There’s a worldwide war between good & evil

Hey folks, just a few more days on this first week from A Warrior’s Journal. I know these entries are long, so I hope it’s worth your while. We’ll return to normal blogs on Monday.

Day 2: The war is worldwide

Bible Reading: Matthew 9:1-26

Faith in Action

CHINA – Teenagers Convert Thousands

Teenagers are among the evangelists being used by God in a move that is sweeping China. Young preachers travel from village to village, keeping one step ahead of the security forces trying to stamp out the mushrooming underground church. Details of the youthful emphasis emerged from a fact-finding trip undertaken by American evangelist

Randy Clark. While meeting clandestinely with leaders of one of the country’s largest unregistered church movements, Clark heard reports from two teenage girls typical of the new wave of evangelists. The young women, ages 18 and 16, told how they left home twice a year for months-long evangelistic trips. With less than $25 between them for food and travel, they move from town to town sharing the gospel. The new believers often invite them to stay in their homes, and they invite other friends and relatives to hear about Jesus.

After a church has been established, the pair move on to another town or village, often sleeping in the open or under trees if they cannot find shelter. On their most recent trip, their feet were left bruised and bleeding after 40 days walking through the countryside. But during that time they established 18 churches with about 40 people in each. They told Clark that they had seen many signs and miracles when they prayed. “The Lord just gives us the word and the faith to declare what Jesus can do,” one told him. In the last week of their travels, more than 10,000 people received Christ in one coastal city, where the two used microphones to preach at open-air meetings.

Despite the increasing reports of miraculous signs and wonders, none of the leaders of the church movement Clark met with claimed any kind of titles for themselves.

“One leader told me: ‘No, we don’t think like that. We’re all just brothers and sisters.’

One evangelist said: ‘We, the so-called leaders, have only elementary schooling. Our education is not high; how could we do this work? I believe it is the work of the Holy Spirit.'”

SOURCE: 3-14-2002 Charisma News Service

Matthew 9:35 “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”

Matthew 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus did not content himself with a pastoral ministry in his hometown of Galilee. His heart pounded for the lost. His commission was to rescue the oppressed and to heal the sick, so He went in search of them. And He found them wherever He went. They were everywhere – lame, blind and hungry, both physically and spiritually, all of them pleading for mercy, pleading for hope. It ripped at Jesus’ heart.

However, Jesus himself touched relatively few people in his lifetime. His mission was to reach the world through the hands and feet of the disciples He was training – they, in turn, would pass the mission on to succeeding generations until His message covered the face of the earth, reaching all nations with the gospel (Matt 28:28-29). Jesus’ call to His mission rings forth even today, challenging men and women to come serve His Kingdom and die to themselves.

Like the first disciples of Jesus and those in today’s true story, we must be willing to give up whatever inhibits us from spreading the gospel and pursue the Kingdom with reckless abandon, reaching out to the desolate places where the good news has not been proclaimed. These two young women were unwilling to let anything, even concerns for their own safety and security, stand in the way of the advance of the Kingdom all over their country.

The mission has not been completed; the battle rages on. We must face the same question that Jesus’ disciples faced then: Are we willing to count the cost and become disciples of our Lord? Our generation must be bold to act, believing that He will use His people’s faithfulness not just in China, but wherever believers are willing to fight, to bring hope and abundant living for masses of humanity.

The battle rages around the world today. You are in a war that began at the beginning of time and spans throughout the world. Pray for our brothers and sisters worldwide in the battle for souls they are facing, and actively look for ways to join them. For we are all part of the same body and engaged in the same struggle: “There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called…” (Eph 4:4). “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it…” (1 Cor 12:26).

Jesus discipled 12 men of Galilee, and started a process two millennia ago in which His believers directly confront the forces of evil; it is a revolution that continues to ripple outward to this day. Those of us who are His followers have been equipped for battle and commanded to unsheathe our swords in order to bring freedom, hope, and healing to those still in the clutches of evil. While we begin to fight to liberate those in our own community, recognize that we’re part of a worldwide struggle that, with the passing of each new day, is bringing light to dark parts of the globe.

Questions

1. It’s too easy to become focused just on issues that we or our family face and forget that a worldwide struggle is underway. What can you do to remember that the battle is worldwide? What part do you have to play in this cosmic struggle?

2. Why do you suppose that Jesus kept moving from village to village? Why didn’t He stay in the village where He grew up and ask people to come to Him for healing (certainly they would have)?

3. In what ways is the ministry of the two young women in today’s story similar to Jesus’ disciples?

4. Do you see this kind of passion in yourself? What faith steps could you take this week to begin to acquire this passion?

5. What examples of reckless abandon have you observed in your friends or mentors?

Application

Ask: “Lord, show me that there is a worldwide battle going on.

Show me how I can begin to acquire the kind of faith that these two young women have.

Where am I to begin wielding the sword of the Spirit you’ve given me?”

Listen: Write down what you perceive Him to be saying.

Obey: What will you do?

Evaluate: What happens as a result?

click here to go to next Warrior Journal entry