25 Potential Benefits of Spiritual Attack

Jesus said “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.” 
Matthew 5:11 NLT

Being attacked or slandered is not fun, it stinks, but in fact, though unexpected and not sought after there can be many benefits! 

1.     You learn to receive God’s affirmation in new ways

2.     The Psalms become your prayer book and songbook

3.     You get weaned from being a people-pleaser

4.     You more readily empathize with those who suffer

5.     Your learn to forgive and not live in the prison of bitterness

6.     You learn the power of prayer and worship

7.     Your discernment increases when you get free from people-pleasing

8.     You become more resolute in following Jesus

9.     You have a new appreciation for the cross, suffering of Jesus and communion

10.   You see how the kingdom advances through godly suffering

11.   Your self-reliance decreases and trusting God increases

12.   As you experience mercy you find it can flow more freely through you

13.   You learn when to speak and when to be silent

14.   You grow in speaking the truth in love for the sake  of others

15.   You learn true humility and obedience whether you want to or not

16.   You experience an increase in the power of Christ working in and through you

17.   Your love for the world decreases and desire for heaven and the new earth and God’s restoration increases

18.   You experience a deeper reality of Rom 8:28, all things work together for good

19.   Attacks reveal chinks in your armor, and God is able to do a deeper work of transformation in you

20.   When you run into the devil face to face its a good sign you’re not walking with him

21.   You show that you belong to Jesus

22.  You learn to yield to authority- God’s authority and that of the people he has placed in your life

23.   You find out who your friends are

24.   Your hatred of evil increases

25.   Your grip gets stronger as you learn to hold on to what is true through hard times

The power of worshiping Jesus together

We were sitting outside in the rain with a few hundred people waiting on the concert to get started.  A guy was telling me about his brand of following Jesus...  "I don't need the church.  I can watch a great message on youtube and get all I need.  I believe in Jesus, but I might be different than some people, I hate worship.  Getting together with people to sing songs is such a bore and makes no sense to me..."

After a few moments of pause- did he just say what I think he said?  "hate worship?" - we went on to discuss the implications of his statements.

It is easy to vote no on the whole menu when you taste something you don't like.  But that is the cultural bleed which can so powerfully taint us when it comes to following Jesus.  He was clearly missing the why, the who and the what of worship.

Sure there are a lot of adjustments which can be made in local church worship.  Some examples of cultural bleed include: self-absorption which results in singing way more about my feelings than the greatness of God; shallow interaction with God and His book which results in shallow lyrics; passively watching other people sing or perform; songs so creative and complicated they are impossible to follow; repetition of the same phrase for 5 minutes which leads to 5% experiencing bliss and 95% thinking about lunch.  What a challenge for worship leaders, musicians and pastors!

Eugene Peterson's gives a beautiful picture of the WHO and WHAT of WORSHIP.

"Common worship, that is, corporate worship (worship 'in common'), gives the basic form and provides the essential content for this aspect of 'growing up' to the 'full stature of Christ.'  Private worship while alone in semi-paralysis before a TV screen is not mature worship.  Certainly we can worship in solitary.  Some of our richest moments of worship will come while strolling on a beach or wandering in a garden or perched on a mountain peak.  What we must not do is deliberately exclude others from our worship or worship selectively with like-minded friends...  Maturity develops in worship as we develop in friendship with the friends of God, not just our preferred friends.  Worship shapes us not only individually but as a community, a church.  If we are going to grow up into Christ we have to do it in the company of everyone who is responding to the call of God.  Whether we happen to like them or not has nothing to do with it."  p. 36, Practice Resurrection

What would happen if we approached worship this way?

What if we committed to this type of maturity, which is like applying a Tide stick to cultural bleed?

What if we keep adjusting how we worship in order to please God more?

Just think of the amazing potential to change the world when Jesus is exalted and we love one another...  

Broken relationships are healed and captive people are set free.

That's what I signed up for.

Jesus, again and again

For a few days in August we enjoyed the crisp mountain air and a cabin at 9,200 feet.  With a cup of hot coffee one morning, I took some time to read and reflect on the Bible, specifically the letter to the Colossians.  It was as though every statement about Jesus jumped off the page and grabbed hold of my heart and mind.  Jesus, again, and again, and again, Jesus… 

Colossians 3:4 says “He is your life”

What we believe about Jesus determines how we live, and whether we really live.  

We can easily latch on to one thing we like about Jesus, but it may only be part of the picture and easily misapplied.

“Jesus is a great example” is true, but by merely emulating what I know of him I can miss out on relationship and the life he gives. 

Believing “Jesus is a prophet” I can reduce him to pronouncing judgment on things I don’t like, and “pick and choose” what I’m comfortable with him saying.

Thinking Jesus is only “a great teacher” I can easily trust more in what I know (and my ability to know) than I trust Jesus.

I can use “Jesus is my Lord and Savior” as a magical phrase, a get out of jail free card, somehow concluding I’ve covered the spiritual bases, the journey is over and I’m just waiting on heaven.

“Jesus is all about love and acceptance” can lead to relativism, where anything goes just so long as I’m not hurting anybody else.

It helps to keep coming back to what Jesus said about Himself, and to what God says about him (in places like Colossians). 

Recently I was talking to a guy and asked if he had any spiritual belief.  He told me about still being a member of a church in another state (he had not attended in over 30 years).  But when I asked him about Jesus something happened.  He started to talk about his current struggles.  I encouraged him with a related story of how Jesus broke in to someone’s situation to bring hope and change.  Then we got to pray together and invite Jesus to come and do the same thing in his life.  Somehow the detached perspective of Jesus was overcome in a few moments of talking about who Jesus is, and inviting Jesus to take action.  It never gets old...

I’m excited about this next season, because Jesus; again, and again, and again; keeps grabbing hold of my heart and mind with who he is.  Jaw dropping, eyes lifting, hope springing… 

Check out these phrases about Jesus from Colossians in The Message.  Maybe good material for praying, singing, meditating, sharing...

We look at Jesus and see the God who cannot be seen.

We look at Jesus and see God’s original purpose in everything created.

Everything got started in Jesus and finds its purpose in him.

Jesus was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.

Jesus was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end.

From beginning to end Jesus is there, towering far above everything, everyone.

All the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of Jesus’ death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him.

…the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us.

He is your life.