Social media sites give clear indication that Christians have not lost their fondness for slogans and quotations. Preachers love them; few there are who don’t use them in their sermons. I too am fond of them, but not at the expense of the Scriptures. No matter how clever, how profound, or how inspiring they can be, none will ever be enough to sustain a Christian’s walk with the Lord. Only the Scriptures of the Bible are capable of that. Satan loves slogans and quotations too! He would much prefer us to have a head full of those than a heart full of Scriptures. With the former he can bounce us like yo-yo’s; with the latter, we can “bounce” him!
I notice some are being bounced as they express their thoughts with slogans and quotations, especially with regards increasing evil spreading the nations. They’re on a spiritual high one day and a spiritual low the next. This is not a criticism; it was the reading of slogans and quotations that first attracted me to go on my search for truth. It was the reading of same that motivated me to give serious thought to the claims of Jesus Christ. Had it not been for slogans and quotations I may never have been blessed with the ability to declare without a shadow of doubt today that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father Philippians 2:11. For me, slogans and quotations have a place, the Scriptures of the Lord have the place!
The purpose of this post is to encourage my fellow Christians who have not as yet done so, to pray the Lord that He immerse you in the Scriptures so that they’ll be given first place in your life. A major reason why Satan’s crowd believe they can walk all over us today in the work place, in society, in government or anywhere else, is because they believe us to be a bunch of weak, wimpy pacifists. Well, we don’t cut them down with knives or guns, but we most certainly can shut them down with the Word of the Lord. He, she or they will laugh at your slogan or quotation, but he, she or they will tremble at your proclamation of Scripture if you place yourself under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you Luke 10:19. No, it’s not people who are the serpents and scorpions, it is the evil spirits or demons possessing or motivating them. We take authority over the spirits. That’s who we’re dealing with; that’s our battle and when we shut them down, we shut the person down. We read in Scripture that the word of God is living and powerful, we sing about it as such, but that’s where it stops for most Christians, when in reality, that’s where it ought to start! Bless those that curse you, you say. So do I, but I don’t bless demons; they’re damned and I remind them of that!
The command of Scripture, Be strong and of good courage, given to Moses, Joshua, David and the Old Testament prophets is our command also. The promise, Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you will say Exodus 4:12, is our promise. The promise, …..do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go Joshua 1:9, is our promise. The promise, The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them Psalm 34:7, is our promise. The promise, The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people Psalm 68:35, is our promise. The promise, Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord Jeremiah 1:8, is our promise.
New Testament James 5:17 tell us the prophet Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. That means Moses, Joshua, David and all the other Old Testament people had a nature like ours. The same applies to the New Testament apostles and others. There was nothing special about any of them that is not special about us. They were redeemed by God, we are redeemed by God. God chose them all for His work; God chose us all for His work. Satan’s crowd couldn’t bounce any of them like yo-yo’s, but they certainly bounced his! It was the word of God that made the difference. They sought it, they believed it, they immersed themselves in it, they obeyed it and in the power of the Holy Spirit they appropriated it.
Reading the Scriptures daily is a good thing to do. But asking God to immerse you in them is a better thing to do. It’s the same as hungering and thirsting for righteousness Matthew 5:6. Or, as the apostle Paul put it, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…. Colossians 3:16. The entire Bible is the word of Christ, so for starters, I encourage the reading of one chapter of Proverbs every day. To seek to know wisdom, knowledge and instruction, to seek to perceive words of understanding, there’s no better place to start than Proverbs. If we want a crash course on God’s viewpoint of evil, Proverbs is the book to begin getting immersed in. Any foolish notions presently held about God will quickly be dispelled.
Too, if there’s one book of Scriptures sure to stop us in our tracks from, “That’s just your interpretation,” Proverbs is the book. And once we come to terms with that, we will be much less likely to say that about any other Scripture in any other Bible book. Proverbs forces us to be real before God. The alternative is to be a fool before Him. But the book shows us God has nothing good to say about fools! The mouth of fools feeds on foolishness Proverbs 15:14. Too many Christian mouths (and minds) are feeding on the foolishness of fools standing in pulpits! The only sure way for a Christian to break free from that is to get immersed in the Scriptures. The book of Proverbs clearly shows us there are no grey areas with God. He means what He says and says what He means.
Proverbs is not to be thought of as simply a book of slogans and quotations. The key word of the book is wisdom, “the ability to live life skillfully.” Christians failing to live according to the wisdom of God, do, by default, live according the wisdom of this world which is foolishness with God 1 Corinthians 3:19. When Christ returns He’s going to destroy it. The wisdom of this world belongs to Satan, its ruler. Satan is a destroyer. He has no desire to provide anyone with detailed instructions on how to skillfully manage the affairs of life; his only desire is to destroy life. Included in that desire, is the spiritual life of Christians. Those lacking desire for godly wisdom get bounced like yo-yo’s.
To be immersed in the Scriptures is to be immersed in God. That’s the only required qualification to be an effective servant and witness for Christ. First the Holy Spirit will use the Scriptures to bounce the devil and his filth out from our own life, then He’ll use them to renew and rebuild our life conforming it to the image of Christ Romans 8:29. Satan’s crowd has no fear of us but they do fear Christ in us, just as they did Christ in the prophets and the apostles! All we have to do under the anointing of the Holy Spirit is to let them know we stand for Jesus Christ plus nobody else and God will do the rest. Another word of encouragement: It worries some Christians that they can’t memorize Scripture. Worry not; the Holy Spirit will do the speaking through you Mark 13:11.
Multitudes of Christians are waiting for God to act on this evil spreading the nations. They see it all as lining up with the prophetic Scriptures of the Bible, but rather than immerse themselves in the Scriptures so as to be used of God right where they are, they’ve adopted a fatalistic approach. “What ever will be, will be. It’s all in God’s timing; God is in control.” Talk about slogans and quotations; Satan loves that one! At least they are reading the signs of the times, but it’s not enough. God waits for them to act too. Not to act is to give no evidence that, “You are the salt of the earth…..You are light of the world Matthew 5:13-14. Once again, choosing to immerse one’s self in the book of Proverbs is a grand start to solving that problem.
This is no time to be bounced like yo-yo’s. There never is a time. But there is always a time to “bounce” Satan’s crowd, the objective being that the Holy Spirit will “bounce” some of them into the Kingdom of God. As mentioned at the start, only the Scriptures of the Bible have that capability. Slogans and quotations are good, but they’re just words; they possess no spiritual power; they have no spiritual authority! The best they will do is touch the emotions. The best the Scriptures will do is: inform the mind, minister to the emotions and break the will. The only Christians who understand this are those immersing themselves in the Scriptures. This is no time to be bounced like yo-yo’s. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Proverbs 4:5. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing……. Hebrews 4:12.