Tag: vigilance

We are Not Immune, Stay Vigilant

I remember my first serious relationship. About four months into this relationship she told me how happy she was and that it had been the best relationship that she had ever been in. I remember because it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me. What I didn’t realize was that that moment was also the beginning of the end of our relationship. Eight months later she broke up with me because our relationship had tanked.

When I looked back over the relationship I realized that as soon as she told me that and I felt like I had “arrived” at happiness I started to slack. I would flake here or there, perhaps I wouldn’t apologize this time because I felt that it wasn’t needed…. I had stopped giving it my all because I felt I was in such a good place that it wouldn’t matter…and little by little it began to chip away until it was too late.

Why do I share this? I share this because like our walk with Christ, vigilance is the difference between happily ever after and total destruction. The moment we feel like we have arrived… the moment we think we got this thing wired and can begin to slack off is the beginning of the end…

We will never have our sin under control…. we will never be strong enough to stand up against the enemy unless we remain vigilant in our walk and in our faith. No matter how on fire we are for God we are always vulnerable if we are not vigilant. Our pride sneaks up on us, our frustrations take root in our heart and slowly turns us bitter.

We must seek God with everything we are or we will begin to be chipped away…. until it’s too late.

Written by: Justin Ludwig

Vigilance is Key

I’ve always been a fan of punk music. I share alot of their views on society, the government, not being afraid to
be yourself and obviously I love the way it sounds. I mention this because today on the way to work, I was listening to my music and singing along just like any other day. All of a sudden I was very aware of what I was singing along to. The lyric that got my attention was a single line in an otherwise awesome song. It simply said “God is not in us”.

Right after I sang those lyrics I stopped dead in my tracks, like someone just slapped me in the face. All of a sudden another set of lyrics from a different band came to mind that goes something like, “Heaven and hell are just a myth, so wake up you asshole and live in the moment.”

Why do I mention this?

There is a term called imaging, which refers to how anything that you expose yourself to affects you. It may not be notice it right away, and if it is, it can be easily dismissed.

Things in this world are either bringing us closer to God or pulling us away….there is no third direction, no standing still.

Then I couldn’t help but come to the realization that I was overlooking this anti-God sentiment that seems to be plaguing our country, because I love everything else that they talk about in their songs.

Suddenly the overwhelming sense of conviction washed over me. I had chosen the world over God.

I bring up this revelation about myself  to you guys for no other reason than the hopes that you will all remain aware that we do this everyday without even realizing it.

I had to make a decision to delete this music that I have loved since I was a kid off of my phone simply because they had dissed my Lord.

It may sound silly, but this walk we are all on is treacherous and we cannot make compromises on these types of things.

Now I cannot stress this fact enough that I do not tell you this story in the
hopes that you will think, “Oh look at him, look how good he’s doing obeying God.”By no means, I just want to share my shortcomings with all of you in the hopes that you will take this truth and delve into your own walk.

Psalms 139:23 says, “Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts”.

David begs God to show him the areas in his life where he is falling short. The areas where he compromises his love for God with the love of himself and of the world. Ways he was not even aware of.

The battle is real, the repercussions of choosing anything but God are extremely real. So I urge all of you,
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12

We must remain vigilant, because none of us are immune.

Written by: Justin Ludwig

Integrity

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It’s so easy now a days to get caught up in the material world. It’s only natural, I mean who doesn’t want to be successful,  provide for their family, to have some security.  But too many times that desire drives us to compromise .

A white lie here, a seemingly harmless corner cut there. At the time the ends seem to justify the means. But the reality of the situation is that those people are corrupting their own hearts and are slowly but surely cheapening who they are, and what they supposedly stand for. It’s so easy to let your guard down and to get your priorities twisted without even realizing it.

There is a verse that says “What good is it for a man who gains the entire world but in the end loses his very soul.” ( Matt 16:26)

In the end it doesn’t really matter how far you made it. Nobody really talks about that or remembers those things. It’s what kind of person you were, and what you stood for that will live on. That’s why it’s so important to do the right thing in all situations. Not because you want people to see or for what you can gain. Simply being a good person and doing right because you know it’s the right thing to do. If everyone was able to apply this way of thinking into their everyday lives, how different and amazing would this world become?  Some cynics might even say that that idea is just a fantasy or a pipe dream. But to those people I would simply say, that a world of change begins with one person, being good for the sake of being good. And for myself I chose to be a part of the solution instead of being part of the problem, one compromise at a time.

Written by: Justin Ludwig

Photo from: http://65.media.tumblr.com/11db450f3178968053dd0fb767ddb80ctumblr_mu9e0uB2ZH1rgln54o1_500.jg

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I find it so incredible how the Spirit speaks to us. I was walking into work this morning and as I am walking up the stairs, I dropped my keys. As soon as I heard them hit the ground I froze. I heard something, it was an almost audible voice in my head saying,

“You are not immune.”

I kid you not, I stood there for atleast a minute, staring at those keys, mumbling to myself, “I am not immune.”  It didn’t hit me right away, but about an hour into work it clicked and I understood what He was showing me.

For as long as I can remember, every time I would see someone drop something, I would  joke in my head
That if I was holding it, I wouldn’t of dropped it. It’s silly, I know, but what can I say, I’m weird. And when those keys hit the floor, with that joke as far from my mind as could be, I found myself recognizing that even I couldn’t stop myself from letting those keys drop out of my hand. Which guided my thoughts to a verse.

“Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” -Psalms 26:2

That’s when I realized that the Spirit was both reminding and warning me about the severity of my condition. The bottom line is that I/we have a sinful, selfish and destructive heart. As a human we were just born that way, with this sinful condition passed down through Adam, and we will remain that way until we are glorified with Him.

There are so many things deep within me that can throw me off track in my walk with Christ. Selfish, sinful motives, my pride. Dare I say unintentional distortion  of God’s word perhaps from past hurts, or points of view that had been ingrained into me since birth. We all have things like this. If we didn’t then there would be no need for a Savior.

What the Spirit was reminding me was that if I don’t remain vigilant with the knowledge that I am not immune to this sin condition…. That if I am not vigilant in inspecting myself against the word of God daily, then I will surely become one of those Christians who lost their way.

I am not talking about the ones who turned away from God. I am talking about those who still truly believe that they are perfectly in God’s will, but their sin has changed their path. Their pride skewing their perceptions and intentions … and they just can’t see it.

Before we know it, we have become modern day Pharisees, proclaiming God’s greatness for our own glory.

Until we are face to face with Christ we are at war. With the powers of darkness and with the darkness within ourselves, and they both seek to destroy us. We must remain vigilant, humble, and seek His face, always

Justin Ludwig

Photo from: Google Images

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I had a problem for several months with my bike tires popping on me. It seemed at least once a week my tire would be flat and I was getting really irritated. I just couldn’t figure out why the damn things kept popping, because  I was so careful.  I never even went over a curb because I don’t want to mess up my only means of transportation, which made it even more frustrating.

Then finally, I realized that it was the path that I was taking to work. On this side of the street apparently there is a certain kind of tree that drops little prickly things that are so sharp. Obviously, now that I figured this out I cross the street and taking the opposite sidewalk, problem solved.

The only problem now is on the way home from work sometimes I am not paying attention and I’ll forget to cross the street, and I’ll continue down the wrong sidewalk. I usually realize 15 feet or so after the intersection, and since the prickly things are further up it is easy enough to turn around and avoid them…..

I kid you not people more times than I care to admit, when I realize that I missed the turn, even though I know what very well could happen, I just keep going straight because I want to get home. So I continue going the wrong way, hoping for the best.

The last time this happened as soon as I realized I missed the turn I remember  thinking “Screw it, I’ve already committed to this way, I’m not turning back now.”

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I find myself beginning to head down the wrong path in my walk with Christ I have the same initial reaction. I know what I should do, but I find myself rationalizing or worse justifying the path that I am on, knowing damn well it’s not heading where I, and more importantly where He wants me to go.

What if after Peter denied Christ he simply continued on the path he was on? Overcome with shame, hurt, fear and who knows how many other emotions. He easily could have let how he felt or what he thought fuel his choice to continue down the path leading to destruction. It seems so clear, so easy of a solution…but it isn’t always.

Speaking for myself, the shift can be so subtle that it isn’t even recognized right away. And once it becomes clear, I feel something pushing me forward, justifying me, telling me I am fine and to just keep going…

We must recognize these thoughts and feelings holding us back and dragging us down as weapon from the enemy and not as truth.

Divide and conquer is his tactic, and it works. We must not continue on….. We must not justify and hope for the best.

Our own head is inexplicably trying to keep us wallowing, keep us down, keep us apart… The reality is that we are in a war, against sin yes, but also against ourselves…. we cannot give up…. we cannot surrender… especially when everything in us justifies the path we somehow ended up on.

I share this with you because with everything going on in my life I had started to veer towards the wrong path and I didn’t even realize it.  The enemy started small, a little corner cut here, a church service skipped there. It appears harmless, at first, but then it snowballs. And just like the frog slowly boiling to death in that pot, we sit, not noticing that we are in serious trouble.

It was brought to my attention by a mighty woman of God who listened to the Spirit’s prompting and was brave enough to act on it. And in doing so God was able to smack me upside my head to show me the truth of my situation.

Without even realizing, I gave the enemy a foothold in the midst of my pain.  I have begun to isolate, then as time went on my old self destruction has started whispering in my ear.

So low key, I didn’t even recognize….

Now I, just like you have a choice. Do I justify and carry on, or do I allow my eyes to be opened to the truth and turn around?

It’s never too late to turn back…. it’s never too much that we should give up…. and we are never strong enough to do it on our own. We need Him, and we need each other.

1 Peter 5:8
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Ecclesiastes 4:12
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Heb 10:23-25
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Philippians 4:8

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”

Justin Ludwig

Photo from: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-christian-path