Fighting

I've been talking a lot recently about spiritual warfare and actively fighting the enemy. I've read this verse over and over again. So, I got to thinking about what it means to put this verse into practice.

Ephesians 6:10-18
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."


In my life I have had to face some tough truths and fight some hard battles. I have been beaten down to the point of wanting to give up. I've been so upset that I gave up and didn't care anymore. After coming from that place of desperation I never wanted to be there again. I have come back to this verse. What are some ways we can do this?
Well, for one, we stay in the word. We combat the lies in our head with truths from God's word. Trusting in Him. When the thoughts of being not good enough, or failing come, not dwelling on them, focusing fully on God.

As I was thinking about this and how overwhelming it can be I remembered this verse from Exodus, I know, kicking it old school. lol.


Exodus 16:4
"Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."

God provided their, "daily bread" to make it through each day and not lose heart. I think He does this with us today, in regards to strength to fight temptation. I am learning from the old days. God has given me the strength needed to fight today, not to worry about tomorrow or regret yesterday. To focus and survive today. He has given you this as well. Embrace it and trust in His strength alone.

Have a great day!

Freedom

I was spending some time with some amazing women of God yesterday and this song came on my radio. While it's always been a special song to me it has taken on special meaning this week. Read through the lyrics once and then I'll explain.


Turnin' molehills into mountains
Makin' big deals out of small ones
Bearing gifts as if they're burdens
This is how it's been
Afraid of coming out of my shell
Too many things I can't do too well
Afraid I'll try real hard And I'll fail
This is how it's been
Till the day You pounded on my heart's door
And You shouted joyfully You're not a slave anymore!
CHORUS: You're free to dance Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing Even joyful noise is music to Me
You're free to love 'Cause I've given you My love And it's made you free
I have set you free!
My mind finds hard to believe That You became humanity
and Changed the course of history Because You loved us so
And my heart cannot understand How You accept me as I am
But You say You've always had a plan And that's all I need to know
So when I am consumed With what the world will say
Then You're singing to me, as You remove my chains
Free from worry Free from envy and denial Free to live,
free to give, free to



My favorite part of this song and the part I keep coming back to is, "Till the day You pounded on my heart's door And You shouted joyfully You're not a slave anymore!"

It always reminds me of these verses,
Galatians 5:1
"Is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

John 8:34
"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin"

I remember reading the second verse and thinking that it was harsh. me, a slave to sin. So I looked up the definition of slave;

:a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person

Okay, I guess that makes sense, I know that in my past I have felt competely under the control of things that didn't honor God. Now I'm depressed, I'm a slave to sin, what do I do with that? Then I found the first verse, "Is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Christ has set us free, do not let yourself be burdened, do not let yourself, Christ has already broken the shackles, He broke those chains on Calvery. He has taken them away, so you are no longer a slave to sin, get up dance, sing, love, because Jesus has paid your bond and you are free. Live as free!

Lies Lies, the lies have it!

I've had some amazing conversations recently with a few friends and we talked about the lies that we believe and accept as truth. We all have this voice in our heads that tells us we aren't good enough, we're not pretty enough, we're not smart enough, whatever it is that gets into our heads. The verse in John was brought to my attention, John 10:10;

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."


The thief, only comes to steal, kill, and destroy, Steal, to take something away without permission. To Kill, it take life, and to destroy. Every lie that we believe is from him, everytime we hear that voice and take it to heart we are pulled deeper into the lie. But Jesus came so we could have life and life to the fullest. Life, to the fullest. I want that, don't you? I don't think that life to the fullest includes feeling like your a failure, feeling not pretty enough, not smart enough. We have to throw off the lies and let God breathe truth into our hearts. One last thought, My good friend Dave reminds me that even with satans lies, satan doesn't have power. God has already won, he won on the cross, the battle is over. Trust on God, lean on him. I love you guys!

I was driving home from church today and the song "More" by Matthew West came on and as I was listening I was thinking about what it means to live life knowing that fact. That God loves us more then anything. So I have posted the song and I am gonna make a few comments of my own(in these).
Take a look at the mountain
Stretching a mile high
Take a look at the ocean
Far as your eye can see
And think of me
Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever
Where you go is where I am
And I’m always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I’m spelling it out one by one (I look at these first two verses and I think about how true it is. How many times have I stood on the beach, or a mountain in Arizona and feel so small. Thinking about how our God took the time to make each and everything we see, and he also made us. Just as we are.)

I love you more than the sun (One of the first things he made)
And the stars that I taught how to shine (One of the many things we take for granted, the stars, he taught each one how to shine, how to do what it was meant to do. He loves us more.)
You are mine and you shine for me to (We shine for God, in our own broken way, our lives are meant to shine and reflect God)
I love you (I need to hear this eveyday)
Yesterday And today And tomorrow (He will never stop loving us, ever)
I’ll say it again and again I love you more

Just a face in the city (We feel like this)
Just a tear on a crowded street (We wonder if we matter)
But you are one in a million (No one else is made just like us, God made only us the way we are)
And you belong to me (He claims us, He says we belong to Him)
And I want you to know I’m not letting go Even when you come undone (Even when we mess up and fail, He claims us, we are never "too much" for God, He loves us always)

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me to
I love you Yesterday And today And tomorrow
I’ll say it again and again
I love you more I love you more
Shine for me (He is calling us to live for Him)
Shine for me
Shine on, shine on Shine for me
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me to
I love you Yesterday And today And tomorrow
I’ll say it again and again I love you more
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me to
I love you Yeaterday And today Through the joy (When we are happy)
And the pain (When we are hurting)
I say it again and again
I love you more I love you more (He keeps loving, His love keeps growing)
And I see you (He sees us)
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine (More then we will ever love anyone)
More than you can fathom (Beyond what we even understand)
I love you more than the sun
And you shine for me


(How amazing is that, God really loves us that much. I am floored that He does, We live in a world that lives for itself, He came to this world, and died, for us. He looked at us, in our sin and brokenness, and said, "that one, I love that one so much that even though she/he turns away from me, I am going to give up my life for her/him, because I love them more then anything this world has." What love, We are so blessed, and most of the time, we lose sight of that. So as you go about your day today, remember that you are so loved. Have a great week everyone!)

The Word was God

So my link group decided to study the book of James these next few weeks and We read the first chapter tonight. I noticed somethings that I missed before.
One verse in particular caught my attention.
James 1:21
"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
The part I really wanted to focus on is the second half, "humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
I wanna draw your attention to two other verses.

Mark 4:1-20

The Parable of the Sower
1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that, " 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'[a]"
13Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."


John 1:1-2

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

The use of word in the verse from James makes me think of it's use in John. That of Jesus as the word. Carrying that over to James. The word planted in you. God planted inside us. So I move on the the verse in Mark, about the soil that the seeds fall into being what makes the difference in the growth of it.

So if we believe this verse, we have a choice, what kind of soil are we. Will we let the word in us, fall on rocks and unyielding ground and never grow or share the word with others. Or will we be like the best soil, where the word takes root and becomes a beautiful garden that keeps growing and sharing that growth with others?

What kind of soil are you?

The theory of relative control!

Control,
We all want it, we all believe we have it. We don't, in fact It has us.
But let me back up, I will tell you a little story, There once was a girl, she was born to two loving parents, a huge extended family and a sister who swore she was her baby! She grew up in the country, knowing she was loved. Her dad was a cop and her mom worked at the church. She spent her first five years as her grandmother and great grandmothers constant companion. She started school and exceled for the first 8 years. Then she learned that the power of the word No only mattered when It was respected and that some people cared only about controling others.
Fast forward three years, she is 17 now, and sitting in her bedroom with a pair of scissors, watching her arm bleed. The only thing that stops the pain inside is the control she has at this moment.
But who is really in control?
Fast forward again, she is now 21, she dosen't cut anymore, now she binges and then starves herself. All so that something is in her control.

Do we really ever have control? Is controling everything healthy? I stop and think about the people I know, how many of them have struggled in someway with disorders relating to control. I know that God calls us to something more. He came to earth and gave up all control in His life, for us. He could have stopped it all, but He didn't, He died for us.
Can we surrender control to God? Can we give Him everything and rest in the knowledge that He will supply all our needs?

"Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Matthew 26:39
What are you clinging to, what control are you not giving to God?

Hands of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-22
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,1 Corinthians 12:26
26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. One of my favorite songs is "If we are the body" by Casting crowns. The chorus of the song says, "If we are the body, why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching?, If we are the body, why aren't His feet going? why is His love not showing them there is a way?" I wanna look at this song in relation to the verse I put above this. In these verses, Paul is talking about how the church, us, is the body of Christ, we are His hands, feet, ears, here on earth. Each person, is a different part. Some people are hands, they reach out, they sooth nervous hands, and wipe away tears. Some people are feet, they walk to where people need them, They don't think about the distance, They just go. Some people are mouths, They speak truth, even if it is hard to hear and say. Some are ears, they listen and wait on God to speck through there presence. There are many other parts as well. Arms that hold, eyes that see, and cry for the broken hearted. We could never be the church alone. It is all the parts working together. If anyone was missing, the body would be incomplete. Every person who walks through the doors of the church building, where ever it may be (movie theater) has a role to play in the body. Without the arms, can the hands reach out, with out the feet walking, can the voice be heard in the darkness. I found a quote I like in a book, called, "Where is God when It hurts" "I want a church where anyone is welcome, no matter their color, a church where people pray and expect answers to their prayers. I want a church where people are known by their love for one another."Not just color, but class, religion, history. I know that these issuse aren't as big of a problem in the modern church, but It does happen. Haw many people do we pull away from because there issue is to hard for us to handle?Is it really to hard to call someone who may be suffering today, just to let them know you thought of them? That you are praying for them today? God never said it would be easy. "Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear." Martin Luther King Jr.Arms, reach, hands, heal, words, teach, feet, go, love, show. Can you follow His lead today. Love God, and because you love Him love for others will pour out. I love you guys.