Tag: Spiritual

Having put on the breastplate of righteousness…. The breastplate protects you as you face a battle or confrontation. It protects our vital organs, particularly the “heart” (soul), which is susceptible to spiritual damage. Righteousness simply means right standing before God. Right standing before God is achieved chiefly through having a good, honest, and open relationship with Him. Once again, a good relationship means spending quality time with the other person, in this case, God. Sin will separate us from God and therefore weaken our protection (breastplate), but praise God, He is quick to forgive us when we ask Him to. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is achieved by spending time with our Lord, and then walking in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit and in accordance with Scripture

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That love is living inside of you. Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Believe as Jesus said in John 17:26 that the love with which God loved Jesus is in you. 1 John 4:15,16 says, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. And we have and believed the love that God has for us.” The love of God is imparted in your heart and you are the authorized user of it. God has deposited His love in your heart and you need to withdraw from that deposit all the time. When you realize that you activate the most powerful force. You begin to love every one. You will not only love God, with the same love you will start to love on the most crazy and the meanest people you know. You will be full of love, you will not have problems releasing it. You will be so full of love, it will begin to overflow.

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Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth…. To gird your waist means to move out of a comfortable or relaxed position and to prepare for confrontation. Most people don’t like confrontation, and we generally tend to get knots or butterflies in our stomach when we find ourselves going into this sort of situation. It is a normal, healthy reaction. To gird our waist with truth simply means that as we prepare to confront the enemy each day, in whatever form that may be, we should be prepared with the truth as it is in Scripture, and/or, more importantly, revealed by the Holy Spirit. As we spend time with Jesus each day, He prepares us for the day ahead, and this is an imperative part of being ready, or “girded”.

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These are the general and direct orders of the Kingdom. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word love is a strong term. The cycle of love begins with God. His love is what gives us love for Him and love for others. Jesus prayed to the Father for His first 12 disciples and for all who would believe in Him, and said, “You have sent me and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:23). God love me as much as He loves Jesus. Thank God for that and say it out loud till it sinks in. The devil may attempt to convince you the other way but don’t give room for the devil. Pray this: Father, I thank you for loving me so much. Thank you for sending Your Son for me. I receive that love in Jesus name, Amen.

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“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye 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:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”  (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Every Christian needs to wear the full armour of God. God’s word tells us clearly that for every one in the body of Christ, this is the only armour that can and will protect from the evil days.

Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the whole armour of God”. It means to put on the “full” armour of God and not just a part of it. It we leave any one part off, the devil would hit us right in that place. The enemy is looking for whom he may devour. Therefore, we need to put on the full armour of God.  Apart from the sword of truth, all the armour of God is defensive.

John repeatedly says that every believer should know he is of God and needs to distinguish himself from the fact that he does not belong to the wicked one. Satan exercises dominion over the world as its ruler. The enemy does not take a break. He is continually at work and that is why there is not a single place in Scripture where it tells us we can take the armour off. We have to put on the armour of God all the time to stand against the schemes of the devil in every place.

One thing God has assured that His peace will be with us. “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, But my kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall “My covenant” of peace be removed,” Says the Lord who has mercy on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

The peace of God is a great weapon against the power of the enemy. This peace is something we experience even in the midst of the greatest battle.   We will know the greatest peace even in the midst of the greatest battle, but there is no time we should ever let our guard down or remove our armour. Armour of God is not just protection that we have come up with human ability. It is something that God Himself has given us. This weapon will fully protect us in this life and from any weapon that is formed against us.

Standing firm is very significant. We are supposed to stand and stand firm. This armour does not cover our back which means we are to progress in the forward direction.

We can stand against the schemes of the devil. Note the phrase, “evil day”. Paul is not referring to any day in particular, although some disasters will take place in the last days. Paul talks about something that every Christian will go through. There will be times when his faith will be challenged and he must confront the forces of the evil.  Is there a need to face the evil day? Yes, in fact, it is not an option but a certainty. We will not escape the evil day but we have to go through the evil day.

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

“We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one”. (1 John 5:19)

May the Lord help us put on the whole armour of God always in Jesus name. Amen.

There are seven ‘pieces of equipment’ in this armour.

1. The belt of truth, which is your trust in the Lord Jesus who declared Himself to be the Truth.
2. The breastplate of righteousness is your assurance that the blood of Christ enables you to stand righteous before our Father – your heart’s decision throughout the day.
3. Have your feet shod with the gospel of peace.  That way you prepare for the Lord’s service as he is setting you apart to fulfil his purposes and wherever you go, his presence and power will be with you, ready for action.
4. Next is the shield of faith to extinguish the enemy’s darts aimed at any weak areas in your life.  The shield does no good unless you are gripping it tightly, prepared for battle.
5. The helmet of salvation focuses your mind on eternity with God, and guards you against any further enemy intrusion into your soul.
6. You wield the sword of the Spirit as you immerse yourself in God’s word and put it into action.
7. Pray in the spirit, so you can be alert and available at all times for communion and intimacy with our Lord.

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Absolute confidence in God’s own Word and Being.

This will be tested with fiery trials.

While other levels of faith receive some support, and encouragement from God, this level takes what is learned from earlier levels, and endures to the end without apparent support.

Tribulation will come. Suffering will come.

Good works continue, in spite of persecutions.

We no longer care about our own needs. We forget who we are, and only desire to serve His purpose, and have His needs met.

Prayers are spoken, but there is no answer, yet one continues to hold on and believe.

There are wars, and one loses the war.

There is sickness, and there is no healing.

There are problems, and they are never resolved.

One does good, and it is called evil, and is punished for it.

One is faithful, and is betrayed by others.

One is generous, and loses everything.

One is alone, and no one comes to comfort.

One blesses, and is cursed and rejected in return.

One calls out to God, and does not receive an answer. One feels abandoned.

You are afflicted, but there is no deliverance.

Where are the promises, and the answers we have been waiting for?

But will that person respond by abandoning God?

This is the level of “the cross.”

There is no reward in this life at this point. Suffering seems to be around every corner. Will we endure to the end? Will we be faithful, without helps, and rewards, and interventions from God?

This is the point where we could lose our lives for the gospel.

Are we ready? Will we die for Him?

Is our love enough? Is our faith great enough? Have we died to ourselves yet, where HE is the only One that matters any more?

Have we forgotten who we are yet, and can only think of Him?

The faith God is looking for is NOT the faith that comes, because he helped us, or rewarded us, to encourage us.

The faith he is looking for is the faith that continues to trust and love, when God has seemed to turn away, and there is NO reward coming at all.

Hebrews 11

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Every Christian would have prayed these words at least once. Lord, “let me hear from you”. Most of us would have prayed many times and some are praying daily. Without a doubt God wants to answer. Yet believers remain frustrated unable to hear specific instructions from the Lord, they end up wandering around in a spiritual dilemma, incapable of seeing God’s path He has planned for them.

The first step is to obey the general instructions that He has given us before we can go into any of those specific instructions. Every Soldier in the Army has to learn the general orders first.  General orders are the overall military requirements that everyone in uniform must obey.  Once that was in place the cadet learn the direct orders from their superior officer.  Finally there are orders of the day, which is a detailed format that gave a road map for the day.

As soldiers in the kingdom of God, we’ve been given general orders by the Commander in Chief.  Those commands are mandatory and important—so important that everything in life hinges upon our obedience to them.

Matthew 22 is one of the many places in the New Testament we find those general commands.  There we read about a young lawyer asking Jesus a crucial question: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (verses 36-40).

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It knows no hypocrisy. It does not brag or put on a show. (2 Tim 1:5) Very childlike, trusting and innocent, and is well founded in the Word of God.

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We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the Word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us. One way we do that is taking part in the Lord’s Table.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’.

The cup represents the blood of the Lord, so in taking part in the Lord’s Table we are continually testifying, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There are five important provisions revealed in the Word of God that are made available to us through the blood of Jesus.

1. Redemption:  Ephesians 1:7,”In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
2. Forgiveness:  1 John 1:7 says, “…but if we walk in the light as He himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
3. Cleansed:  Romans 5:9 says, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
4. Justified:  Justified is just –as-if-I’d never sinned, because I have been made righteous with a righteousness that knows no sin, which is the righteousness of Christ.
5. Sanctified:  Sanctify means to set apart for God or to make holy.  Hebrews 13:12 declares, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate”.

We need to continually take the offensive with the weapons God has provided for us. It is not enough to merely stay on the defensive and wait upon the Lord all the time to do the battle. We are an army or conquerors. The Nations are ready to be harvested into the kingdom of God who will win them with the Gospel of the kingdom.

Our prayer is that the Lord will use you as a testimony to win the people into the kingdom of God. Amen.

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Preaching is sharing the Word of God, but testimony is speaking from a personal point of view about incidents that line up to the Word of God and confirm the truth of God’s Word. For example if we are preaching a message on deliverance, we share the promises of deliverance and preach the principles on which God delivers. But if we testify about healing, we speak about an incident when we personally experience God’s delivering power. Therefore, preaching and giving a testimony are both with respect to the Word of God but they approach from different angles.

Three things needed for the testimony to be powerful:

1. We need the “Supernatural Power”:

To be effective witnesses for Jesus, we need supernatural power. Out testimony needs the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted His disciples to go out and begin testifying after there were endued with that power on the Day of Pentecost.

2. Our Life needs to become a testimony:

Jesus insisted that out life speaks to people all the time about Jesus. More than our talk and our work, it is our character and our conduct that touches people. The key for our testimony is ‘our life’. Our way of living talks a lot of things to the people that our words cannot speak. Our life talks louder than our words.

3. We need to start where we are:

We need to start in Jerusalem that means our area of influence. Jesus was talking about telling people from where God has placed us. Let them believe and let them be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then let them in turn go and tell other people. In turn, let them believe, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and go and tell others. He said it would start in Jerusalem, move out to Judea, then to Samaria, and will not cease until it reaches the uttermost parts of the earth.

The goal Jesus has is ‘the uttermost parts of the earth’. His basic strategy for reaching it was for all of God’s people to become witnesses, witnessing to and winning others. Those, in turn, were to witness and win until, like the expanding ripples from stones cast into a pond, they reached the uttermost part of the earth.

‘Weapon of testimony’ ultimately will cast down Satan’s kingdom in the heaven lies:

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