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Monday, September 11, 2023

Recognizing the enemy

            Recognizing the battle              

  This recognizing the battle is of most importance.  We need to see through the physical; and look at the spiritual.  Eph. 6:11-12 tell's us that it is a spirital battle.  It is against Satan.  In there is rulers, authorities, powers in this dark world and spiritual evil forces in heavenly places.  When we are looking at the physical, we see people doing bad things, we see authorities doing bad things, even rulers doing bad things...  people!  Which we are also!

  We need to look past people to the one or ones who influence them... Now if we go looking it always leads us to spiritual forces, which leads us to the chief force Satan.  Oh yes the are demons... but the chief... is Satan.

In John 16:21-23  Jesus rebukes Peter!  "21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

  You see, Peter was not/ is not Satan but right then Satan was present and influencing Peter.  Peter's mind... were off focus.  The concern of humans/men... replaced the concerns of God.  Peter was looking at the physical not the spiritual, nor was he looking at the Heavenly, nor was he listening to God ( like a few verses before),  nor was he concerned with the will of God...  

  The reason I put this here is that Satan can use men/women when they are 'weak' , when they are 'struggling' , when there focus is more 'worldly' ,  when they are off guard...  

  You see the battle is not just about you!  It also involves others who Satan is attacking... and believe it or not there are many who do not realize they are being attacked...  There focus is on the wordly...  not the Spiritual things of God.  so we need to recognize the attacker; the real attacker, Satan.


Thursday, July 20, 2023

The Fight-not a lone warrior

 The fight         

  So the battle is raging; you have put your armor on!  Yes you are standing in the strength of His might.  You are on the alert.  You are praying...  you are ready!  But all is quiet in your area, your small circle if you will.

  But the battle is raging!  Where?  It is all around.  You must recognize that you are not a lone soldier; you are part on an army!  The battle is raging!  Maybe not in direct contact with you now; but the brother next to you is fighting hard... He might/does need help.  That is verse Eph. 6:18 

"18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. " 

  We are part of the body of Christ.  We are not independent...  Not as individuals or as local Churches...  We are member of the body of Christ as Believers.  Yes there are times you are fighting alone; but how much more' power' ... when we unite together in the battle.  When we call on brothers and sister to pray... join you/ me in the battle... When you are in a battle and you are all alone, not good.  I'm not saying you are going to loss... but as Ecc. 4:9-12 says,

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

  How blessed each of us would be when brothers and sisters in the Lord recognize others in the mist of the battle; and join them, support them, pray for them... and celebrate the victory... United under the Lord Jesus Christ!


Monday, June 12, 2023

The armor of God and Prayer

            The armor of God 

  So we went through the 'list' of the armor; belt(truth), breast plate(righteousness), shoes(Gospel of peace), Shield(faith), helmet(salvation) and sword(word of God). We mentioned that this armor is spiritual armor.  It is needed!  Now comes to the important questions how do we get this armor and how do we put it on?  

  As we continue in Ephesians 6 verse 18 says this, "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit."  Prayer!  how important... but how neglected.  Sometime the spiritual side of the Christian life is hard.  Let's be honest it would be easier if we could just put that armor on like getting dressed for work, physically speaking.  Oh yes it would be invisible, not heavy...  But that is not the case.  The armor is spiritual armor and to put this on we need to use prayer.  Prayer is what is needed to do Spiritual.  Prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Do not miss that!  Remember pray through out the day(all times); prayer for every occasion(specific).  

  Now let's talk a little bit of how the armor comes off.  Lack of prayer, lack of reading God's word...  doing our own thing,  working but not keeping our focus on God the father, Jesus Christ the son and the Holy Spirit.  The list goes on...  I heard this phase during a sermon,  No prayer, no power.  How true.  

Friday, October 14, 2022

                        The Sword               

  "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. "Eph.6:17B  The sword a weapon of war... Often seen as an offensive weapon but also can be used as a defensive weapon.  Is it long in length or short... let that not be the focus.  The focus is the power of the sword not the actual sword.  

  Two points:  The word of God.  Simply put the Bible. Not in part(out of context...)but the whole if you will.  Not adding to it or taking away from it.

The second point is the sword of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit the third person of the triune God;  Father, Son and Spirit.  The contoller of the sword.  Power of the sword.

  The Christian life is a spiritual life; our spirit being directed... by the Holy Spirit.  We walk in the (with) Spirit... The same goes with the Sword of the Spirit.  The strength is not the sword but the power in the sword, the Holy Spirit(who id directed by Jesus Christ who is directed by the Father John16 13:15).  When we try to use it on our own... we are nor tapping into the real strength..  Let's say the sword is really heavy... hard to wield. But when we are tapped into the Holy Spirit it's light... and the strength.. power!  

Monday, April 11, 2022

         

  The helmet is a protective covering of the head.  We need to look at the helmet of the first century, it is different from our modern helmet.  The helmet of the first century were made of medal;  bronze or steel.  Hand made... Now it also covered the neck and part of the face.  They were uncomfortable and heavy... hot...

 The helmet protected the head from blows/strikes to the head, neck and face.  For the most part these attacks are close range, hand to hand combat...  Let's put it another way;  the enemy is right in front of you!  He's not off in the distance shooting arrows... He's not at your front door... he's inside right there in striking distance!  

  This attack of the head is the attack on/about salvation.  It can range from the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to am I really saved... and so much more.  This attack on our head is to get us not thinking right...  

  The enemy is attacking and bang a blow to the head!  Good news it's not fatal, but it knocks us for a loop... we're daised... hard to focus... staggering...  next thing you know we are questioning our salvation... were not in a good place!  Then bang another blow still not fatal but our thinking... is slipping.  Salvation is under a fierce attack.  We start not only questioning Salvation but Faith, Righteousness, Peace, Truth.  We start believing lies...  Sometimes this attack is not as violent,  that is that it comes upon us unawares;  we did not even remember when it started... until things are out of control...  Sometimes the enemy keeps you from 'growing in Christ' your ineffective for the Kingdom... He's just waiting for you to fall...  Oh many a Christian are that way!  

  The bible talks about the heart.  So here is when our heart and spirit need to take control of our mind.  Which will bring us to the last part of our armor the sword of truth.


Tuesday, February 8, 2022

      

  As we continue looking at the shield of Faith we need to back track a little bit.  In 1Thess. 5:8 "put on the breast plate of faith and love".  But hear we are talking about the shield of faith!  Faith is inter-mingled in the life of the Christian.  When it comes to the armor; from the belt, to the breast plate, to the shoes, to the shield, to the helmet and to the sword.   Most important to God and his son Jesus Christ; and who they are...

  Also is mentioned in the breast plate is love.  Love is also inter-mingled through out the armor and the Christian life.  First the love God has for us and then that love spreads into us.  Resulting in love for God and the love for others.  Rememeber the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan, evil powers...  Love will give us the power to pray for people, to forgive people... to be kind to people... Love never fails!  Love will help us fight the right enemy!  Knowing that God loves us will strenghten us for this battle.  A good saying is , We know whom we believe.

  So the shield of faith lifted high proclaiming we have a God who loves us...

  Psalm 143:2 Romans 12:9-21

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

                                  The shield of Faith  Two

    Last week we talked about lifting up the shield.  This week we are going to talk about the aspects of the shield we are holding up.  So many times we get caught up on the physical make up of the shield; not the spiritual.   Not to many actual arrows are flying around, aimed at the saints.

  The first component is truth.  Oh the belt of truth!  You lift up truth, the word of God.  Also you lift up truth/honesty in our living...  You see the enemy is attacking with lies, half truths, twisted truth... deciet.   The enemy is scheming!  That is thinking of ways to trip you up...  that steal, kill and destroy thing.

  The second component is righteousness.  Ah the breast plate of righteousness.  There is a right and wrong,  there are rules; and they are not meant to be broken.  There are morals...  The enemy will attack righteousness.  Watering it down if you will...  That's not bad... Who cares...  That doesn't apply... It's only a little____...  

   I am going to mention these here.  God doesn't care...  then God isn't going to forgive you... God does care and God does forgive!  1John1:9 "If we confess our sin,  He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong."   Read verse 10 also this will help put things into perspective.   

    Here is  a most important statement;  our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ and our God, the God of righteousness.  Not from our good behavior or deeds...                                                            

With that we move to next component, the shoes of peace.  The good news, that is Salvation in Jesus Christ.  Our belief, trust and hope... that we have in God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  This attack is more about is God real?  Is this Jesus real?  As mentioned above is this forgiveness real?  Is it nessary?  As believers we say Yes!  Yes!                                           

  One last thing faith is the hope for thing not seen.  Hope is not luck,  hope is a trust in someone(s).  Our hope is in God the Father, Jesus Christ His son and the Holy Spirit.  God in three persons yet one.  We exercise that hope when we hold up the shield of Faith.


Monday, January 17, 2022

          

  The shield of faith is next in our armor of God.  We started with the belt of truth, then the breast plate of righteousness, to the shoes of the Gospel of peace. The first three we are wearing.  The shield is to be held!  Not just carried around.  The shield needs to be in the ready position before the fiery arrows come our/your way.

  Many times we have our shield down or strapped to our back.  Seriously the shield is heavy and the shield has to be lifted up to work.  We need to first pick up the shield.  We need to position that shield in the direction of the fiery arrows.  So many times the individual battle is compromised because the shield is not ready... 

  In battle if one is not prepared, it's not good.  If one is not ready, it's not good.  If one under estimates a foe, it's not good.  If one is out of position, it's not good.  If one thinks to highly of oneself, it's not good.  The enemy is real and the damage... he brings is real.  Next time we will talk about faith.  Eph.6:9

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Cards and righteousness

 



  A short incident about integrity.  My wife and I like to play games.  As with all games my wife has great joy in my defeat; also it seems my children do too!   We were playing the game of rummy; oh my a card game.  If you are familiar with rummy you play to a score of 500. We were neck and neck; both our scores in the 400's with me trailing about 75 points.    Well this last hand was exciting points being made by both of us... but no one 'going out to end the hand'.  All the way to the last draw card.  Doesn't happen often for us. Well I picked up the last card... discarded a card she couldn't use; because I was 'holding'  (I still had a lot of cards).  She couldn't play, the hand is over right.  But no I took another turn picking up cards to get points and putting the cards I was 'holding' down as well. Sneaky... wrong... cheating... not good...

  So what next?  What's next?  Well first of all that night; let's just say God decides to visit around 2am.  No we were not having coffee and donuts... He was here to remind me of what I did; cheated.  So here I am at 3:30am writing about it.   Why because it fits with the armor of breast plate.

  Righteousness involves a vast area of our lives.  From moral issues, business,  demeanor, behavior... it's a long list; even to the way we play a simple game.  I blew it, I sinned, against my wife; that's pretty bad;  but more important is that I also sinned against God. 

  So what do I do?  Easy!  Yes, but oh it's hard, we make it hard.  1John1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   So I confessed to God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.

  Oh there's more, now I need to go to my wife and confess to her... ask her to forgive me.  Well the game;  you see I cheated, I forfeit the game.  It's part of the cleansing.

  One last thing.  When some one is being honest, truthful... especially when doing something wrong;  that should be taken into account.  I say this so that this trait of honesty and truthfulness has a positive result... That it is well known that telling the truth is of great worth.

Monday, October 25, 2021

Breast plate of righteousness

          

  The breast plate of righteousness.  So the breast plate is the armor that covers your chest and upper back.  In modern terms, your armored vest.  A important piece of equipment; protecting our organs... from a deadly/fatal strike.

  What is righteousness?  The quality of being morally right or justifiable; virtuous. very good and excellent.

  As we look at righteousness it needs to be filtered through the truth of God's word.  When we start using the filters of the world, others or even our self; that is when the attack is at hand.

  Righteousness has to do with conduct; how we act and think. A lot of us would think about morals; thus sexual thinking... but it is much more than that.  It involves our thinking on issues of life...  From murder, stealing, lying and coveting(2 types goods and people) But more important it involves our relationship with God and Christ Jesus. The faith in Christ Jesus is what gives us the position of righteousness before God. Faith in Christ Jesus is what draws us to live a righteous life. 

Friday, October 15, 2021

Truth

 


Last time we looked at truth with the Christian perspective;  that is the Bible as the 'truth' and foundation of truth.  The attack of the truth of the bible...

  Now we will look at truth in our everyday life.  As mentioned last week truth is being attacked and it is also being attacked in the ways of daily life.  With truth being relevant, with truth being of little value in ones character, with truth being redefined... 

  With truth is linked the word honesty.  Honesty or truthfulness is a character trait of great worth.  Integrity is also linked to truth.  What does that involve?  Telling the truth, no lies, no half truths, no hiding the truth...  It also involves being 'upset' with untruth; that is lies.. half truth or suppressing the truth, covering up the truth.. Let's also include falsehood. 

  Men and women of truth is needed!  When one find them self compromising... the battle is upon you.  Stop and stand for truth.  

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Battle for truth

   The battle of truth is real; and it seems that this battle is intense.  As we look at this battle we need to put some things into perspective.  The first is that we are Christians.  Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.  To keep it simple, God(The father, The one true God...)  revealed to you/me His Son Jesus, the Gospel message, and we 'believed'.  'By faith..."  As a result of this faith/belief/trust in Jesus Christ our ways of life, ways of thinking... changed;  from worldly to heavenly.

  Some of these changes come without effort(foul language stops...)  but some comes slowly with learning and revelation.  Now that learning and revelation comes through reading God's word, the Bible. This learning and revelation is to bring us to 'Heavenly Thinking and actions'  or Godly thinking...  

  The attack of truth for the Christian usually is the attack on the Word of God. Be it not relevant, be it not for our time, be it not real, be it not really meant that way, be it out dated, be it that it does not matter, be it that's the old testament, or God did not mean it, and the list goes on and on.  

  This attack is so prevalent that it starts right at the beginning of the Word of God.  Creation. Even now in our modern era, 'scholars' are trying to explain miracles of God; using science and human understanding... "Here's how God did it" As a result 'whittling away' the believer's faith.  This is how the attack works, a little unbelief of a small thing, a little lack of trust in God...  Oh a little of the world mixed with the truth of God. Then the things of God are no longer really important and next thing God is not important; even though we are going through the motions... We are going to church... doing christian works... (notice the small c) we are self fulfilled but something is missing.  We are doing the motions... but not stopping to be with our God and Lord Jesus Christ.  Not taking the time for God to refresh us... Not taking the time for God to chastise us...  Not taking the time for God to teach us...  

One must never forget,  2Tim.3:16a  "All scripture is inspired by God,"  

Monday, October 4, 2021

Belt of truth

                    

  "Stand therefore with truth, like a belt around your waist."  Eph.6:14a   To make sure we understand the importance of our position in this battle; it once again begins with 'stand'.

  The first piece of equipment is the belt;  The belt of truth.  Let's talk about the belt; one might not think or it as important... but it is very important. It holds things together.

  Most are probably like me;  you know around the weapons table (movie scenes) looking at the guns...  One must notice that before those soilders got there the belt... was already on.  They are not skipping steps of preparation...

  "Truth"   In our modern era, it seems that 'truth' is becoming a relavent term.  Being redefined to fit peoples 'wims'...  Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.  Fact a good example would be numbers 1 plus 1 equals 2 ...  Another would be he has 100 dollars.  Jim was born in 1950.  Then we have things like the circle is round; it is ascribed that.  A square is square.  Truth is truth it is factual and also has reality.  When we start to alter the reality part... then it is not truth.  The same with altering the factual.

  Back to the belt of truth.  As believer's in Jesus Christ.  We believe certain truths about God, about His son Jesus Christ and about the Holy Spirit.  Even though we live in world that does not.  As a result of our belief in God, we also believe that the word of God, the bible, is the 'truth'.  Hence is the basis of truth.  We need to remember that all Scripture is inspired by God. 2Tim.3:16  The word of God our first Part of our Armor.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Prepared

 


  "so that you may be able you resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything to take your stand." Eph.6:14b  

  A little redundancy, stand and resist. How important it is that we have the armor on.  Without it are we really resisting?  We need it to resist!  We need it to stand, to stand firm!  The evil day.  Let's not debate 'evil day'.  Let us recognize that even 'good' days can quickly turn in to 'bad' days and vice versa.  Good or bad we need to be prepared.

  'having prepared everthing.'  Have you ever just 'winged' it...  Doing something unprepared?  Sometimes it works... on certain situations.  Not so much when taking examines or fighting an expert...or other things that take practice, study...  Being prepared is very important.  It takes time, commitment, work, teaching, coaching, studying, training... It is directed; using the best source.  It just does not happen.  Would you go fight a professional warrior to the death; right now?(not talking to the trained)   Would you risk your life on answering a math problem?  Oh one of those that take pages to answer. But here is the deal our enemy is not attacking our strengths; he attacking our weaknesses. "having prepared everything"  It takes a life time, one needs to start now!

Monday, September 20, 2021

         

  "Therefore, put on the complete armor of God"  Eph.6:13a  'Therefore' ok that means take a look back at what was just said...  So we have an adversary, who is scheming. We have struggles with rules(who are not following Jesus Christ and God's laws, principles and ways), we have powers( let's call them entities, who are not following- same as above), we have world forces of darkness and spiritual forces in the heavenly, wickedness.  A lot of reasons that we need the armor.  We need the complete armor!  All pieces are important, all pieces have a role.  One piece not in place will affect the others, and give the enemy an advantage... resulting in a battle being lost...  How about retreating(giving up ground) or even worst surrendering.

  With the armor we can resist and stand our ground.  Standing our ground firmly, "fully prepared, immovable, victorious."  Without the armor not good; many of us think we are doing 'good', 'fine' in our Christian walk without the armor.  Really think about it, have you really fought the battle?  Or just kind of made concessions... for peace... or just ran away... gave in...