Revisitng the Marina's Kitchen Table Archives - #5

I recently found the hard drive of all my first posts, writing in a Yahoo Group called Marina's Kitchen Table. It was the same thing as here, but perhaps a little more devotional in writing, as I leaned hard on God during a really difficult season in life. 

I'm sharing those first writings again, as we make another move, and I anticipate my time at the computer to be more focused on getting the work done on that handbook on Missionary Care. 

I hope that you enjoy these entries as much as I do. I have NO idea where this journey will go, as I was as irregular a writer then as I am now! :)  Some things never change! 

Be blessed!
Marina
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At Maranatha Bible Camp we sing a song based on this verse. It goes like this:


Be excellent at what is good, be innocent of evil.(repeated)
And the God of peace will soon crush Satan, 
Yes God will crush him, underneath His feet. (repeated)


I realize that this does not do the song ANY justice, and if I sing it alone it could not compare to the power felt when 300 JR high or HS kids sang it, full of action and enthusiasm! Nonetheless, the words are for us! I love this message dearly.

Holiness takes practice! To remain innocent of evil means to NOT practice it! Now obviously, we will run across situations that will demand repentance (and probably always will!) but we need to refrain from willful disobedience..we need to be disciplined in our actions. That may mean to not turn on the TV when we know that the soaps are on (which may make us desire things that we cannot have..and is an incredible waste of time), or we may need to excuse ourselves (politely) in a group of "friends" when the conversation turns to
gossip, or we may need to practice restraint and stick to our shopping list to remain on budget. All little things, but all require practicing holiness to do the right thing. 

Maybe your situations are not reflected here. Mine are, and I have more! I think that if we ask God to reveal the areas of our life that tempt us with evil (even in the most innocent of forms, haha) He will show us those areas, and how to battle them. I know that the practice of holiness with the promise that God WILL CRUSH SATAN will help us to stay on our spiritual track. Isn't that what we all want! =)

Go to your Bible and look up Romans 16:17-20. Let's have a heart to do God's will, and be willing to "be wise in what is good, and innocent of what is evil!" Let's practice it with the enthusiasm of a room full of jr/sr high schoolers! 

WE CAN DO IT, WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN! WE CAN! 

With God's help, all things are possible!