Helmet of Salvation

And take the helmet of salvation.... We put on the helmet of salvation.  We put on Jesus.  He is our head.  He is our salvation.  Through Him, we have eternal life.  It says in God's Word that "Jesus is the head of the church, building her up, as each member does its part, and submits to Him."  (this is my paraphrase of that wonderful verse).
     The helmet goes on the head.  It protects the head from harm.  It keeps the head safe from falls and falling objects and blows to the cranium.  It supports and covers the head with padding, solid strength, and a hard outer shell to repel any falls or blows.  That is why helmets in the olden days were made of iron or steel.  With modern technology, other substances have been found to be just as effective.
     Jesus protects us.  He keeps us safe from falling into trouble, He keeps us safe from the flying darts of the enemy, and the blows to our minds that the enemy fights us with.  He supports us like a strong tower.  He covers our minds with His Word, He is strong when we are weak.  He has already defeated the enemy with His power, so that the enemies arrows and darts are deflected away from us. The Bible says "He has a rod of iron."  Nothing is impossible for Him.
     Salvation is found in no one else.  In nothing else.  We can't make ourselves clean or whole.  We can only come to Jesus, and allow Him to do the work within us that needs to be done.  He is the gate by which we must enter the pasture of the Lord.  If we want to eat the good spiritual food He has for us, we have to come through Him.  I love that we are joined together in Him.  We each have a part to play, and in Him, we work to complete the plan God has laid out.
     I am so saddened by Christians who forget who  is the head of the church, the head of them.  When we forget that, we hurt each other by our own desires to put ourselves forward.  Each of us comes equally to the cross.  I remember telling a young lady coming out of darkness, that her sin was no greater than mine.  Our sin took Jesus to the cross.  We have equal blame.  There is none righteous, no not one, but Jesus Christ.  So, where do we figure that someones sin makes them more needy, or someones righteousness makes them more holy?  Yes, there are variations of darkness, but sin is sin.  The sin of pride is as witchcraft to God.  So, if you are walking in pride, you are already in witchcraft.  It is saying "MY will is more important than GOD'S will."  That is what witchcraft is, plain and simple.  It is trying to change something with your will, instead of allowing God to change that situation.  It is using control, intimidation, and manipulation to get someone to do what you want them to do.  Folks, we better get out of pride, really fast!  It is a pathway we don't want to walk down.
     I remember when I was younger and first married.  God told me very plainly, that I was not to try to manipulate or control with any means of my flesh.  I was to allow God to change those situations with His Presence and Power.  I wasn't to try and use my sexuality against my husband by denying him our bed, just to get my way.  That is very wrong, ladies and gentlemen.  We are to love the 1 Corinthians 13 way.  Not seeing a hurt or  noticing when we've been done wrong.  I have a long way to go to get to that kind of love, but it is something I am striving for, how about you?  We are to love just as unconditionally as we want to be loved.  Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  So many times, I had to bite my tongue, so the hot virulent flow of anger would not spill out, like lava, burning all in its wake, with its brimstone power.  I would have to go and get quiet and still, to hear from my Head.  To get good understanding of what I needed to do and say.
     God reminds me, when I am angry about something or someone, "Laura, do you think you are any better than them?"  I tell you, that sure makes me get real humble, real fast.  I am reminded of my very real failings.  I am reminded that I, too, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  My redemption is this, I serve a Living Savior, Who has forgiven me, and shown me the way to go.  I can walk free of that guilt and shame, as I lay my burden down at His feet, ask for forgiveness, and make things right, by forgiving those I am having a problem with.  He said "He will be faithful to complete the work He has started in me."  Glory Hallelujah!  I jump for joy at that phrase.  He will complete in me, the work that needs to be done.  I just have to submit to Him, and learn to work with my fellow body parts.  I need to give grace, if I expect to get grace for myself.  Isn't that what forgiveness is?  Unmerited favor with God?  He gives us favor, even when we don't deserve it.  Grace, God's Grace.

  Oh how we need the Grace of God in this time and day.  How we need to remember that while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us.  He didn't die for us when we got holy, He died while we were still in our sins.  Why can't we extend that grace to each other?  Why can't we choose not to be like the man, who when he was forgiven much, then demanded from his neighbor a pittance?  He was thrown into jail and the key was thrown away.  Brothers and sisters, we need to walk in grace more so now, than ever before.  The world is dark with
unforgiveness and pain.  I am talking to me, here, too.  I need to walk in more grace too.  I need to seek my Father's heart and stay in step with the Spirit, and be built up in love, in the Body of Christ.  I need to pray that those out there, lost souls who need this helmet of salvation so desperately, would find this loving Savior that I know.  This Jesus, Who came to set the captives free.  Hallelujah!

     I pray that each of you will find Jesus as your Head.  That He will cover you with His precious Blood.  His Blood that covers us with salvation.  From head to toe, we are covered by this helmet.  The Blood of Jesus covers us with power and strength.  With protection and light.  May you find out just how very much He loves you and how truly free you are in Him.  I love you all.  Be blessed by the Salvation of Christ, as He covers you like a helmet of protection and stands with strength and power to deflect all the wiles of the enemy that rises up against you.  His mind cover your mind.  His heart cover your heart.  His Spirit cover your spirit.  His eyes cover your eyes.  His Body cover each part of your body.  

Shield of Faith

Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].  The shield of faith.  Jesus is our Savior.  It is by faith in Him, that we have salvation and the hope of eternal life.  He covers us with His Presence.  We are shielded from the wiles and dangers of the enemy, because of His saving blood.  Our faith in Him, gives us strength to lift up our shields, and fight the enemy with the Word of God.
     I think I shared this already in another blog, but it fits here, too.  I was being hit pretty hard by the enemy, getting beat up left and right.  I was at a point when I was just hanging on to Jesus with my fingertips.  I was standing as hard as I could in faith, knowing this battle was a heavy spiritual one, but one I had to win.  I knew I needed to get to the tape player and get some worship music on, but all I could do was sit there and pray.  I couldn't move.  Kristine came home from school, and she saw where I was at, and she went immediately to the tape player and put on the praise and worship music.  Within minutes of her putting on the music, I could move and I began to claim the promises of God.  That was my shield of faith at the time, worship music.  Believe me, the enemy ran.  He had put all his energy into putting me down, but with just one act of faith, he was defeated.  The flaming arrows he had been shooting my way, were deflected by my praising God.  I stood up and declared that this was the day that the Lord had made, and I WOULD rejoice in it.
     I was helped by Kristine.  She lived up to her name and planted faith into that situation.  I was freed from the chains the enemy had bound me up with, and folks, these were real spiritual chains.  The enemy knew I had recognized his plans in some area, and I was doing spiritual warfare.  This was his hardest hit, to keep me from going any further, but I was determined I wasn't going to give in, so I sat and prayed and stood my ground, until Jesus sent reinforcements.  Sometimes, that is all we can do, is wait until He sends help our way.  Just hold onto Him, and have faith to believe He will help you out of your distress.
     A shield covers you from head to toe.  Every part of you is covered from the enemy's weapons.  They are vital in warfare.  Today, shields are a bit different, but no less important.  Spiritual shields are mighty to bring protection.  Jesus covers you.  He protects you.  He gives you strength and power to go forward.  Shields in real life could help that soldier move forward against the enemy, by using the shield as a thrust.  It could be used as a weapon, and it could be used to blind the enemy.  Jesus blinds the enemy for us.  He covers us with His Power, so we are shielded and safe.  I have heard of many missionary stories, where they were protected by angels, as the enemy surrounded them, and it was only later that they knew there had been angels there, because the people would ask them, "Who were those mighty men protecting you?"  They knew they had been alone, except for God being there.  They knew that God had protected them.  This spiritual protection is real.
     Allow Jesus to be your shield.  Let Him cover and protect you.  Let Him deflect those fiery darts.  Let Him be a thrust to get you out of dangerous situations.  He will guard and surround you with His army.  Hallelujah, He is truly able to keep you.  As our pastor said on Sunday, "He reigns".  He truly does!  God bless you with His awesome Presence.

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

And having shod your feet in preparation [to  face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.  We put on the shoes of peace, in our next step of preparing for spiritual war.  We have put on the belt of truth, and the breastplate of righteousness, and now, we put on the shoes of the Gospel of peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  He is the one who said, "My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, but as I give.  Peace that passes all understanding."
     The worlds peace says, "Come together.  Let's live in harmony.  Let's not fight.  Let's all just chill together."  I see a bumper sticker around our town.  It says, "Co-exist" and then it has all the symbols of different religions on the sticker.  The problem with that, is that our relationship with Jesus is not a religion.  It is a life changing realization that we need Him desperately in our lives, and we cannot exist without Him.  It is the deepest relationship of our lives, and it is not a religion.  It is knowing Him intimately, and being known by Him intimately.  That means, we can't co-exist with any religion, because we aren't in a religion, we are in a relationship, and that can't be changed, no matter how the world tries to change it.
     Yes, we go to church, but that is so we can have fellowship together with other believers, who also have that same intimate relationship with Jesus.  We are to live in the world, but to be seperate from it.  Our separateness is not of getting away from the world, but in our relationship with Jesus, we no longer think as the world does.
     Jesus told His disciples, that when they came into a home, they were to speak His Peace upon that home, and if a man of peace lived there, His Peace would stay upon that home.  If a man of peace did not live there, he was to take the Peace of Jesus away with him, when that disciple left that home.  That is how we are to be wherever we go.  We bring the Peace of Christ with us into every situation we go into.  If we are not living the Peace of Christ ourselves, we are bringing chaos and division, because we are being double minded, and it says in God's Word, that "a double minded man is unstable in all his ways."  We cannot have the Prince of Peace living in us, and walk in strife and division, without causing others harm.  We have to walk in Christ's Peace.
     Christ's Peace is not easy to walk in.  It means turning the other cheek when you have been wronged, and forgiving those who wronged you.  There is a passage of Scripture that says, "If you come to the altar, and you know someone has something against you, leave your gift at the altar, and go make it right with that person."  You see, God's peace has a cost to it.  It is not a touchy feely peace.  It is a peace that asks hard things of you.  Forgiveness, making things right, going the extra mile, praying for your enemies, blessing them, allowing God to be in control, and not you.
     The world's peace depends on "feelings".  You hear all the time, "Well, I don't feel I can forgive them, so I won't until I feel it in my heart."  Jesus says, "Forgive those who hurt you and despisefully use you."  It doesn't say anything at all about "feelings".  I remember a time I was having trouble forgiving, and Jesus told me, "Let Me do the work, you just choose to forgive, and I will take care of the rest."  In other words, it was my choice to forgive, that brought Christ's Peace into that situation.  It had nothing to do with my feelings, because my feelings were to continue waiting for a time I felt forgiveness in my heart.  Jesus asks us to "Choose".  Choose His way of peace.  That forgiveness meant, when that situation came to mind, to bless those people that had hurt me, and say again, "I choose to forgive them, Father, because that is Your way, and I want to be in step with Your Spirit, and to please You.  I am still hurting, but I know Your way is best for me.  Help me to feel that forgiveness inside of me, but until I do, I will choose to forgive them, whether I feel it or not, because You have asked me to."
     The world relies on blocking out all the bad feelings and only allowing the good ones in.  Cleanse your mind, feel the good, throw out the bad.  Jesus knows we can't forget, but He can help us forgive and live forward, in spite of those bad situations, and memories.  It may take months or years to get to the place where you will think of situations in your life, and not feel the pain of that time.  It's ok.  Just continue to forgive.  To bless.  To give it to Jesus.  Some time in the future, God will use that painful place to bring healing and hope to others, if you will allow Him to.
     The peace Jesus brings to us, will cause rifts and wars, just because it cannot compromise at its very heart.  The truth is the truth, whether it feels good or not.  When you are walking away from God, the Gospel message will not "tickle" your ears.  It will irritate and annoy you.  It will bring conviction and challenge to your life.  It will keep at you, until you  either acknowledge it, or turn from it in your own attempt to run from God.  That is why God's message of the Gospel cannot be compromised with.  Because the Gospel message is Jesus.  Jesus, who was born of a virgin, lived among us, died on a cross, and rose after three days, and went to heaven on a cloud of glory, and Who will come back again, to gather His people.  He came to give us the keys to the Kingdom of God.  To restore to us, the lordship of earth.  If we walk in His ways, we have the authority given to Adam in the garden of Eden.  We are no longer bound by the curse, but set free to walk with God.  Other religions won't accept who we say Jesus is.  We cannot say He is any different than Who He IS, God dwelling among us.  Emmanuel.  God with us.  Because He lives, we live.  His divine blood bought us the right to be called "sons of God".  Hallelujah!
     So, we do want to walk in peace.  We don't want to fight, but we are in a war, and that war means we live at peace as much as we can, but we hold our ground on God's Word and His promises to us.  We allow others to be themselves, but we share the Truth of God's Word, when God opens those doors to share with others.  We allow Him to show us the way.  Remember, our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in heavenly places.  That is why we need to walk in God's peace.  He will show us when we need to listen, when we need to talk, and when we need to fight.  Let Him be your guide.  Remember, we are to walk in step with the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will tell us when to go left or right or stop or turn around or which way to go.  If we are listening.  If we have hardened our hearts, because we don't want to hear "God's plan", or to "do God's plan", we will not be able to hear Him so clearly.  Let His peace soften your heart.  Be willing to be the one to forgive and to walk in forgiveness.  To be kind and do good, so you can overcome the evil plans of the enemy.  Remember, this is not just about you or me, Jesus came to save and seek the lost.  He wants to bring everyone into the Kingdom of God, and we need to be open to listening to the plans.  Let's remember when division and strife start acting up, it means there is something important at stake here, and we need to be extra alert and willing to be calm and listening to the Spirits call.  Let's not be a part of the problem, but a part of the solution.  Let's let God lead us into His Peace that passes all understanding.
     When we are in His peace, we will feel a stability that will ground us.  We won't be double-minded.  We will just know that God is working, and we will have an unerring trust in God's protection and covering.  I pray you will feel that true and blessed peace that can only come from God.  Jesus.  Let His blanket of love comfort you, bless you, and bring you to a greater understanding of your destiny here on earth.  You are called and chosen.  You are an ambassador of the Kingdom, an ambassador of peace.  God bless you with an abundance of His precious peace.

Breastplate of Righteousness

     "And having put on the breastplate of (righteousness) integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God."  We put on the breastplate of righteousness next.  We put upon ourselves, Jesus.  He is our righteousness.  He is the One God sees when He looks at us.  We are covered by His Presence.
     Remember, in another blog how I told you that our righteousness is as filthy rags before God.  It is only the blood of Jesus that gives us righteousness.  All our good works and deeds are nothing, if they are not done in obedience to Jesus.  It is His blood that bought us our freedom and right standing with God.  Our righteousness.  Rejoice in the fact that we are called "the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus."
     As we put on that breastplate of righteousness, let us remember that it is the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, that won us that freedom.  His blood bought us power over ALL the works of the enemy, because Jesus triumphed over them, as He conquered the grave.  One drop of His precious blood, wins us the battles, as we stick close to Him.  We are surrounded and covered by His protection.  He covers us with His wings, and He surrounds us with His angels.
     When I was first married, I was in a bad accident.  I was trying to help a friend learn to drive, and we were on a gravel road.  She was going very fast, and I looked over and I told her that she should slow down.  I thought she'd take her foot off the gas, and let the car slow down normally.  Instead, she hit the brakes.  I knew we were in trouble the second she did that, and I breathed, "Jesus, help" and then I saw us going from one side to the next, and then we flipped.  After the dust settled, we all got out.  She had her young son in the back seat, and this was a convertable.  We had landed in the only ditch along the road, right in the middle, so we were all ok, except where I had gotten hurt, and a few cuts and bruises they had.  The miracle didn't stop there.  If my cut had been just an inch right or left, I'd have been dead.  You can't count how many miracles happened in this one accident.  God's protection was there big time.  I had put on my breastplate of righteousness, as I breathed, "Jesus, help".  That righteousness, covered us.  Jesus.  He is our righteousness.  He covered me and my friend and her son.  Hallelujah.
     There are times in your life, too, that I am sure Jesus covered you with that breastplate of righteousness.  Why not begin to put this on each and every day.  Put Jesus' righteousness on your heart.  Ask Him how He wants you to act and walk and work today and each day.
     I encourage you to think about this.  To let Jesus show you the path of righteousness.  Sometimes, we think we know it all.  We think in our own intelligence, but why not let God help us to look into our hearts for His understanding and wisdom.  That is what the breastplate covers, our hearts.  You see, the Bible tells us our hearts are wicked.  They want their own ways.  Each night, I put on my armor, and I also pray that" the eyes of my understanding would be opened."  I pray that "my eyes would see, my ears would hear, and that my heart would understand."  He is the only One who can help me to see, to hear, and to understand.  I know He has helped me in more ways than I can ever imagine.  Try it, and see if you don't have better eyes to see with, ears to hear with, and a more understanding heart.  Let your heart be surrounded by His righteousness and see what happens.

     Each piece of this armor is vital to our lives.  Each piece brings a part of Jesus' power, to help us in our battles with the enemy.  As we surrender to His authority in our lives, we will see a more peaceful, loving, forgiving and understanding life happening inside us.  We will be more stable and secure in our understanding of who we are in Christ.  I encourage you to rejoice and be glad.  God is definitely for you.  God bless you with His covering.  God bless you with His righteousness.  God bless you with a more powerful witness in your life, due to your letting Him change you from the inside out.  I know you will have people asking you, what has happened to you?  How do you have so much peace, joy, or love in your life?  It is due to Jesus covering you.  It is due to you surrendering to Him.  Love and prayers to you all, my dear ones.

Belt Of Truth

     I have been delayed in getting back to my blog, and I sincerely  apologize to all who have been checking it out each day, waiting for the continuation of our spiritual armor.
     We first "gird on our loins, the belt of truth."   We tighten it around ourselves.  We make sure that we are wearing that truth tightly to ourselves.    We put on this armor daily.
      We need to remember, that each piece of this armor is a representation of Christ in our lives.  We are putting HIM on ourselves each day.  As we speak each piece over ourselves, we should be remembering that this is Christ, that we are putting on.  As we continue, you will see how true this is.
     Why is the belt of truth first?  I used to always put the helmet of salvation on first, because (in my ego) I thought that made more sense to put on salvation, and then add each piece after that.  One day, I realized that was pretty presumptuous of me to think I was right, and the Bible was not, so I asked God why the belt came first.  He told me "that if we didn't put on His Truth first, we would be subject to the lies the enemy wanted to use on any part of that armor." What I understood that to mean was this, at any time after we put truth on, that piece was covered by God's Truth.  The pieces we put on before that, were open to the enemy's attack.  You better believe I started putting the armor in the right order after that.  I sure don't want to give the enemy any more ammunition than he already has.
     Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  When we gird that belt on, we are girding on His Way, His Truth, and His Life.  He told His disciples that "If they abode in His Word [held fast to His teachings and live in accordance with them], they are truly His disciples.  And they would know the truth and the truth would set them free."   This word is for us today, too.  When we hide God's Word in our hearts, we begin to change into the image God has of us in our completed state.  He sees us as complete, but we still have work to do, to get there.  That work, is living in accordance to God's Word.  Read John 15 and 16 to get a better understanding of what I am talking about.  In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples that it is good He is going away, because then the Spirit of Truth will come, and He will testify of Jesus.
     So, having that belt around us is so vital and important.  In the Amplified Bible, it says this of the Spirit of God, "Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, and Standby".  I find each of these names so vital to our lives.  Truth is needed in each of these areas, and in each of these areas, we have the Spirit of Truth reminding us of Jesus.  The belt was to support the soldier by holding him up, by helping him keep his armor on.  It was also important for holding the weapons of war, that soldier would be fighting with.  The Holy Spirit does those things for us, and brings us back to Jesus, and His Life in us.
     We can never be free in our lives, as long as we hold onto an untruth.  My family helps me to stay in tune to the truth.  My husband, my children, my brothers, my sisters, my mom and my dad, all help me to work on issues I need to face and deal with.  My church family does this as well.  My friends do this.  But what if I were unwilling to hear and listen?  Their efforts would not work.  I would stay chained to my issues, and not grow.  How about you?  Do you want to grow?  You will have to hear some things you might not want to hear.  You will have to make some changes that will not be easy to do, but the efforts will be richly worth it all.  If you do not face the problem, the problem will never change.  You see, you ARE part of the problem, whenever you refuse to listen to wisdom.  Truth hurts, but its wisdom lances our pain, to get the pus and junk out, so we can heal cleanly.  I for one, would rather get the poison out, and have good health, than to have poison running rampart in my body or soul.
Some people enjoy staying in their problems, because it gives them attention.  I don't want attention for something that is holding me back.  I don't like to talk about the issues of my health, not because I am ignorant of them, but because I am choosing to live my life to the fullest I can in spite of it.  I know God is touching my body.  Each day I get up, is victory time.  Do you find yourself talking about that "pain" that "disease" that "child" that "man" that "woman" that "friend" that "anything", that is holding you back in YOUR mind?  Give it to God.  Ask Him to show you the truth that you need to know, and let Him lance it with His Truth, and get it clean, so you can be the amazing person God has called you to be.  I have been praying for healing for years, and God has told me it will take a long time.  He wasn't kidding.  I get discouraged, and I get to feeling bad because I can't do more.  You know what, when I tell people all the things I do, they can't believe I do it.

     Truth hurts, but it is also brings laughter and joy when you finally get it.  I used to wonder why people would laugh when I was telling them a serious truth from God's Word.  It really bothered me when I was so seriously telling someone something, and they'd begin to laugh.  I would go away, feeling hurt and rejected because I didn't get it.  I finally began to pray about it, and ask God to help me understand why this happened all the time.  He told me, "Laura, you spoke the truth, and it set them free, and they received joy because of it."  I began to not mind so much when this happened, because I rejoiced that they were getting free, more, than I cared how it made me feel.  Soon, it didn't even make me feel bad that they were laughing, it just made me so happy inside that truth was setting someone free.  You see, we need to ask God to help us understand when we don't get the reactions we expect.  It might be totally different than how we were believing it to be.

My dear ones, don't be afraid of the truth.  Don't be afraid to let God highlight those dark places, with His illuminating Light.  Know that if He is illuminating it, it is time to deal with whatever it is.  It might hurt, to have to face that issue, but remember, that hurt will pass, and the joy and freedom you will receive, will so far surpass your pain, that you will be forever grateful He brought you to that healing place.  I encourage you, place that belt of truth firmly in place, and walk boldly forward to that next piece of armor.  God bless you dear ones.                                    

Starting With Our Spiritual Armor

I started writing a blog on Monday night, and spent three hours working on it, and almost done, it got deleted somehow.  I have been having a few episodes where that has been happening, and almost losing the blog, but had always been able to save it in the end, somehow.  Not this time.  I took a few days off, because I was extremely discouraged by putting in so much time and effort, just to have it disappear on me.  Yesterday, I was thinking about it, and I thought, it's not lost, somewhere out there in cyberspace, it is making an impact.  An angel, a demon, or one of those great clouds of witnesses that are up in heaven, has seen that blog, and been impacted by it.  I was impacted by it.  So, forgive me for having a mini meltdown, but I am back to business.  (when I say a demon may be impacted, they are impacted by the fact that I am giving Jesus honor and worship, they don't like it, so it is a weapon in their face.  That is what I mean by that.).
As I was praying to God about my meltdown, I felt like He was telling me, to work on something He has been laying on my heart to do.  A long time ago, I was totally impacted by our spiritual armor and what it means to us.  What each piece does, and how we need to think of it, as we put it on.  So, today I will be writing the verses that talk about our spiritual armor, and then on future blogs, I will be going over each piece of that armor.
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the depotisms against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your grouond on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude (righteousness) and right standing with God.
And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.  To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).     Ephesians 6:10 - 18
For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness.
Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober [calm, collected, and circumspect].
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.
But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate (corslet) of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.  I Thess. 5:5-8
And He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor [no one to intervene on behalf of truth and right]; therefore, His own arm brought Him victory, and His own righteousness [having the Spirit without measure] sustained Him.
For [the Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate or coat of mail, and salvation as a helmet upon His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal [and furious divine jealousy] as a cloak.  Isaiah 59:16-17

My dear friends and family, think on these words tonight or tomorrow.  Let them sink deep into your heart.  Meditate on what God is speaking to you about them.  I eagerly look forward to sharing this with you on Saturday night.  I have to take tomorrow off, as it is Kaylee's birthday, and we will be celebrating her wonderful place in our family.  God bless you all.  Love you my dear ones.

Sowing and Reaping

Today our Pastor Dave and Pastor Fred did a tag team effort on their sermons about tithing.  Both pastors brought great insight and knowledge about what tithing is and isn't.  One thing that is very clear in our tithing, is that we need to do it for God and not for ourselves.  What I mean is that when we give, if we are giving to get something from God, we have already lost what we were hoping for.

We need to give out of an abundant heart of love towards God, not for what we can gain.  I have always loved tithing, and I even had some trouble once, because I gave some pennies, and for some reason, it was a problem.  I don't know why, I just remember everyone asking me if I had given that money, and I told them, "yes, I did, but I didn't understand what the problem was."  I guess it might have been a specific amount given that blew them away, or I have no clue, but it left me with a determination to give, even if no one else understood why I gave, or how I gave.  I was going to give, like God always led me to give.  Freely and completely.

There is a verse in the Bible that talks about us reaping what we sow.  The world calls it "Karma", but it has been in the Bible a long time.  It is a truth that many of us are just learning about, but it is true nonetheless.  I have been led by God to give flowers from time to time.  I never know why He has led me to do so, but I have done it in faith.  In the years since I have done that, I have reaped lovely bouquets of flowers of all kinds.  Star of Davids, fresh flowers from gardens, these lovely Narcissus blooms that a friend gave me for a birthday gift.  Flowers from my husband and children, tulips, and so many more precious blessings.  I have found that the kindness of remembrance to ease a hurting heart, has been more than replenished in my life, at times when I, too, needed those lovely blooms to help me along.

What have you sown lately?  Good or bad?  Truth or lies?  Help or a turned back?  Have you sown into God's Kingdom by tithing?  Truly that is the most awesome gift given to us.  I recently sent a tithe to someone who God had laid on my heart to give to.  This person ministers to the Lord, by helping others with no hope of being given payment for her time and effort.  God told me she is His minister, and that I was to seed into her life.  The gift I gave to her, has enabled her to get a computer to help in even more ways.  She had been trusting God for the money, and Isolino and my obedience, helped her to do that.  Now, we have a part in her ministry, because of that seed that was sown.  When we give to our local church bodies, we help them to help others that need help.  Because of our little church body, people in disaster areas have been helped.  We have a few husband and wife teams that go out and help in these disaster areas and their help is vital to those in such need.  One husband went to Haiti a few times, and his sharing of that time was tremendous.  We are part of that, through our fellowship together, and how our church seeds into this ministry.

You may not always agree with how the money is spent or what its going for, but your job is to not give to the church because you agree with them, but because God has placed you there, and you are called to support your local body.  You are to be giving to God, not man anyway.  So, if you think you are giving to man, by tithing to the church, then you have already gotten it wrong.  What the people of the church do with that money, is even a greater place of obedience.  You see, once you give, they are answerable to God in how they use that money.  You are the one that has acted in obedience to give as God lays on your heart to give.