“ 3For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances—”
(Philippians 3:3, Amplified Bible)
The Apostle Paul was not ruled by things like an addiction to the approval and appreciation of people. No, he was an FBI Christian. That is he was a Firm Believer In God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit (1 X 1 X 1 = 1) no matter what someone thought about him or how they treated him. This does not mean that he was nasty. It means that he didn’t define “nice” as pleasing people in a way that contradicted the purposes of God. Paul dared to care for people while staying true to Biblical teachings.
God developed him, so that he could take it when people became more and more stubborn speaking evil of and living contrary to the Way of the Lord because some thought that Paul did not have the right background or credentials to do what he was doing. The Apostle Paul's identity was not tied to the flesh, outward privileges, physical advantages and external appearances. Try though they might to stop the Apostle Paul and to shift his direction to Satanic ways, they couldn’t. An attack on Paul is the same as an attack on God. That doesn’t mean that Paul didn’t have shipwrecks, but it does mean that God made sure that Paul sailed through all the seas of life, succeeded in the plans God made for him before the foundation of the world and stayed anchored in his relationship with God first and people second. Some practices of FBI Christians are:
· Praise God for the progress He has accomplished in your life. If the Holy Spirit is so strong in you that you can put down a sin stronghold in a day. Praise God. If it takes longer. Praise God. For example, say you smoked five cigarettes a day five years ago, but today you only smoke two cigarettes a day. One day you will not smoke. (See Romans 7:15-25).
- If God chose you and called you, never give up. The righteous are bold as a lion. The righteous are not sinless; their sins are washed away by the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ who is transforming them daily into an ever more accurate reflection of who He is.
· Put the devil in his place; that is behind you. Reject shame, condemnation and any apology for where you are at provided you are in Christ and seeking Him and His ways. Someone said: "I'm okay, and I am on my way." God will get you to the final destination. The truth is you will battle some sin until the grave or rapture. Conviction and cleansing in one area means it’s time for God to convict and cleanse you in another area. Isn’t God so good that He doesn’t show us all our problems in a day?
- Press past distraction and discouragement and attempts to silence your voice and destroy you. The enemy is trying to intimidate you. Disobey the devil and his demons. If your Master is Christ, why bow down to the prince of this world? It doesn’t matter what resources the kingdom of darkness has. Greater is the God inside of Christians than the whole wide world.
- Put on the full armor of God (See Ephesians 6:10-18). The devil is going to expose your relatively little errors while covering up the extensive errors of his people.
- Refuse to be paralyzed by the attacks of the kingdom of darkness. In a way it’s a compliment; if you had no value in the kingdom of God, there would not be any vigorous attack against you.
- Pursue peace, but don’t accept peace at any price. If you are in a long-term, non-familial relationship full of strife, seek God for permission to separate. Living in strife and division saps your strength.
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