Fortifying Cities
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i read something very interesting today:
when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.
israel had once been powerful and magnificent. her presence and strength under king solomon rivals any society in history.
after solomon, the kingdom had split, not for Godly reasons, but for selfish ones. God’s people became weaker.
by the time of Jeremiah, personal wickedness and national apathy had resulted in a nation with few fortified cities. yes they had 1 or 2 or 3, but those were no match for the forces that had come against them. without the proper defenses throughout the land and on every border, all defenses would fail.
1 or 2 strongholds of holiness are not enough to withstand the attacks that assail us. 1 portion of faith is not enough to endure the siege of sin.
we must be people who are continually fortifying every city in our heart, every village and field. we must be people who understand that the kingdom can not be divided but must stand unified in the faith and holiness and grace that our Sovereign provides.
blessings.
bibling, know what you believe | December 11th, 2008
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i think you misunderstand my purpose…
this has nothing to do with unity in the Body of Christ (an important topic that deals with the issues you mentioned).
this is about unity within ourselves. giving all of our heart, our habits, our thoughts, our decisions, over the governance of Christ, not leaving little outposts of sin to hide on the borders of our hearts.
this is a call to individual holiness, not one to rally the Body of Christ together.
i am in no way qualified to speak on unifying the Body of Christ together under one 'creed' or set of doctrines.
we all are qualified, however, to call ourselves to personal holiness and sanctity to Christ.
that's what this post was about.
blessings brother!
"…we must be people who understand that the kingdom can not be divided but must stand unified in the faith and holiness and grace that our Sovereign provides."
Unified in what way? Unified in ideals, doctrine, tradition? Such a call to a unified stand demands for a creedal commitment. Creeds offend, hurt, and can possibly divide. So do we confess a need to contend for the stand, even amongst one another?
I agree completely that we must be a people who are continually fortifying every city in our heart, every village and field. We have to, however, sit down to really consider what that means. I know people will be offended. I know that there would be division. But I know that it is important to contend for the Faith.
We should take a unified stand, but how do you define unified, and how far are you willing to go?
Blessings,
Michael
Gene,
I did misunderstand. I apologize. I understood it as a call for the Body (as the whole) of Christ to take a stand for Faith in what we represent in ourselves and in all places. To that I was curious as to how you would define that.
Personal holiness is a different matter, which doesn't change the fact that I still agree with your post. Again I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Blessings,
Michael