Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Dressing In Our Armor (part 2)

Now that we have girded our waists with the Truth, let us move on to the next item of our armor we need to make sure we put on.

Ephesians 6 v 14...Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.....

This piece of the armor protects our heart. The devil will attack us where we are the most vulnerable. How many know that we alot of times wear our heart on our shirtsleeves so to say.
When we expose our feelings, the deepest emotions that are in our heart for all to see, we have uncovered them from the breastplate. We have exposed them to the enemy when we complain or murmur to others about the things that are bothering us.

1 Pet. 5 v 7... casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you....

Instead we should take our concerns to Jesus as He instructed us to do. Leave our hearts protected under the breastplate of His righteousness. He gave us His righteousness, an everlasting righteousness that can not be taken away from us. You see the devil wants you to bring your cares and concerns out in the open so he can attack you, so he can make you feel unworthy, so he can accuse you of not being good enough. RECOGNIZE him for who he is. He is the father of lies.

Romans 5 v 17...for if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.......

This scripture is telling us that if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and accepted His free gift of grace, then along with it came His righteousness that will be with us forever. We can not lose it by what we do or don't do, as it is His righteousness that He leaves with us.

We will reign victoriously over whatever concern we are attacked with, if we leave our hearts protected under the breastplate of His righteousness. The devil wants you to speak about your problems, focus on your problems, meditate on your problems until you make the problem bigger than your faith in the Word.
You see he can only attack us in our minds, so don't hang your laundry out in the open so to say. Take it to the Lord in prayer and receive His peace over whatever your concern might be.

And now this brings us to the next piece of armor. Peace.

Ephesians 6 v 15....and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.....

When you go into battle you want to make sure your feet are well taken care of. Your feet are what is carrying you. If your feet hurt or are injured, you will slow down or stop all together and then the enemy has a chance to catch you.

Jesus says He left us with His peace. A peace we can trust in. A peace that will bring us through whatever we might be facing. A peace that surpasses all understanding.

John 14 v 27...Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid....

Phil. 4 v 6-7....Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.......

What does this scripture say? Let your requests be made known to who??? To your co-workers, to your family members, to your neighbors? No, He says let your requests, (your concerns) be made known to Him. Don't go telling everyone else your problem until you have made it a mountain. Take it to Him in prayer and receive His peace.

You see many people read about this part of the armor as if it is peace they are to take into the world. And while that might be so, it is more important that you first shod your feet with His peace so that you are able to fight your battle first. Remember your feet can't take you anywhere if they are damaged and not protected. AMEN!

Luke 10 v 19...Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.......

There you have it. Jesus gives us the authority to stomp out our concerns whatever they might be. We just have to shod our feet with the gospel of His peace.

Where do we find this armor to dress in daily?

STAY IN THE WORD!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

And The Truth Shall Set You Free

John 8 v 32... "and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."....

While reading one of my favorite speakers' book on Spiritual Warfare, I was set free in the truth. The way he illustrated a scenario set me free. That is why I like to write these tid-bits the way I do, so people can relate and be set free of fears and worries that are from the devil. Not that it is me setting them free but the WORD of GOD. All the praise and honor and glory be given to Him when you are set free.

This is the one that helped me today and I hope will help others as well. In this book 'Spiritual Warfare' written by Joseph Prince, he used a scenario about these three women working together, and two of the women were talking and laughing and every now and again would look over at the third woman and immediately the enemy brought the idea to her that they were talking about her in a negative way.

Oh my goodness, how many times has that happened to me? First of all we might be a little vain, thinking that we are so important that other people would want to talk about us all the time. Second, there might be some insecurity there. Third and usually the truth, it is just a lie from the devil making you think that they are discussing you and trying to get you into strife with your peers.

In his book each chapter is discussing putting on our full armor of God. This chapter was on the belt of Truth.
Ephesians 6 v 14...."Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness....

This is what happened that caused me to leave my last job which was a very good job, and a job that I had prayed about and God had blessed me with, all because I never put on my armor before I went to work each day. I let the spirits of darkness surround me with lies and suspicions, until they drove me off. I used to blame the girls I worked with. I used to say how awful they were and how mean and hateful they were. But then GOD showed me in His word the TRUTH. He showed me it wasn't the girls I worked with causing the trouble, it was me listening to the lies of the enemy and letting the enemy stir me up until I caused the strife. WOW, that was hard to admit, but like the title says, the TRUTH shall set you free. AMEN!

He reminded me that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood but with principalities of darkness.
Ephesians 6 v 12...For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spirtual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places....

It turned out in his book that these other two women who were talking about the third one, were actually planning a surprise birthday party for her the next day. A party the other woman almost didn't attend because she believed the lies of the devil and was in offense now toward her friends. But she did go and the truth set her free. She wasted all the time worrying and fretting over something that wasn't there.

Each piece of God's armor is so vital to us, in our everyday lives. When we get into His word and wear His armor each day we can withstand all the powers of darkness that try to come against us. Whether it be sickness, pain, disease, poverty, back biting, gossip, whatever it might be, remember these are spirits of darkness. They have no power, they are not flesh and blood, and you already have the victory over them because of the finished work on the cross. AMEN!

Ephes. 6 v 10-11.....Finally, my brethren, be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil....

Each and every piece of the armor has very significant meaning and is important as it all works together for your protection.

Remember to gird your waist with truth, put on your breastplate of righeousness, shod your feet with the gospel of peace, take up your shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation and pick up the sword of the Spirit.

This week and following lets study together the whole armor of God and how it is so vital to our everyday lives. I promise you, you will not want to leave home without it again.

Where will we find these truths about the armor?

STAY IN THE WORD!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

No Room At The Inn

That time of year is coming up quickly, where we are all rushing to and fro, trying to get the last minute wishes taken care of and etc.

Christmas is the time we share the story of Christ's birth. And we all know the story of how there was no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph and that is why Jesus was born in a manger.

Luke Chapter 2 .....Story of Christ's birth

Luke 2 v 7....And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn........

While thinking about this saying I was thinking that we alot of times have no room at the inn for Jesus. We in our everyday busy lives do not make time to spend with Jesus each day. We are in a sense telling Him when we do not have time, that there is no room at the inn for Him.

Now I am not saying nor am I condemning anyone about how much time they do or do not spend with the Lord each day. I am just saying maybe we could be made a little more aware of how much time we actually do give to our Savior. We tend to think of Him alot when Christmas comes around, but what about after Christmas, what about during those long hot summer months? What about on our jobs when we are putting in extra long hours?

If we would actually take the time to spend with Him when we think we are too busy worrying with our problems at work or just in our everyday activities, then our problems would become a lot easier to manage, because when He is present, worries are not.

When Jesus is with us, peace is present. AMEN! So why would we then not want to spend more time with Him? Why would we not keep an open room for Him at the inn ( in our time and in our hearts)?

Ask yourself this question. Do I have room for Jesus at the inn ( in my schedule) today?

How can we spend more time with this Wonderful, Awesome, Savior of ours?

STAY IN THE WORD!