A lot of Christians do not ‘present’ themselves well. They don’t present this wonderful revelation/ relationship that has happened to them. Due to ignorance, or poor guidance and intentions from a Pastor, Teacher, another believer, or body of believers; they get caught up in self-righteousness, and performance issues. After having received the gift, they begin working for their salvation. Don’t get me wrong, our salvation is to be worked out, but not in that context. Also, a challenge to Christians, ( by not presenting themselves well ) is they can’t articulate the tenets of their faith in a ‘ moving’ manner. They soon realize that they are in a nasty spiritual struggle. They become aware of, what is commonly called in Christian circles “a struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
One thing that must be understood by believers and unbelievers, is that when “in the world and unsaved”, the devil is not too concerned about you, he already has you where he wants you. My experience is that once you become Christian all hell breaks loose. I have been harassed, harangued, persecuted, misunderstood; attacked spiritually on many occasions in my sleep, and left for dead. On at least one occasion, the spiritual battle was so strong in my sleep, there was no way out for me, but to scream the name of Jesus, and then the battle ended.
Once becoming saved, the Christian finds himself dealing with “extreme social pressure and hatred from a lot of people.” One hurdle that the Christians has is that a lot of people believe Christians are weak, for having made the decision that they made, and they can’t stand on their own. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. After all, Jesus said, “If they persecuted me they will persecute you.” The truth is that the Christian, whether he wants to or not, is caught up in the ancient struggle between good and evil, God and the devil, and it’s intense. He learns that he struggles “not against flesh and blood but by the manifestation of dark devilish entities in men and women.” Look at the divide in our country. We have those on the right, and we have those on the left, and it seems never the two shall meet. They shall not meet in this world anyway, Or more correctly said, in this ‘age‘.
Now, to balance what I’ve said a little bit. Many wonderful things and experiences of a spiritual nature happen to Christians if they seek them. I think one thing that is misunderstood about The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is that He will let you live your entire life, and unless you are “elect”; He will allow you to live your entire life out uninterrupted, or interfered with it. However, consequences come with having decided to not believe.
So, to all of you unbelievers that think the Christian walk is a bed of roses, you better think again. When you become aware of what is going on in the spiritual world “you begin to know what a struggle is.” Another thing of great importance is, we must learn that the battle is in the spiritual realm, and manifests in the flesh. You can’t necessarily see it, but you can sure feel it through Satan’s servants, just take a close look at Washington DC. OK, maybe more later on this subject. Frankie The Earthman.
Frankie The Earthman 