I pray that by reading this, it may help you realize all that God has done for you and how much He really loves you. Think about the mess you were in and how you thought you wouldn't make it through. But you're here now, more refined, more polished. Now it's a new day. Realize, there are renewed blessings coming your way. Just realize that God loved us enough to send his only begotten son, Jesus, to die so that we may have life. On top of that, Jesus loved us enough to tell us, with our flaws and everything, that He is preparing a home for us in heaven just by accepting Him as our personal Lord and Savior and living a life modeled after Him. It may be hard, but look what Jesus' love did for us. I don't know about you, but I feel loved. Ain't no lovin' like God's lovin'.
Dear God,
Everything that you've done for me, I wish I could just hug you/ I love you/ That's why I place no one above you/ I love you so much/ I can't breathe without you, I can't live without your healing touch/ by bringing me through so much/ I know I was blessed by your son Jesus' strength to make me so tough/ And people ask me, what can your love do? and I tell them your love got me through school/ that your love saved me from the deep end of death's pool/ your love took me home when I had no business being out/ your love kept me from letting spiteful words come out of my mouth/ that your love has been there before I was born into this world we're in/ that your love is going to stay with me through thick and thin/ and I know that your love is all I need to survive/ and that your love is never cut short because you overly supply/ your mercy and love has brought me through/ everything that I've been through/ and if people knew what you knew/ then they would know that myself alone would have been through/ That's why each day I praise and love you more and more/ when I'm against all odds/ I know I have you God/ to even the score/ and I praise your name with each breathe I take/ each step I take/ each move I make/ and since you're the O.N.E. G.O.D./ that gives me that true T.L.C./ I can step out on faith/ and I love you because you enabled me to think with the head on my shoulders/ I'm your heavenly soldier/ and I'm not worried about what the quote, unquote cool people deem as cool/ because the One I'm worried about passing judgement is you/ I love you because you loved me first/ you loved me even before I put you first/ and you loved me enough to send your only begotten son, and your son, Jesus loved me enough to die for my sins/ and I love Jesus because in Him I have THE best friend/ so thank you Lord for each and everything that you've done, without you I am not the same/ these and all the blessings I thank in your son Jesus Christ's sweet and precious name....Amen.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
"Self" Therapy
This post is a little different. I'm trying to let God use me how He wants to use so I decided to add my poetry to this blog.
I haven't really wrote poetry for a while but I do hope that anyone who reads this likes it. As I try to continue on with the gift of poetry, I also try to refine it by adding components from the past, present and even future. I just pray that God uses me how He wants to use me and guides my pen or fingers everytime I write a poem or lyrics.
This poem just kind of shows how someone might struggle with things and almost have a soul therapy session within prayer. Realize that in this poem, there is no specfic response from God. Sometimes God lets us work through things to help us grow in Him. So by the end of this poem/conversation/prayer praise is being offered up as a result of realizing that God is needed in my life, your life, thier lives, our lives. I hope this is a blessing to you and those you know. God Bless.
"Self" Therapy
Lord, what's wrong with me?
I know the things I've done are so wrong of me.
Why does it seem like you've hid your face for so long from me?
Wait....you were never hiding, I was looking in the wrong direction.
I want to trust in you always but I only call on you at my own discretion.
Teach me a lesson.
Lord, break me down to rebuild me up.
Use me like an empty cup.
I need the Living Water so I'll never thirst again with your Holy Spirit, please fill me up.
And I know the devil is defeated but this sin in me,
Keeps on temptin' me.
My flesh needs to die daily because it's trying to put an end to me.
And ain't it somethin',
How I keep frontin'?
Like you don't deserve all the praise in my victories, credit me with nothin'.
Completely do away with the old me, the me before I knew you.
Show me what I need to do.
I'm on my knees, please I'm desperately needing you.
And I know, I know I need to be strong enough in you not to turn my back.
You shouldn't always have to call me back.
I have to stay mindful of you to keep our relationship in tact.
But Lord, I'm on the edge, I'm at the end of my rope.
Jehovah Jireah, my provider, my everlasting hope.
I want to be on fire for you, I can't afford to become ash and smoke.
So I'll keep on burnin'.
Everyday I'm learnin'.
Abba, my father, for your healing touch I'm truly yearnin'.
So I lift my hands up ceding to and praising you,
For what you've done, are doing and going to do.
You are holy and righteous and I give you thanks for allowing me to fall back in love with you.
I haven't really wrote poetry for a while but I do hope that anyone who reads this likes it. As I try to continue on with the gift of poetry, I also try to refine it by adding components from the past, present and even future. I just pray that God uses me how He wants to use me and guides my pen or fingers everytime I write a poem or lyrics.
This poem just kind of shows how someone might struggle with things and almost have a soul therapy session within prayer. Realize that in this poem, there is no specfic response from God. Sometimes God lets us work through things to help us grow in Him. So by the end of this poem/conversation/prayer praise is being offered up as a result of realizing that God is needed in my life, your life, thier lives, our lives. I hope this is a blessing to you and those you know. God Bless.
"Self" Therapy
Lord, what's wrong with me?
I know the things I've done are so wrong of me.
Why does it seem like you've hid your face for so long from me?
Wait....you were never hiding, I was looking in the wrong direction.
I want to trust in you always but I only call on you at my own discretion.
Teach me a lesson.
Lord, break me down to rebuild me up.
Use me like an empty cup.
I need the Living Water so I'll never thirst again with your Holy Spirit, please fill me up.
And I know the devil is defeated but this sin in me,
Keeps on temptin' me.
My flesh needs to die daily because it's trying to put an end to me.
And ain't it somethin',
How I keep frontin'?
Like you don't deserve all the praise in my victories, credit me with nothin'.
Completely do away with the old me, the me before I knew you.
Show me what I need to do.
I'm on my knees, please I'm desperately needing you.
And I know, I know I need to be strong enough in you not to turn my back.
You shouldn't always have to call me back.
I have to stay mindful of you to keep our relationship in tact.
But Lord, I'm on the edge, I'm at the end of my rope.
Jehovah Jireah, my provider, my everlasting hope.
I want to be on fire for you, I can't afford to become ash and smoke.
So I'll keep on burnin'.
Everyday I'm learnin'.
Abba, my father, for your healing touch I'm truly yearnin'.
So I lift my hands up ceding to and praising you,
For what you've done, are doing and going to do.
You are holy and righteous and I give you thanks for allowing me to fall back in love with you.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What's Ya Faith Like? Part 1
First of all, I would like to welcome anybody who reads this back. It has been a long while since I last posted.
Since my last post, my wife gave birth to our third child. She was born 2 months premature, weighing in at just over 3 lbs. She was in the NICU for a whole month before she was able to come home. With that being said, I was spending as much time as humaly possible at the hospital with her. I'm not going to lie, I was not even thinking about posting on here during that time.
This is really a testimony about my daughter, Carmen. I consider her our miracle baby. She is now 3 months going on 4 and is well over 10 lbs. The doctors said that because she was 2 months premature that she will be a little bit behind in her development. Basically they were saying that at 4 months she would have a 2 month old's mindset. But me and my wife know The Doctor and He had a different diagnosis. We talked to The Doctor and started thanking Him in advance for our daughter being healthier than what the doctors predicted. We thanked Him in advance for her being bigger and stronger now than what the doctors predicted she would be at this time in her life. Those doctors couldn't tell us that she was going to be just an average baby. They must not know whose child they were talking about!!! She is a child of God and God's children are blessed beyond what the world can understand. We just had faith that our daughter was going to be better off than what the doctors said.
Let me tell you something about God and how good He is. Jesus tells us that all we need is to have faith the size of a mustard seed and we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Do you know how small a mustard seed is? Here is a picture of a handful of mustard seeds, just to give you a visual of how small of faith we need at minimum:
Since my last post, my wife gave birth to our third child. She was born 2 months premature, weighing in at just over 3 lbs. She was in the NICU for a whole month before she was able to come home. With that being said, I was spending as much time as humaly possible at the hospital with her. I'm not going to lie, I was not even thinking about posting on here during that time.
This is really a testimony about my daughter, Carmen. I consider her our miracle baby. She is now 3 months going on 4 and is well over 10 lbs. The doctors said that because she was 2 months premature that she will be a little bit behind in her development. Basically they were saying that at 4 months she would have a 2 month old's mindset. But me and my wife know The Doctor and He had a different diagnosis. We talked to The Doctor and started thanking Him in advance for our daughter being healthier than what the doctors predicted. We thanked Him in advance for her being bigger and stronger now than what the doctors predicted she would be at this time in her life. Those doctors couldn't tell us that she was going to be just an average baby. They must not know whose child they were talking about!!! She is a child of God and God's children are blessed beyond what the world can understand. We just had faith that our daughter was going to be better off than what the doctors said.
Let me tell you something about God and how good He is. Jesus tells us that all we need is to have faith the size of a mustard seed and we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Do you know how small a mustard seed is? Here is a picture of a handful of mustard seeds, just to give you a visual of how small of faith we need at minimum:
Look how small those seeds are. Just imagine if in every problem/situation we had a just a mustard seed of faith that God will or already has taken care of us. I think that it would look something like this.........
These are mustard seed flowers. Look at it like this. With just some small mustard seeds (acts of faith), all these flowers (blessings) came to be. This is just like what happens when we have AT LEAST faith the size of a mustard seed. Not even the trees (obstacles or snares) can stop the flowers from blooming. Yes, those obstacles may seem big, but look at the multitude of blessings that go beyond it. No obstacle or problem or situation is so big that God can't turn it around and make it a blessing or use it for His glory. That is exactly what happened with our daughter Carmen. Her being born 2 months early and only weighing just over 3 lbs. sounds bad, but God responded to our faith by blessing her the way she has been and will continue to be.
All we need is a little bit of faith and God will take care of the rest. Just believe that God can do it, and thank Him in advance. You will start to see God rewarding your faithfulness.
I'm going to stop there for the day. I thank everyone who has taken the time to come by and read this blog. We will look further into having and keeping faith on the next post. I pray that this has been a blessing to you all.
Again, thank you for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment or question. God Bless.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Dress for Success Part 3
Looking at where we left off in Part 2, we are still talking about the different pieces of the Armor of God. Just as a reference point, the scripture is taken from Ephesians 6: 11-18.
Looking at verse 15, Paul tells us to put on peace as our shoes so we can be fully prepared. Not just any peace though. Peace that comes from the Good News. To put it differently, would you rather walk outside and have on peace in a chaotic world and not worry about what trials you may walk through? Or would you rather walk bare foot and take the chance of stepping on some problems and not having the peace to deal with it? I don't know about you, but I'm trying to step out in my "Stacey Adams" of peace. The reason why we need the shoes of peace to be prepared is because if you put on everything except for peace, then you aren't fully prepared to go out into the spiritual battlefield. Just like if you have on all your clothes but not your shoes, then you're not ready to go out the house. And the thing about these shoes, you don't have to take them off at all. I'm sure people will appreciate it if we all keep on our peace shoes.
Going on the verse 16, it tells that we will need faith as our shield. We need this to block the "fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan." Now let's look at the word faith. Some synonyms for the word faith are confidence, reliance, trust, or assurance. We have to have to have all these things in Christ when we are going in to our spiritual battle. We have to have confidence in what God can do. We have to rely on God to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. We have to trust that God will provide for us. And as sure as Christ is King and has defeated death, we have assurance that we have victory in our spiritual battle. The thing about using faith as our shield (along with all the pieces of the Armor of God) is that we must have it on or with us at all times. In every spiritual battle we face, Satan is going to fire his arrows at us relentlessly. We have to constantly have our shield of faith up blocking the doubts, fears, misconceptions and everything else the enemy is trying to hit us with.
Going into the last couple pieces, Paul tells us to "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (verse 17). The word salvation means to SAVE somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure. When we go into spiritual battle, the enemy has put a price on our head and he is trying to take us out. If you are to put on salvation as your helmet, then you must first be SAVED by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Once you're saved, then you have received salvation. Now that you have received salvation, you can wear it as your helmet to protect yourself from the the tricks the enemy tries to play on your mind.
Now Paul also tells us to take the word of God with us. We must use this to cut down any surmounting trials that may come against us. I know from personal experience, there are Bible verses for whatever you are going through. There is so much wisdom in the word of God that we can use when were faced with a situation. We just have to know how to use it. How you learn how to use it is by first reading it. If you can read this blog, then you can read the word of God because this is no way a replacement for reading your Bible. That's why I put the Bible verses on here so that you can reference them when you're reading your Bible. All I'm saying is that if we are to use the word as our sword, then we have to know how to use it. I'll put it like this. Let's say you just downloaded a new program on your computer, but aren't quite sure how to make it work. If you have an instruction manual, then you're more than likely going to read how to use that program. The same things goes with reading the Bible. If you don't know how to use it as your sword, then you should take the time to read because it is our Instruction Manual on life.
Now that we have on the full Armor of God, the last thing we must do is pray (verse 18). There is no secret to this. No analogies or synonyms. The fact of the matter is that we have to pray in all things that we do. Beyond reading our bibles, this is our way to stay in constant conversation with God. Through Christ we have a direct connection with God and we have to stay intimate in our relationship with Him. And when we pray, it doesn't have to be all formal or wordy. We can talk to God. Remember, He knows us better than we know ourselves. We might as well keep it real and just talk to Him. By constantly praying/conversing with God, this makes sure that all of His armor is on right and we are prepared to go our on that spiritual battlefield. So let us all dress for success, getting suited and booted for the Lord, and put on the full Armor of God.
Thank you for bearing with me for this 3 part series. I thank God for giving me the mental patience to put this all together. I again hope that this has been a blessing to you and yours. Please leave a comment and let me know you came by or what you think. God Bless.
Looking at verse 15, Paul tells us to put on peace as our shoes so we can be fully prepared. Not just any peace though. Peace that comes from the Good News. To put it differently, would you rather walk outside and have on peace in a chaotic world and not worry about what trials you may walk through? Or would you rather walk bare foot and take the chance of stepping on some problems and not having the peace to deal with it? I don't know about you, but I'm trying to step out in my "Stacey Adams" of peace. The reason why we need the shoes of peace to be prepared is because if you put on everything except for peace, then you aren't fully prepared to go out into the spiritual battlefield. Just like if you have on all your clothes but not your shoes, then you're not ready to go out the house. And the thing about these shoes, you don't have to take them off at all. I'm sure people will appreciate it if we all keep on our peace shoes.
Going on the verse 16, it tells that we will need faith as our shield. We need this to block the "fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan." Now let's look at the word faith. Some synonyms for the word faith are confidence, reliance, trust, or assurance. We have to have to have all these things in Christ when we are going in to our spiritual battle. We have to have confidence in what God can do. We have to rely on God to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. We have to trust that God will provide for us. And as sure as Christ is King and has defeated death, we have assurance that we have victory in our spiritual battle. The thing about using faith as our shield (along with all the pieces of the Armor of God) is that we must have it on or with us at all times. In every spiritual battle we face, Satan is going to fire his arrows at us relentlessly. We have to constantly have our shield of faith up blocking the doubts, fears, misconceptions and everything else the enemy is trying to hit us with.
Going into the last couple pieces, Paul tells us to "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (verse 17). The word salvation means to SAVE somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure. When we go into spiritual battle, the enemy has put a price on our head and he is trying to take us out. If you are to put on salvation as your helmet, then you must first be SAVED by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Once you're saved, then you have received salvation. Now that you have received salvation, you can wear it as your helmet to protect yourself from the the tricks the enemy tries to play on your mind.
Now Paul also tells us to take the word of God with us. We must use this to cut down any surmounting trials that may come against us. I know from personal experience, there are Bible verses for whatever you are going through. There is so much wisdom in the word of God that we can use when were faced with a situation. We just have to know how to use it. How you learn how to use it is by first reading it. If you can read this blog, then you can read the word of God because this is no way a replacement for reading your Bible. That's why I put the Bible verses on here so that you can reference them when you're reading your Bible. All I'm saying is that if we are to use the word as our sword, then we have to know how to use it. I'll put it like this. Let's say you just downloaded a new program on your computer, but aren't quite sure how to make it work. If you have an instruction manual, then you're more than likely going to read how to use that program. The same things goes with reading the Bible. If you don't know how to use it as your sword, then you should take the time to read because it is our Instruction Manual on life.
Now that we have on the full Armor of God, the last thing we must do is pray (verse 18). There is no secret to this. No analogies or synonyms. The fact of the matter is that we have to pray in all things that we do. Beyond reading our bibles, this is our way to stay in constant conversation with God. Through Christ we have a direct connection with God and we have to stay intimate in our relationship with Him. And when we pray, it doesn't have to be all formal or wordy. We can talk to God. Remember, He knows us better than we know ourselves. We might as well keep it real and just talk to Him. By constantly praying/conversing with God, this makes sure that all of His armor is on right and we are prepared to go our on that spiritual battlefield. So let us all dress for success, getting suited and booted for the Lord, and put on the full Armor of God.
Thank you for bearing with me for this 3 part series. I thank God for giving me the mental patience to put this all together. I again hope that this has been a blessing to you and yours. Please leave a comment and let me know you came by or what you think. God Bless.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Dress for Success Part 2
Last post, I left off talking about putting on the whole Armor of God. As a reminder the scripture is taken from Ephesians 6: 11-18. Again, this is where the apostle Paul is telling us to dress ourselves with the Armor of God.
Picking up where we left off last time, we are going to start at verse 14. Here we see the first couple pieces of God's armor, which is the "sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness." First let's look at the words sturdy and truth. When you think of sturdy, you might think of other words like durable, strong, solid, secure. That's exactly what the truth is. It's solid, secure, durable, strong. What the truth does is gives us a solid ground to stand on by putting whatever it is "out there" and showing that we aren't worried about what people will say. What a lie does is try to put up a front. A front that will inevitably fall and leave us exposed anyways.
Now this verse also mentions putting on the body armor of God's righteousness. When we put on the body armor of God's righteousness, we are putting on morality, justice, decency, and honesty. This goes hand in hand with the sturdy belt of truth. I'll use decency as an example. Say you're wearing a pair of pants that are just a little too big. If you don't wear a belt, then they might fall off or slide down. Either way, you're going to be showing your backside. But if you wear a belt to hold up those pants, then you're making sure that you stay decent. The same thing applies with the body armor of God's righteousness and the truth. To make sure we're not exposing our self in a spiritually indecent manner (or showing our backside) we use the truth to help hold up the righteousness we are putting on.
For example if we are truthful about having issues but praying that we continue to live right, then we are more likely to continue living righteously. The Bible even tells us how the truth can help us continue to live righteously. It can guide and lead you to God (Psalm 43:3). It can guide and teach you, bringing you to hope in God (Psalm 25:5). It also has the power to set you free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31-35). If we are not truthful about having issues, then we are less likely to continue living righteously. Take a look at these verses from the Bible. It says that some people were lead astray from God as a result of others distorting the truth (Acts 20:30). It also says in Romans 2:8 that "...he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness." That's why it's called the STURDY BELT of truth. Based on the scriptures above, that's how the truth will hold up the body armor of God's righteousness.
I'm going to stop there for now. I will talk about the remaining pieces of the Armor of God later today (2/4/09). I pray that Part 2 has been a blessing to you. Come back for Dress for Success Part 3 as I bring it all together. Thank you for coming by again. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless.
Picking up where we left off last time, we are going to start at verse 14. Here we see the first couple pieces of God's armor, which is the "sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness." First let's look at the words sturdy and truth. When you think of sturdy, you might think of other words like durable, strong, solid, secure. That's exactly what the truth is. It's solid, secure, durable, strong. What the truth does is gives us a solid ground to stand on by putting whatever it is "out there" and showing that we aren't worried about what people will say. What a lie does is try to put up a front. A front that will inevitably fall and leave us exposed anyways.
Now this verse also mentions putting on the body armor of God's righteousness. When we put on the body armor of God's righteousness, we are putting on morality, justice, decency, and honesty. This goes hand in hand with the sturdy belt of truth. I'll use decency as an example. Say you're wearing a pair of pants that are just a little too big. If you don't wear a belt, then they might fall off or slide down. Either way, you're going to be showing your backside. But if you wear a belt to hold up those pants, then you're making sure that you stay decent. The same thing applies with the body armor of God's righteousness and the truth. To make sure we're not exposing our self in a spiritually indecent manner (or showing our backside) we use the truth to help hold up the righteousness we are putting on.
For example if we are truthful about having issues but praying that we continue to live right, then we are more likely to continue living righteously. The Bible even tells us how the truth can help us continue to live righteously. It can guide and lead you to God (Psalm 43:3). It can guide and teach you, bringing you to hope in God (Psalm 25:5). It also has the power to set you free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31-35). If we are not truthful about having issues, then we are less likely to continue living righteously. Take a look at these verses from the Bible. It says that some people were lead astray from God as a result of others distorting the truth (Acts 20:30). It also says in Romans 2:8 that "...he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness." That's why it's called the STURDY BELT of truth. Based on the scriptures above, that's how the truth will hold up the body armor of God's righteousness.
I'm going to stop there for now. I will talk about the remaining pieces of the Armor of God later today (2/4/09). I pray that Part 2 has been a blessing to you. Come back for Dress for Success Part 3 as I bring it all together. Thank you for coming by again. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Dress for Success Part 1
If you recall from previous posts, I talked about not worrying about being suite and booted. Or being so focused on the flashy things. In this post, we are going to talk about how to dress for success. Now, I'm not talking physically, but spiritually dressing for success. To find out what to wear each day we wake up look in Ephesians 6: 11-18. This is where the apostle Paul talks about putting on the whole Armor of God. First though, we are going to cover why we need God's armor.
As a background piece for this post, we have to first realize that no matter who we are, there is a spiritual battle waged against us each and everyday we are in Christ. No matter how saved or holy we think we are, the enemy is out to get us. That is why it's so important to get this.
Paul gives us a clear description of what we are up against in verse 12 saying, "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." To put it in perspective, think about this....If an object was coming towards your face, in general, you would be able to block it from hitting you. Why? Because you see it coming. In this spiritual battle, the objects coming at you are unseen and you are therefore unable to block them on your own. But thanks be to a merciful and gracious God that we are blessed with His armor to block these unseen objects. And it doesn't matter if it's coming from behind us, underneath us, to the left or right of us, or straight at us. God knows all the enemy's tricks even though they seem unpredictable to us. That's why we need to put on the Armor of God.
In verse 13, Paul instructs us to "Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil." Not just one piece for one day and another piece for the next day. EVERY PIECE. If you were going out in a snow storm, would you wear snow pants but no jacket? No. You would make sure that you have on every piece of clothing that you need to wear to protect yourself from the elements. That same concept applies to putting on God's armor. We have to protect ourselves from the evil spiritual elements coming against us. Not one of us, by our own strength, can withstand the enemy's attacks on us.
The first thing we must do before we put on the Armor of God, is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, confess our sins to Him (acknowledging that we can't do it alone) and start putting on the whole Armor of God.
Thank you for joining me again. The next post we will go into what exactly the pieces of God's armor are. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think. God Bless.
As a background piece for this post, we have to first realize that no matter who we are, there is a spiritual battle waged against us each and everyday we are in Christ. No matter how saved or holy we think we are, the enemy is out to get us. That is why it's so important to get this.
Paul gives us a clear description of what we are up against in verse 12 saying, "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." To put it in perspective, think about this....If an object was coming towards your face, in general, you would be able to block it from hitting you. Why? Because you see it coming. In this spiritual battle, the objects coming at you are unseen and you are therefore unable to block them on your own. But thanks be to a merciful and gracious God that we are blessed with His armor to block these unseen objects. And it doesn't matter if it's coming from behind us, underneath us, to the left or right of us, or straight at us. God knows all the enemy's tricks even though they seem unpredictable to us. That's why we need to put on the Armor of God.
In verse 13, Paul instructs us to "Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil." Not just one piece for one day and another piece for the next day. EVERY PIECE. If you were going out in a snow storm, would you wear snow pants but no jacket? No. You would make sure that you have on every piece of clothing that you need to wear to protect yourself from the elements. That same concept applies to putting on God's armor. We have to protect ourselves from the evil spiritual elements coming against us. Not one of us, by our own strength, can withstand the enemy's attacks on us.
The first thing we must do before we put on the Armor of God, is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, confess our sins to Him (acknowledging that we can't do it alone) and start putting on the whole Armor of God.
Thank you for joining me again. The next post we will go into what exactly the pieces of God's armor are. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think. God Bless.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Why Worry Part 2
I'm going to pick up where I left off in the last post (Matthew 6:28-33). In verse 28-30 Jesus goes on to talk about the lilies of the field saying, "...they do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" Look what He is telling us. We're so worried about being suited and booted or worried about the things of this earth that we forget what God can do for us. If He can make the flowers as beautiful as they are (even when they don't have the ability to praise and worship Him), then He can make sure we are taken care of. Jesus says "O you of little faith" because we act like we don't have faith that God can provide all our needs when we worry about things.
Instead of seeking Him, we seek to put our worries to rest that's why Jesus tells us in verse 31, "Do not worry saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' " If Jesus simply telling us not to worry isn't enough, then what He goes on to tell us in verse 32 should be. He assures us that our heavenly Father knows we need these (and other) things. I know from personal experience that when I would worry about something and try to get it, fix it, figure it out, or deal with it on my own, I usually caused myself more problems than actual solutions. And often times that is the case with most of us. We worry so much about basic and sometimes more than basic needs and forget that God, who made it all, is ready and willing to supply us with everything we need. Jesus tells us this clearly and explains what we have to do in verse 33 saying "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you."
All we have to do is stop worrying about things, put it in God's hands and seek His righteousness. Plain and simple, God is trying to stop us from worrying about things by meeting us at our most basic needs. We have to stop letting worry stop us from seeking Him and seeing that He will take care of us. So my question for everybody is this: What are you worried about and why haven't you let God take over?
Thank you for spending your time on this blog. I pray that God used me to be a blessing to you or someone you know. Feel free to leave a comment or testimony about how God took your worries away or to let me know what you think. God Bless.
Instead of seeking Him, we seek to put our worries to rest that's why Jesus tells us in verse 31, "Do not worry saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' " If Jesus simply telling us not to worry isn't enough, then what He goes on to tell us in verse 32 should be. He assures us that our heavenly Father knows we need these (and other) things. I know from personal experience that when I would worry about something and try to get it, fix it, figure it out, or deal with it on my own, I usually caused myself more problems than actual solutions. And often times that is the case with most of us. We worry so much about basic and sometimes more than basic needs and forget that God, who made it all, is ready and willing to supply us with everything we need. Jesus tells us this clearly and explains what we have to do in verse 33 saying "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you."
All we have to do is stop worrying about things, put it in God's hands and seek His righteousness. Plain and simple, God is trying to stop us from worrying about things by meeting us at our most basic needs. We have to stop letting worry stop us from seeking Him and seeing that He will take care of us. So my question for everybody is this: What are you worried about and why haven't you let God take over?
Thank you for spending your time on this blog. I pray that God used me to be a blessing to you or someone you know. Feel free to leave a comment or testimony about how God took your worries away or to let me know what you think. God Bless.
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