ISAIAH 55 - "THE TRUTH"

"In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:2 & 3) What is Truth? Maybe for first thing we need to know is, what is the lie? The first lie recorded in the Bible was made up of five words which were packed full of deception; "You shall not surely die", Gen 3:4. We must know this; Satan was, and always has been jealous of man, and the relationship God has with man. For God created man to be a free willed soul, that would desire and long for a relationship with Him; earnestly loving God, by choice and in response to God's love. God had set man in this plush garden, provided everything he could ever need. He gave man tasks to stimulate his mind and cause him to be creative. He gave man dominion over all the other living creatures of the earth. He loved man that he created, desired fellowship with him, and cared for his every need; this was paradise. God only had one rule for man in this paradise that He made for him; "And the Lord commanded of man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Gen 2:16 & 17) There is a direct result of sin; death. It is not because God brought it to pass; but because man choose to sin; that death was the result of a separation from a holy God; because God, being holy, must separate Himself from anything that is not in harmony with His character. There was another tree in that garden, which was the 'Tree of Life'; there was also a separation from this tree and what it had to offer man. When a man and a women who have been joined together in marriage get divorced; there is a separation that takes place between their very souls. Do you believe you have an eternal soul? Do You? I would challenge you, if you are married; get your spouse to set down with you for at least 20 minutes; sit about a foot apart, and just stare deep into each others eyes; and you will begin to see what a soul looks like... When we realize that there is a eternal soul which is part of our very being, we can begin to understand what God meant when He said, "You shall surely die". (forgive me for being short today; in the land of silliness...)

ISAIAH 55 - "THE WAY"

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) The third illustration of the 'Perfect Will of God' that we must look at, is that of marriage. This one is far more complex to see; but it is also, far more glorious, once we see it. The first thing we must know, is that God created us with a free will; which means we have the ability to love, but we also have the capacity not to love. Thus, the reason that God established 'The Bill of Divorcement', that the Pharisees came to Jesus about in Mark 10:2-12; Jesus stated, "For the hardness of your heart he wrote this precept". Marriage is refereed to as "Holy Matrimony"; because love is meant to be forever, and it is ordained by God. The correlation between the marriage of a husband and wife, the Church and Christ, and the Love of God, run deeper than we can know; but what we can know, is sufficient for us. What would make a man put away his wife, and to divorce her? What would make man reject God's love for him? What is it that makes God hate divorce? Could they all be based in the same lie? Try to follow me as I lay this out, in a way, that I hope will make sense. First we have the account of Adam, who was depicted as the first man; and God said,"Let us make man in Our image", (Gen 1:26). In verse 27 it says, "So God Created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them". Then in chapter 2 of Genesis, we have a little more detailed account of what happen during the creation process. God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and then breathed His Spirit into man; and man became a living soul, (Gen 2:7). Now, when it came to the creation of the woman, this is where things get a little bit more complex. Genesis 2:21-24, gives us more than a picture of the creation of marriage, but it gives us a picture of man's redemption. (Are you still with me?) Listen up, or "Ho", as Isaiah would say; When God took that rib from Adam to make a woman for him, there was a separation that took place; God separated that rib from Adams body to create the woman; thus when they were later joined together again, they were reunited again into one body. Adam declared in verse 23, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Women, because she was taken out of man". Then the very next verse is the one Jesus quoted to the Pharisees in Mark 10:7 & 8; "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." All Right Then; to express this is the simplest and most direct way: Likewise, sin had separated man from God, but Jesus, taking on the sins of the world upon that cross, He has joined man back to God. It amazes me beyond measure that the ratio of divorce among Christians is practically the same as the ratio of divorce among non-Christians. I am sure that if we all only knew the beauty of what marriage represents in God's eye, then we would all try a little harder to make it work. It is because of the hardness of the man's heart that God even allows divorce. God's perfect will for those of us that are married, is that we experience the oneness of being bonded together for life; to experience a type of love that is sacrificial; to the very end. As far as who's fault it is that divorce even happens; well, it is the man's!!! I know I might be stepping on some toes here, but this is very important to understand: It is the husband who is responsible to provide the love; the wife responds to that love. Okay, okay; so maybe you don't agree? But think of it like this: Who first loved, us or God? Of course; it is God who first loved us!!! He demonstrated that love for us by denying Himself, taking on the form of a man, and dying on the cross for our sins. It is our responsibility to respond to that love poured out for us, and to accept it. Likewise, the husband is called to deny himself and demonstrate his love for his wife; to give himself for her, and to cherish her, as Christ does the Church. The wife will respond to that love and reverence the husband, much the same way the Church does to Christ. The wife is called to submit to the love of the husband. Why are they not called to love their husbands? Because, the love they have towards their husband is one of response; their love for their husband is more of 'Adoration'; where the husband is worthy of her deepest love and reverence. If you haven't had a chance to see the movie 'Fireproof' yet, you should. My favorite part of the movie was when the wife was at the medical supply place; and she finds out that it was her husband who provided the medical supplies for her mother; not only that, but she finds out the date in which he did it; it was the same day she served him with the divorce papers. She was undone!!! She could hardly function or contain herself, because she saw in the moment how much her husband loved her. This kind of experience is the one I had that morning when I had to explode, "Are You Kidding Me"; as I became undone before God. I know that the apostle Paul and Isaiah both had seen, what I only saw for a millisecond; but that little glimpse was enough to shake my very soul. That morning when I had the vision of Isaiah's declaration of God, (Isaiah 6:1); it was not a robe that I saw that filled the temple; it was the train of a bride's wedding dress... Talk about redemption!

ISAIAH 55 - "CHOOSE TRUTH"

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?" (John 11:25-26) The next illistration we will take a look at is Hezekiah. Here was a man who had done right in the sight of the Lord, and was a good king over Judah. He had lived his life trusting God for deliverance from God's enemies; he had caused the people of Judah to worship God, and Him alone; and the Lord was with Hezekiah, and he prospered. However, there came a time in his life, where he chose to go against the 'Perfect Will of God', and instead chose his own will; he chose the lie; the lie that says this world is more important than God. 2 Kings 20:1-21:18 gives an account of this change of heart in the life of Hezekiah, and the consequences of believing the lie. When Isaiah came to Hezekiah while he lay sick in bed, Isaiah told him, "Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live". This thing that was done for Hezekiah was not a bad thing; this was God showing Hezekiah grace, mercy and His love for him. But in that moment, what Hezekiah did was count this life more important than God; he believed the lie that the things of this world, our own life and the other things which the flesh lives for were greater than God, and what God had to offer. In verse 2 & 3, we see that Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and pleaded for God to spare his life. What happen to Hezekiah's heart as a result of accepting the lie, instead of believing God? First off, he began to not trust God. After Isaiah told him that God would give him 15 more years, Hezekiah asked for a sign that God would do what Isaiah said. Next, he began to take stock in the things of this world, and all it had to offer; putting the things of this world above the things of God. He became obsessed with the things of this world; so much so that he had to show off his possessions and the riches of his kingdom to the rulers of Babylon. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Because Hezekiah was holding onto this life, he began to cherish the things of this life, more that the things of God; he began to lay up treasure upon this world; which caused him to be removed from those treasures in heaven. This is much the same that happens in our lives when we feed our flesh, instead of feeding the Spirit. When we feed our flesh, we begin to care more for the things of this life, more than we care for the things of God. We start holding the things of this world more esteemed that the things of God; and our view of God becomes less; even to the point that we forget He is even here; we forget that He is All Powerful, All Mighty, All knowing; and worst of all, we forget how much He loves us and has provided for us. Again in Matthew 6:24, Jesus is making the point that we can not serve God and this world; "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You can not serve God and mammon." Another thing that happens to us, is we believe the lie that this life means more than what God would have waiting for us; and when that happens, our ability to influence those around us towards the things of God is removed. For Hezekiah this lack of Godly influence resulted in a really bad son; in fact, this son became the most evil king that Judah had ever had. Not only did this son not know God, but he despised everything about God. There is consequences in the choices we make, and God wants us to not have to learn by our mistakes; but He does allow us to go through them, when we choose to. There are obvious ways to feed the Spirit, just like the things we use to feed the flesh are obvious. We feed the Spirit by praying, reading God's word, walking in His ways, loving God and denying the flesh; just to name a few. We feed the flesh when we put anything above God in our lives; anything. Let me play out a scenario to you: Let's say your name is Joe, and God comes to you one night and says, "Hello Joe, my son; You have two weeks left to live your life on this earth; so put your house in order." Would you be ever so grateful that God would have pity upon you enough to give you warning; or would you turn your face to the wall and cry out for more time to partake of this world? I think I would be busy, as quick as I could to 'Be Putting On My Sunday Go To Church Meeting Clothes', as they would say down in Texas. Wouldn't it be great if God would give us a clear and definite time that we would be departing. We could get all that stuff out of our lives that could stumble others; you know, the stuff hidden around that we think no one sees; the stuff that people will find after your gone, as they sift through your belongings; "Say it's not so Joe", is not what you want to be spoken of. You could also begin to share to everyone in your life about how important it is to give our lives fully to God; sharing to loved ones about their need for Jesus; making sure they know how much you love the Lord; but without telling them you know that you will be departing soon. You could also make sure that you have forgiven anyone that has ever wronged you; that you ask forgiveness of anyone that you have wronged; and that you owe no man nothing upon your departure. Wouldn't be wonderful to be able to get ready to go be with the Lord, right before we were going to depart? Well; these things that I have just shared with you for Joe to be able to do, are things we can do now to feed the Spirit. Whatever we do for God, to God, in God; when ever we let God move in us and through us; we are feeding the Spirit. Now; when ever we are doing the opposite of these things, we are feeding the flesh. Which means: when we have those things in our lives which can stumble others, those things which we have hidden; when we do not forgive others, don't ask forgiveness of those we have wronged; don't share God's love to others around us; we are feeding our flesh. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:" (Matthew 7:24)

ISAIAH 55 - "What is Truth"

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." (John 4:24) So; What is Truth? For most that ask that question, it is rhetorical; they really do not want to receive the answer; why? Because they have believed the lie; What is the lie? Simply, the opposite of the truth. In John 8:31-59; Jesus is talking to Jews that believed on him, and as he began to reveal truth to them, they began to oppose him; finally they actually took up stones to cast at him. This happen with those that had actually believed him as he shared these words: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." 'And as he spake these words, many believed on him.' (John 8:28-30) When Samuel presented the truth to the people of Israel; they choose the lie. They would chose a king, instead of the king maker; they believed the lie that they must have an earthly king to represent them before the other nations. There is one sin that is not forgiven of a man; "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." (Mark 3:28 & 29) What is the blaspheme of the Holy Ghost? When the Holy Spirit reveals God's truth into our heart, and we know that we have just received the truth, yet we refuse to except it; that is when we blaspheme the Holy Ghost. To do this in our heart, requires us to really force ourselves to refuse God. When God reveals His truth to us, there is power and a life changing force that is presented to us; and to deny that, is to choose death and damnation. If you notice that Jesus said, "is in danger of eternal damnation". We must know that God is love, and He is so merciful, but when a person denies the truth, he makes his heart hard towards the truth; which can lead to a callus heart, and the chances of receiving the truth becomes harder and harder. When I first received the truth, back in September of 1981, I knew that there was power in what I just received. As the preacher began to speak God's word, and the Holy Spirit began to show me the Truth within that word, and my heart needed to respond; and I am so glad it did. I can not imagine what my life would be like if I had said no to the truth that was revealed within me. What kind of force would I have had to muster within me to ignore the power of the truth being revealed?; the force I would have required, is the lie. Much like the children of Israel would have to do in their hearts to refuse the God who loves them, provides for them, and was the one that created them; and instead to accept the lie, and worship the creation instead of the Creator. Now, to look at this same principle, but on a different level; as I shared before, we can quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. That day when I accepted a lie regarding my New Life in Christ Jesus; that was the day that I made a decision to accept normal, instead of exceptional. When I received that lie in my heart, "Don't worry, you will adjust", that is when I began to make provision for an earthly king to rule over me, instead of my Heavenly King. That made way in my heart for compromises in my life in Christ; once I had began to quench the Spirit of God in one area, I could more easily do the same in other areas. Just as the children of Israel did in wanting their earthly king; they did not think at the time that they would be worshipping idols in wanting an earthly king; but, what would happen to them, as a result of what they chose, would be exactly that. Just like I did not believe that I was making provision for the flesh when I had begun to suppress the work the Holy Spirit was doing in me, but that is exactly what I did. When Jesus came, he came declaring the Truth and revealing the lie; in doing so, he created a chasm between the two; you have to be on one side or the other, there is no middle ground. "For got sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:17 & 18) How are we condemned? Because we are held in bondage by the lie...Sin had it's origin in a lie; for Satan is the father of lies. The Truth can set us free from the lie, but we must receive it and believe it...

ISAIAH 55 - "Love God"

"Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, 'Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we may also be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." (1 Samuel 8:19 & 20) If there is one thing that God wants from us, it is to Love Him; to make Him the Lord of our very lives; that there would be nothing in our lives to replace this Love for Him. God is Spirit; and those that worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth; unfortunately, we are still walking, breathing and living in these fleshly body, which make us want to experience God the same way. God does not dwell in tents, buildings, idols, or any other thing that can be made with hands; and especially anything that can be established by man. As we saw yesterday in the illustration of God's Perfect Will, and the children of Israel asking for a king; they were going to be paying a price; in bondage to the king and his kingdom, they would be subject to this new type of a king in ways that would enslave their children and children's children; they would be caused to worship idols, by first setting their hearts towards an earthly King; and they would not be able to communicate with God. "And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day." (1 Samuel 8:18) This is so very important to understand, how when we are not loving the Lord with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, and with all of our strength; we will not effectively be able to communicate with Him. Please try and follow what I am saying here. When I say effectively, I mean that the line of communication that we have with God in essence is directly towards Him, with Him, and in Him. The things that we place into our lives that replace the love we should otherwise have towards Him, can cause us to suffer many of those things (spiritually), that Samuel told the children of Israel their new king would cause them to suffer. God's perfect will for our lives in Christ is that we would be able to approach Him directly, so that we would not need to have anything else set between us and Him; no idols, no earthly king, no earthly thing; nothing else would be able to come between our experience in His love. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works that they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall rule over them." (1 Samuel 8:7-9) Here we can see a critical role that Samuel had in the nation of Israel; he was acting for them, much like the Holy Spirit is for us. To first off, be sensitive to anything that is against God and God's perfect will; then to try and persuade us in the way we should go. But we need to know this; the Holy Spirit will not force us to do anything; He will lead us, speak to us, quicken us, guide us in the things of God; but He will never force us to do the right thing, or make us chose the right path to take. So, even though God will allow us to make a choice for our lives, this does not mean that He approves of it, will bless it, or wants us to do it. This I think is a mistake many believers make in their daily lives; to seek some kind of a sign from God that demonstrates He is trying to stop them from doing this or that. In other words, they try to base their spiritual life in Christ on the physical life in which they walk. There is a good example of what I am trying to say in John 20:24-29; Thomas not believing Jesus had risen and was alive said: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, Jesus shows up and says to Thomas: "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into me side; and be not faithless, but believing." And Thomas answered and said unto Him, "My Lord and my God!". Jesus said to him: "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." In John 4:24, Jesus speaking to the woman at the well said this regarding true worship of God: "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We are not done with this...

ISAIAH 55 - 'GOD'S PERFECT WILL'

The first thing I believe God wants me to share as we begin this journey into His word, is about His Will. There is God's Perfect Will, and then there is God's Permissive Will; What is the difference between the two? For most of us that have been walking with God for a while, the answer to this question might seem to come pretty easy; but what difference they may have upon our lives, well that is a story still untold. But for now, let's just address some of the simple things that we already know. First off we must be straight about one thing; As far as God is concerned, He will perfect His Will no matter what. The real difference is in the way we are affected; the way we are brought through to the other side; and the way in which we experience wholeness. Look at it like this; In essence God would say to us: "Do you want to do My Will the easy way, or Do you want to do My Will the hard way; because either way, My Will be done". (That almost sounds like something my mother use to say to me as a kid.) The next thing we must be straight about, is whether or not we can force God's hand to allow us to live outside His Perfect Will; Can we force God's hand to cause a healing that is outside His Perfect Will; and can we force God's hand to adjust His laws outside His Perfect Will. The answer to all of these is yes; however, God will not be moved!!! So, when we do force God's hand to allow, cause or proclaim something that is not His Perfect Will, guess who moves; we do, that's who. We move, outside His perfect will for our lives, and then, into His permissive will for our lives; His ways are perfect, but our ways, well to put it mildly: 'they usually produce bondage, death, destruction, misery, and heartache'; all of which are things that God really does not want us to have to go through. He really does have a more perfect plan, which requires that we put all our hope, all our faith and all our love towards Him. Here are a few illustrations of what I am talking about. The first one is found in 1 Samuel 8: Israel asks for a King; but God wanted them to choose Him as there King, and Him alone. But they wanted to be represented by a King which they could see, to show off to the world; which came with a price of bondage, and being lead to serve other gods. The second one is found 2 Kings 20 & 21: King Hezekiah is sick unto death, and Isaiah comes to him and tells him, "Thus saith the Lord, Set your house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live". Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and pleaded with God for his life; and God healed him and gave him 15 more years to live; which came with a price. After Hezekiah was healed he showed off all the splendor of Judah to the rulers of Babylon; which caused for all of those things to be taken away, and for the future generations to be carried off into captivity. But the most destructive thing which happen during Hezekiah's extra 15 years was Manasseh; the most evil King that ever ruled in Judah; this guy was serious evil. He became King when he was 12 years old, and chapter 21 lists all the things which he did to God's people for 55 years of his reign. In verse 16 it says; "Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." (Oh what needless pain we bare!) The third one is one that has effect in us on so many levels, and an illustration of this is found in Matthew 19:3-8. Here we see the Pharisees come to Jesus to tempt him about the law concerning divorce. They said, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?" And Jesus answers, "Have you not read, that he which made them all in the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." To which the Pharisees answered, "Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?" And Jesus said, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Listen up!!! God hates divorce; He hates it because of what marriage represents in the bonding together of the two, into one. This bonding together of a man and of a woman is the same bonding together of the church and Christ; they become one. God's perfect will is that a man and a woman would be bonded together as one, for ever. Please try to see what is being said here! There is a perfect way, and then there is the hard way; sometimes the hard way may appear to be more glorious, feel better and seem easiest to deal with; but in the long run, it is hard; it is hard on us, our loved ones, and our relationship with God. While I am on the subject, I thought I might make this a little more personal; 'Do I think I can force God to heal my wife?'; yes I think so. If I pleaded hard enough, sought out far enough, and cried out loud enough; I believe God would heal her right now; but is that His Perfect Will? No one on this earth wants my wife healed more than I do; but more than anything else, I want God's Perfect Will for our lives. If someone comes to me and says, "But God doesn't want her to be like that."; or something stupid like, "It is because of sin, demons and the power of darkness that she is being left unhealed."; I will try to be gracious, but I will rebuke them. Because I know this more than anything else; God is doing a work in me and in others that I know, through my wife. Things that I know would never had been performed in my life had things just stayed as usual in my life. Do I ask God to heal my wife? Oh you bet I do, night and day; but more than that I ask Him to continue to have His way in my life and in our marriage. Besides, what if I forced God's hand to heal my wife; and a year from now she dies in a tragic auto accident, taking with her several other people that I love also? What is the glory in that??? "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

ISAIAH 55 - Living Water

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:16-17) I am so amazed by how God works and speaks to us through His word. As I started sharing in Ephesians about the Whole Armor of God, I had a vision of a solider adorned in the armor as to go into battle; but after going through all the pieces of the armor, step by step, explaining and examining each part and how it applied to our lives; I was no longer seeing a solider dressed in armor, but a glorious bride, dressed in white. It is so amazing to me how God worked that transformation into my mind. This new way that I now see myself in light of that revelation, is life changing. I really truly believe that there is a difference in how we view ourselves in Christ; that can give us victory over sin, the flesh, and in being a usable part of His Body. To be an effective vessel that God can use in His Kingdom, we must be living for, and in that Kingdom; and not living for this world, or the things of this world. This I believe is what Isaiah is writing about here in chapter 55. I do not know yet how long I will be sharing on this chapter, but I do know that there are so many good nuggets of information, instructions, interpretations; and yes, Applications; that it could take the rest of the year just to cover them all; God is in charge of all that. All that I know, is that I feel God is wanting me to start; what He does from there is up to Him. I have been fascinated with this chapter of the Bible since the spring of 1991. I had just finished reading 'This Present Darkness' by Frank Peretti, and just so happen to be reading this chapter of Isaiah as my devotional for the day. I felt God speaking something very profound into my heart, that I really could not verify in any commentary or any other literature I could find on Isaiah 55. The verse that was really wrecking my brain was verse 7, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." The reason this verse caught me with such a grip, was the highlighted portion, "and let him return unto the Lord"; I was like, 'wait a minute'; what is this return all about? I thought we were born in sin, separated from God at birth because of the sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden; How do we return to Him, if we were never connected in the first place? I had a feeling that God was speaking to my heart about something other than the implied meaning of this text; that there was a call upon my life to return unto the Lord. I had been a Christian for almost 10 years at this point in my life, and I had many areas to look back to and see the reasons for repentance; but those things had really already been dealt with at one time or another. So I started looking at other areas of my life that could be what God might have been speaking to. The more I read this chapter, the more I wrestled with what it was God was saying; believe me when I say this, I read this chapter at least 5 times a day for several months, maybe even a year. I was obsessed with finding the meaning to what God was speaking into my heart; I just could not get a grip on it; until I noticed something spectacular; God was speaking to me about a different kind of sin; not the sin committed, as in committing sin; but the sin of commitment, as in not being fully committed to serving God. This was so clear after I saw it, that I had to share it with the pastors at my church, with my brothers in the Lord, with anyone who would listen; however, most of the time it was not really received the way I thought it should have been. I think that the reason it was not, was because this chapter is usually seen as a chapter that presents an illustration of God offering Mercy on a fallen world; not that God is calling a lukewarm Christian into a life of total surrender. So as the years went on, and after many rebukes, I gave up trying to bend this chapters meaning to my point of view; until now; after doing this study in Ephesians. I have a new, fresh wind blowing through me, and I feel more than ever that God wants me to share this chapter from the perspective that He has shown me to share it from. Why do I feel like this now? After going though the study of Ephesians, and seeing what I saw the other day, (Isaiah's description of God in Is. 6:1), I have come to believe that both Paul and Isaiah had something very much in common; they both had witnessed 'The Glorified Church'. I know that you might think I am jumping out on a limb here, but this is what I believe God has shown me this last week as I was sharing on prayer; "Above All; Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit;", (if you have not read it yet, you should go back to last week and read forward). Anyways, there is something I believe that both of these men witnessed in heaven that caused them to see the spiritual aspects of the Gospel of Christ in a way that was so glorious, that was so spectacular, that was so holy; they could not really explain it. I hope and pray that God will allow me to be able to express the things He has put upon my heart; how ever long it takes. If I seem to be drifting off the page at any time, please feel free to comment on my postings as soon as you feel I am not correctly interpreting the scriptures; I promise that I will take your comments to heart, but I do not promise that I will quit sharing what God is showing me. It has been to long since I felt this way, and I am not going to quench the Spirit of God again by not doing what He is telling me to do. (If you do not know how to post a comment, it is quite easy. Once you have established an account, just Sign In when you are viewing my blog, and then post a comment; it is really that easy.) I am looking so forward to see what God does through this journey... "Ho, every one that thirstist, come ye to the waters," Come...

Wrapping Things Up - God is Faithful

Well, today is the last day of my 40 day fast; although for the last two weeks I have tried to have a little soup each day, in preparation for the Prime Rib dinner I am having tonight. There are some around me that want to think that this intensity in my postings is due to the fast; I tend to disagree, because there is something I have done in conjunction with this fast. Every single morning I wake up before 4:00am to meet with the Lord and to commit myself to at least one hour of prayer. This is what I believe has ministered into my life the most, because as I have continued to meet with God every morning at this specified time, He has continued to meet with me. Another thing that has taken place in my life is this blog; to earnestly ask God to provide me with a word to share every morning. Not only do I ask Him to give me a word to share, but I ask Him to make it meaningful; to mean something for my life, and possibly the life of someone else. I know it may not seem like much, but if you want to experience what I am talking about, you should try it for yourself; try it for at least 30 days, 40 days preferably. Set your alarm clock for 3:50am, start your prayer time at 4:00am and pray until at least 5:00am. Make sure that when you pray you do the following: Ask Him to forgive you for any sins in your life and to fill you with His Spirit; Seek Him with all your heart, and just begin praising Him; spend at least the last 20 minutes of your prayer time praying for those that God has placed in your life. Then go straight into a time of reading God's word for another 20 minutes; on top of the one hour of prayer. After your through with the prayer and devotion time, write a blog or in a journal something that God is putting on your heart to share; I like the blog idea best, it makes it more public and keeps me more committed to doing it. Do I think I can do it every day, all year long? I don't know, but I do know this; God is Faithful! Each and every day I ask Him for something to share, and as I said in several blogs over the last several weeks, there are some nights I go to sleep without even a clue of what God wants me to write, but by the time I start my prayer time, wow!!! Some nights, I hardly can sleep, because God has given me something to write the day before; I have made a solution for when that happens, by keeping a tablet of paper by my bed and writing things down, otherwise I would get no sleep at all. I am willing to make a wager with anyone who is reading this blog, (say $500.00, if you feel so inclined); that if you try and do what I have listed above, (and I mean really do it), that you will experienced God in a whole new way, that I can not describe in words. This much I do know, God will meet you there! The fasting part of this last 40 days, may or may not have been an issue; all that the fasting did was help me to deny my flesh of something that it wanted, and to remind me that I was doing something; but I do not think it was key; (after about 30 days maybe I will address that again, we will see). I think that committing the time to get alone with the Lord was key, because that is what He wants from me most; He wants my fellowship, and I can not fellowship with Him if I do not make the time for the fellowship to take place. Like I said before, you might choose 9:00am or 9:00pm, but good luck getting alone with God for one hour at those times. I really, really, really feel that it is vital for us to commit to pray every day for at least one hour straight, (for those in Rio Linda that means if the big hand is on 5, you don't stop praying until the big hand is on 5 again). Several things happen when we do this; we are placing God first and foremost in our day, as we start each day devoted to Him; we are making Him the priority over what we would sometimes rather be doing, like sleeping; we are not trying to jamb some kind of a quick prayer time into our already busy day; and when we make our prayer time at least one hour long, we make time for Him to speak to us, instead of us doing all the talking. If you can't see how you can do this, try this: Based on the time you get up now, back your alarm clock up 1 1/2 hour, (3 hours if your doing a blog!); so if you are currently waking up at 6:00am, set your clock for 4:30am; but you also need to adjust for other people in your home. If your spouse or children get up at 5:45am, then you need to set your clock for 4:15am; oh, what the heck, just set it for 4:00am and go all out! I can not describe to you how important this is for you to do; I can only tell you that you must experience it for yourself to even begin to understand what I am talking about. There was something God was showing me this morning, how it relates, I am not quite sure. He was showing me how when Peter was able to walk on the water, for a short time, and what it was that made him begin to sink. I have always believed that it was just because he took his eyes off Jesus, and then was effected by the elements around him, I still do believe this; but something else caused him to take his eyes off Jesus in the first place, and that was his flesh. Because in that moment, as he was walking on that water, by what I believe was God's power, he realized that he was still flesh and bone, and that what he was doing was not really possible, so he began to sink. When he cried out, Jesus reached out and saved him while saying these words, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?". Jesus would not have told Peter to 'Come' out onto Him if it were not possible for Peter to do it, just like He would not tell each and everyone of us to 'Go and Sin No More', if it were not possible to do it. The problem is that our flesh gets in the way; Why?, Because it is still a part of who we are, that's why. When we are told that 'we must crucify the flesh daily', in essence I believe that we simply must remind ourselves daily that this flesh has already been crucified in Christ. Everyday, this mortality that is still here, will want to be feed, clothed, groomed and satisfied; but we are not to be letting it rule the day. Instead, we need to be focusing on the things of the Spirit; keeping our eyes on the 'High Calling Of God, Which Is In Christ Jesus'. This body of flesh, though still attached to our Spiritual Body, is no longer to one in charge; it has been made dead in Christ; we have a new body that is made alive in Christ; and guess what??? This new body is able to walk on water! Think about it...

"ABOVE ALL"; besides all this - 02/11/2010

"Above All": Application; Application; Application; Apply this to your life and see if your life is the same! What God has shown me over the last few days, has really been revealed in my heart this morning. I was saved in September of 1981, and somewhere along the way, I went from living a 'Glorified Life' to living a 'Forgiven Life'. I can't quite put my finger on when it happen, but I do remember one instance which caused me to take pause and to adjust my position. I had only been a Christian for about 5 months, and I was standing outside the church after a meeting; I was excited in this 'New Life in Christ' that I was experiencing every single day; and a brother (I think he was a brother; he could have been the devil), came up to me, placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "You must be a new Christian?"; to which I replied, "Yes, I am. How can you tell?"; and he said, "Don't worry; you will adjust."; this could have been the turning point. I do remember that after he said that to me, I thought to myself, "I don't want to adjust. I like this feeling of walking in a 'Newness in Christ'; but somewhere along the way I did adjust. Some how I settled for 'Normal', and left walking in a 'Glorified Body', to begin to walk in a 'Forgiven Body'. Okay, so I don't loose you completely, let me tell you what I think the difference is between these two lives. The Forgiven life in Christ, though being saved and going to Heaven, is still wrestling with the flesh; although I was living in Christ, I was not living with Christ. The Glorified life in Christ has a new Zip Code already; this New Life In Christ knows that I am already seated in the Heavens with Christ; so the sins of the flesh are 'beneath me'; in other words, I do not need to be wrestling with the flesh anymore, but instead I am wrestling against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. I see now what Paul is trying to express, in so many ways; but you can not receive it, until you believe it. We are no longer of this world; we already have a new zip code!!! I don't know how much planer it can be, but one thing I do know, I get it now; after over 29 years of walking in the Lord, I can begin to experience what it is like again to walk in a 'Newness'. Paul has been explaining throughout this Book of Ephesians, that we are one in Christ; not only as a body of believers, but as an individual; we are grafted into His body, the moment we believed. It was at the moment I received Christ into my heart in September of 1981, that I no longer was a citizen of this world, but became a citizen of Heaven. I no longer had to care for the things of this world, because they did not matter anymore, and all this stuff would be tested in fire, and found not to stand the test. I had 'New Cares' that were to be the focus of my 'New Life', things that are not of this world, things that are not able to be consumed in fire. In Ephesians 5:19-21, Paul speaks about more that just an attitude; he is speaking about a place to be living; "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." This is what it is like to be walking here on this earth, but living in Heaven with Jesus; we are already seated in Him; so we should be walking accordingly. The life that is forgiven will be able to make it to Heaven, there is no doubt about that; Jesus died on the cross to redeem those that are lost; the only thing needed for receiving that redemption is to believe on Him that was sent. But Jesus rose on the third day, and He ascended up into Heaven, where He sets at the right hand of the Father, and we do not have to wait for anything else of happen to experience being glorified in Him. If you are waiting for this flesh to die before you can experience your position in Christ, you are living the life of a 'Carnal Christian'; that is a Christian who is living in the flesh; waking each day to take on a battle afresh against the flesh, and able to be victorious, most of the time. However, it is not any longer necessary to be fighting that flesh; why?; because that flesh is dead; it has been crucified with Christ. There is a new creature that has been raised in Christ's resurrection, that no longer has to be concerned with the things of the flesh; but now must be concerned with the spiritual things; why?; because that new creature in Christ is now a Spiritual Vessel that lives for the things of the Spirit, and lives for the things of Heaven. This is the 'Great Mystery Of The Gospel'; that we have been changed already; that we have been glorified already; that we are set apart already; that we are holy, sanctified and undefiled already; that right now...I said right now we are grafted into the Body of Christ; and in Him is no unclean thing. "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come: And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. (And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;)" Ephesians 1:17- 2:1 Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand; Being Strong In The Lord, And In The Power Of His Might!

The Whole Armor Of God - "And For Me"

"And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel." Wow; there is something going on here, that's for sure... Why is Paul saying, "And for me"? That not only would they who read this letter pray for all the saints, but that they would also be praying for him; prayer and supplication that he would be given utterance to boldly make known the mystery of the gospel. I had to think, why did Paul need boldness; because, here was a man who was a banner unto the word 'boldness'. So, I began to question the meaning of "that I may open my mouth boldly"; which caused me to examine the word 'utterance'; strangely, they had many similarities: utterance; logos: Word, both the act of speaking and the thing spoken; The Word of God, meaning His omnipotent voice or decree: boldly; parresta: the act of speaking; freedom in speaking all that one thinks or pleases, which is possible as the result of guilt having been removed by the blood of Jesus. Okay now, if that did not do it for you; how about look at the next two definitions; "make known" and "mystery". These two things rocked my world this morning; to the point that I had to scream out, "How Glorious You Are God!!!". First the words "make known": gnorizo: To make known towards or to someone; spoken as a teacher who unfolds Divine things, to announce, declare, proclaim. Now, let's look at the next word; "mystery": musterion: a person initiated into sacred mysteries; some sacred thing hidden or secret which is naturally unknown to human reason and is only known by the revelation of God. So, then I began to think about what made Paul so privy to this great mystery; and then I remembered, he had been caught up to heaven briefly, after being stoned, and lay dead for a moment. This was where he received a glimpse of God's Glory, the great mystery that is so hard to describe; to spectacular to verbalize or even imagine. Then I started thinking about us as a church, being the Bride of Christ; and immediately I was seeing a vision of Isaiah's declaration of God, "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." Are you kidding me!!! Which then caused me to think on the verse here in this book of Ephesians in chapter 5 verse 32; which up until this point, I could not really get my mind around it; "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." What was Paul speaking about? He was speaking about his description of husbands loving their wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it! All throughout the eight verses contained in Ephesians 5:25-32, Paul entwines the mystery of the gospel into the marriage of a husband and a wife. In verse 25: "love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it"; verse 26: "That He might sanctify and cleanse it"; verse 27: "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."; verse 28: "He that loveth his wife loveth himself"; verse 29: "No man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:" ; verse 30: "For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones."; verse 31: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. " We are the Bride of Christ; we are His Bride; we are made one in Him; glorified, sanctified, holy, set apart, undefiled; presented as a virgin bride to the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, for all eternity.... I don't know what I saw this morning; but one thing I do know; as soon as I saw the train of His robe, I was undone and my chest cavity felt as if it was an empty jar. I picture a Bride, waiting at the opening into the sanctuary, adorned in white and radiant; waiting and gazing up the isle at the groom...waiting for that march music to start... "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, And let him that heareth say, Come, And let him that is athirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17

The Whole Armor Of God - "Supplication for All Saints"

"Above All; Praying always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" Eph 6:18. Wow, God is so good!!! There is no way I could have even planned in advance this that God has lead me in, and the lessons He has shown me through these 16 or more days of sharing. This portion of the text that we are looking at today, is more than I can explain in my limited capacity. Paul had referenced in several times already in this book of Ephesians, and he will reference again in the next verse; the mystery of the gospel. There are some things that can not thoroughly be expressed in words, and this is one of them. Paul made mention in chapter 3:3-4, "How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words; whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,)". The first thing we need to look at, in order in even begin to understand what is being said here, is the meaning of saints: Haglos; holy, set apart, sanctified, consecrated. It has a common root, hag-, with hagnos; predominantly used to express freedom for defilement's or impurities; virginity. Does that just blow you mind; or better yet, does it cause you to see how God looks at you. We are the Bride of Christ; and as His Bride, we are washed, holy, set apart, sanctified, consecrated (made perfect), and we are as a virgin before Him; undefiled by the things of this world. We as a Church are all saints; to the completion of this glorious, virgin body; which is adorned as a consecrated bride unto Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God. So, now with all that explained of what 'Saints' are, and what it means to be a saint, let us begin to apply; "supplication for all saints". Remember that supplication is prayer with intent and with purpose; so as we are praying for all saints (ourselves included), we are praying with intent and purpose, in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit must be applied to our prayer life; and should be guiding us through each and everything that we pray. There are some things we will just not be able to understand, and we will surely not be able to verbalize; but the Holy Spirit knows. This is why it is so vitally important to ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit; and keep asking. Luke 11:9-13, "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you 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. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he should ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Therein is the key!; To those that ask Him for the filling of the Holy Spirit! Maybe you are wondering what my point is here? Well; (that is deep); sometimes we have not, because we 'ask not'; and when I say 'ask not', I mean that we do not earnestly want to be filled. What!!! Are you kidding me? Who in their right minds would not want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well (deep), since you asked; anyone that is not willing to totally surrender their lives over to Christ; that's who. But you might say, "I have surrendered all over to Him!"; but have you really? Is there still something that He wants you to give Him, that you are still calling your own; anything? He wants it all; and all really means all! The problem is that we have been raised in a world that has taught us to always set something aside for ourselves, anything, no matter how stupid a thing it might be; it is something that we call "mine, and you can't have it". From a very young age we all do it, and continued to do it; if you think you don't, you really need to check yourself. We really hate to give up anything; I bet you even look into the toilet before flushing. But, there is a better way; much more glorious than anything this world can offer; and thus, the mystery of the gospel. We are no longer bound by the things of this world, we are already transformed and made holy in Christ. So now let's start to hold onto those things; the things that are waiting for us in Christ Jesus. Really, Really, Really; try it; Application; Application; Application; for everything that you have in your life that you are still not willing to give up for God, replace it with something glorious in Christ. Replace it with a treasure in heaven, that is not corrupt; and then hold onto that; not letting go; you can even claim it as yours. There are some things that are really worth fighting for... When we are totally surrendered to the Lord, then the Holy Spirit can minister into our hearts, without being hindered by those things which we are holding onto. Then we can get busy, doing the work of a saint; then we can begin to experience a holy, sanctified and consecrated, eternal life in Christ. We will be able to understand, "What is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him." Eph 3:9-12. This is more than just you or I; this is all about the virgin bride of Christ; of which we are part!!! Having done all to stand; therefore stand; watching... (next, And for me)

The Whole Armor Of God - "Perseverance"

"Above All; Watching thereunto with all perseverance", Eph 6:18. The first thing we need to look at today is the word thereunto, and ask ourselves, 'what is it there for', or 'Unto what does There apply?". Well in this instance, it applies to prayer and supplication; which simply means that while we are praying we are watching; but watching for what? Do you think that Jesus did not know his disciples would not fall asleep in the garden. I think that He did know, and that was why He showed them three times just how weak their flesh was. Remember what he said to them, "Could you not watch with me for one hour; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". Have you ever been running from the law? You know that they are coming to get you and you try to stay ready; peeking through the cracks in the blinds at every little sound outside; looking for the cause of every flash of light you imagine. But sooner or later, you get to a point where your flesh just has to be satisfied, and you need sleep; so you surrender. You don't surrender physically, but you surrender mentally; you simply put your head on your pillow and tell yourself, "So What". Maybe the three disciples were just trusting that Jesus would take care of things, so, they could just take comfort in resting. There is an example where Jesus slept while things seemed life threatening, at least they were as far as the disciples taught; it is found in Luke 8:22-25. Here we see them all in a little boat, and Jesus says, "Let's cross over to the other side"; and as they sailed, Jesus went to sleep. But there came a large storm of wind, and the boat began to fill with water, and the disciples panicked, waking Jesus and saying, "Master, Master, we perish!". So Jesus rebukes the wind and the ragging waters, and then asked them, "Where is your faith?"; in other words, "Did I not say; We are going to the other side?; so why can't you just sit down and enjoy the ride? And let me get some sleep!" So why did Jesus ask them to keep watch in the garden in the first place? Was it so they would confront the solders as they came storming in? Was it so they could run and tell Jesus, "the time is at hand"? Was it just to test them, to see if they could stay awake? No, No, and No; Jesus knew perfectly well that they would fall asleep, which is why He choose these three in particular; these were the three that thought they were all about something. So Jesus was showing just how much they were lacking, and He demonstrated to them just how weak their flesh was. The word 'Perseverance' means to endure; continuance in something. In order to stay committed to watching with supplication continually, we must stay seated in Christ and be praying in the Spirit. It is a full circle; watching, praying, enduring, watching, praying, enduring; all the while, staying seated in Christ. There is a song by my favorite band, Daniel Amos; it is called 'Safety Net', and there is a part of the song I have always loved, because I relate it to an illustration I get in my mind of what it means:
"Strung out in the cradle of grace,
Wiping the blood from the warm gun,
You leave no power or trace,
Shot like a bullet to the kingdom come."

I have always pictured myself as being the bullet, and God loads me in His musket (Jesus), and packs in His powder (the Holy Spirit), and then fires me off into service. Eventually, I am no longer being propelled by His power, but by gravity, and I fall to the ground; so God finds me, dusts me off, loads me back in His musket, and off I go again; till kingdom come. Unfortunately, this is the 'Normal Christian Life' (another book by Watchman Nee worth reading); and what Paul is trying to tell us through the book of Ephesians, is that it does not have to be like that. To ensure that we are to overcome, and to continue to overcome, we must stay seated in Christ. As soon as we find ourselves walking in our own power, we must stop, drop, and pray. So again, what are we watching for? We are watching for any sign that we could be walking in the flesh. Praying always, with prayer and supplication, as we are watching thereunto with endurance to continue to keep watching and praying; and to what end? Tell we hear those words, "Well Done"... "Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand." (next, 'supplication for all saints')

The Whole Armor Of God - "Watching"

"Above All; Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints:" Eph 6:18. I have been praying about how God would have me share this without seeming overly concerned for not only my own life, but for the modern day church. This word "Watching" is something that is lacking in so many of our lives and our churches today. Think about this for just a moment; If there was one thing you could do differently, one thing you could have done more of throughout your life in Christ thus far; one thing you could have done more of while raising your children in the Lord; if there was one thing that could take place more in our churches; that one thing would be "Watching". Try to follow me here as we see: Application; Application; Application; and apply watching to not only our prayer life, but to all of our life. Remember that we are seated in Christ, that we walk in Christ, and that we are able to stand in Christ; now by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be watching in Christ. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He took Peter, James and John aside and asked them saying, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death; tarry ye here, and watch." And then He went a little ways off to pray; and when He came back over to them, they were asleep; and He said to Peter, "Simon, sleepest thou? Could not you watch one hour? Watch you and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:32-38) It is not surprising that He called out Peter, even though they were all three sleeping; after all it was Peter who had just assured Him, "Although all shall offended, yet will not I." (Mark 14:29) In Luke 22:33 the words of Peter are depicted as a little more committed to the cause of Christ; "I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." So you can see why Jesus called out Peter in this situation; Peter was the one boasting about his commitment to the Lord. And what is really interesting, is that Jesus had just finished telling them some really detailed information about how He would be betrayed that night, and how He would be taken away to be crucified, and that they would be scattered; and to top that off, He tells them, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death". You would think that this would really be a time of watching; earnestly watching; knowing that the Lord has just told them that people were coming to where they were, right at that hour, and going to arrest their Lord, and take Him away to be crucified. What could cause them to fall asleep? Or better yet, what would allow them to fall asleep? What causes us to fall asleep when we should be watching? Jesus speaking to His disciples about the end times in Luke 21:34-36 said, "And take heed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and with drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Here Jesus depicts drunkenness and the cares of the life as something that would cause us not to watch. Paul expands this thought in Ephesians 5:14-18, "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;". The word 'Awake' is pretty much key here in this portion of scripture. Many times, others might want to focus on the drunk part of this text; but that kind of limits the scope of the discussion. It is the word 'Awake' that brings a whole new dynamic to what can cause us not to be watching; like sluggishness and lethargy. Here are some words that go beyond just being drunk with wine; because some can think that just laying off the wine is all it really takes; not! Let's look at the definitions of sluggish and lethargy for just a moment: Sluggish; lazy, dull, idle; slow, having little motion, inactive; Lethargy; dullness, inaction; unnatural sleepiness. This makes things a little more rounded out, to include more that just those that are drunk. These are very evil times that we are living in, and we must connect the dots (so to speak), and know that the enemy will use every means possible to cause us to stumble; to cause us to not pay attention to what we allow in our homes, are families and our churches. It is easy to be distracted by the cares of this life; God knows that, and that is why He has provided to us the Holy Spirit; and that we would continually be filled with the Spirit, walking in the Light and being ever so watchful of the upcoming attacks. Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaming lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour;" When we are praying with all prayer and supplication, we must be also asking God to show the things in our lives that the enemy can use to weaken our walk; our families and as we shall see later, our churches........ 'Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand' (next, "Perseverance")

The Whole Armor Of God - "Supplication"

"Above All; Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit;" Eph 6:18a. Let me start today, by reinforcing a point I made yesterday; Prayer is the substance of our faith. I have to be honest with you, this statement is rather deep, and really deserves some further explaining in order to understand the importance of 'Supplication'. First off, remember the theme of this whole discussion; Application; Application; Application; and that we understand the meaning of 'substance' as it relates to prayer and our faith; is demonstration. Okay then; faith is a demonstration of hope, and hope is a demonstration of faith; likewise, faith is a demonstration of prayer, and prayer is a demonstration of faith. Please, please, do not misunderstand what I am saying; for we know that in Jesus is where we have our faith; in Him and Him alone; for by no other name (person, place or thing), are we saved. Remember also that we are seated in Christ, first and foremost; but what we are talking about here is application; How do we apply prayer in, to and through our lives. This may be the reason Paul saved prayer for the end of his epistle. So that we would realize how important prayer is, but would keep our focus on Jesus Christ, and the fact that we are seated in Him, walk in Him, stand in Him, and we are able to pray in Him, or actually through Him. Let me give you another definition of the word 'substance'; it is the word necessity. Hope is the necessity of faith, and faith is the necessity of hope; but our faith is not in hope, and our hope is not in faith; our hope and our faith are in Christ. So likewise, our faith is the necessity of our prayer, and our prayer is the necessity of our faith; it is because of Christ that we have access to the Father through prayer. When we are praying, we are praying to a Living, Powerful and Mighty God, who wants our fellowship; He wants us to draw close to Him, as close as we can possibly be. Now, just maybe, we are able to look at "Supplication", and how this applies to our prayer life. What happens when we pray? When we pray, we are first demonstrating our belief in a Living God; secondly we are demonstrating our belief that God hears our prayers, and thirdly we are demonstrating our belief that God answers our prayers; thus prayer is a demonstration of our faith in Him. Now lets take prayer up a couple levels, and look at supplication. Prayer is the vehicle in which we approach God; supplication is prayer with intent and with purpose. This type of prayer opens up all kinds of doors, and brings to light the specific things that need to be prayed for. You might notice that Paul adds, "In the Spirit" after the word "supplication"; this is very important to what supplication is, because the Holy Spirit will bring those things to light. Sometimes we may not know what to pray for (or need to know); then the Spirit will make utterance on our behalf, which a specific prayer language; a language that we do not really understand, but that after it has been spoken, we know whatever we prayed for, was dealt with. Okay; supplication, and how to apply it in our prayer; a good place for me to start, would be praying for myself. I could pray for God to make me a better person; "Lord, please make me a better person; Amen."; that seemed pretty general, didn't it? Now lets pump it up a notch or two; "Lord, please help me to see how much you love me, so that I might learn how to love others. Let me know how much you forgive me, so that I might be able to forgive others; etc..". Here I am now praying with intent and with purpose; do you see the difference? While I am praying this type of a prayer, the Holy Spirit will bring those things to light in my life that I need to pray for; and more importantly, that I need forgiveness for. Something else takes place as I see those things I need forgiveness for; I am able to ask for that forgiveness; the more I ask forgiveness for, the closer I draw towards God; the closer I draw towards God, the more He reveals of Himself; the more He reveals of Himself, the more relevant He becomes in my life; and the more I realize just how substantial my praying is to my eternal soul; thus realizing how prayer is the substance of faith. "But now, in Christ Jesus, you who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Eph 2:13) "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph 2:18) "In whom you also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph 2:22) "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5: 1 & 2) Having done all to stand; therefore stand...(next, "watching")

The Whole Armor Of God - Praying Always...

Finally brethren, Praying... (wait); It does not say that! No it goes more like this: "Above All, Praying Always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" Eph 6:18. You may notice that I added Above All to the first of this passage; it belongs there! I am simply amazed by the way this has all played out; because Paul could have started the whole book on the premise of prayer. Prayer is the substance of our faith; what?, you might be saying; Application; Application; Application; this whole thing that I have been doing over the last week, is to show the application of the Whole Armor of God in our lives. Prayer is the glue that holds it all together! Please try and follow what I am saying here: God does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and for ever; but we do change, daily, sometimes multiple times a minute. If there is anything that causes us to be constantly drawing close to God, it is prayer. Throughout the book of Ephesians, Paul only mentions prayer one time; verse 1:16, "Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers"; yet this whole spectacular Book is based on the abilities we have in Christ through prayer; he just does not say prayer specifically until verse 6:18. It is as if he is building up to this powerful crescendo; "Praying always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit". Let's recall what some definitions of "Above All" are: Besides all this, Power, Authority, Shout Out, On account of, In connection with something that takes place, and on and on. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of this not seen." Have you ever, ever given any thought to what that actually means! Don't you see, that everything that really, really matters, takes place in the spiritual realm; and the spiritual realm is entered into through prayer. Did I make any sense to you in what I just said? Let me try to give you a picture of what I mean; (I asked my wife if I could use her as an example, and she did not say no, so here it goes); If you were in the condition that my wife is currently in; where you could not move or speak; but yet if you could still pray, you could move mountains. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 & 21 in answer to the disciples asking why they could not cast a demon out of a certain man; "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting". So let me ask you, How is faith demonstrated? It is demonstrated by prayer!!! Okay, okay, okay; maybe you need me to better explain. What do you do when you pray? Are you thinking? Do you know the answer yet? Still thinking? The answer is: 'You Are Talking To God'; "duh", you say, "I know that". Now let me ask you again: How is our faith in our God demonstrated? Paul gives us this spectacular epistle; where he details how we are seated in Christ; how we are to walk in Christ; how we are able to stand in Christ; how we are able to be Strong in The Lord and in the Power of His Might; how we are to put on The Whole Armor of God; how we are to be living out Truth; how we are to be living out Righteousness; how we are to be living out the Gospel; how we are to be trusting God to protect us by the Shield of Faith; how we are to be knowing and believing in the power of Jesus as the Helmet of Salvation; how we are to depend on the Holy Spirit to deliver us by the Sword of the Spirit; and how, finally, he reveals, it is all brought about through prayer. How did you receive God's gift of salvation in the first place; you prayed. How did you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit; you prayed. How will you be able to be strong, stand, walk in Christ, or take the spiritual battle; you pray. God gave me this illustration this morning: You have labored earnestly to order the car of your dreams; beautiful leather seats, custom pearl white paint job, with flames on the sides, electrical convertible top, custom wheels that sparkle in the sunlight, it even has little pillow dice hanging from the rear view mirror. Then your car arrives, oh what a glorious day; you slide into those leather seats, adjust your rear view mirror, give your dice a little flick as you look at yourself in the mirror, stick the key in the ignition as you pump the gas pedal a few times, and then you turn the key; nothing but a click. There is something missing in your car, it's called an engine; prayer is the engine for the power we possess in Christ. He has given us this spectacular life in Him; to be victorious in not only the physical world that we walk in, but also the spiritual world that we confront the powers of darkness in; and it is all powered by prayer... Prayer being the substance of faith; Romans 5:1 & 2, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the Glory of God". Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand... (next, "Supplication")

The Whole Armor Of God - The Sword Of The Spirit

"Above All, taking the Shield Of Faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the Helmet Of Salvation, and the Sword Of The Spirit, which is the word of God:" Eph 6:16 & 17. You may notice again that "Above All" is in bold; and as before, this is a continuation of that expression. Thinking back to the Sunday School illustration of the Armor of God, I can recall to picture depicting a large sword with the WORD written on the side of it; this is not that sword. The sword that Paul is speaking about here is more like a dagger; this is used more for a surgical type of application; this sword represents the Holy Spirit. The word which Paul speaks about here is not the Word (Logos), as in Jesus; but it is Rhema, as in: to speak, a word spoken, a command, denoting the operative or all-powerful word or command of God; It stands for the subject matter of the Word. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as: "The Spirit of Truth", and as "The Comforter"; and Jesus Christ has designated Him as equal with Himself; the Holy Spirit acts as Christ's substitute here on earth. This Holy Spirit resides in us, and has the power to take on any and every force of wickedness which may present itself in or around our lives; in any given situation; Application; Application; Application! In Mark 13:11, Jesus instructed his disciples what they should do when apprehended and taken before the councils: "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you shall speak, neither do you premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Ghost." Remember, "The battle belongs to the Lord"; we are just one of His solders in the battle, and we are called to stand. Let's go back to the beginning of verse 16 and revisit "Above All"; some of the definitions I found were: Authority, Power, care over, and besides all this. As previously discussed, but needing to be reapplied: we are seated in Christ; we are walking in Christ; thus,we are able to stand in Christ; and Christ has already won the battle; so why do we fight as thou it has not yet been won? or worst yet, as though it can't be won? Maybe we should go back to verse 10; "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." Now Stand!; and let's apply the Sword of the Spirit... When we are confronted with anything, and I mean anything, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. You may notice I said allow, and not ask; we do not have to ask the Spirit to anything, (except maybe,"please don't go"); because He is our comforter and our defender, and we just need to allow Him to work. Now let's apply this to our walk. There are many levels of situations that we can walk into, be confronted with, or even be tempted in; and every single one of them can be handled by taking up the Sword of the Spirit. It really comes down to whether we are willing to yield to the Spirit and the word He is putting fourth; remember I said that we do not have to ask Him for the words or the strength; we just need to be willing to surrender to His commands. One thing I have found (the hard way); the Holy Spirit will not force you to do anything; but He will try to persuade you; and maybe even sometimes plead with you; but never, ever force Himself upon you. That being said, when you are tempted in sin (for example), the Holy Spirit will speak the word of God into your heart that reminds you that what your doing is wrong. Unfortunately, many times we may shut Him up before He actually has a chance to finish His defence; kind of like a judge would overrule a lawyer in the courtroom. What we need to be doing, is to let Him finish the complete subject matter of the word, so that we can be strengthened by the word of God; and most importantly so that we do not sin. If that does not work for you, then maybe you can try putting on that Helmet of Salvation I shared with you yesterday. And if that does not work for you; go find two brothers in the Lord that you can trust to confine in, and plead with them to stand with you. You might have noticed I said two brothers and not just one; the reason for that; in case some gossip gets around about your problem, you and the other brother can go confront the gossiper. Finally, we can really count on the Sword of the Spirit when it comes to edification, loving our brothers and sisters, forgiving those that we must forgive; Actually doing what Paul instructed in Eph 4:29-5:2 : "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 you kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us; and has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." ......Some Things Just Need To Be Lived Out... (next Praying Always)

The Whole Armor Of God - The Helmet of Salvation

"Above All, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation," Eph 6:16-17a. You might notice the "Above All is in bold; that is because I believe it applies to this piece of armor also; maybe even more than the Shield. The Helmet of Salvation is a representation of none other than Jesus Christ! He is our salvation; He is the representation of Salvation, to the very core; I think we can all agree on that. Where we may differ though, is in the Application; Application; Application; and how this very special piece of Armor is applied to our lives, to our walk, and to our ability to stand; remember, "Having done all to stand; Stand therefore". First we must remember that we are seated in Christ; which is our position in Christ, (see blog on Seated in Christ); then we must ask ourselves, "What is a helmet used for?"; duh... To protect your head!!! Now that we have discovered that truth, we can move on to the head, or actually, our minds. The enemy, the world, and yes, even our own flesh would want to lessen the significance of our salvation in our lives; thus it is vital that our minds are protected. We must "Above All, take up The Helmet of Salvation", to protect our minds from anything that would want to convince us of anything other than the fact that we are "Saved By Grace". The enemy would want nothing more than to make us think that it is not that simple; that there must be something else we must do to gain our salvation. I think he is jealous of the fact that we are offered redemption, and that he is not. Okay then; secondly, we walk in Christ; but because we are still walking through this world, (but not of this world), we must take up The Helmet of Salvation to guard our minds from the cares of this world; knowing that this life is not all there is. It is easy, extremely easy, to get sidetracked by the cares of this world, even the little ones, and get to a point where those cares drowned out the significance of what Jesus did on the Cross for our eternal benefit. In fact, I can say without doubt, that when we sin, we are at that moment believing that this is all there is... HELLO; Tap, Tap, Tap; (I wish I could be like that little Microsoft Office paperclip assistant, and tape on your screen); I said, when we sin, we are believing in that moment that this life is all there is! "No I don't!"; you might reply; to which I would answer, "Oh really?". Think about that for a moment; you may not realize that you are doing it, but you are; in fact, sometimes we can even try to convince our selves, if not just for the moment of pleasure, that this is it; as we join the unbelieving world for a dance of pleasure. We ignore the Holy Spirit tapping on our hearts, "This is wrong"; as we concentrate on the desire to fulfill the lust of our flesh. If you could hook a scale to your heart while this was going on, you could see the effect it has; in one side of the scale would be the eternal, the other the temporal; now you tell me what happens... All this will pass away, even this flesh that carries us around in this world. At the risk of sounding corny, I would ask you to Apply This; the next time one of those fiery darts come your way, and you are tempted by that sin that so easily causes you to stumble; stop for just a moment and literally pretend you are putting on a helmet, (I know it sounds corny; but so does believing that this is all there is). The helmet that you are applying over your head is Jesus; and with all your might picture Him there on the Cross, dying for your sin, that sin that so easily binds you. Think about the Love being poured out for you, and then hate that sin which has caused this to happen. Then to take it to the next level; put yourself in the Upper Room three days later, and pretend for a moment that you are Doubting Thomas. Press your fingers into His nail pierced hands; stick your hand into His sword pierced side; and see if that sin is still pressing into you. Finally we stand; this is where things get really spectacular. Picture this if you can; a Legend of Roman Solders marching into battle, and what do you see? What is significant about these solders as they march, side by side, in rank and file lines; it is their helmets. Yes that's right; as they march in formation, those thousand helmets, all arrayed up top with that bright and distinct upside down broom looking ornament; representing the glory of Rome as they march into battle. Now in our case; we are the Body of Christ; each one arrayed with our Helmet Of Salvation, declaring who's we are; we are Christ's Army; and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us; why? Because when Jesus died on that Cross, He said, "It is finished", and He meant just that, cause in that moment He had conquered sin, once and for all; and right then and there He established His Kingdom; and when He rose, He conquered death, once and for all; and right then and there, He fortified His Kingdom. And guess what; you and I are one in His Kingdom; So Apply That!!! (next, The Sword of The Spirit)

The Whole Armor Of God - The SHIELD Of Faith

"Above All, taking the Shield of faith, werewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.", Eph 6:16. Okay, up to this point I have shared about being strong in the Lord, being able to stand, having done all to stand, applying Truth to our lives, living out righteousness in our lives, being a living testimony of the Gospel, and how those first three pieces of the Armor of God were in fact attributes of us in Christ; now I bet you are wondering how I will share that these next three pieces of the Armor are Attributes of God; especially this next one. Well to be quite honest, so am I; it seems that God is showing me things 'on a need to know basis'; because to be perfectly honest, if I would have know over a week ago what He has shown me this morning, I might have chosen another subject. Remember when I said in the first segment, "Do I dare to go down this road", well I might not have dared to; because this is life changing stuff. Lets remember the basic theme of what I have been sharing; Application; Application; Application; each and every part of this armor must be applied to our lives; and on all levels of the Application. With this passage of scripture, we must look at three very important things that I believe God is pointing out here. You might notice I said God and not Paul, because I believe that this word is the Word of God, and He is wanting to point something out. The first thing I want to point to is the beginning; "Above All"; when I looked this up in my 'Zodhiates', "Word Study Dictionary", there were four complete pages of definitions, (1909- Strongs ref. number). Let me share a couple of these definitions with you: besides all this, power, authority, the basic foundation, shout out, astonishment in connection to something that takes place, and much, much more. The next thing we need to look at is the Shield Of Faith; this is none other than The Mighty, Powerful, Unfailing, Unchanging, Everlasting God that we serve. That's right; He is our shield and our strength; our Mighty Deliverer in times of need; and when it comes to fighting off the powers of wickedness, we need Him. The final thing we will see pointed out; "all the fiery darts of the wicked". God has shown me something that made me quake this morning as I prayed; these fiery darts are so real; and they are nasty, destructive, cancerous things that destroy lives, families and churches; we can not mess around when it comes to being able to"quench all" of them, every last one. These things are like a Trojan, Worm or a Virus is to a computer; spreading to all areas; infecting each and every function; they can just keep popping up; and they need to be rooted out and dealt with. Now, lets start putting this all together and applying it all to our lives. First off, remember that we are seated in Christ; but for this application we need to go back to,"being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might"; He is our strength in time of weakness. Sometimes we just need to "Shout Out To God"; for our God is mighty to save. Remember what a shield is used for: protection, shelter, something to hide behind; and then apply to that: the Authority of God, the Power of God, and His Might to deliver. Secondly, as we walk in Christ; there are people in and around us that depend on us to be "Strong In The Lord", and to not let sin take root in our lives. I was given a picture this morning of King David; how the sin he had in his life was able to destroy and kept destroying, way after the sin had been committed. His sin had lead him to neglect some really critical parts of his life; namely the rearing of his children; man were they messed up. Ammon rapes his sister Tamar; Absalom kills Ammon; Absalom takes his fathers wives for all to see; and on and on the fiery darts spread their fire. We need to ever be so vigilant as we take up the Shield of Faith to protect those we care about the most; knowing that the fiery darts of the wicked, (sin also is wicked!), can destroy more than we can see or realize. There needs to be an intersection on our part; to take back the ground given over to the enemy; to declare that the enemy has no jurisdiction in our lives, and that God has the victory already won; after all, "The Battle Belongs To The Lord". Finally, We Must Stand; Having Done All To Stand!!!! (OMG) Please help me Jesus!!! Now, we will look at Faith; this Application is very important, and one that a lot of believers do not want to even consider; especially those that are leaders in the church. But we must remember that we are ONE BODY of BELIEVERS, and in order to stand, we need to stand as one. Picture this if you can; you are in the Roman Army, on the battlefield facing the enemy; you and your fellow solders are lined up side by side and at least three rows thick. The enemy is firing arrows at you, but not directly; no, they are firing these arrows up into the air, so that they come down onto you from above. So in order to defend yourself and your fellow solders from the attack, you must form your shields together; from the very foot and up over the highest head. Now that you have that picture; think about yourself being part of the Body of Christ, and all those other solders are also part of His Body; and you are bound together in Christ to be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Do you understand the implication here? Do you see the Application? Failing to do this one has toppled complete ministries!!! When we have sin in our lives that is gaining a stronghold there, we must get help from our brothers and sisters in the Lord!!! This is so hard to do, but it must be done; because these fiery darts destroy lives, families and ministries, more than we can see or realize. "Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand!" (next is the Helmet of Salvation)

The Whole Armor Of God - "Take Up"

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all, to stand.", Eph 6:13. Up until this point I have shared about the attributes of us in Christ; now we get to the 'Attributes Of God'. Those first three pieces of the armor were to be put on, and worn; constantly; they actually make up who we are in Christ; 'The New Man'. These next three pieces of the armor are to be taken up for battle, and for doing battle. Think of it like this; Your a Roman Solider and engaged in a war; you are always prepared to be called out to the battlefield. Even when your not engaged with the enemy, you will still be dressed in at least the following; your loins are girted, (you have your pants on), your breastplate is on, and your sandals are on and laced. Then as soon as the trumpet sounds for the battle, you grab your shield, your helmet and your sword, and head out for the battle. Another theme to Ephesians; besides, our position in Christ, our walk in Christ, being able to stand in Christ, and being one in Christ; is spiritual warfare. It is essential to have on the Whole Armor Of God to be able to go forth into the Spiritual Battle; and these next three pieces of armor are the "meat and potatoes' of engaging in a battle that takes place in the Spiritual Realm. And of coarse, I will be illustrating Application; Application; Application; because, just like a solider must be trained to use their weapons of warfare, so must we be trained to know how they are worn, or held; how they are used, or what their purpose is; how they are applied, or yielded in the actual battle. Just like it is with most everything else in life, experience is the greatest learning tool. If you have ever watched the movie 'Gladiator', then you might remember how this Mighty General in the Roman Army used his knowledge and experience from the battlefield, to compete and be victorious in the Arena; especially when it came to banning together as one unit, against all odds. Maybe right about now, you are saying to yourself, "Hey, what the heck are you talking about man; I do not feel like I am in a battle. My life is great; I got Jesus, and I am experiencing His peace in my life; and I am comfortable just resting in the Lord!". Okay; If that is you, and at the risk of seeming judgemental; I would wonder if you are not 'Spiritually Dead'. Maybe you are just in the 'Wilderness'; which is not much better. If you know your Bible and the events that took place through that wilderness experience; then you may want to examine your life in Christ. The generation that wondered in the wilderness for forty years, died without entering the 'Promised Land'. Why did they die without entering the Promised Land? Because, they choose not to cross over the Jordan to take possession of the land! Why did they choose to not cross over? Because there were reports of Giants in the land, and they forgot how Mighty and Powerful their God was to deliver them through anything. So, for forty years they wondered around in circles; with God providing for their needs; leading them night and day; until that generation that did not trust Him had passed away. What a waste of a life in Christ; never being able to experience the riches of the land on the other side of that river. Something else happened in their hearts, that caused God to not allow that generation to enter in; they yearned to be back in Egypt. Egypt to us as a Christian is a representation of the world; and when we do not experience the power and the greatness of God in our lives, we can tend to look back into the world; just wanting to experience something, anything; even if it means going back to the world. So; like I said before; maybe you are spiritually dead; or wait, maybe you think that you have already attained and no longer need to participate in the battle; well to that, I would say, "You have died and gone home to be with the Lord!". "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 ....Are you ready to do battle? Having Done All To Stand!!! (next is the Shield of Faith)