Written: October 21, 2016
Many of us know the verses about putting on the full armour of God — why? “so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Being equipped with the full armour helps us to be able to “stand our ground”. Today, I was reading Oswald Chamber’s devotion, and I was so struck by the concept he shared of how Satan works to divert us by “impulse”.
What does that mean? “Impulse is a trait in the natural life,” says Chambers, and there was nothing of this in Jesus. Think about it — Jesus was never impulsive in his actions or words, but always exhibited “a calm strength that never got into panic.”
How many times have I allowed an impulse to choose that which is not from God? Chambers talks about how the “Spirit of God checks impulse.” Have I not felt it? That “rush of self-conscious foolishness”, which makes me want to immediately give an excuse for giving in?
Chambers says: “Impulse is alright in a child, but it is disastrous in a man or woman…Impluse has to be trained into intuition by discipline.” Am I maturing to the full measure of the stature of Christ, so that I will no longer be an infant, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming? (Eph 4:13-14)
Then Chambers gets me with the illustration of Peter when he so quickly asked to step out on the waters with Jesus. “Walking on the water is easy to impulsive pluck, but walking on dry land as disciple of Jesus Christ is a different thing.” Though we may not realize it, “it does require the supernatural grace of God to live 24 hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus.”
This is not learned in 5 minutes, in our fast-food, impulsive world, but must be surrendered to the Lordship of Christ on a moment by moment basis. Wow, that wipes out all my petty, selfish impulses and says; Stand up to the full measure of the stature of Christ, wearing His armour and facing the attacks of the Devil face on! It’s not an easy fight or the easy way, but it is the one that guarantees sure victory.
Grace and Peace