The Word For Today

Just as Jericho was a stronghold in Canaan, we have strongholds in our lives. Paul wrote: 'The weapons we fight with...have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God' (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV). A stronghold is an 'argument' or a 'high thing' that 'exalts itself against the knowledge of God'. It is a conviction, outlook or belief that attempts to interfere with the truth and deny God's promises. It 'sets itself up against the knowledge of God' (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). It attempts to magnify the problem and minimise God's ability to solve it.

Does a stronghold have a strong hold on you? Do you speak the language of impossibility? God could never forgive me (the stronghold of guilt). I could never forgive that person (the stronghold of resentment). Bad things always happen to me (the stronghold of self-pity). I have to be in charge (the stronghold of pride). I don't deserve to be loved (the stronghold of rejection). I'll never recover (the stronghold of defeat). I must be good, or God will reject me (the stronghold of performance). I'm only as good as I look (the stronghold of appearance). My value equals my possessions (the stronghold of materialism).

Many Christians don't recognise the strongholds in their lives. But you don't have to be among them. God has given you the weapons of prayer, Scripture, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, fellowship, etc. And collectively, they have 'divine power to demolish strongholds' (2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV).

Someone said: 'The secret of success is to be like a duck - smooth and unruffled on top, and paddling furiously underneath.' Niccol Paganini, the well-known nineteenth-century violinist, illustrated this. His most memorable concert was marked by 'furious paddling under the surface' rather than easy success. The concert was performed with a full orchestra before a packed house in Italy. Those who heard him play say his technique was incredible and his tone fantastic. Towards the end of the concert, he was astounding his audience with a very difficult composition, when one string on his violin snapped and hung limply from his instrument. Paganini frowned briefly, shook his head and continued to play, improvising beautifully. Then, to everyone's surprise, including Paganini's, a second string broke; shortly thereafter, a third! It seemed like a slapstick comedy routine as Paganini stood before the awed crowd with three strings dangling from his Stradivarius violin. But instead of leaving the stage to repair his instrument, he stood firm. He calmly completed the difficult number on the one remaining string - a performance that won him applause, admiration and enduring fame.

Here's another saying: 'It's when the going gets tough, that the tough get going!' Paul was such a man: 'Forgetting the past and straining towards what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above' (Philippians 3:13-14 NCV). All of us who are spiritually mature should think this way too. So don't give up; keep going!

Paul asked: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ' (Romans 8:35 NIV)? And the answer is...nothing! Then he came up with a laundry list of worst-case scenarios, from trouble to danger and anything in between: 'Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword'. When Paul wrote 'hardship', he was back in the Mediterranean Sea during a terrible typhoon. 'Persecution' pinged his memory of being stoned at Lystra and left for dead. 'Trials': Paul stood trial before Nero himself. He also went without food, was bitten by a poisonous snake, and had the clothes stripped off his back so he could be flogged. This did not happen only once or twice. Five times he received the maximum sentence - forty lashes minus one. Paul's back was whiplashed and crisscrossed with at least 195 scars.

Hardship has one of two effects: it hardens or softens our hearts. And it's the hardening or softening that makes us or breaks us. Research in psychology shows that between half to two-thirds of people who survive extreme hardship or crisis later experience positive personal changes - a phenomenon known as post-traumatic growth. It's the tough times that test our love, but also prove it.

The love of Christ wasn't proved by his miracles - it was proved on a Roman cross. And it has proven to be fail proof. So no matter what trouble, hardship or persecution you face, this too shall pass. More importantly, Jesus is with you and Jesus is for you. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate you from his love!

Thomas Aquinas was one of the most prolific writers and thinkers of the Middle Ages. His Summa Theologica is one of history's most exhausting and enduring theologies. But Aquinas never finished it because of something that happened on 6 December 1273, that caused him to give up writing. 'All that I have written seems to be like straw,' Aquinas said, 'compared to what has now been revealed to me.' Exactly what was revealed remains a mystery, but that one revelation surpassed all the knowledge he'd acquired. No matter your IQ, that's what you need. You are not smart enough to reason your way to God. You need 'the Spirit of wisdom and revelation' (Ephesians 1:17 NIV).

Nothing will change your outlook or response like a revelation of God's love. It's so diametrically different from how we give and receive love on a human level.

God's love is unconditional. There is nothing more you can do to make God love you, because he already loves you perfectly, eternally. Even when you don't reciprocate his love, it doesn't deter, deflect or diminish his love. It accentuates it. 'While we were still sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8 NIV). It's easy to love others when they are at their best. But when they are at their worst? Not so much. But that's the test of true love. Our love tends to be reactive, but God's love is proactive. He loves us when we least expect it and least deserve it.

In the realm of general relativity, an event horizon is the point of no return. It's the point at which gravitational pull becomes so great that it's impossible to escape. The most obvious example is the black hole - a celestial object so massive that light can only enter but never exit its gravitational field. The escape velocity of a black hole is greater than the speed of light, which is impossible to exceed. So, once you cross its horizon, there is no turning back. God's love is like that. The Bible says, 'God is love' (1 John 4:8 NIV). The implications of that one statement will take all of eternity to unpack. Nothing pulls stronger or longer than God's love. Love is an event horizon, and once you cross over, you can't get back. And who would want to?

Logic won't get you to God's love. His love is beyond logical - it's theological. The only way to receive the love of God is via revelation. Paul wrote: 'I pray that you...may...grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God' (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV). The love of God is measureless. It doesn't fit in a box, not even a box the size of the universe. And if the universe isn't big enough, God's love certainly won't fit within the confines of our human logic.

So how do we get God's love in our hearts and minds? Through a personal revelation! So, the word for today is: pray for a revelation of God's love.

Pride promotes self-reliance. It tells us we can indeed do things on our own. In our attempt to walk in self-confidence, we slam the door in God's face and shut out the work of the Holy Spirit, our Helper. Paul was educated, sophisticated and consecrated, yet he humbly declared, 'I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God's church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favour on me - and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace' (1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NLT).

No matter how much ability you possess, without God, it will only take you so far. Jesus said, 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing' (John 15:5 NIV).

The source of our confidence should be God and not ourselves. When the plans of those walking in God-confidence go awry, they are wise enough to subordinate their desires to the sovereign will of God. They quickly remind themselves, 'Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails' (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). They are convinced that God has a higher purpose for their lives, and that no man can thwart it. So practise God-confidence rather than self-confidence.