I Paul The Prisoner of The Lord...

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It is without a doubt that those who have set themselves to serve and obey the Lord will be a direct target of the enemy. As an old puritan writer said, "Sooner or later the saint of God will have to go into the ring with Satan." Satan does not have much interest in the lukewarm believer. They are no threat to him. They pose no problem to his plans. Sometimes they are actually helpful to him.

Right now many true believers at this time are experiencing overt attacks from the enemy they never imagined. We are at the end and Satan knows it well, and therefore he is doing his best to cast the children of God down to the ground. I thought about something I read in Ephesians where Paul calls himself "the prisoner of the Lord." After the heights come the plains, in the Bible, and our everyday life. The glory and the wonder of the last verses of Ephesians chapter three, Paul speaks about the love of Christ and the fullness of God, such as, "Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Then they are followed by "I the prisoner of the Lord" In the next chapter.

It seems so much that most of Paul's ministry was always being challenged, limited, and hindered. There are strange limitations sometimes in our work itself. Sometimes we ourselves experience frustrations, inabilities, and chains known perhaps only to Him who knows all. However, Paul opens the way of peace here as he always does.

If we really realize that most of the letters to the churches written by Paul were written from prison, we would have a different light on things. I believe that many of you feel that you are also in some kind of a prison. You cannot escape the increasing persecution of those in your own homes, people you live by, and work with. Not to mention even the strangest, fiery trials that have come out of nowhere.

If you are, then you are the prisoner of the Lord, and you are not alone any more than Paul was. Jesus is with you in this war, and Satan cannot win. He already lost. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Persevering is the badge of the believer. And in the end, we will receive the Victor's Crown, and there will be a banqueting table for all those who suffered long, warred great wars. They will live on forever as "more than conquerors."

Do not give up your ground, it was given to you by the Lord, and it is Him that will keep it to your glorying end. You can rely on it.

"We are foolish to expect to serve God without opposition: the more zealous we are, the more sure are we to be assailed... Glory be to God, we know the end of the war. The great dragon shall be cast out and for ever destroyed, while Jesus and they who are with him shall receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords to-night, and pray the Holy Spirit to nerve our arms for the conflict. Never battle so important, never crown so glorious. Every man to his post, ye warriors of the cross, and may the Lord tread Satan under your feet shortly!" ~Charles Spurgeon