talkthree: engaging in battle pt.2

This talk continues to talk about the different battles we as Christians will face in our walk with God. In talk two, ken allen addressed anxiety, in which we fight by trusting in God, covetousness in which we are to have contentment in God and lust, where we are to strive for the purity of heart before God. We also know that God doesn't leave us to fight alone, but equipes us with the Holy Spirit, body of Christ and armour of God (in which our secret weapon is the power of prayer).
In talk 3, Ken allen talks about pride, bitterness and despondency. (disclaimer: my notes may not make sense, or link together, but I tried to get everything)

Battling Pride:
In our society today, humans are so prideful that they say, "I don't need God" and when this happens,when God has been neglected and/or thought to be "not needed", we end up becoming our own God.

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,

but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

-Jeremiah 9:23-24 

This verse is a good reminder that, God doesn't care about how much money we have, or what materialistic items we have, but rather, God looks at the heart, and how much we love Him. So...should we be proud of our own achievements when really we should be acknowledging our great God. (We are insignificant sinners after all.)

So, we should be humble before God and let Him exalt you. 

Battling Bitterness:

Bitterness results in broken relationships, whether it be marriages, friendships or even fellowships. which means, if we cherish our relationships, we shouldn't be deliberately destroying them with our bitter hearts. If anyone should be bitter, it should be Jesus himself, because He, the perfect Holy one, died for OUR sins, so that we may be forgiven and purified before God.But, he wasn't bitter was he? instead, he put all in the Lord and  So, what reason do we have to be bitter? 

The Bible specifically tells us:
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

-Luke 6:35

 God forgives us and wants us to be Christ-like, and that is exactly how we should act. We should as the spirit of Gof for forgiveness/tender-heartedness so that we will forgive fully as God does us.

Battling Despondency:

Before we get into talking about how to battle depondency, we need to realise that despondency isn't depression, but rather a sense of unjoyfulness in our walk to God. In ways, it is similar to anxiety, because it is in fact a loss of trust in God. 

So, what do we do in times of despondency? We can do what Jesus did, by gathering supportive friends to pray. In this way, we will be encouraged to put our hope back in God, and therefore taking the despondency down. 

Hope in God = JOY!

Summary:

Pride: Be humble before God.

Bitterness: Learn not to hold grudges and forgive because God forgives us fully.

Despondency: Renew our hope in God.  

 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

^lolwhut.

And to summarise fully, YAY GOD!