His glory is my reward...

This past week was filled with sitting, eating, sitting, eating, sitting, listening, sitting, eating, and some sleeping. There was a wealth of knowledge and wisdom passed down to us, and I'm just praying some of it actually sunk in. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Jerry R. did seminars on Spiritual Warfare. So these are just a few of the notes I jotted down. They might not be in a particular order, but I thought I would share them with you all because I thought the were noteworthy (obviously).

* God's purpose: to be exalted and glorified throughout all nations; God's purpose for our lives: to be glorified and exalted in our lives.
* Satan is jealous for God's glory. He wants to keep God from being exalted among the nations. (my commentary - I never really thought about Satan using governments, terrorists, coups, wars, etc. to make it exceedingly difficult to get into nations that have never heard the truth. He does everything he can to make it impossible for God's ambassadors to take the truth to the unreached.)
* The devil is against us; the world is around us; and the flesh is within us. All of these conspire to defeat us.
* There is only one reason God became man: in order to die - He rendered powerless the works of the devil.
* Satan knows what the end means. (again, I hadn't ever thought about this. When every tribe, tongue, and nation have heard the truth the end will come as it says in Matt 24:14. When that end comes, Satan with all the other fallen angels and those without Christ will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity. So Satan is trying to put off the end as long as possible by hindering the progress of the gospel.)
* Satan causes persecution of believers, creates indifference among Christians, keeps people groups hidden, causes them to believe in religions/rituals/philosophies that don't point to Christ as Lord and Savior.
* Outline of temptation: 1) lust of the flesh 2) lust of the eyes 3) pride of life. temptation is fed by selfish ambition
* B - being
U - under
S - Satan's
Y - yoke
* (a story he told condensed in my own words) A m in a persecuted country was taken hostage, tied up, and put in the trunk of the car. While the men who abducted him were partying and getting drunk the man began to realize how desperate he was to be free from this situation. Because of that situation, that man understood how desperate God wishes us to be for Him.
* The crown He wore and the cross the He bore were His own, but they were rightly mine instead.
* Don't accept defeat! We already have the victory! :)
* Love without expecting anything in return; love fulfills the law; it is not contingent on anything.
* (another story I liked) A leader of the church died. At his funeral the pastor doing the service walked up to the dead man and said - "you were a horrible person. You cheated in everything you did. You lied to your wife and to your friends. You got drunk every night and partied like there was no tomorrow." What did the dead man say? nothing! The pastor then said "I'm just kidding. You were the most righteous person I knew. You loved God first and people second. You had wisdom beyond your years." What did the dead man say? nothing! (my commentary - So since we "have been crucified with Christ" Gal 2:20, why should we care what people say to us or about us. We live for Him and that is all that matters.)
* We have to stop treating this life as if it is our home.
* His glory is my reward.
* I have no regrets.
* Love makes sacrifice possible.