This Sunday October 2nd I will be teaching on the armor of God. The armor of God is our major defense against the wiles of the devil. Speaking to the Church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul admonishes them to arming themselves against the enemy by believing and applying the promises of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17) Below is a brief outline of our armor and the significance of applying each piece.
Each day we need to prepare ourselves to stand against Satan by girding our lions with truth.
Truth: He is "...the way, the truth and the life" ( John 14:6) and we gird our lions with truth each day.
We also put on the breastplate of righteousness, by confessing that Jesus became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. ( II Cor. 5:21)
When we shod our feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, it brings a readiness and awareness in our spirit that can walk out our day with confidence and courage. (Philippians 4:13)
The shield of faith is how we extinguish the fiery darts and missiles of the evil one. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. The shield of faith is the victory that overcomes the world. (Gal. 2:20)
The helmet of salvation covers my head/mind through the day as I declare that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation. (Heb. 5:9 & Psalms 140:7)
Our final piece of armor we apply is the sword of Spirit, which is the word of God. Jesus was the word made flesh and dwells among us even now. (John 1:14)
As we put on the armor of God each day we are readying ourselves to fight the good fight of faith. In case you may not have noticed, all the amour described in Eph. 6 is on the front side of the believer. In other words, God intends for us to be on the offensive not defensive warfare. "The gates of Hell will not prevail against us...". We are marching everyday and possessing the gates of the enemy. So lets suit up in His provision and strength. No more waiting on the other shoe to drop. Go forth and conquer, Go forth and conquer !!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
"Lead Us Not Into Temptation"
This coming Sunday I will continue my teaching series on what is commonly referred to as “Lord’s Prayer”. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” Mt. 6:13. When Jesus instructed the disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” He was telling them to pray that forces beyond their control would not lead them into trials. He was also teaching them to watch and pray against entering into temptation through their own carelessness or disobedience.
As Jesus faced the prospect of the cross, He Himself, prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt,” Mk. 14:36
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had cautioned the disciples to pray lest they enter into temptation. (seeLuke 22:40) But when He arose from a time of prayer , He found them not praying, but sleeping. (vr 45) Before the night was over, at least one of the disciples, swore he didn’t even know Him, and then wept bitterly because he had failed the Lord.
Jesus knows our potential weaknesses also, which is why He has instructed us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”. As children of God, we do not have to learn everything the hard way . We can be instructed, warned, and trained by His Word and the examples of others. (See 1 Cor. 10:11) God desires for us to learn by example and revelation as well as by discipline and difficult personal experiences.
Jesus also taught His disciples to pray for deliverance from evil. Specifically, through prayer as we put on the whole armor of God, according to Eph. 6:14-17. When we do this we build a hedge of protection as it were around ourselves and stand firm in the victory Christ has already won. Likewise Psalms 91 gives us several reasons why we can claim God’s protection. For example in verse 9 we read from the Amplified Bible “because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,” We invoke God’s protection, when we make the Lord our habituation. Psalms 23:3 says “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.” As we sing and pray to the Lord He dwells among us, enthroned upon our praises and prayers.
Finally, we can claim protection “because he knows and understands My name,” (vr 14, AMP). We must know His name. Proverbs tells , “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run into it, and is safe,” (Pro. 18:10)
As we submit our lives daily to His will and acknowledge that His name is a strong tower, we can be certain in all knowing protective will. We can prayerfully declare “You are my refuge, my fortress, my God, In You do I trust.” We can stand secure in the victory Christ has won for us.
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Journey...As Hard As We Make It
The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that fosters and feeds a victim mentality. We can change our negative beliefs about life, and we do have the power to stop our pain and take care of ourselves.
We are not helpless. We can solve our problems with God's help. We have access to a great power source of change. True change, lasting change results from repentance.When we began to turn and receive God's love and forgiveness for ourselves and others things began to change. Humbling ourselves is the first step. God is attracted to the humble but He resist the proud.
When we use each problem that comes our way to prove that life is hard and we are helpless, we develop codependency. This is the victim's trap.
Life does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can be smooth. Life is good. We don't have to "awfulize" it, or ourselves. And the difficult times don't prove life is bad; they are just part of the ups and downs of life; and when we approach them with the attitude that "all things work together for the good, because we love Him and are called to His purpose" the journey becomes more of an adventure and not dead end road.
Sounds so simple doesn't it ? Well I personally get turned off by religious formulas and 1.2.3. approaches to life's problems. Life is fragile, we do hit times of turbulence that seem that they will never end but God is still there. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us.
We are not helpless. We can solve our problems with God's help. We have access to a great power source of change. True change, lasting change results from repentance.When we began to turn and receive God's love and forgiveness for ourselves and others things began to change. Humbling ourselves is the first step. God is attracted to the humble but He resist the proud.
When we use each problem that comes our way to prove that life is hard and we are helpless, we develop codependency. This is the victim's trap.
Life does not have to be difficult. In fact, it can be smooth. Life is good. We don't have to "awfulize" it, or ourselves. And the difficult times don't prove life is bad; they are just part of the ups and downs of life; and when we approach them with the attitude that "all things work together for the good, because we love Him and are called to His purpose" the journey becomes more of an adventure and not dead end road.
Sounds so simple doesn't it ? Well I personally get turned off by religious formulas and 1.2.3. approaches to life's problems. Life is fragile, we do hit times of turbulence that seem that they will never end but God is still there. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Becoming Yourself
Screwtape clarifies the Enemy's intent:
Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really like the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that , He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves that ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason. And we should always encourage them to do so.
~ from The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really like the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that , He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves that ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason. And we should always encourage them to do so.
~ from The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Our First Ministry
One of the main reasons for the "power failure" in the Christian Church today is our failure to "minister to the Lord". Biblically speaking, our ministry to the Lord must come BEFORE our ministry to people if we are to be effective.
Likewise if we come to receive ministry from men/clergy before we ourselves have ministered to the Lord and offered up our sacrifice of praise and worship then the ministry of man to us inappropriately attaches us to fleshy or earthly ministry which results in glory of man not Christ. The end result being, we will become what we behold.
When reading the account of early Church forming at Antioch in Acts 13:1-3 we discover that,
"as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them". The Greek word for ministered is described as: the discharging of a function, officiating as a priest, performing religious or charitable acts, fulfilling an office.
I Peter 2:9 says: "But you are a chosen generation , a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people , that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you our of darkness into His marvelous light".
The Lord has separated us to bring worship unto Him just as He did with the tribe of Levi in Deuteronomy 10:8 ; I Chronicles 5:11-14 and as He did with Samuel who was dedicated as a boy to minister unto the Lord in I Sam. 2:11,18 .
We need to be caught up in the wonder of the person of Jesus Christ and to worship Him deeply. When we become focused on our first ministry (vertical) as priesthood of believers we will discover a new freshness and power. This will translate into greater compassion for man (horizontal) because we have put Christ first and He now flows through us in love and power to the world.
Likewise if we come to receive ministry from men/clergy before we ourselves have ministered to the Lord and offered up our sacrifice of praise and worship then the ministry of man to us inappropriately attaches us to fleshy or earthly ministry which results in glory of man not Christ. The end result being, we will become what we behold.
When reading the account of early Church forming at Antioch in Acts 13:1-3 we discover that,
"as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them". The Greek word for ministered is described as: the discharging of a function, officiating as a priest, performing religious or charitable acts, fulfilling an office.
I Peter 2:9 says: "But you are a chosen generation , a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people , that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you our of darkness into His marvelous light".
The Lord has separated us to bring worship unto Him just as He did with the tribe of Levi in Deuteronomy 10:8 ; I Chronicles 5:11-14 and as He did with Samuel who was dedicated as a boy to minister unto the Lord in I Sam. 2:11,18 .
We need to be caught up in the wonder of the person of Jesus Christ and to worship Him deeply. When we become focused on our first ministry (vertical) as priesthood of believers we will discover a new freshness and power. This will translate into greater compassion for man (horizontal) because we have put Christ first and He now flows through us in love and power to the world.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Importance of Being True
This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. ~ William Shakespeare
To thine own self be true. This is a grounding statement for many of us who have the propensity to get caught up in the needs and feelings of others.
Sometimes the needs and the demands of other people and our confused expectations of ourselves can create a complicated mess. We can try to convince ourselves that people-pleasing, going against our nature and not being honest, is the kind, honest thing to do. NOT TRUE !!
When we discern this unrealistic drive to please and take on responsibility that is not ours we need to simply back off and return to basics. Let go of the confusion by honoring and respecting ourselves. Then we are able to break free of the hold of others and release the guilt and enjoy life.
Today seek to be true to yourself. God is speaking. Be still and listen to His voice and experience what it means to "labor to enter into His rest".
To thine own self be true. This is a grounding statement for many of us who have the propensity to get caught up in the needs and feelings of others.
Sometimes the needs and the demands of other people and our confused expectations of ourselves can create a complicated mess. We can try to convince ourselves that people-pleasing, going against our nature and not being honest, is the kind, honest thing to do. NOT TRUE !!
When we discern this unrealistic drive to please and take on responsibility that is not ours we need to simply back off and return to basics. Let go of the confusion by honoring and respecting ourselves. Then we are able to break free of the hold of others and release the guilt and enjoy life.
Today seek to be true to yourself. God is speaking. Be still and listen to His voice and experience what it means to "labor to enter into His rest".
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