day no. 16,244: by flattery not battery

"Satan never brushes the feathers of his birds the wrong way; he generally deals with us according to our tastes and likings. He flavours his bait to his fish." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sin doesn't cut against the grain. It goes with the grooves. It seeks out smooth words. It entices by flattery, not battery. It likes a lull. It doesn't want the dramatic. Ruffled feathers and frustrated cravings are not its modus operandi. Sin prefers more subtle mediums of seduction.

Proverbs 27:5-6

Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Sin prefers to kill with kisses. It doesn't want to cause discomfort, it wants to scratch the itch.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth.

Satan is a smooth operator, not a rabble-rouser. He wants you unaware, not paying attention. And the best way to slake a thirst is to give it what it wants.

Beware of the ones who've never crossed you, they will never lead you to the cross.

day no. 16,243: jettison all but Jesus

“The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason… If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.” - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Jettison all but Jesus. Whatever you think may save you won't and it can't unless you refuse to look to it for salvation. As long as you are looking for something other than the cross in front of you, you won't see salvation. But look there and you see it, not in part, but the whole.

Isaiah 45:22

Look unto me, and be ye saved,

all the ends of the earth:

for I am God, and there is none else.

There is nowhere else to turn and nowhere else to look if salvation is what you long to see. Anyone anywhere can turn and look to Him and see it. But it requires you to stop looking where you're used to gazing. Whatever you looked to before for salvation must be abandoned.

Philippians 3:7-9

Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

The boat free from everything except Christ will not capsize. He will keep it afloat and guide it through the storm. A heart that has jettisoned every other source of safety or salvation except Jesus shall be saved. At first, there are easy things to throw overboard, but eventually you get to the best that you save for last. That which you hope to hold on to, that which you fear to let go of. These are the last things that must be tossed overboard before you can truly retain any of them.

Matthew 6:33

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you

day no. 16,242: the tricks and the trades

"Journalism and conjuring will always be incompatible... The two trades rest on opposite principles. The whole point of being a conjurer is that you won't explain a thing that has happened; the whole point of being a journalist is that you do explain a thing that hasn't happened." -- G.K. Chesterton, Magic: A Fantastic Comedy

Magicians thrive by doing without explaining; whereas the media stays in business by explaining what no one is doing. Journalism and Juju are both dark arts.

The soothsayer tries to keep secret what every can see, but the studio tries to keep secret what no one can see. The wizard's agenda is clear, his methods are not; the anchor's methods are obvious, but their agenda isn't always. The illusionist and the journalist both have secrets, but one makes plain what the other seeks to conceal.

They are photo negatives of each other. Each depends on you seeing something and not see something else.

The magician wants you to see the trick, but not the tactic; the reporter wants you to see the tactic, but not the trick. The conjurer wants you to see the wand, not the ways, whereas the anchor wants you to see the way, but not their wand. Both use sleight of hand, one with a wand, the other with a wink. The magician, to his credit, is at least honest enough to tell you that it’s a trick; whereas the trick of the media is that you'd never know. The one tells the truth but disguises the game where the other disguises the truth by playing a game.

Both rely on tricks of the trade. The magician's trade is to deal openly in tricks; whereas the media's trick is to deal secretly in trading. The illusionist trades a bird for a flame. The headlines trade a truth for a lie. The conjurer confesses in broad daylight that he is up to something. The journalist insists in print that he isn't. The one is honest about their lies, the other is dishonest about their "facts."

day no. 16,241: the conquest of the world one acreage at a time

Jeremiah 29:5

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.

The conquest of the world is achieved one acreage at a time. Dominion is made manifest in the domestic. Every home is a center of education, culture, and production. 

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

As we build our homes in the Lord, our efforts are not in vain. As we watch over our neighborhoods in the Lord, our watching is not in vain. As we raise our children in the nourishment and admonition of the Lord, our labors are not in vain.

We build a home.

We build a community.

We change a nation.

We conquer the world.

For Christ and for Kingdom.

Let's go!

day no. 16,240: Christian civilization will overcome heathen nihilism

"Alfred has come down to us in the best way (that is, by national legends) solely for the same reason as Arthur and Roland and the other giants of that darkness, because he fought for the Christian civilization against the heathen nihilism." - G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

Christian civilization will overcome heathen nihilism. It will need to be defended and it will have to advance, but it will overcome. It is indomitable and inexorable. Christ has conquered, is conquering, and will conquer the entire world.

John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The gates of hell cannot prevail against the kingdom of God. The light will invade the darkness and the darkness will be transformed. It will either be illuminated or decimated, but in the end, no darkness will survive.

Revelation 22:5

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

But for now, we shine like cities on a hill and the greater the diameter of light, the greater the circumference of contact with the darkness. In other words, as the light grows in scope, the perimeter also grows. As such, it can feel like we are seeing more darkness than before. How can this be advancement when our borders with darkness are ever increasing?

1 John 5:4

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Everyone born of God has already witnessed a world overthrown. Their world within was deep, dark, empty and void before Christ shone His light in and overturned everything. When we look within, we see a world colonized and conquered for Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So, we fight the good fight of faith and believe His promise that knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. We do not lose heart, because we have hearts that have already been overcome. We expect Him to do for the world what He has already done for us. It seems impossible, but how likely did it seem to you that you would worship Jesus... until all of a sudden, you did. Now for some there were signs and plot points which suggested it, but for others it happened all at once. Either way, they were won over and overcome by Christ... just like the world will be, one way or another.

"Therefore your end is on you,

Is on you and your kings,

Not for a fire in Ely fen,

Not that your gods are nine or ten,

But because it is only Christian men

Guard even heathen things."

- G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

All things belong to Christ, including us. And all things, in Him, will one day be ours. So much so that even at this moment, it is the Christian men who protect the best of the pagan world. They are preserved and kept by us and for us. The meek will inherit the earth and no darkness there will remain; and the best of what was lent to the nations will be restored to the kingdom.

day no. 16,239: sincoherence

“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.” – A.W. Pink

Unbelief wants to be saved from the consequences of sin without being parted from the presence of sin. It wants to lay with sin without bearing any of its children. It wants the fruit of faithfulness without the works of faithfulness. It wants blessings without labor. It wants to stay up late and to get a good night’s sleep. It wants to eat junk and lose weight. It wants the thrill of cheating and the privileges of loyalty. It wants the wages of death with the paycheck of life. It wants the wild bender of the prodigal without the pig pen. It is, in short, insanity. It is incoherence incarnate. And anything that can’t go on forever, praise God, won’t.

day no. 16,238: give with intention, not concession

Proverbs 31:2-3

What are you doing, my son?

What are you doing, son of my womb?

What are you doing, son of my vows? 

Do not give your strength to women,

your ways to those who destroy kings.

Strength cannot be taken away, but it can be given away. Instead of being treasured, it can be squandered. Instead of being gathered up to protect others, it can be scattered about to appease others. Instead of being employed for sacrifice, it can call in sick for ease. Instead of standing by a "No," it can hide behind a "Yes." Instead of being kept and respected, it can be given away and ashamed.  Strength taken for granted is given too readily.

That said, strength was meant to be spent. You can spend it on faithful endeavors or worthless pursuits. If it is spent for someone else, it builds muscle. If it is spent on oneself, it atrophies. Strength is meant to be given with intention, not by concession. The advice here is to use your strength and position for the good of those for whom you have taken responsibility. Do not merely give your strength away through thoughtless delegation. Do not surrender it in order to avoid a conflict. Retain your strength so that you can leverage it for the good of those you love and for whom you have the obligation to love and provide.

If you give your strength away, you will have to ask for it back, but you can never have it back in the same way. A woman cannot follow someone she can lead. She cannot respect someone who pines for her respect. She will not admire a man who needs her to punch his man card.

All that to say. Men, do not give your strength away. She doesn't want you to. Even if she thinks she does. Even if you think she does. Don't do it. Kingdoms collapse because strength is taken for granted and given away as ransom.