Wearin' Your Armor?

     Are you wearing the Armor of God? You know God told you to, right?  "Put on the full armor of God" Ephesians 6:11a
     If you are wearing it, are you consistant? Do you wear it daily or every once in awhile? You realize that He told you to wear it "so that you will be able to stand firm"(that's in Ephesians 6 too). If you wear it so you can stand firm then you must be putting it on everyday, not just every once in awhile, right? I know you don't want to be knocked about by the enemy and you do want to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11), so you must be wearing it daily! 
     And you probably already know what the Armor of God is...but we'll refresh our memories for those who maybe aren't wearing it daily. 
     There is:

•      The helmet of Salvation
•      The breastplate of Righteousness
•      The belt of Truth
•      The shoes of Peace
•      The shield of Faith
•      The sword of Spirit (the word of God)

     
     The scripture goes in a different order, but I put it on in this order because it visually works for me, I actually speak the act of putting on each piece of the armor and visualize it as I put it on. I start at my head, work my way down and then pick up the shield and sword and I'm ready to go!
     The helmet protects our minds and thoughts, so I have it on and I can focus on what I'm doing! The breastplate protects our hearts, then we can put our armor on in a heartfelt way. not wavering in our minds or hearts! The belt of truth we wrap around ourselves, the truth of God and His word. We put on the shoes of peace so we stand on a firm foundation and are free to focus, walk in God's Spirit. The shield of Faith is lifted in front of us and protects us when the enemy tries to attack, in faith we know that God is for us and the enemy will not prevail! The sword of the Spirit! God's word! It is a two edged sword and cuts through all things, read it, study it and speak it, the enemy does not have a chance against this! 
     Okay, now we know we need to wear the Armor daily, and we know what it is. So, let's look at how we wear it, do you put the armor on and wear it in a lazy manner or do you cinch it up and keep it in place all day? Do you let the helmet of salvation slip back on your head, after all you know you are saved and you know who saved you...so why keep it sitting up on top of your head all day? It's not just about being saved! It's about your thought life now that you are saved! Protect your mind and your thoughts, taking every thought captive.     
     Do you keep the Breastplate securely against your chest, or does it get a little uncomfortable to move around with it all day? Maybe you can just lay it on your desk, or even leave it in the car and put it back on after work or school? Then what will protect your heart? That little thin shirt you're wearing? Our battle is against Principalities! not spit wads! Keep that breastplate up close like a bullet proof vest! Live a righteous life, walk a righteous path, maintain that Breastplate of Righteousness!
     Now the belt of truth...does it get to feeling a little too tight and you need to loosen it up just a bit? I mean too much truth could really squeeze you uncomfortably, right? What's wrong with a little stretching of the truth here and there? It's still a belt and still wrapped around you, just not quite as binding? The purpose is to protect your core! To strengthen your inner man, it's not just about holding up your pants! 
     Are you still wearing the shoes? Did you kick them off when you wanted to get comfortable? But the shoes of peace should protect your standing and walking in all situations! Everywhere you go you could run into trouble with out shoes, there is a lot of situations that appear as broken glass and thorns in  the world but the shoes of peace will guard you as you walk through them.
     Here we go with my favorite parts! The shield of Faith and the sword of the Spirit! Some people think that is all they need to have to fight a battle with, but that is ridiculous! I do love these two pieces, but if we don't protect ourselves with the rest of the armor we will be wounded and not able to hold or carry the shield and sword. At first we may find the shield of faith is a heavy thing to carry, but as we carry it we become stronger and eventually can even be equipped with bigger shields! It is important to not drop our shield or let it drag behind us, we are too easily wounded if the shield is not up in place and protecting us as it is designed to be. The sword is vital, it is the only piece that's both offense and defense. Read, study and meditate on the Word of God be prepared constantly for battle because our enemy is roaming about looking for someone to devour, do battle! Fight him, pierce him with the Sword! the Word! in Jesus' name!


Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,  Ephesians 6:10-18

God's Net of Believers and Prayer

     A really cool visual that I was given for the body of believers was a fishing net. Where the knots form is where a believer is in the world and each strand going to the knot is a prayer lifting and strengthening that Follower of Christ through the power of the Spirit. The more prayers spoken and lifted for each person made more strands going to knots representing the people.
     With each strand added to our fabric we become stronger in the net, but the net also grew stronger. When you consider this concept, think about how many people you want to strengthen in God's net of believers? Of course we want to pray for our families, but it should go beyond that. Look at the knots at the edge of the net, they have maybe one or two prayers lifted for them? They are in danger of being ripped away! We do not want to see anyone ripped away, but it happens frequently, people disappear from church, nobody checks on them, nobody prays for them....or maybe one or two people do. They are in need of more people praying for them and it will cost you nothing to speak that prayer!
     There is not a person in our circle of acquaintances that doesn't need to be prayed for, and even more people that we may never personally meet.  When you stand in line at a store...Pray for the President and Leaders of our Country! when you catch a red light...Pray for your State and Community Leaders! When a friend snaps at you, Pray for them! When the Pastor doesn't bring a message that you can relate to, Pray for them! When the Praise Leader "misses it", Pray for them! When you hear a popular praise song, Pray for the Artist! When you read an uplifting book, Pray for the Author! 
     Turn your natural nature of grumbling towards working for the Kingdom! When you're tempted to grumble, there must be something there to pray about! Lift your heart, your thoughts and your spirit towards heaven and make God's net of believers grow stronger through the prayers you speak over others! 

United or Fragmented?

     I have a thought that has been recurring with me lately. It is that as Christians we're called to be members of Jesus' body, His bride...not members of different churches or congregations. 
     Shouldn't we all be able to fellowship with each other and focus on the same beliefs and leave the different ideas or opinions at the door. If we all believe Jesus is God's son, that He came to Earth to die on the cross to cover our sins with His blood, giving us forgiveness and salvation and reinstating us in a personal relationship with God our Father....what does all of the rest matter? Are the differences worth dividing the "body" over? 
     If He is our Saviour, Redeemer, Lord and Master, if we love Him as we claim, then shouldn't we be living out what He has called us to, what He has prayed for us to be?

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 

John 17:20-23

     There are more questions in my thoughts than answers. Lane and I have always visited different churches, each church has something that makes the body of Christ stronger! I wonder why are people so bound to only one church? The early day disciples moved from house to house for their fellowship! Why are Pastors so afraid of other church bodies? Aren't we to be fellow members in the body of Christ!?  Why are we not able to join together and be as Jesus prayed? Why are we not "one"? 

     And...how will we win the world when we aren't even able to join together? I have some beliefs about this whole issue, but I would like to hear what other people believe? Do you know of a solution? What is the answer for the problem of the fragmented church?

Transparent ~ Grief

     Transparent~

     The middle of January and our Christmas tree still has the lights shining brightly! Lane took the tree down a day or two after New Year's Day which caused chaos for me....all I could say was "I'm not ready yet!", over and over...
     It seems like it shouldn't be a big issue to take a Christmas tree down when Christmas has come and gone, right? But this year, for me, it was..
     My mother passed on in December, shortly before Christmas ...I was able to put the grief and the dealing with it on "lock down", as I told myself, "until after Christmas". Faced with a Living room with no tree caused instant grief...
     Lane put the tree back up and anything else he had taken down while I was still asleep, saying we can have Christmas all year! Now, day by day I am removing the Christmas decorations, a few at a time and the room is returning to a normal state as it is throughout the year.
     I'm sharing this because people can be blindsided by grief, even Christians. We are not to grieve as the Gentiles do~ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13, however we are going to react to one of our loved ones moving on to live in glory, away from us and out of our sight. 
     I am allowing myself baby steps through this process. I have not thrown myself into a fit of crying, but crying does creep up on me. Memories come with no notice or warning and a wave of sadness hits. 
     I know where she is, and yes that does bring comfort...but I still miss her. I miss her smile, I miss her voice..I miss her presence. Even though I can talk calmly about this "feeling" there are things beyond my control, I can't sleep, I can't remember and I have no desire for very much social interaction. 
     Do not be surprised by reactions that you are not in control of and do not feel that you are reacting wrongly. You are a three part being and emotions is part of that. Be comfortable with who you are...experience the grief, but don't stay in it too long, don't leave the Christmas tree up all year!...who knows how long "too long" is? God will show you if you stay close to Him. 
     It's likely that I'll always miss my mother, but I'm thinking the tree will be packed up within the next week.  =)

What Do You Do When You Hurt?

     

     Where did we get the idea that God doesn't hurt? or do we think He doesn't hurt like we do? ....but aren't we made in His image? Then if we hurt it must mean that He hurts too, right?
     We go through a lot of things in life that brings pain to us, but it did not originate with us! From the beginning "people" have brought pain to our Heavenly Father and yet He continues in love and forgiveness! 
     I am walking through a process of grieving so this is all fresh in my mind and I have felt a closeness to my Father in a new way. He has drawn close to me to comfort me, to wrap loving arms around me and lift me when I need lifting. 
     He has shown me that I do not grieve alone, that He walks through it all with me and He feels the pain that I go through. He is not cold and distant, He is the loving presence that says to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep"(Romans 12:15).
     Many times we hear of people rejecting God or being angry with Him after a loved one has suffered or died. They say how can a "Loving God" let this happen? They are not facing the fact that we are born into sin because we are no longer living in the Garden of Eden, our ancestors got us kicked out of the perfect environment and now we are living behind enemy lines in the battle zone where our enemy is doing his best to "steal, kill and destroy". 
     Why do we blame God for the facts that we are born into? It's like blaming gravity that we are not able to flap our arms and fly! It is not God's choosing that Adam and Eve sinned, that hurt Him! It is not God's fault that mankind was kicked out of Eden, that was from a choice made by Adam! It hurt God also, He longed to walk in the Garden and fellowship with His creation! We blame God for sickness, that was not in Eden and therefore not His choice, that was and is the enemy! It hurts God when we walk through illness! We blame God when people are evil or do evil things to each other. That is not His choice! God says "love one another"! It hurts God to see His creation abusing one another, He never-ever intended for that to happen, but He did give people free choice! Why do we not face the fact that we have free choice and an enemy? We make bad, selfish, rebellious choices and allow our enemy into our live. The enemy will do whatever he can to destroy God's creation!
     Today God is showing me that He is walking through this pain with me and saving all of the tears that I am shedding(Psalm 56:8). He is not distant, He is close to me, hurting for me. He is not hurting because my mother has left Earth, because now she is home with Him, but He is hurting because I am hurting from the separation. If we could grab hold of the truth that God is not distant and cold, but loving and closer than we can imagine we would have a much different relationship with Him and comfort in our hurting times! Our Heavenly Father is less than a cellophane thickness away from us. Try pressing against the cellophane that holds you back from Him and you will grow closer still.
     He loves us, He does not want us to hurt, but it is part of life. Unfortunately pain has been part of mankind's life since God's creation rebelled against Him by listening to the enemy and choosing to bite the fruit and be cast out of Eden. But put the blame where it belongs, on "man" and our enemy. Yes man was tempted by the enemy, but Adam made the choice. 
     Please recognize that God does love greatly, does hurt deeply and tries to draw us close to Him when we hurt, if we will only let Him instead of blaming Him. 

     Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book? Psalm 56:8

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:16

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Genesis 3:1

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9

Happy Holidays?

     This time of year people start worrying about how to greet one another and hold onto what the Christmas holiday is really supposed to represent. There is a big controversy about saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". 

     I really do not understand why Christians have let the wording of a greeting become a big issue to them. We don't really know when Jesus was born, but we have "agreed" to celebrate the occasion on December 25 each year, how was that choice made?

     The same people that don't want to say "Happy Holidays" will yearly set up a Christmas Tree in their homes, never wondering where that tradition came from and they'll teach their children or grandchildren that Santa Clause will bring all good little boys and girls presents by slipping through a chimney...where did that come from? Why do they accept some things readily but are offended by the term "Happy Holidays"?

     The Christian parents and grandparents while refusing to say "Happy Holidays" to show their love of God will overload their children with gifts they don't need and neglect teaching the idea that it's better to give than to receive. The holiday becomes a focal point of material gluttony! 

     If we don't want to say the new Politically Correct greeting, let's also re-examine the other things that we have accepted for years without question. Is the purpose of Christmas really to buy junk we don't need, give the stuff to people that don't want it and will forget it by the next week? 

     I'm not asking people to give up celebrating Christmas, I'm only asking that before we take offense at a greeting, let's focus on why we celebrate Christmas and along with examing our greetings, let's reconsider how we've been celebrating it and the way we've embraced the materialistic ways of the world.  

      Let's turn the focus back to Jesus, it's supposed to be His birthday celebration...what does that have to do with Black Friday or Cyber Monday or Santa Clause for that matter? Absolutely nothing.

Facebook, Twitter, Intagram, Google Plus

     Have you ever considered the things you post on Social Media as something that you'll be held accountable for? It has really been crystallizing in my thinking lately.
     Not only will I be held accountable for what I shared, but I will also have to face the repercussions of things I have caused to happen in other people's hearts because of my posts!
     I have really started being a lot more careful and had to go back and delete some things that really weren't necessary, and not only not necessary, but downright mean spirited.
     You may think I'm being a little "legalistic" about this, but consider the warning in this scripture, "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:35-37
     I'm sure there are some that could debate the meaning of this scripture, but that's not my desire here. I simply want to say, be careful, your words are more important than you realize.