Resistance, Russia, and the Devil

Warned about possible sanctions if they do anything to escalate Ukraine’s internal conflict, what did Russia do? They flew jets into Ukraine's airspace and aligned themselves with rebel Russian Ukrainians over control of the rebel-held town of Slavyansk—whose outcome could determine if Russia takes control of the whole of eastern Ukraine.  

Should it surprise anyone that after invading Crimea with almost no resistance from the U.S. or Europe, Russia is pushing the boundaries (quite literally), changing geopolitics for decades, even centuries.

Not to infer that Putin is the devil, the word “resistance” brought to mind a spiritual truth—we have to resist our enemies. If you “resist the devil, he will flee from you” (4:7). Imagine that! We have the power to put the devil to flight! And not unlike what is going on in Russia and Ukraine, if we do not resist him (giving him the advantage), the personal outcome will be disastrous. “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will stand firm (Eph. 6:13).

Flying Home: What is my ETA?

When I learned I had pancreatic cancer in January, I received it as my ticket for a ‘flight home.’ On Friday, the Lord gave me an ETA, Estimated Time of Arrival.

In an earlier post, I said I would be getting a CT scan to see if I had cancer in my liver. Though I've learned I do not, I have now received a more precise prognosis from my oncologist. Because the surgery I had in February could not remove all the cancer in the margins around the tumor, and because I had 3 infected lymph nodes, I am told the return of this aggressive cancer is inevitable. While this prognosis is based on experience and statistics, I believe it is from the Lord who is graciously giving me and my family time to prepare.

And what is the ETA? Within 2-3 years. But please don't worry. Even though it appears final preparations have begun, I am not boarding yet. And there's plenty of runway ahead (Hebrews 12:1-3).  

Are there any Fleeing Felons out There?

For more than 20 years, I was an administrator of federal welfare programs. During Clinton's administration, Congress passed legislation that no fleeing felon could receive welfare benefits. [a ‘fleeing felon’ is one who has a warrant out for his arrest because he has committed a crime.] So every welfare application in America had to include this question: “Are you a fleeing felon?” In the years that followed, I don’t know of any fleeing felons, in all 50 states, that ever answered that question “yes.”

Last week, I wrote about Paul’s command to “flee” temptation (1 Tim 2:22). Today it occurred to me that we were all, at one time, felons—having committed ‘crimes’ against God. And at one time we were all “fleeing” from the punishment for our sin. But God loved us while we were yet felons. Jesus became a felon like us and ‘did the time’, so we would no longer need to flee; thus, we are now free & forgiven felons.

In the just-mentioned passage, Paul says we should “flee” temptation and “follow” Jesus. But of course, before you can “follow” Jesus, you must be a forgiven felon. And after you follow Jesus, you must flee your former felonious acts. So while we were once “fleeing felons,” we have become “faithful followers” who are now fleeing from anything that made us felons in the first place.