to obey his every whim and I did! Boy did I! But in this state...Here came Jesus and set me free!

Now I am free to live the life HE ordained for me before time ever began. It's amazing and incredible what God went through for all of us. He has no bias or prejudence, He wants all of us for His kingdom.

All we have to do is accept Him and what He has done and then....follow Him!

And for that we get His Love, His Life, His Power, His Provision...and He gets us. Bad trade don't you think? We get the best end of the deal!

Don't let religion and hypocrites and deceivers mess with your mind. Let the mind of Christ come into your heart and capture your mind. Reach out in faith to Jesus today. He is reaching out to you, right now.

Does Evil Exist?

Does evil exist? The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists?

A student bravely replied yes, he did!" "God created everything?" The professor asked. "Yes sir", the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question, professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked,"Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmitsenergy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction in that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat. The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does". The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct ? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. "These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir,or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It'slike the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down. The young man's name --- Albert Einstein