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.

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.