Category: Spiritual Battle

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Short Story: What Will You Wear?

clothes

Samuel itched his skin again. He hated this terrible itch! Yet how could he escape from it?

His clothes. That’s what the doctor had said. He needed to put off these clothes and put on the ones the doctor had given him.

Samuel hastily changed. That was better.

But the following morning, he was back in his old clothes again, just a slightly different outfit. Not until the itch became unbearable did he remember that he was supposed to wear the doctor’s garments, which were made out of a different fabric.

Samuel realized he needed a plan. He needed to proactively put reminders to himself to wear the new garments. He even asked his brother to say something if he saw Samuel reaching for any of his old clothes.

Even with the reminders and help, Samuel still found himself itching in his old clothes at times. You see, those old clothes were hard to get rid of. They were made of a fabric that simply wouldn’t destroy here on earth. He’d tried burning them, freezing them, and more, but he couldn’t get rid of them. He tried to hide them, but they had a way of turning back up. They were troublesome clothes, to say the least. Samuel realized he’d have to stay vigilant.

I need to put them away and put on my new clothes, he reminded himself over and over again. With time and lots of help, Samuel began wearing his new clothes more and his old, itchy ones less and less. But he knew what clothes he wore would always be a daily choice.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.…But now you must put them all away: anger,wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…above all these put on love…let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…be thankful.” Colossians 3:5,8,12-15 (ESV)
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Driving by Default

driving

Jane turned left without thinking much about it. She’d turned left at this road so often, it had become a subconscious habit. She turned up the radio and began singing as she traveled down the road.

Then she remembered: she wasn’t going to her normal destination today! She needed to have gone right, not left. Every minute she’d been driving she’d been getting further away from, not closer to, her destination.

Jane turned around as soon as she could and backtracked down the road.

A few minutes later, however, she was lost in thought again, forgetting her next turn. Once again, she had to turn around.

Finally, Jane realized she needed to turn on her GPS. She had to pay attention or she wouldn’t end up where she wanted.

As she drove, she got to thinking about how often in life she just cruised through a day, acting according to her old desires and passions. If she wanted to change spiritually, she’d need to be prepared to stop herself and run to Jesus, just like she’d stopped the car and turned around. And she’d need to proactively listen to God’s Word and fill her mind with truth, just like she realized she had to listen to the GPS.

“God, help me actively pursue you and fill my mind with truth so I’ll head the right direction,” she prayed as she finally pulled into her destination.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV)

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Short Story: Two Wardrobes

wardrobe

Stacy’s wardrobe–or perhaps I should say wardrobes–were rather unique. In one closet, she had what could best be described as rags. The clothing was tattered and worn…and filthy. Insects even nested in some of the sleeves. This wardrobe was an old one Stacy had back when she lived on the streets–back before the King had adopted her.

In contrast, the other closet hosted a wealth of beautiful, brand-new (and sparkling clean) clothes. The wardrobe was truly fit for a princess–and there was something to wear for every occasion. From elegant dresses trimmed tastefully to comfortable lounge wear, the closet had the very best a girl could long for–all a gift from the King to his beloved daughter.

With such choices, you might suppose that Stacy always wore something from the clean, nice closet. After all, who would want to wear (let alone be seen in) tattered, filthy clothes instead of the best wardrobe imaginable?

And yet, Stacy often found herself sporting her old tattered clothes.

“Stacy, you need to change clothes,” her older sister Anna admonished her. “That’s no way for a princess to dress.”

Stacy looked down with a gasp. She didn’t even realize she was wearing her old clothes! Mortified, she raced to her room and hid her head under a pillow. Anna followed and tenderly removed the pillow.

“It’s okay, Stacy. Don’t waste the rest of the day crying over it. The King’s love for you is unconditional. You don’t have to live in shame. Just go put away your old garment and put on one of your new pieces of clothing now and come on down to dinner, won’t you? You don’t want to miss out on what the King has prepared.”

Anna’s words calmed Stacy. She went and put on one of her new dresses.

I wish I could report that she never wore one of her old rags again, but that wouldn’t be true. She struggled to put away her old garments and start wearing her new ones. It felt as if the old garments had a strange way of getting back on her despite her resolves to never wear them again. She found she had to remind herself every day to put away the old and put on the new.

Slowly but surely, she began to look more like the princess she was, wearing her new garments more and her old ones less and less.

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth…. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:8, 12-14 (ESV)

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Short Story: Uprooting Weeds (and Overcoming Sin)

Laura pulled her sleeves back and set to work, determined that these weeds would get out of here. She wanted a well-kept garden desperately, but right now, it looked more like a garden of dandelions and crab grass. No more! This garden was going to get in shape.

Hours later, Laura dragged herself back into the house, satisfied with a job well done. The area where dandelions used to reign was now mainly just overturned soil—weed free at last.

How did this happen? Laura could hardly believe her eyes. She’d been busy inside and hadn’t checked on the garden in a few weeks, and it was completely overgrown yet again!

Once again, Laura set to work. And once again she yanked everything out of the ground. When she finished, there was not a plant standing when she finished.

But once again, the weeds just grew back, even bigger and stronger than ever it seemed. Laura was getting discouraged. What was she doing wrong?

She mentioned her dilemma to her neighbor one day, an older, wiser gardener named Phoebe. “I just don’t know what to do! Why do these weeds keep coming back?”

“My dear girl,” Phoebe replied. “Have you been planting good plants in their place?”

The question might sound like a rhetorical one, but it wasn’t. Laura hadn’t been planting anything in the garden at all—she’d just been trying to remove the weeds and hoping good plants would grow on their own…or at least that it’d stay weed-free.

Seeing the look on Laura’s face, Phoebe continued to explain, “You have to plant good plants in the garden so there’s no room for the weeds to grow. And you’ll want to nurture those plants and watch for weeds sneaking through, pulling them before they multiply. Don’t despair, child. You can have a beautiful garden yet! How about we work on getting some good plants planted?”

To Ponder: If we want to get rid of sin in our life, we have to not only put it off, but also put on Christ Jesus. We need to turn to away from sin and toward the Savior. Actively pursue Him. Make decisions to watch, read, spend our time, etc., in ways that promote His Fruit growing in our lives. For example, if you struggle with complaining, don’t just stop complaining, but also start praising. If you struggle with an addiction, don’t just stop, but also start filling your time with pursuing Jesus. What do you need to put off/put on today?

“to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)

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What Happened to “the Love You Had at First”?

love

“I’m still here.” All night long Ruben had been patiently waiting, trying to get his wife’s attention. He longed to spend time with her.

“I know,” Rose replied, hardly lifting her head from the pile of papers she was sorting. “But there’s just so much to do!”

Rose rubbed her tired head, thinking about how she needed to remember to pull out the meat for tomorrow’s dinner. She could still smell the aroma from the cookies she’d baked earlier to bring to some elderly neighbors. She needed to remember to put up those dishes before she went to bed. Oh, and a friend had asked her to look up something on the Internet for her — she couldn’t forget that.

“Rose, do you remember back to when we were courting and first married?” Ruben’s words interrupted her thoughts. “How we used to spend hours just talking and laughing together?”

Rose paused and looked up. Yes, she remembered. Ruben saw the answer in her face and continued, “What happened to that love you had?”

The words cut her to the quick. What had happened? In those early days, life was still busy, but she always made time to spend with Ruben. In fact, she remembered how they’d text throughout the day here and there, as hours seemed so long when apart. Everything in her centered around when she’d get to see him next. She lived off less sleep, choosing to stay up to talk with him. And her poor friends had  listened to her talk about him for hours — every conversation had somehow included him.

Now, she hardly talked about him — and her discussions with him were quick and distracted. She’d say hi while also checking her texts and moving the wash along. He was still what he’d always been — loving, caring, and trying to minister to her. But she’d been ignoring him.

Rose set her papers down, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She’d been doing a lot of good things, but she had let the most important get buried.

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Revelation 2:2-5a (ESV)

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Story: Why Did You Give Me This?

gift

Ryan looked up from the pages of the how-to-code book with a sigh. This was sooooo hard! His eyes wandered out the window to where his brothers were throwing a ball their father had given them. Why couldn’t his father have given him something easy to use too? He was frustrated…and afraid of failing.

“I gave you just what you need.” Ryan’s father’s voice startled him. Ryan had forgotten his father was sitting right there.

“It’s just so hard,” Ryan muttered.

His father smiled. “Of course it is. You know, I never expected you to do it alone. I’m right here and can help you.”

Ryan looked back at the frustrating coding pages. He would try again…this time, with his father’s help.

The book was still tough, but it made such a difference to do it with his father! A  strange thing began to happen. He began to actually enjoy his coding assignment and become thankful his father had given him it. Truly, his father had known what was best!

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (NASB)

“Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11 (NASB)

 

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Instantly Fit?

Instantly Fit?

Cherie knew she wasn’t as strong as she needed to be. Somehow, exercise just never made the top of the to-do list.

One day, she decided to change. She began exercising.

But as she did so, she quickly became discouraged. She couldn’t keep up with the people in the exercise video. Her muscles screamed at her after just half the repetitions. Plus, old injuries began hurting again. Hadn’t she already rehabilitated that knee? Why was it causing problems yet again?

“I just can’t do it,” she moaned to her friend Anna.

Anna’s reply surprised her. “Why, Cherie, did you expect to get fit overnight?”

“Well…” Cherie wasn’t sure how to reply. In a way, she sort of had.

“Cherie, it takes training and work to get strong. Don’t give up just because you’re not instantly fit.”

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV

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Story: Swallowing Poison Again?

Jared had been brought up on a very unusual diet—or I should say unusual to us. In the prison in which he was born to one of the prisoners, it was the standard fare. All of the inmates were fed poisoned food. Yes, that’s right—the food had poison in it—the sort of slow poison that gradually weakened and killed over many years.

The amazingly good news was that Jared was no longer a prisoner. He’d been ransomed and set free. In fact, he’d been adopted by the most wonderful father you could imagine.

So you might imagine Jared’s brother Ethan’s surprise when he walked into the room and saw Jared eating poisoned food.

“Jared, why are you eating that again?” his brother Ethan asked.

Jared shrugged. “I just can’t help it,” he mumbled. “I’ve always eaten this.”

Ethan grabbed the plate out of his brother’s hands. “You can to help it!” he replied. “Father set you free—you’re not a prisoner. You don’t have to eat this anymore. There’s lots of good food to be had.”

Jared reached for the plate. “Just leave me alone for now. I’m just so tired—I need this.”

“You’ll only get more tired eating that,” Ethan remarked. “Come on, Jared, don’t you remember how this poison works? It messes with your mind, so you can’t think clearly. It takes away your energy, so you’re unable to accomplish anything of value. It slowly destroys you.”

Jared did remember. Oh, why was he swallowing poison again?

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 (ESV)

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Ephesians 6:1-4 (ESV)

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Story: Always a Way of Escape

“We’ve got you now.”

The evil voice came over the loudspeaker, with a hideous laugh.

Sam shuddered. It did indeed seem as if he was trapped. Hedges surrounded him on every side, looming above him and alongside him, as if they were about to devour him. All around was darkness. It was hopeless. Despair gripped his heart.

“I’ll always provide a way of escape”—his father’s words rang through his mind.

Sam looked around. He sure didn’t see a way to escape this. But his father never lied. “Father, show me the way of escape,” he cried. He looked closer at the hedges. Was that an opening he saw? There seemed to be a faint light coming through.

Sam moved closer to investigate. Sure enough, where before all had appeared to be darkness, he now could clearly see a small tunnel in the hedge. It wasn’t necessarily easy fitting through it, but Sam could make it. He got on his hands and knees and crawled through the hedge. The branches poked him, but on the other side—yes, it was true—he was free!

His father had indeed provided a way of escape—he just had to look for it.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

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Short Story: Truth Glasses

Darkness—oppressive darkness. It was all Emma could see. No matter which way she looked, there it was staring back at her. Each path she could take led to the same thing: more darkness. What had become of light? Did it even exist anymore?

Perhaps it did, somewhere. Emma knew at the end of her journey there’d be light. But there was no more light on the journey, of that she felt sure.

Emma’s last several miles had been filled with obstacles. Now all she could see were dark shadows stretching out before her.

“It’s just so discouraging,” Emma moaned to her traveling companion, Sarah. “I’m not sure why my father set me on this journey in the first place.”

“Okay, I know it seems discouraging,” Sarah replied. “But you’re not seeing the truth, Emma. Yes, there’s darkness, but there’s light too. There’s night, but there’s also day. You’ve got to put those glasses on.”

“Glasses?” Emma asked listlessly.

“Yes, you know, the ones your father gave you.”

Right—the glasses. Her father had given her glasses to help her see the world as it really was. Emma was pretty sure the glasses wouldn’t change anything—that she was already seeing everything accurately—but she pulled them out and dutifully held them up to her eyes anyway.

Wait—there was light amid what before had seemed only darkness! What a difference it made to look at the situation through the lenses of truth.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:7 (ESV)

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” John 8:31-32 (ESV)