CONVERSION BRINGS CONFLICT

BIBLE PASSAGE:
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s
children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs
of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His
sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
(Romans 8:16-17)

MEDITATION:
There was a man who went duck hunting
with the farmhand who worked on his farm.
The farmer wasn’t a believer, but the farmhand was.

The farmer said to the farmhand,
    “You are always talking about fighting with the devil. I never
      have to fight with the devil, and I’m not even a Christian.”
The farmhand responded,
    “Boss, if you and I shot two ducks and one was wounded
      and one was dead, which one would you go after first?”

The farmer said,
    “The wounded duck, of course!”
The farmhand said,
    “That’s right. The devil knows you’re a dead duck.”

If the devil doesn’t bother us, it’s because we are a ‘dead duck’.
He doesn’t have to bother us, because we are already one of his.
There’s no conflict without conversion.
We never really understand the power of Satan until we are saved.

If there is no conflict,
then we are traveling in the same direction as Satan.
If we turn around, we will have a ‘collision’ with him;
but until we turn around, we are in ‘collusion’ with him.

Some people want to preach a ‘feel good’ gospel which overlooks
the reality of challenges ahead for those who surrender to the Lord.
It’s a false gospel that says, “If you come to Christ, there will
be no adversity, no misfortune, no persecution, and no pain.”
Life without Christ has its share of problems, but as a child
of God, we discover new ways of coping with the challenges.

Think about a bodybuilder who is striving to
become different from the way he or she was born.
They cannot change through laziness, and with no challenges.
Muscles are built by overcoming the resistance of weights.

A bodybuilder knows the value of pain in training,
because he or she knows the results it will produce.
Consequently, they do not see the pains as a negative,
but as a positive requirement for reaching their goal.

High intensity effort, and not genetics, is the most important factor
in getting favorable results from bodybuilding and weight training.
A key to training success is high intensity muscular contractions.
The higher the intensity generated,
the greater the stimulation for muscle growth.

Without the weight resistance (conflict),
their muscles will remain status quo.
That is why their credo is, “No pain, no gain”.
For the Christian it is, “No conflict, no spiritual growth”.

ACTION:
With the bodybuilder in mind, doesn’t it makes sense
that if we want to strengthen our faith, then we need to
overcome the attempts from Satan to keep us from
growing our faith and increasing our spiritual maturity?

We have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much that He
gives us opportunities to ‘grow our faith’, and sometimes
it will be difficult and take us out of our comfort zones.
However, we know that they will build up
our “spiritual muscles” and help us to reach
our goal of becoming different (saved)
from the way we were born (as a sinner).

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and helping me
to grow toward spiritual maturity. Whenever I encounter
difficulties, help me to remember that they are opportunities
You have given me for spiritual growth. Teach me to embrace
them as positive influences on my spiritual life, rather than
allowing them to overwhelm and discourage me. Remind me
that Your love for me is greater than Satan’s desire to ruin
my life since I have become a child of yours! Thank You, Father,
for Your love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, blessings, and salvation!
Thank You, Jesus, for Your love, and for what you did for me!
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being an integral part of my life.”

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