Building on the Foundation

Our walk with God, our relationship with our Creator is the most important thing in our lives. It’s the most important relationship we will ever have, and we share this relationship with thousands of other Christians who all come together to form the “Body of Christ.” Or that is what is supposed to happen. That is what is supposed to happen, but it is as rare as a hen's teeth.  We are all supposed to be a team working together to further our mission, supporting and encouraging one another, but that is rarely what actually happens, and for one simple reason: us.  The problem is us! Rather, it is that portion of ourselves that we have named the Ego, and it hates teams. Even if our Ego gets to be the team's leader, it still does not like the team. It wants to be the star of the show, and it wants to do it alone. No one else can possibly be as good as us in whatever capacity we are functioning, and everyone else is just there to make us look good.  A team cannot function or ...

  You are being watched. Every hour, every day, every second. There’s a creature crouching, waiting, stalking, watching you with hate-filled eyes piercing through the darkness. You never see him, yet he’s always there, looking for a chink in your armor, searching for an opportunity to strike. Yes, this adversary is Satan the Devil. The apostle Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). “Know your enemy” is the famed maxim uttered by Sun Tzu, ancient Chinese soldier and author of The Art of War . Indeed, of such a dangerous foe, we cannot afford to be ignorant. After warning the Corinthians of a potential threat, the apostle Paul explained, “Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). God’s Word tells us much about Satan’s attacks. He is “more cunning than any beast of the field,” more cunning than a slithering snake or a stalking l...