A good Message at Church Last Night...Worth Passing On

vanity | 4 January, 2016 | Vanity

[Shery]

Last evening one of the "elders' at our church gave the Sunday Evening Bible study, sitting in the for the pastor. He admitted that it was not the message he'd prepared, but that he felt strongly that the Lord wanted him to give.

He talked about consecrating ourselves to the Lord, explaining that God had asked the Israelites on several occasions to do just that and He would fight their battles for them. He explained that God had wanted the Israelites to consecrate themselves before they went to battle in Canaan, but they were only partially obedient, and their victory was only partial, as well. Of course, the message was more about how we are to live today, consecrating our lives to Him so that His work in and through us bears more fruit.

It made me think of the recent calls by Cruz to put on the “full armor of God to be able to stand” in the days ahead. I think this is where many Christians become confused. Many think that we are to armor-up so we can go to battle, but the actual text says for us to “stand”. Stand? Yes, stand. We are to be prepared to stand against the fiery darts of the Enemy. Our Lord fights the battles. We are to be prepared to withstand the Enemy’s assaults on our faith, on our families, in whatever form that takes, to know the Enemy and to stand against his lies and deceit.

Here is the reference: The Whole Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Yes, it is talking about our personal lives, but also about our church body. But one certainly can extend it to the spheres of our communities and our country, where traditional Judeo-Christian values are under assault daily like never before in America. I think that to be successful this election cycle we must consider that we are not electing a “savior” for America. She already has one that most are rejecting these days, but we are electing (hopefully) a godly man who will lead with honesty and a heart that listens to God’s leading. Hopefully, this man will surround himself with other godly people who will also listen to God’s leading. While I know not all who would be chosen to serve would likely be Christian, it would be nice to have men and women who do not rebel against the idea that we need God’s help.

I pray that those of us who are believers would consecrate ourselves to be the kind of people that God can work through and that we would consecrate ourselves to pray fervently for God’s mercy, for revival in America, and for national repentance before Gods ultimate judgment falls upon us.

[Shery]

I don’t know how to get rid of the extra symbols when you use quotation marks....does anybody know how? This is frustrating!

[pgkdan]

Yes, you can preview your post and the symbols will show up. Just change them out and your post should come out clean. Most of the time.

[mountn man]

Preview your post and where you see the funkiness, just delete that comma or quote and replace it with a new comma or quote.

(also...are you logged in???)

[~Vor~]

Dr. David Jeremiah did a wonderful series entitled “Spiritual Warfare: Terms of Engagement”...based on the full armor of God...the videos are not available on his site anymore but, they can be found on YouTube...

[Twotone]

Someone provided this link...

http://dan.hersam.com/tools/smart-quotes.html

You’re supposed to be able to put your post in the upper half & then convert. Then copy & past from the second section. I haven’t tried to see if it works yet.

[Shery]

I tried but they still showed up after I posted, anyway! Argh!

[Shery]

My husband told me to write the whole thing in text edit on my computer, then copy and paste it. That didn’t work. So, I went in and tried editing them out, but when I posted they still showed up. Bummer!

[Twotone]

A good post, none-the-less. And pretty much what Glenn Beck has been saying: stand against evil, with love not violence, & with faith in the Lord.

[lulu16]

Excellent. Thank-you so much. We need to reminded that we are his chosen people, a holy people. We worship the God of hosts.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. “

[grame]

Amen!

[Dacula]

Can we stick to the message.

So far in 2016 my family has lost a long time family friend, a jogger was run over by a car less than a quarter of a mile from our home and then this morning a neighbor and good friend of the family lost her two week old son.

Are we being tested? What message should we be receiving now?

Shery’s post is important. Stay focused to God’s message for each and everyone of us. PLEASE

[Shery]

Sorry to hear about the neighbors and their trials. In Scripture, the Enemy takes on two forms...the deceiver (as in snake), like in the garden, and the dragon, out to destroy in any way possible. We must be on our guard for both types of attacks. Prayers up for these families and may we be the true body of Christ in ministering to those around us with God’s love, which will require that we consecrate our lives to be God’s instruments of peace in these troubled times. God bless and give you words to say.

[pgkdan]

I know...it’s extremely annoying!