The Whole Armor Of God - 'The Gospel of Peace'

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" Eph 6:15. Gospel:(Euaggelion); 'Originally a reward for good news, later becoming the Good News. The Good News of the kingdom of God and the salvation through Christ. Paul's epistles used of the basic facts of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Christ, and the interpretation of these facts.' This would seem pretty cut and dry; you think?! I use to think that this was simply an illustration of having your feet ready to go and share the Gospel; well in part, that is some of it; but it goes so much further than that. Remember the basic points I have been sharing about: First off, we are seated in Christ; Secondly, that these three pieces of the armor of God are attributes of us in Christ; And then, Application; Application; Application. So, the first application of this piece of armor is to remember from which we came; simple enough, right? Well, until it comes to application, then it gets a little bit complicated; we must apply this basic principle to our very existence in Christ; 'We once lived in darkness, separated from God by sin, and it is only by God's Grace that we are saved; it is not by anything we have done. "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph 2:8 & 9. This basic principle must be applied in our lives and to our very existence in Christ, to keep us humble and grateful before the Lord. Secondly, as we walk in Christ, there is a preparation of our lives to exemplify the Gospel. In other words, the peace, love and hope that is shed forth into our very lives, should cause others to want what we posses; after all, who would be interested in knowing the God that saved you, if you were walking around like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. If you do not think this is important to your very existence in Christ, you are wrong. We must walk like we really believe that we have been snatched from the very Eternal Fires of Hell; that God loves us enough to send His Son to die for our sins, even while we hated Him; and that there is a place reserved for us in Heaven for all eternity. If that doesn't do it for you, well maybe you need to go back to the very basics, and revisit the Cross; "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph 2:10. It is not just for others to see this in us, but also for us to experience the Joy, Peace, Love and Hope of God as we walk in them; "Do You Understand The Words Coming Out Of My Mouth"; great, now lets move on to standing. This is the bottom line, (or actually the Glory); we are not saved for ourselves; God has fitly framed us together as a building, growing into a holy temple; of which you are one part. This really bumps it all up a few notches, doesn't it? Paul reapplies this fact throughout the Book of Ephesians; We are not just saved to receive salvation from sin, but to be a part of this illustrious temple, which is the Body of Christ, of which Jesus is the Head. Paul also refers several times to how this is such a great mystery, (Eph 3:3 & 5:32); I am inclined to believe that anytime God is manifested there is Jesus; from the very beginning, when God spoke; to the Sword posted at the entrance to the Garden of Eden; the Burning Bush that Moses knelt before; and on and on and on. In a nutshell, think of it like this: You were once in darkness, but now you are in the light; and now you must walk as a light unto others; knowing that you are one of many other lights that make up a Illustrious, Glorious and Holy Temple of the Living God; in fact, you are actually a manifestation of Jesus. Having done all to stand... (Next: "Taking Up")

The Whole Armor Of God - Righteousness

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness," Eph 6:14. We know that Jesus is our righteousness, and that without Him we can not even consider being righteous before God. However, what we are talking about here is how this breastplate of righteousness applies to our lives; are daily walk in the Lord, and in our ability to stand; doing all to stand. Application; Application; Application; I can not stress enough the reason I am even doing this study; it is all about application. When we are considering what this application is; we first must recognise what the breastplate represents. If you were a solider in the Roman Army, your breastplate would signify your significance in rank, skill and order. I am pretty sure that Paul had many opportunities to study the armor of various solders that were always keeping guard over him. Now, if your breastplate that you put on represents significance; how is that significant to righteousness; and especially to that application in our lives. First thing we have to remember is that we are seated in Christ; "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:" Eph 1:4. Does that scripture tell me who I am in Christ; oh ya; first off it tells me I have been chosen in Christ before the world began; you think that might let me claim to a little rank; I think it ranks with God. Secondly, it tells me that I should be holy and without blame before Him; are we talking skill anyone. This is something that is more than important; this is all about eternal. I know you have seen these bumper stickers that proclaim, "Christians aren't perfect; just forgiven"; when ever I see this sticker, I kind of worry what we have become and what nonbelievers must think of us. Do we think that it is okay to sin, cause after all, we are going to anyways, and besides, we are forgiven. Does the world think less of us, because we preach about not doing this or that, and then claim we can because were forgiven. I think we should rather have a sticker that says, "Not perfect, but getting there"; or "Not prefect Yet". Because the way I understand it, we are already glorified before God in Christ Jesus; and now we must walk in that knowledge of who we are, our rank if you will; and also in the skill we have been given to overcome sin in our lives. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph 2:10. This is not only vital to understand, but vital to put into practice; we need to be walking in the workmanship that God has created us to be in Christ. Paul put it more profoundly in Eph 5:5, "For this we know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Now stand therefore; we must also realize the order we belong to and stand in Christ. What do I mean by order; well in the breastplate example that Paul gives, it would signify what division, platoon or company you belonged to; for instance, if you were in the infantry there would be a representation to that affect on your breastplate, or chariot division, etc. We have an order also; and as I said before and I will say it again, we are not in this battle alone; we are all members of the body of Christ; this is the order that we belong to. Now, because we are the body of Christ and members all, we must be mindful of the fact that we do not only represent ourselves in our Christian walk, but that we represent the body of Christ; in other words, we represent the Church. So, our little sinful nature that we let alone, to continue to grow and to be accepted as normal, is not only a smudge upon ourself, but also the Church; and sadly also upon Christ who is the head of the church. Do you ever wonder if one reason the world looks down on us is because of our unrighteousness? Think about this for a moment; If the church were able to walk in the righteousness we have been ordained to walk in, the world would marvel at the power of God demonstrated in our lives. Unfortunately, there are not that many who claim to be Christians who believe this. When the averages of divorce are the same in the Christian marriages as they are in the secular marriages, something is seriously wrong. When a Christian employee is looked down upon because they are unreliable, lazy and ungrateful to their employer, something is seriously wrong. When a Christian businessman is guided by wealth, power, fame and fortune, more than he is guided by God, something is seriously wrong. We are to be stronger than this, because we are required to be; it is vital not only for our own spiritual lives, but also for the vitality of the Church. "Now therefore be no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom you also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." Eph 2:19-22 "Doing all to stand"---next the Gospel of Peace

The Whole Armor of God - Truth

"Having your loins girt about with truth;" Eph 6:14a. So, what is your gut feeling about what this means to your daily walk? Application; Application; Application; how do we apply truth to our daily lives? Maybe what we need to do first, is look at the Greek meaning of loin; like for example, 'procreative power'; isn't that interesting; to produce an offspring. "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:",Eph 4:14 & 15. Remember that we are seated in Christ, first and foremost; and know this, that Christ has birthed truth in us. Now is application time; we must with our procreative power, which is wrapped in that truth, produce an offspring. Okay, right about now you might be wondering, "What the heck am I talking about?" We are a new creation in Christ, and all things are new; the former things have passed away, (2 Cor 5:17). However, we still make choices; which means that we still make mistakes, and can be mistaken in the decisions we make; so, we must constantly be applying God's truth to our lives; in our lives; through our lives. Just as if we are raising a new child in the love and admiration of the Lord; correcting that child with the Word of God; and most importantly, we must do it in truth. We must be honest with ourselves before God; after all, who do we think we are fooling when we are not; just ourselves, because God already knows. I think it was my mom that would always say, "You give a kid an inch, and they will take a mile". 1 John 1:6-8, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Now for the hard one to talk about, girt; okay, children out of the room. What does this 'girt about' mean, and how does it apply? Well, lets just say, it would be the function of a jockstrap to an athlete; holding things together; enough said. We must not only apply the truth to our daily lives, but we must also hold it all together into our daily walk; the truth must be bonded to our very being, and that being the new man in Christ. In the whole complete picture; we are now a part of the body of Christ, and this new man that has been created has actually been grafted into His body. The verses right before the tossed to and fro verse, (Eph 4:14), spell out in somewhat simple terms how this works; "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.", Eph 4:4-6. Then Paul goes on to explain some of those gifts and workings that are for edifying of the body of Christ; and hence the reason for the "henceforth" which is mentioned in verse 14, that I listed above. "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,"Eph 4:12 & 13. Now lets relate this principle to our ability to stand; remember that we are to be "having done all to stand". If you have ever been in the military, then you can probably relate to what I am going to share. I remember when I first arrived to Boot Camp in the Navy; they would make us line up in formation, and then march in formation; and I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever been a part of. Why are they so focused on this stupid formation stuff?, I would think to myself. Well it did not take long for me to figure it out; this was to get us all to work together; as one unit, moving in formation, in a disciplined and orderly manner. In fact, before I was done there, I became one of three "Guide On Bearers", who lead the formation in the parade, carrying the flag and leading the way. There has to be unity in the body of Christ; and if we want to be able to stand in Christ, then we must be unified in the body; and that truth must hold us there. "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.", Eph 4:16... Do all to stand!!! "If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph 4:21-24; next comes righteousness...

The Whole Armor of God - "PUT ON"

"Put On the Whole Armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil", Eph 6:11. Okay, now it is time to get into the actual pieces of the armor that Paul describes here in Ephesians. Application; Application; Application; as you may have surmised, I have been really focused on application; how we apply these things to our daily lives. The first three pieces of the armor that are described by Paul are to be put on; these are pieces that make up the very essence of who we are in Christ; and are to be worn, constantly in our daily lives. This is probably where I might lose some of you; I pray not; but given the fact that this is not normally the way this is looked at, some may not receive it; so be it. I believe God is showing me how this portion of Scripture is applied into our lives. There has to be a reason that the church is so weak today; and I really believe God is showing me how to overcome; at least how it pertains to my own life. Each and every one of the parts to 'The Whole Armor of God' are unique in the function it has to complete our walk in Christ; that we may be able to stand, and to be strong in the Lord. All together there are six pieces listed here by Paul; the first three, like I said, are to be worn: "Stand therefore, having your loins girt with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and you feet shed with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" Eph 6:14 & 15. All three of these are worn as part of who we are in Christ; yes, I said that; they represent our walk in the Lord, and the applications we need to practice in our daily lives. I will explain how each one works to that effect, in greater detail later; but for now, let us just consider this basic principle; each one of these first three items are actions taken with all of our heart, mind and soul to perfect our walk in Christ; or at least to strive for perfection. We must remember, we are seated in Christ, walking in Christ, and therefore are able to stand in Christ; so all things are in Christ; and these three, are the putting on of the new man. "That you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph 4:22-24. The next three pieces are taken up, and are placed upon us, or provided to us; these too I will explain later. For now let us just chew on the first three items, and think how each one is applied into our daily lives; the application of truth; the application of righteousness; and the application of the gospel; and try to make it personal. (Here is a hint to help you swim in that: The first three are attributes of us in Christ; the second three are attributes of God.)

The Whole Armor of God - Stand Therefore

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand", Eph 6:13. Application; Application; Application; We must be seated in Christ, before we can walk in Christ, and therefore before we can stand in Christ. Paul goes through much pains to try and express this throughout the Book of Ephesians; we are first and foremost seated in Christ; but we are not seated alone; for we are all members of the Body of Christ. This is so important for us to live out in our daily lives, as we walk in Christ, let alone, as we stand in Christ. In chapters 4, 5 and the first 9 verses of chapter 6, Paul expresses how to live out Christ's love in our daily lives: "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen", Eph 3:16-21. This is something that must be applied to our lives in order to stand; and it is applied by putting it into action in our daily lives. An easy way for me to explain this, is found in Eph 5: 25 -31; "Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it." We can not just say we love our wives, we must demonstrate it out; just as Christ demonstrated out His love for us on the cross. We must live out that love for them; by nourishing and cherishing them in the love of the Lord; as if they were a very delicate flower, (as if a man could care for such a thing); we must do all we can to make that flower as healthy and as beautiful as it can possibly be; and at the first sign of drooping, we must do all to restore it's vibrant luster. Now, that was just one example; Paul lays out many, to address almost everyone; but to address a very basic principle, he says in Eph 4:29-32, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." We have to understand this: When we come out against a fellow believer, we wound ourselves, because we are one body; we are not doing all to stand when we chop off our own foot. This I believe is one of the fundamental problems within the church today; it is the cause of many of us being weak in our walk. When we think ill of another, and especially when we speak it out; we are in essence thinking or speaking ill of ourselves; and thus weakening our own image of the body of Christ; which in turn, causes us to believe less in the power Christ has to transform our lives. 'But for the Grace of God, so go I'. Let me have Paul explain it best; Eph 2:4-10, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved); [assured] and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus. [confident] For be grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, least any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." [persuaded] Having done all to stand; therefore stand!

The Whole Armor of God - Being Strong

"Finally Brethren, Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."... easier said than done. Application, Application, Application; To be strong in the Lord requires yielding to the Holy Spirit, and to experience the victory over sin, the flesh and the powers of darkness. There is a basic principle to winning the battle set before us; be determined in our heart to be strong in the Lord; knowing that the Spirit of God is living in us; and "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world". Then, (this is where the rubber meets the road), I must apply that principle to my daily life. Much the same as the things I shared on Sunday; assured, confident and persuaded; with each application, comes confirmation, and with each confirmation comes strenth. However, when I fail to apply this basic principle, I give victory to the flesh, which consequently weakens my ability to be strong in the Lord. Paul goes on to explain, in Eph. 6:12, that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood; but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness; thus we need to, "Take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand", (Eph. 6:13). To be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, requires a daily walk in the Spirit of God; denying the flesh and feeding the Spirit. Doing this, allows me to be sensitive to the spiritual battle that is around me; to be able to discern the enemy, and to see his attacks; and most importantly, to know, or better yet, to be persuaded that "Greater is He who is in me, than he who is the world". A really great example of this principle is the story of David and Goliath, found in 1 Samuel 17. The Philistines had come out against the armies of Israel; they were on one mountain and Israel on the other, with a valley between them. Out of the camp of the Philistines came this giant named Goliath; who for forty days, morning and night, would stand in the valley and taunt Israel. He would challenge them day and night to send someone out and fight him; basically calling them cowards and putting God down; and the armies of Israel were afraid. Then along comes David; a scrawny shepherd boy; sent by his father to check on his three older brothers, who were there on the battle field. And as he stood talking to his brothers, low and behold, Goliath comes out into the valley and starts spewing his rant. Can you just picture this for a moment; here is David, who standing there talking to his brothers, hears this voice bellowing out rants below, against his people and the Living God; and it says, "and David heard them". This I believe was a moment of conviction in David's heart; as he saw his fellow countrymen coward away from this giant, he realized that the battle belonged to the Lord; and he also knew that God was able to deliver this Philistine giant into his hands. He declares in verse 26, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the Living God?"; and you know the rest of the story; but what made David so confident and able to be so strong in the Lord? First off, he had a relationship with that Living God, and he knew that his God was a really big and mighty God. After spending hours and hours, days upon days, nights upon nights in fellowship with God while he watched his fathers sheep; he was assured of how powerful God was. Secondly, he had experience in the mighty power of God to help him win previous victories. When Saul tries to tell David that he was not fit to go against this giant; David replies, "Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defiled the armies of the Living God", verse 36. David was confident that God would deliver, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He shall deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine", verse 37. Then Saul arms David with his armor, but David refused it, saying, "I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them", verse 39. Now David would show how he was persuaded that God would deliver him; by choosing his shepherd staff and a rock; he was knowing that the battle belonged to the Lord. As he came out to the giant, Goliath said, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?"; and David answered him, "Thou comest to me with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defiled. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands", verse 45-47. There is a determined position that we must take; 'To be strong in the Lord; having done all to stand'; "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.", (2 Cor. 10: 5 & 6). "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.", (Zech. 4:6) BE STRONG....(part 2)

The Whole Armor Of God - Ephesians

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.", (Eph. 6:10). Last night, while praying about this passage, I began to think about something I have never really noticed before; the word finally. I remember the illustrations from teaching Sunday School, of the Armor of God; you know, the cartoon sketches of a Christian Solider dressed in armor, each piece being labeled with what it represented. What I say now, I say with caution and a warning; I am not a Bible scholar, nor have I been schooled in any seminary or other type of school of theology; I do not claim to speak for my church; so if by any means I am called a heretic, it is because of my own stupidity and lack of knowledge to the things of God. That being said; I realized something last night, that is pressing into my spirit; we can not just put on the armor of God like we would some kind of an outfit; or even as if it were an actual suit of armor. Paul had written this epistle towards the end of his life; and it was being written based on not only what God had placed upon his heart, but what God had instructed him in. Instruction which can only be learned during application; by actually applying the principles of it into his daily life. Each and every component of the 'Whole Armor of God' is an application... Okay, are you still there? This is really a different way to look at this portion of scripture; at least it is for me. I had always considered each component as something that represented Jesus and the power He gives us over sin, or to take on the powers of darkness; but what I think God was showing me last night, was something I had never seen before, or more importantly, been taught before. I have to ask myself if I even dare venture down this road; but as I said earlier, this is pressing into my spirit, and I feel that I must. There are nine separate applications to the 'Whole Armor of God' that Paul is illustrating here; the first being that we must be "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might"; the next being that we must "stand", (you can not put any armor on if you are not standing); then there are three components to the armor which we put on and are based upon actions lived out in our daily lives, "truth, righteousness, and the gospel"; then there are three components which are provided to us which we take up and are used in our daily lives, "faith, salvation and the word"; and then there is the final application, prayer; and when I say prayer, I mean 'Man-Up-Prayer'. This is Soldier time; and before we can put on the Whole Armor of God, we must be trained to wear it. I thought about how many people have been injured trying to do battle with just a portion of the armor. There are certain instances were we can actually cause people to stumble, by not being trained up and fit to the use of God's Armor; a prime example would be, yielding the sword around without first being grounded in love...(part 1)

"All Means All" - Romans 8:28

Some days we just need to be reassured of just how much God loves us, and wants the very, very best for our lives. It is hard to grasp that sometimes when we are living through a trial, or a hardship that causes us to constantly search out for answers; answers that we feel we need, that will give us peace in our situation. Being trapped within this mortal body, I can sometimes loose sight of the things which are eternal; I am sure that is the same for the rest of us also. It is just that some days are worst than others; and it is at those times, we need to be assured. Paul writing in Romans chapter 8, continually speaks about being assured; about being confident; and about being persuaded. First off there is one thing we must be assured of; and when I say assured, I mean we must assure ourselves that it is so; "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"; Rom. 8:1. After saying this, Paul uses the next 16 verses to explain why there is no condemnation to us, and how we can tell if we are really in Christ. So the first thing we must do, is evaluate our walk; am I walking in the Spirit, and not in the flesh?; okay, I feel confident that I am; so now I can be persuaded. What am I persuaded of? Well, that there is no condemnation to me, because I am no longer living in the flesh, but in the Spirit; because Jesus has made me free from the law that would otherwise condemn me. Now that I have been persuaded, I know I have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby I cry, 'Abba Father', Rom 8:15; and know that I am a child of God. Next I consider, that being a child of God, He wants the best for my life and will get me through to the very end. How am I assured of that? "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us", Rom 8:18; we must assure ourselves of this. In the next 12 verses, Paul explains how that it is okay for me to feel this earning for the redemption of this body; in fact this is our blessed hope, that we will be delivered from the bondage of this corruptible flesh, and given a new body that is not corruptible. So, this I am assured of; now I must be confident that "all things work together for good" to me, because I love God and I am called according to His purpose. I can also now be persuaded that He will complete this in me to the very end; "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predesignate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified."; Rom 8:29 & 30. Finally, I must be assured that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can separate me from God's Love. Well, that is easier than the first thing I needed to do; this is all about believing that God has already done it. Okay, what do I mean by that? I can be assured that it is so because Jesus died, rose and is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for me; verse 34. Knowing this makes me confident that no one can lay anything to charge of God's elect; to which I am one. Which brings me to this glorious revelation; "For I am persuaded, the neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.", Romans 8:38 & 39

God In A Box ??? - Matthew 4:1-11

"For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"; Acts 20:27. There are many questionable practices or doctrines moving throughout the church these days; and a lot of them are being justified by saying; "We will not put God in a box"; or, "God is bigger than His word". First off, God can not be placed in a box to begin with; for in Jeremiah 23:24 He says, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?". Secondly, His word declares in Psalms 138:2; "For thou hast magnified thy word above thy name". With that being said, let me state with all certainly, that there is a box, but it is not for God; it is for man; and the box is the Word of God. In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was in the wilderness and had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights; and it says he hungered. Then came Satan to tempt him in three different areas of temptation; very similar to the areas in which Eve was tempted in the Garden, just magnified a bit, because of who Jesus was, (another topic). The first temptation was one that would satisfy the his flesh by turning stones into bread; remember that Jesus was hungry. In fact, Satan made the temptation into the form of a challenge; "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread". To which Jesus responded, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". This kind of flies in the face of the "Name It And Claim It" doctrine. In fact, I can not recall a single instance in the Word where Jesus performed a miracle to satisfy his own flesh; unless you want to count that fig tree he cursed for not having fruit on it when he came to it hungry; I would rather think that was a illustration of how worthless a tree was that does not bear fruit; not because he was mad at the tree for not satisfying his hunger. The second temptation was one would challenge the Father to protect him; this one was kind of a double dare; "If thou be the Son of God, cast yourself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:". To which Jesus responded, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God". There are some really strange doctrines or practices being taught in the church; where people will actually drink poison, or subject themselves to be bitten by poisonous snakes, to try and prove that God will keep them from harm; strange to say the least. How about this one; someone who would withhold medical treatment from a child, so as to prove that God will heal that child; does that qualify as tempting the Lord. Finally, the third temptation, which is quite a bit more complex; Satan took Jesus to the top of a high mountain, showing him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory, saying, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me"; this one just flies in the face of who Jesus was, and the relationship he had with the Father. To which Jesus answered, "Get thee hence, Satan: For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve". There are many practices, doctrines and movements within the church today the would cause people to take their focus off of God and place it somewhere else; be it a man, a statue, an image, an emotion or feeling, a ritual, or even worship itself. The devil used truths and scriptures in his tempting of Jesus; much the same way he did with Eve in the Garden; for he is a deceiver, and a really good one. Matthew 24:24 warns us, in the last days; "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch, that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect". Even though Satan had scripture to back up his temptations, in the context of the action, they did not stand up to the whole counsel of God. Oh yes, there is a box that has been established, but it is not for God to be placed in; it is for us; and that box is the very Word of God. Anytime you see a movement, hear a doctrine, or experience a new craze that is stirring the church; you must ask yourself, "does this stand up to the whole counsel of God"; and if it does not stay within the box; then you must conclude that it is not of God.

"SEATED IN CHRIST" - Eph. 2:1-10

While reading Acts chapter 19 this morning, I was reminded of how easily we can get sideways in not only our daily walk, but also in our service for God. The moment we start doing something that is outside the will or the power of God, we are walking in our own power and doing our own will. This is so easy to see in the example of the seven sons of Sceva, which we can see in Acts 19:11-17. Here we have an account of people trying to do mighty works of God, but without being seated in Christ; they have no real power to perform them. I remember my first encounter with a demon possessed person, after I got saved. I was in the L.A. County Jail, seated in a very wide corridor, outside a hearing room; I was there for a special early release hearing. All of the sudden I noticed four large 'Bulls' escorting a man wrapped in shackles down the hallway and towards where I sat. I could tell right away that this guy was demon possessed, and that he was someone that could really have power to wreck some people. Here were these really large deputies actually struggling to escort this one prisoner; then right when they got to where I was seated, they stopped; not because the officers wanted to stop, but because the possessed one did. I was trying to avoid eye contact with this crazy man, but it was hard to do when I kind of knew that the reason they stopped was because this crazy guy had something to say to me; and say he did. As my eyes meet his gaze, he spews out; "I know Jesus too!"; and then off they went down the corridor, the four 'Bulls' fighting to keep him moving. Wow, what in the world was that; I started looking all over my chest to see if I had Jesus written across it. The other people in the area were looking at me strange, as if I was somehow connected with the guy that just freaked them out. I realized that I had my store with me, but it was not visible to him, because it was on the other side of me from the direction he came; my store was a accordion file holder that was full of cigarettes and candy bars; with 'Jesus Loves Me' written on the side. I would bring it with me every time I was sent to 'County', because I could sell things for a lot more there than I could get for them back at 'Wayside'. Later, when I was able to get alone with God, I prayed for His answer about that experience; and He lead me to Acts chapter 19, and this encounter that seven sons of Sceva had with a demon possessed man. Here we see the result of trying to do something outside the power of God. These seven guys got ravaged by this one demon possessed guy; because they were not actually seated in Christ, but were trying to do a work that required it. In verse 13, we see them taking it upon themselves to call out an evil spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus, but without knowing Jesus; they said, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches". To which the evil spirit answers, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"; and then he wrecked them. In Ephesians 2:1-10, we can see the very first principle to our life in Christ, and our ability to not only to walk in Christ, but to be able to stand against not only the power of our own flesh, but also to stand against the powers of darkness. We must first be seated in Christ before we can walk in Christ, and especially before we can stand in Christ. There is a book I have read several times, by Watchmen Nee, it is called 'Sit, Walk, Stand', and is based on the book of Ephesians; it is a really good read if you ever get the chance. In it, he relates sitting in Christ, as to be someone that is a paraplegic and must be seated within a wheelchair; to go anywhere, you must first be seated in that chair, and the chair being Christ. So, in order to walk in Christ, (move about), we must first be seated in Christ, (in the wheelchair); or guess what; we go nowhere; kind of like a 'dead fish laying on the carpet', (a verse from a song by Jars of Clay). Now the really powerful part, standing; remember that you are a paraplegic, you are not able to even walk without Christ, let along stand; and when you do stand, it is not because of anything you posses, but it is through the power of Christ that you are lifted out of that chair and standing. But, and I mean but; we always have to remember that we are seated in Christ, first and foremost; because as soon as we start walking, even after taking a stand; if we are not sitting back in that chair, we will fall; just like a dead fish.

Robbing God - Malachi 3:6-18

First off, let me assure you, that God does not need our money, our talents, our service, or our righteousness. In fact, all these things are things that we are needful of for God to provide for us, and in us. However, God does want to bless us; He wants us to experience the fullness of His will and power in our lives; and in the life we will experience after this one. I truly believe that there will be two separate areas of service in heaven; one being on the inside of the gates, where those that are there will be serving God and basking in His glory; this is the reward for those that denied themselves and served God. The other being on the outside of the gates, serving each other; this is the place for those that did not serve God, but rather choose to serve themselves. You may disagree with this assumption, but I feel it will be so. Regardless of what we may think heaven will be; we are called to serve God in our daily lives. This is done in many ways; one way that we serve Him is by walking in obedience, and doing those things that bring Him glory. The spectacular thing is, when we do the things He wants us to do, we get blessed. One area of that service is in the giving of our tithes and offerings. Just as I previously stated, God does not need our tithes and offerings, but rather, we need to give them out of obedience and with a cheerful heart. God wants to bless us beyond measure; and when we are truly blessed, is when we count on Him for all of our needs. This concept is really hard for some of us to grasp; I think it is because of our Elementary School up bringing; you know what I am talking about, that basic arithmetic that taught us about Sally and her apples; "If Sally has 4 apples and gives 3 away, how many apples does she have left?". Well, that does not work in God's economy, in His economy it goes more like; "If God has 4 apples and gives 4 apples away, He still has 4 apples, and then some!". We can not out give God. Sadly, the number of believers that do not understand this is overwhelming; it is only about 3% - 4% of those that say they are a child of God, that will actually trust God to provide for them in this area. That might sound a little harsh, but it is true. In Malachi 3:8 it says the following, "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings." This is one of the verses that I learned early in my walk, within the first 6 months. One of the books that I was required to read for our premarriage counseling, was 'Your Money Matters". In this book I learned that God wants us to trust Him in every area of our life, especially in Him providing for our every need. In fact, God wants us to test Him, and see if He will not perform it; in verse 10, God says the following; "Bring ye all of the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." My wife and I were married on July 31st, 1982, and by the end of that first year I had paid back my boss for providing a place for my wife to stay while I was in jail for six months and for the cost of the Lawyer he had got to defend me; about $9,000.00 worth of debt that I owed him. I was faithfully tithing 10% of my gross paycheck, as well as any other income that came in; and God was blessing me with the ability to pay back my boss at a rate of $500.00 to $1,000.00 per month. Then at the end of 1982, my boss approached me with an offer to purchase one of his 30 plus properties; and here is what he said; "You are currently making about $600.00 per week, but in order to afford this property, you will need to make $900.00 per week; do you think you can do it?". My rate of pay at that time was based completely on 25% of my net sales; and so for me to receive $600.00 per week on a paycheck, I needed to produce $2,400.00 per week in net sales, (net meant after cost of the job had been deducted, such as the cost of the fumigation, or the shower pan, or the floor, etc). One thing my boss had shown me was how to figure what I was averaging in commission for each Termite Inspection I performed; regardless of whether or not I sold the job. So I figured that it came down to $75.00 per Inspection at a rate of 8 Inspections per week; so in order to afford to purchase this property, I would need to increase the amount of Inspections I did by 50%; or to do 12 Inspections a week. I accepted his offer before the New Year and prayed about how I could bring it about; and one way that God showed me was in 'proving Him' on whether or not He was able to supply for all my needs; so I decided to tithe 10% of my goal, instead of my actual income. This meant that instead of the $60.00 per week I was giving from my gross pay, I was now giving $90.00 per week based on my new sales goal. This I started on the first week of 1983; by March of that year, my weekly checks were $900.00 per week; and we moved into our first home on Easter Sunday. After that experience of proving God at His word, I made it a practice of every years end to set a goal for the following year that surpassed the last year by at least 20%; and then I would tithe accordingly. In 1986, we bought our second property; this was a really big house, that was once owned by the Mayor; and we did not sell the first property, but instead rented it out. By the time I quit my job there and moved here in 1990, my weekly pay checks would have been $3,500.00 per week; but I choose to keep them down around $2,000.00 per week and leave the rest on the books; but my weekly tithes were $350.00 based on my sales goal at the time, which were $15,000.00 a week in net sales. This I share not to brag about what I did, but to show what God did. This I know more than anything; God is more than able to, and will provide for our every need. He wants us to take Him at His word and prove Him; making Him the Lord of our lives in all that we do; but we can not make Him Lord, if we do not trust Him to provide for our daily needs.

To Know That We Are Loved - 1 John 4:7-12

Have you ever felt unloved; as if alone in this world, and nobody really loves you? There is a God in heaven that Loves us so dearly; but so many of us are not able to fully experience that love, because of our own selfish hearts. It is really hard to conceive that our Heavenly Father not only forgives us of our sins; but that He also forgets them, for ever; to be remembered no more. It is hard for us to even begin to get a grip on that concept. Because we can not do it ourselves, it is hard to imagine that God can. If you think you are capable of 'forgiving and forgetting', think again. In Matthew 18:21, Peter came to Jesus and asked, "How often shall I forgive my brother that sins against me? Seven times?"; Jesus answered, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven". You will notice Jesus did not say something like, 'You need to forgive and forget that your brother sinned against you even at all'; because Jesus, knowing man's heart is incapable of forgetting the wrong done to them, simply made the number of times really, really high; it would be almost impossible for someone to wrong his brother 490 times. Okay, so right about now you might be wondering; "What the heck does this have to do with knowing God loves me?"; a whole lot, is what. In 1 John 4:7-12; John explains to us in really simple terms, that God is love; and if we want to experience that love in our lives, we must practice it. How do we practice that love?, you might ask; well, I will ask you, How did God? In verse 9, John writes, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him". So we can see that God expressed His love for us by providing a way for our sins to be forgiven; that we might be reconciled back to Him. If we want to really experience that love in our lives, we need to live it by loving each other. In verse 12, John writes, "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us". So again, How do we know that God loves us?; by expressing that love in our own lives; and the simplest way to do that, is to forgive, just as we have been forgiven. In verses 10 & 11, John writes, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another". It is impossible to really experience God's love in our lives if we are harboring unforgiveness towards others in our hearts. In verse 8, John writes, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love". Do you want to experience God's love today?; then think within your heart, if there is anyone you have not forgiven; and forgive them...

GOD KNOWS ! :( -Psalms 69:5

"O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." It baffles me to no end how easy it is to forget this simple fact; God knows when I am sinning. Maybe it is the fact that I am not struck down immediately whenever I sin that gives me liberty to keep sinning. But really the furthest thing from my mind as I am committing a sin is, God is watching, so I better not do this. How is it possible to even consider the sin knowing that? I think it all boils down to the fact the God is so merciful towards us, that sometimes we take advantage of that mercy. Just as a child does; they push the envelope of their parents patients; to see just how much they can get away with, without being punished. Besides the fact that we have the Holy Spirit abiding in us, and warning us of the dangers ahead; we sometimes will not heed the warnings. I can think back to some periods in my own life, where I would be dealing with a particular sin; and I would ask God to help me; because I was so weak in this area and could not do it alone. Then when that sin reared it's ugly head, there would be something blocking me, a door if you will, that stood in the way between me and that sin. So what did I do; I tried to find a key; if that did not work, I tried to pick the lock; if that did not work, I tried breaking the door down; and if that did not work, I would simply go around the door; I think at that point the Holy Spirit just backed up and turned His back, as not to watch. There is nothing we do that can be hidden from God; not even out thoughts. There were times when I would realize the stupidity of what I was doing and picture the Father looking down at me and saying' "Richard, what are you doing?"; or that Jesus was standing before the Father as my advocate, and having to say, "Well, I really don't know how to explain this one". The bottom line is the when I knowingly sin, I offend all three of Them; the Father, because of the love He has for me; Jesus, for the death He suffered for my sin; and the Holy Spirit being grieved by my actions. One of the verses in the Bible that I do not have to look up to quote is: 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". God knows our frame, and that we are weak, and has pity on us; more than we can know. Psalms 103: 13 & 14

'I Choose Joy' - Phil. 4:4-9

I have to be perfectly honest with you, that there are days when I seem to have no control of my emotions, and I will weep profusely; in other words, I am abundantly sorrowful, and I cry like a little child that just had his favorite pet run over by a bus. But in those times, I feel the Lord right beside me, with His arm around me and patting me on the back; saying, "it's okay; go ahead and let it out". After all, wouldn't we as parents do the same for our child; knowing that they need to just get it out of their system. So I weep for a short period of time; the longest being about 3 hours; but usually I determine in my heart to let it happen for only a short while, more like 30 minutes tops. Besides, I know that the Lord does not want me to be like that for very long; just as I as a parent would not want my child to continue for very long in their suffering, and would sooner or latter say, "enough already; stop bawling". Having said all that, let me assure you, that this is something I do alone, and not where anyone can see; although, sometimes I forget, and start bawling over my wife. Then I realize what I am doing, as I look down at her face and see sadness forming in her eyes. I never, ever want my wife to even begin to think that I am burdened by caring for her, or that there is no hope. That would make her want to give up; and that I will not have. But instead, I surround her with joy, love, praise and affection; knowing that as I express to her the joy in my heart; she experiences joy. So also I choose to do in my daily walk; that no matter where I am, or what I am doing, I should do all with a joyful heart. How is joy a choice you may ask? Well, to put it in the most simple terms; because we are told to have joy, and God would not tell us to do something we could not do. Paul in writing Philippians, was in jail, and at this point of his life had come to the conclusion that he was not going to get out; and in fact, the only way he was going to, was by death. But yet, he was full of joy, and was able to rejoice in his sufferings. I am sure that there were moments where he would weep privately, wanting to be free to visit a certain brother, or minister in a particular situation; but he would never not let his joy be known. This was not always the case with Paul; in Acts 15:39, there is a good example of a angry Paul moment; in fact the contention that Paul had over Mark was so heated, that him and Barnabas permanently separated. Paul had many trials since that angry moment; and with each and every trial that he had, God was working patience into his life. Now in jail and with Mark at his side, he shares what it means to; and how to; "Rejoice in the Lord always". In verse 8 he writes: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things".

How Big Is Our God? - Psalms 8

Have you ever tried to fathom how big the Universe is? I mean really tried to wrap your mind around it and just take it in. If you have, you may have experienced just how small you are in such a massive space. Now think about this, God created it all with just a word; "Let there be", and there was something where there was once nothing. I can recall one day as I was pulling into Raileys parking lot, I heard Paul Harvey speaking on the radio, and he was talking about a group of Astrophysicists gathered around a computer simulation image of the Universe; and they were astonished by how familiar the image was; because it looked very similar to the image of a magnified brain cell. I was parking my truck, and immediately picked up my phone and started calling people. I could not wait to get home to my computer and start looking up images of brain cells and the universe. What size would that make our God if the Universe was as a brain cell of His? Really, Really, Really Big! But, no matter how big He is, He still cares infinitely for us; and He knows our name. What an amazing God we serve. Everything that He has created was done in such majestic form, from the greatest, to the very least. The further man explores the heavens and the smallest of molecules, the more amazed we become at the complexity of God's handiwork. Think about the fact that He has made us in His image, and fashioned us with the ability to explore, think, love and create. In fact, I love that God sparked the creative mind within Adam, by having him give names to all the animals, (Gen. 2:19 & 20). Think about that for a moment; what if you had to name the animals; would you come up with names like: Lynx, Emu, Gnu or Peccary? How about naming some stars? There are still a lot of stars out there without names; and astronomers are running short a characters in both the alphabet and the numbers to give names to them all. They are just naming the closest, brightest and most prominent ones; and still they are scrambling for new names.

Prepared For God; By God - Hosea 2:23

Looking back, it is sometimes easy to see how God moves in our lives; even before we knew Him. For me, the best example of His BC leading was back in 1980; which was about a year or so before accepting Christ into my heart. My wife and I were not married yet, but we had our son, who was about 6 months old, and were living in a small apartment. I was not working, per say, but I was generating an income; I was dealing drugs. I was also serving 3 years probation at the time on a conviction of possession with intent to sell a ounce of Angle Dust; which happen while I was in the Navy. It is fortunate that I was in the Navy, because I could have been sentenced to 5 years in prison; but instead, received a suspended 5 year sentence, $2,500.00 fine and 3 years of formal probation. Needless to say, that did not stop me from dealing in drugs. Well, long story short, the day came when we were set up, and I was arrested selling 10 pounds of 'Chocolate Colombian' weed. There were 5 of us arrested in my little apartment; two that came from San Diego with the product, two that had come to purchase 5 pounds, and myself, (the other 5 pounds were being purchased by the Downey Police Department). At the time my wife was in the bedroom, chopping some 'Mother of Pearl' rocks for us to share with our friends from San Diego, when the deals were done, (we had about a half ounce hidden in the room); but when she knew that there was a police raid, (about 20 cops), she throw the framed picture she was using under the bed. After I was handcuffed, one officer asked if there were any other drugs in the house, to which I replied, "yes", and took them into the bedroom and presented our rolling box to them; which contained about 4 or 5 joints worth of weed. They were not satisfied with my jester, and I knew it; so with a deep sigh I took them to the refrigerator and presented a large Tupperware container which had over six different varieties of the best weed available; all in separate 1 ounce bags. I informed the officers that these were not for sell, but were my own personal stash left over from previous deals; they were satisfied and did not conduct a full search of the apartment; and I was so relieved. They also did not arrest my wife, which was a huge blessing, because that would have ruined us; but instead they left her and our son in the apartment, as the 5 of us went off to jail. Moses, (Deep Water Bail Bonds) was able to get me bailed out, after my wife gave him $1,000.00, and my Grandmother put up her house; and I started what turned out to be a year long court case. I was expecting to go to prison; I was on probation for sales already, with a suspended prison sentence, and the retired Judge that had previously had me in front of him, was trying to see my case; fortunately he gave up after about 8 months. We were kicked out of our apartment, and were forced to live with my mother; what a hell that was, seriously it was; but I needed a place for my family to be kept while I was away. One morning as I sat in the kitchen reading a Bible, (at the time I thought I knew God), I starting to contemplate the mess I was in; living in a crazy place, (alcoholic mother, psychotic brother, wife treated like a slave and driven to tears; not a good place all); looking at doing at least 5 years; no job; and no hope. I can not remember what I was reading, but all of the sudden I felt God speaking to me to get up and get my family out of there. I went and woke my wife and told her I would not be back without a job; and also promised that I would have us out of that house before the month was over. As I rode in a bus from Long Beach to Downey, I thought about anyone I knew who had a job connection, and thought of a friend who had a dad that owned a Napa Auto Parts; so there I went and got a job; it was minimum wage, but it was a job. After 2 weeks we were looking for a place to move, and found a duplex to move into in Bellflower. On my application I had put down that I was a Handyman and that I also restored antique furniture, besides delivering auto parts. Turned out that the landlord bought a commercial property that had 4 very torn up houses on it, and his wife remember me from the interview. I received a call from her and was asked if I would work on their new property after my regular job and on weekends; I agreed. It also turned out that this landlord was also the owner/ operator of a Termite & Pest Control company; and within less than 2 months, approached me to work for him full time, for minimum wage, which was by then kind of a cut in pay, because I had already gotten a $2.00 per hour increase at my regular job; but I accepted his offer and gave my friend's dad notice. I worked for my new employer at least 12 hours a day, everyday; and after 3 months he asked me if I would like to be a salesman for his company. It would require that I get licensed as a Field Representative to perform termite inspections on structures.; I accepted, and was licensed within 2 months, (May 1981). One day, before I actually took my license exam, my boss, (Mick) and I were sitting on his living room floor and going over the licensing application; one question on the form was, "Have you ever been convicted of a Felony?"; to which I answered, "Yes & No"; and Mick asked me to explain. This was my answer; "Well, in 1978 I was arrested and charged for possession with intent to sell a controlled substance; but even though it was a felony charge I received a misdemeanor sentence, so technically I am not a Felon; but currently I am going to court for another felony charge, and this one may become a felony conviction." To which Mick asked, "And what is this new charge?"; so I told him about the mess I was in. After listening, he thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you have a Lawyer?"; I told him I did not, but I had a defence, and said,"I believe in God, and that God created the "seed barring herb", and said it was good; and that I had felt called to provide good herbs to my friends". Well, I do not have to tell you how fast Mick jumped off the floor; he jumped up and shouted, "That's it, I am getting you a Lawyer; and you keep your mouth shut!". By June I was sentenced to one year in the County Jail; my wife was allowed to stay in one of Mick's 30 or more houses; and Mick was holding my job as a Licensed Field Representative for his company until my release. God did this all before I had even gotten saved, (which happen 3 months later). My loving Father had provided for not only all of our current needs, but for the ones that were ahead. What a Awesome God we serve!!!

"Thy Testimonies Are Very Sure" Psalms 93:5

Have you ever wondered; How big our God is? Have you ever tried to just sit and meditate on that subject? How about this; Have you even sat before Him and just started declaring to Him how great and awesome He is? If you have ever wondered why King David was called, "A man after God's own heart"; the answer may be in the fact that he was able to seek out God, and to have fellowship with Him. One of the ways David was able to do this was by praising God's handiwork, and the spectacular ways God has created everything. I can only imagine, that for hours upon hours, as David watched the sheep at night, he would just sit there gazing up into heaven, declaring how great and awesome God is. I know from personal experience that this is so important in my daily devotions; to sit before God and just praise Him. James declares in chapter 4:8, that if we draw nigh to God, that He will draw nigh to us. I encourage anyone who may read this blog, to take this to heart: Seek to draw nigh to God! Here are some simple ways that I have come to know, and that works for me; whether or not they work for you, will determine on if you really try them or not; but for me, they work. First, I determine in my heart to rise up early in the morning to direct my voice to God, (Psalms 63:1); Secondly, I commit in my heart to devote at least one full hour to pray; (Matthew 26:40); these two things are first and foremost. No matter how I pray, or what I pray, the most important thing I must do is set a time to spend at least one hour with God in prayer. It just so happens that 4:00 in the morning is the time I have determined to be that time; one reason has been, that nobody else is up at that hour of the morning; another is that because it is so early, I actually feel I am devoting that time to God; but that's just me, you may choose 9:00 in the morning, or 9:00 at night; good luck getting alone with God at those times. You could get in your car and drive to a secluded area and just sit there and pray; but I will bet that some real weirdness will disturb your alone time, once in a while. Four in the morning works best for me, because the only thing that usually will disrupt my time with God, is my tired flesh. After I have prepared a time for prayer, the next thing that is vital for my own personal prayer life; I ask God to cleanse my heart, purify my mind and to pour out His Spirit into my life. I keep on asking Him for these things, until I feel comfortable to approach Him. That might sound a little strange, but I want to make sure that there is nothing hindering my ability to communicate openly with my Heavenly Father; so I start my prayer time with confession and cleansing. After getting my heart right before God, I can focus on Him; and start seeking to be in His presence; to just sit before Him and praise Him and His marvelous works. This really takes up most of my prayer time, because once I feel His glory surrounding me, I do not want to retreat. It is very hard to describe some of the things I have experienced while drawing close to God; but here is one, try to imagine that you are a shirt being turned inside out. Finally, I begin knocking at doors of intersession; praying for those I know and love; and with power I can not even begin to put into words. I am so amazed sometimes by the things that come out of my mouth; and every prayer, for everyone, is always in the positive. Sometimes, when I do not know specifically what to pray, then God will speak it through me in a language that I do not know or understand, but always I am assured in my heart that it was specific to that persons needs; what ever they are. This is just a prayer ritual that works for me, and is not intended to be a blueprint; but for one good reference to this manner of prayer, you could turn to Luke chapter 11:1-13, and specifically in verses 9 & 10; "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened". Actually, from what I have understood, the ask, seek and knock in verse 9 are plural; so it would be better interpreted; "Keep on Asking; Keep on Seeking; Keep on Knocking".

"Treasures of the snow?" Job 38:22 & 23

For almost 20 years I have been fascinated by this portion of scripture and what I believe it means. God was speaking to Job, and asking him a series of questions about creation and the way things are held together and work; and in chapter 38: 22 & 23, God says the following to Job; "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?" It has amazed me to no end that this scripture gets so overlooked in the discussion of God, creation and the truth of God's word. Not till the end of the 1800's and start of the 1900's was man able to photograph a magnified snowflake. While researching this I ran across an article where there was a woman somewhere that claimed see had found 2 snowflakes that were the same; not... I seriously doubt that is possible. This is a creation of pure energy and spectacular beauty. I am so amazed by how God crafted such infinite glory in even the smallest of particles. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in some of these laboratories and research centers, as scientist dive deeper and deeper into the smallest of matter. The deeper they go, the more intricate and spectacular things get. Look at DNA and what they discovered there; how somehow no 2 DNA structures are the same; interesting, to say the least. Another thing about this verse that has amazed me is the timeline; "time of trouble", and, "day of battle and war". Something else occurred around the same time; World War One. For the first time in history, man was able to attack other portions of the world on a whole new level. No longer was it a matter of weeks, or months, that troops and artillery could be deployed to other continents; no now it was a matter of days, and hours. Man had now set out on a new military quest; instant and forceful attacks across the globe. I think we could call this the beginning of the time of trouble; the day of battle and war...What say you?

Husbands Love Your Wives... Eph. 5:22-33

There are some passages in the Bible that may seem hard to interpret, but this is not one of them; "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it;" Ephesians 5:25 We as a body of believers are the Bride of Christ, and as such, He paid a very dear price for us; giving not only His life for us on the cross, but denying himself far more than eyes could see; the real suffering came as He was separated from the Father, as He took all of our sins upon himself; that He might present us a glorious and spotless bride. Oh, that we as men of God could just take on a portion of that humility for the sake of our wives. It is said that the divorce rate among Christians is not much different from the rest of the world; what have we become that would allow that to be the case? Is it pride in the man's heart? Is it the man's selflessness? Is it man's lack of understanding what his role is? Is it that his heart is not surrendered? I think it may be all of the above; they all are fruits of the flesh. I will be willing to debate any Brother, who may choose to argue, that if there is anything lacking in a marriage, it is the man's fault. Wives are called to submit to and reverence their husbands; which is not be very difficult to do, if the husband is loving them even as Christ loved the church. The motivating factor in the relationship is that of the husbands action in loving; the wife on the other hand, is that of response. Sadly, in a lot of Christian marriages today, the wife is the one doing the motivating, while the husband is being waited on, or sitting idly by while his family is being lead by the world. The wife is not called to be the spiritual leader of the home, nor should she be. Imagine, if you can, if the church were the one leading the Lord; it would not take long for that relationship to get sideways. I can recall a few times in my own life when I fell short and dropped the ball; or more like sat it down and then kicked it over the fence. One example I remember, (and there are many), was one time we had began nightly family devotions; it was hard at first to get us all motivated to participate; but after a while, it was like clockwork. I can recall times that I would come through the front door, to see my wife and son sitting in the living room and talking about tonight's devotion; excited to get started, even though we usually did them after dinner. Even when we had company, or relatives staying over, we continued; in fact, whoever was in our house, had to participate. Unfortunately they ended; and when they did, it was because I caused them to end by putting my own personal desires above that which was best for my family; in others words, I let my flesh get in the way. As the head of our home, we are called to be the Priest in our home; being a servant of the Lord and leading our wives and our children in the things of the Lord. However, if we are not totally surrendered to Christ, we will fall short. It is not a one time thing we must choose to do, but rather a daily surrender to the things of this world; and yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit. The more we neglect to do this, and the longer we dwell in laziness, the harder it is to gain it back; and the more the world will influence and steal of our marriages and families. If our wives are committed to serving the Lord, then one of two things will happen in the marriage; either she will take it upon herself to lead, which may soon become a marriage where Christ is no longer center in their lives; or quite simply, the man will no longer be the husband...Sad isn't it?

Pictures from the wedding

THE WEDDING

When we arrived at the church for rehearsal, Dan's wife was waiting for us at the door with excitement on her face, she was so excited to inform us that Dan had written a song for our wedding. As we entered the sanctuary, Dan was already behind the piano practicing and making beautiful music, and Pastor Mike was standing at the base of the stage waiting; it seemed as if the mood was set for worship. We meet with Mike briefly to discuss what time during the ceremony would be best for the alter call; we decided to have it done while we were kneeling, preparing for communion, with our backs to the crowd; that way we could be praying without notice. Finally the day had come; and as my bride came down that isle, I knew right then and there, that this was her day; what a beautiful bride! I felt like I was the luckiest man alive. We had wanted to make this wedding all about Jesus, but there was no denying, that at that moment it was all about a Glorious Bride! Everything went as planned; we meet at center stage, held each others hands, and Pastor Mike began explaining what marriage was all about and why we were all there that day; in that moment I realized what a sacred event it really was. Dan played the piano and sang wonderfully, making the moment seem all the more holy and divine. After we took our two candles to light the center candle, we went to the front of the stage, turned and knelt with our backs to the crowd. Pastor Mike shared about the first miracle that Jesus did, which was turning water into wine at a wedding; and we prayed. With our backs to the crowd, we prayed for those that were there we knew were there not only to witness a wedding, but were also there to meet Jesus. As Pastor Mike began the invitation for anyone that may what to receive Christ unto the hearts, we prayed even harder; and then he said, "Raise up your hand; I see you, and you, and you"; while we said together, "Amen, Thank You Jesus". After communion, we meet center stage to exchange our vows, our rings, and that very special kiss. Finally, Pastor Mike turns us towards the crowd and declares, "I present to you, Richard and Marianne Norrup". Matthew 19:5&6

THE INVITATION

When my wife and I were married, we were not rich in wealth; but we were rich in Spirit. After following the Lord for a few months, it was placed upon our hearts to get right before God and men; prior to that we were living in what some would consider sin; not a good testimony. We had been living together since around Marianne's 18th birthday; she had to move out of her home due to being about 4 months pregnant, and besides, she wanted to move in with me; although at the time we planned to move in together I had no place to call my own, in fact I was sleeping on a friends floor. Anyhow; when we made the decision to get married, we were attending Calvary Chapel of Downey. Our first meeting to ask to be married was a bit scary; three pastors sat us down and drilled us on the step we were taking; Pastor Jeff Johnson, Pastor Jack Abilene and Pastor Mike Aguilar, (forgive me if I misspelled any of those names). As they counseled us for what seemed to be hours, they kept questioning us on whether or not we understood marriage; and then the biggy, 6 months of premarital counseling, and the topper, no sex; in fact at one time, one of them, (I think Jack) had suggested we separate until the wedding; thankfully Jeff stepped up and said that would be a bit much; besides we already had our son, who at that time was over 2 years old. So we set the date for 6 months away and began planning the wedding; and counseling, reading books, listening to tapes and many other things, some which seemed strange at the time. As I said in the beginning, we did not have much money, and neither did our parents, but we were rich in the Spirit and loved Jesus. One of the things I had asked for was for there to be an alter call during the wedding, which was not usually done apparently, the response from the pastors seemed quizzical; but it was agreed upon. During one of our counseling sessions towards the big day, we began planning the actual ceremony. All the staff at Calvary was such a blessing; Pastor Mike, (who was the youth pastor at the time) would marry us; Dan Marks came into the room with his wife beside him and offered to do the music, and his wife said she would choreograph the wedding. We were blessed, to say the least. I went home after that meeting and began to prepare the invitations; yes, I made the invitations. I remember praying with my wife about what we wanted to say, or rather declare in this special invitation. We had looked at some which are ordered, but none said what we wanted to express. The message was clear, we wanted this to not just be a day about us, but we wanted it to be about Jesus. On the inside left of the invitation I typed the following things: at the top of the page was Matthew 19:5&6, followed by Ephesians 5:22-28, and then the following prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father; we pray that you bless this union as we come together with you Lord, making you the center of our lives, putting you first in all that we do. Sanctify our marriage Lord, and make us to be a blessing unto you and a testimony of your love; that those that know us may see your light shine in and through us, that they too may know your wonderful saving grace and your endless glory. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen (I done!)

Evangelism 101 - John 3:1-21

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) This is the most popular and quoted verse in the Bible; and one that I had memorized even before I became a Christian. It was not until several years after I got saved, that I was reading my Bible one morning, and happened to be reading this verse; the Holy Spirit instructed me to read it again, and again, and then a third time. As I read it for the third time, it began to lift off the page as if magnified; then I took notice for the first time that the letters were in red. I had for some reason or another never realized before that this was not John speaking about Jesus, but this was Jesus himself speaking; which lead me to look further into whom He was speaking to; so I started over at verse one. Then I realized that this was instruction from the Master on how to evangelize and lead someone into the Kingdom of God. Jesus shows us all the steps to be a evangelist with the best of examples. Here we have a man coming to Jesus by night, most likely for fear of being discovered visiting Jesus; but he comes searching for answers. He believes Jesus is sent from God and gathers that He would have the answers to the questions he seeks. Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee, but he was a ruler and and teacher of the Pharisees. Right off the bat Jesus turns him around; Nicodemus came seeking worldly answers, but Jesus shows him spiritual answers. Then Jesus also shows him how unfit he is to enter the Kingdom of God; him, being a Pharisee of the Pharisees, unfit to enter. Not only was he unfit to enter God's Kingdom, but he was condemned to perish; and then to take it a step further, Jesus shows him his sinful nature and why he is in such a desperate need to be forgiven and born again. Jesus also shows him how simple it is to be born again; by just believing on Him that was sent. I can only imagine that as Nicodemus went away that night, the 'Swirling Eddie's' were spinning around in his head; "serpent lifted up, condemned, perish, born again, everlasting life, God's Kingdom, Isaiah 9:6, and on and on". One thing we can be assured of, Nicodemus did become a follower of Jesus; and most likely it was on that night. Not to long after this we see him mentioned in another passage; John 7:45-52, as the Pharisees scolded officers that did not arrest Jesus, Nicodemus defends Jesus, and the other Pharisees asked if he also was of Galilee. Then we see at the burial of Jesus in John 19:38-42, there were two wealthy men. One was Joseph of Arimathea, who being a disciple of Jesus, was also a Pharisee; he asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and provided a borrowed tomb, (after all Jesus would not need it for to long). The other was non other than Nicodemus, and he brought a hundred pounds of expensive spices that he might preserve the body of Jesus; I think he knew Jesus was going to rise on the third day; in fact I think they both knew it and were looking forward to it. The spices were not necessary; but sometimes we do things that may seem unnecessary; but God counts them as necessary and He honors them.

Chosen - Acts 6:5

I think back to the day that I received Jesus into my heart; there was such a change in my life, that no one who knew me could deny it. I began immediately to share the Gospel message to anyone that I felt the Lord was leading me to share with. I knew in my heart of hearts that I was chosen to serve Him who loved me and pulled me from the fires of hell. At the time of my conversion I was serving a one year sentence in the L.A. County jail facilities, (different story), and prior to that day I had no desire what soever to be in church; I had some bad church experience's growing up and did not want any part of what I thought was deception and organizational deceit. One of the places I stayed was called at the time Wayside, and it had a lot to offer, it even had a church; a little white church, with a steeple and a bell. This church had services every night and all day on Sunday. I remember one night sitting in the middle of the athletic field, which was adjacent to the church, praying and asking for God's help. You see, although I was not yet saved, I still thought I knew God; in fact I read my Bible everyday, sometimes all day long; but I did not know Jesus. As I sat there and prayed, I could here the worship from the church, and I remember gazing over and seeing the silhouettes of them inside through the windows; they were lifting their hands and praising God; and I began to pray for them, praying for those poor deceived men that were being lead astray by religion. As I prayed for them, I began to weep profusely; I was balling like a baby, and actually thought God was having me weep for those that were inside that church. Not to long after that incident, I was involved in a scuffle and had to be shipped to another facility; the new location did not have a church, services were held in the chow hall,(where food was served). One Sunday morning as I laid in my bunk, there was a very frail voice over the loudspeakers; it was the Chaplin, who was most likely at least 90 years old; and he was giving the announcement for that Sundays service. I remember just the feeling of love that was flowing through those speakers, and the instant desire in my heart to go; so I went, running to the meeting room. As I sat there, not really knowing what to expect, I was being spoken to in a whole new way. All the things I had believed and known from my past were being swept away, right before my eyes. The man that came to share took off his watch and holding it up said, "Do you see this watch? ; This watch tells me that somewhere out there, there is a watch maker; and you, me, and everything around us tells me that there is a Creator; And I am here today to tell you, that Creator is Jesus!". I almost fell off my seat; I was pricked to the heart, to say the least. As this servant of God began sharing scriptures that say as bright as day that "all things were made by Him, and not anything was made that wasn't", I began to surrender; and when the call was made for those to lift their hand to receive Christ, I lifted both hands, (I think I may have even stood up). Straightway I began sharing the gospel; and the first thing I did was to call my wife and tell her about Jesus, and how I had just received Him into my heart, and how I was changed instantly, and how all my sins were taken away, and on and on. Prior to that time my wife was the one who went to church and had been several times to Calvary Chapel of Downey. She listened as I shared with her and prayed with her on the phone, but I could tell in her voice that she was not sure. She had been raised a Catholic and some things were a little more structured in her belief perception; you don't just get changed and all the sudden start sharing about the Lord, or so she thought. Within two weeks I lead my wife to the Lord over the phone one night, and I could hear her weeping on the other end as we rejoiced together. I was there at that facility for another two weeks and I kept attending every service I could; and when there was no service I would start my own; six of us would sit in a circle and just take turns reading the Word and praying. There would be times when someone would come join us and listen in, and then I would focus on sharing with that person. After that I was shipped back to Wayside; and this time I was in that little white church just about every time the doors were opened; in fact, I was usually the one that rang the bell. It was amazing to me that God was using me, speaking through me and opening up the Word to me in ways that I could not explain. I think this is what you would call, "Letting go and let God"...

Pictures from this mornings post

These are pictures of the new Abortion Center, (Temple) and 21 week fetus Samuel

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made - Psalms 139:14

I wanted to share something about prayer today; maybe tomorrow; but as I was thinking about prayer and how I pray, I began thinking about David and him rising up early to pray; but then God put something else on my heart. I began thinking on how special we are in His sight; and how God created us in a way that was so different from the other things He created. Genesis chapter 1 gives the account of creation, and the order and manner in which God created all that is in the visible world. For there to be heavens, earth, fish, birds and animals, God spoke it all into being; but for man, God said, "Let us make man in Our image", and then He formed man with His own hands and the breathed life into him and man became a living soul; (Gen 2:7). Now I know that some may not believe this, but there is life before childbirth. In Luke 1:39-45 there is an account where Mary who was with child, (Jesus), greeted Elizabeth who was with child, (John the Baptist), and as soon as Mary said her hello the child within Elizabeth leaped in her womb. I remember about 12 years ago that Matt Drudge published a picture on his site, (The Drudge Report), and he also presented it on his show which was on Fox News. It was a photo of a surgeon performing spinal surgery on a fetus while in it's mother's womb; and the little unborn child reached up out of the womb and took hold of the doctor's finger. I remember Matt making a really big deal of this on his show, and oddly enough, not to long after that he no longer had a show on Fox News. I say this with all sincerity; the practice of taking an unborn child's life is rooted in the darkest of evils. A new headline on the Drudge Report from Wednesday said; "Abortion Super Center set to open in Houston"; and this Planned Parenthood facility will have a special wing to focus on late term abortions. I was told by my mother that she had contemplated having an abortion when I was conceived. She was very young, (16 if I recall); she thankfully felt a love for me as I moved within her, and as she told me, "she would have gladly died giving birth to me that I might live". What a contrast to a mother that would destroy a life just for convenience sake. This day in which we live is very evil, and is becoming more and more evil with every passing day. We need to wake up and smell the coffee; (as my mother would say).

Why So Serious? - 1 Cor. 9:24-27

I do not have to look that far to see the need to be serious about the race we are running. I would almost liken it to more of a sport like 'Running Man", because there are casualties all around. The enemy is constantly on the attack and is out for blood. Some who have run have fallen, some have been mamed and some have never reached the finish line. Paul likened it to an athletic event where one trains to be first; to not only run, but to run well enough to win. We are not running against each other mind you, but rather these are individual races, where the ones we are competing against are more subtle and determined to trip us up. Unfortunatly, many of us run as if we are running in the Special Olympics; believing we are challenged because of our sinful nature. Accepting the lie that we and the world around should just be glad that we are even running at all; we are content with average or even failure. But by the power of God's Spirit we are not disadvantaged athletes, and as far as that sinful nature, well Jesus dealt with that on the cross. We are new creatures in Christ and now we must walk in that, or rather run the race we are in as to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus", (Phil. 3:14). I have come to realize how serious this race is by a current event which is very much a part of my life. To see two people that I would call old friends and have known for 19 years, be challenged and stretched to such a degree that it is hard to make sense of it; I see that there is a great need in my own life to get serious. In the words of a popular cartoon character, "This means war!"; and a war it is. Now that I have established that the race is serious, I must pay attention to what Paul says in 1 Cor. 9: 27 and punch out the desires of the flesh; "least by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway". This war we are in is real and it is brutal; but we must know who it is we are at war against and how we must use our weapons; 2 Cor. 10:3-6 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds); Casting down imaginations , and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." Amen