Are You My Enemy?

Those who declare the Word of God and challenge our thinking with godly admonishing are treasured relics. Not many have the temerity to confront the wayward with, “thus sayeth the Lord” in fear that favor would be lost.  Such sweet timid creatures want to win us with easy talk, flattery, and soft spankings. Remember what the Bible says about those who bring good news? "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!' (Isaiah 52:7)” Well sometimes, and it doesn’t matter what shoes they are wearing, those glad tidings preacher’s feet are ugly because we don’t care for what they have to say, especially when the Word does not line up with our thoughts and feelings, which are at times the preeminent way we walk out our salvation.  

The bitter pill of God’s truth has many effects, two of which I see are either to soften and set one free, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31)” OR harden and keep one in bondage, “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’” Psalm 95:7-10

The living and powerful double-edged sword of the Word pierces, cuts, and divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). That is why we must use great discernment when our souls convince us that the man of God is our enemy. We have to pull out the litmus test (a test in which a single factor such as an attitude, event, or fact is significant) and ask, "Is the man of God preaching the truth or is he preaching a lie? Could my angst be caused by the enemy of my soul, my own flesh, or my thinking which is revolting against me? Do I know what is best for me more than my Pastor or God does?"

Remember those old washing machines and how they used to agitate our laundry in such a vigorous way to get our clothes clean? Our heavenly Father wants to agitate our thinking by His written Word and through the spoken Word by the men of God, who labor for our souls, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:10)”

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I saw in Your Word,  “And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of [e]scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-11) Thank You for our Shepherd and forgive us when we make him our enemy because of the preached Word which has exposed us to us. May we yield to Your Word’s instruction and yield to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and appreciate Your servant who labors for our souls. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
By Sis. Paula Smith