Ensign: Fight The Real Enemy

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                       14 November 2014

WORD COUNT: 16,513

Saturday Night Live. October 3, 1992.

Okay, you don't have to know or care, that on this night, on this show (an NBC comedy-variety show that's been on since November 1975), that the musical guest Sinead -- that's pronounced sh-NADE, I believe -- O'Connor finished singing a song and when all cameras were focused on her at song's end she took out a photo of then-Pope John Paul II and shouted today's title phrase before she ripped it in half. Stunned silence. Go to commercial.

From what I remember (and what I'm reading up on now), there was quite a fallout about that, from NBC being fined enormously to Ms. O'Connor being alternately cheered and booed -- usually cheered softly and booed loudly -- which did not stop her from being ... am I reading this right? forgiven by the Pope five years later and then ordained as a priest herself. And NBC in its and other networks' rebroadcasts of this episode have never allowed that scene. To be shown. Again.

Oh no, as far as I can control the content of Ensign, it will not become an anti-Catholic, anti-homosexual, anti-anyone diatribe. I may have this before but I'll say it again: I'll accept criticism of my style (oh I know some Bible teachers and analysts that will not accept even that), but I will not stand for tampering. Does this mean I'm never wrong? When I try to work this out by my own reasoning and not by the Word of God, of course not.

So WHO is the "real enemy"? Not the Pope. Not ISIS or whatever that group in the Middle East is called this week. Not the predator who probably lives in your town. Not the neighbor who seems to know what makes you grit your teeth and doesn't hesitate to do it by blowing their leaf blower (snow just started falling where I live, so blowing their snow blower) at 6 am on a Saturday morning! Not even your closest friends and family -- trust me, they know where to hit. We don't have to react ...

... the way we often do, anyway. Ephesians 6:12 -- "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high." So our struggle is not against any human (the "flesh and blood"), but it's against what motivates them; more accurately, WHO motivates them to do what they do, the devil and his minions ("the wiles of the devil", verse eleven, can just as easily be demons as methods).

But we're not left alone to fend for ourselves -- yes, there are days you and I feel that way, but we're NEVER left alone, for our Lord and our God is with us. And to "be strong in the Lord" per verse ten, we are given a laundry list of items to put on ourselves in verses fourteen through seventeen; I won't go into the whole passage here, but the fact is no item listed here is an accessory or an option. You're not buying a car. The loins of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the caligae of the gospel

(oh, that's the word for the sandals Roman soldiers wore in battle to gain traction), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit ... the goal is always to fight an offensive, and not a defensive, battle. Not to offend in the sense of totally gross someone out, but to stand against the devil and anything he is using against us. So many battles, and they will not always be won. But that does not matter for our Lord has already won the war.

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch, and I hope to encourage you too! If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please tell me -- thank you!

I praise and I thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't always know what they are. We pray as You ask for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides on the fence and all around the world.

I praise and I thank You, Lord, for all who are in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have along with the promise of new life in You! AND I pray that we are all seeking and are preparing to have the most blessed and blessing week ever! Amen.