Up And At ‘Em

It’s a glorious day to be alive, right? Say amen! Hallelujah! You Got it! That being the case, let’s get up and at ’em!

Let’s make the day, or the day will make us!

It’s easy to look at the battle of the day and think it’s impossible for us to have a good day. Yet, it was David with his series of ups and downs who stated…

This is the day which the LORD hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
~Psalms 118:24 KJV

Take this personal challenge home today… If you want to have a good day… Then you need to be the one that will say to yourself… Up and At ‘Em!

Whoa! Hold the ponies!

“How can I be responsible for the day I’m having?”, we complain. I can’t go to church. My job quit on me. The shelves are getting bare. Everyone is getting sick. The political battle is going strong. The world is full of so much hatred, racism, disputes, and battles… There’s nothing I can do to make this day a good day! Or so you say….

Oh, child of God… Don’t you realize what you are privileged to have?

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
~2 Timothy 1:7 KJV 

We often get stuck on this scripture…

Why? We think about the positive but ignore that we are living with the negative! But then, we take stock of who we are and what’s going on … Suddenly, we are wringing your hands, “How can I show love? When the world is shaking and quaking, how can I have a sound mind?”

We take the scripture out of context and use it alone and justify our position.

Notice something… Fear is a Spirit! The word used for Spirit is the same word used in Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
~Acts 2:4 KJV 

You cannot let two Spirits occupy your world! It’s like serving God and Mammon… (Matthew 6:24) You will lift one or the other… It’s your choice.

Let’s put it into reverse…

But Paul did not intend Timothy to use this verse by itself… Back up a verse!

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God,
which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
~2 Timothy 1:6 KJV

Stir = Rekindle…. In the Literal translation, Paul says it like this: “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God!”

Who? Me? Yes! You… Fan the flame of the Gift of God! Take ownership of what you have!

We’re still in reverse…Back up a verse!

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned [Sincere] faith that is in thee,
which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice;
and I am persuaded that in thee also.
~2 Timothy 1:5 KJV 

There is a historical faith running through your DNA… Use it! If you are the first of your DNA to be a child of God, then you need to build up that faith for the future generations to come!

Pause with me…

Timothy, you have the Gift of God, flame it up… You have the DNA of Faith, Live it! Equally… you do not have the Spirit of FEAR!

The only place this Greek word translated as “Fear” is used in the Bible is right hear… It means “timidity”… Timid… You do not have the Spirit of being Timid.

• Boldly come into Throne of Grace, declare to this mountain, Be thou removed, tell Satan to get behind you!
• Boldly recite Scripture when the Tempter has come your way…

Up and At ‘Em! Be bold!

My thought is simple today…

It’s time for the church to be “Up and at ‘em”!

We don’t act like the cowardly lion trying to show his bravery, “Put ‘em up!” Without practice, he tries to intimidate his opponents… Dorothy…? She’s faced the lady who wanted her dog, the storm, the wicked witch of the west… Let the lion get too close and she slaps him silly!

This is what we need to hear!

Look over your shoulder… What you’ve dealt with prepares you for this moment! Only, the enemy slips into place and prepares to give you a spirit of fear? How do you fight it?

We enter into our place of strength building! Where is that? It’s in our Prayer room.

It’s not time for us to be ignorant of the things that are happening around us. Rather, it’s time for us to use that which we have been given to fight this world with what it takes to be victorious! It’s not about politics, racism, COVID… It’s about Getting God noticed in this lousy time we are facing!

What are you talking about?

Let me take you back to the beginning… Oh. We’ve been here before, you say. Yes. And until we understand the power of it, we will keep going back till we start living it!

• Genesis 1 is a summary of the creation days 1-7
• Genesis 2 dives into the Day 7, the Day of Rest, and the creation of Eve. It’s here where Adam names Eve and gives her a rightful place of Honor in God’s Plan.
• Genesis 3 deals with some time into the future – How far? We don’t know.
• But it begins describing the Serpent and the dialogue with Eve, and Adam.

Q: How long did it take the Serpent to start laying the foundation for Adam and Eve to be deceived? It was not done overnight, nor was God surprised by it… Just as God is not surprised by the present, he was not surprised by the Serpent, nor Adam and Eve’s big mistake!

But notice something.

In Genesis 3, and for the first time we find Adam talking to God. It’s not recorded there was a conversation before, and most probably there was, but here we are with Adam and Eve answering to God.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  
(8)  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.  
(9)  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  

(10)  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  
(11)  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?  
(12)  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
~Genesis 3:7-12 KJV 

Sum It Up

The cool of the day… morning, or evening… God calls out to Adam for what appears to be a regular time of conversation… Where are you? God calling to man, I want to talk with you…

Do we not crave these moments?

What does man say? First recorded conversation… I heard you… and I was afraid… I was naked… and I hid myself… Adam owns up to his situation, but acknowledges that he hid from God…

When God wants to talk, what do we say?

Often, the first steps toward conversation with God are much like Adam’s… We hide. Why? We look at our lives and realize how far we are from where we should be…

Sin taints our existence, we feel unworthy,
and if we stay in that condition without attempting to change,
then our times of conversation grow faint as paradise turns into a jungle!

What was happening between God and Adam? Dialogue. Prayer. Where do we go from here?

Where To From Here?

Therefore, Jesus helped us with our conversation by giving us a pattern to pray in what we traditionally call “The Lord’s Prayer”

After this manner [in this way] therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
~Matthew 6:9-13 KJV

If we are going to be conversing with God…we are repairing our faults, making things right between us and God, building our foundation of strength for the future.

Put it into perspective…

I cannot use this prayer if I cannot support each statement!

• I cannot say …
  • “our” if I live only for myself.
  • “Father” if I do not endeavor each day to act like his child.
  • “who art in heaven” if I am laying up no treasure there.
  • “hallowed be thy name” if I am not striving for holiness.
  • “thy Kingdom come” if I am not doing all in my power to hasten that wonderful event.
  • “thy will be done” if I am disobedient to his Word.
  • “on earth as it is in heaven” if I’ll not serve him here and now.
  • “give us this day our daily bread” if I am dishonest or am seeking things by subterfuge.
  • “forgive us our debts” if I harbor a grudge against anyone.
  • “lead us not into temptation” if I deliberately place myself in its path.
  • “deliver us from evil” if I do not put on the whole armor of God.
  • “thine is the kingdom” if I do not give the King the loyalty due him from a faithful subject.
  • to him “the power” if I fear what men may do.
  • to him “the glory” if I’m seeking honor only for myself, and I cannot say “forever” if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time. ~Author Unknown ^[1]

Let Me Give you A Closing Thought

Somebody needs to turn their heart to God! How do we do it? Prayer. It’s time for the church to act like the church! How do we find our way? Prayer. I believe we are living in times when we cannot hide from God. Our sins, fears, failures – all need to be turned over to him for forgiveness…

Then we need to stand up to ourselves and start giving some pep-talks! Up and At ‘em!

The power needed is not found in distancing ourselves from God, rather, it’s in drawing close to him in our storeroom….(Matthew 6:6)

^[1] Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.