September 28

Why do we need to armor-up spiritually? I know you’ve heard this many times, but we are not alone on this earth. Satan and one third of the angels were cast out of heaven and now reside between here and the stars in the form of spirits. We know there are a lot of them because Jesus cast out legions of them from just one man, which is anywhere between 3000 and 6000! In Hebrews it says they are innumerable. They are not here to be our friend, even though they disguise themselves to be. They wreak havoc on us by having weak, and vulnerable people do their bidding. Yet another reason to have compassion on hateful and vicious people, they are being toyed with by the enemy who doesn’t want them to know Jesus because they are a useful tool. This enemy is more dangerous than any other enemy because they are invisible. To combat this spiritual enemy, we need spiritual armor. Paul describes this armor like what he saw on a Roman soldier. 

If you are one who goes through the motions of putting on the whole armor of God, you must know what each piece represents. I will cover two of them today. This is found in Ephesians 6:10-20.

The belt of truth: We must know the truth of the gospel! How can you know the truth? Open up the word of God and read it! This is the one piece of weaponry that you can physically see. Without this one piece of armor, you will be completely naked in your fight against the enemy. It is what holds our armor together.

The breastplate of righteousness: This part of the armor, on a Roman soldier, was the shiniest, most visible part, and it covered all of his torso, front and back. It was for the protection of his vital organs, especially the heart! Righteousness is opposite of sinfulness. We are not righteous within ourselves, but are righteous because of Jesus. We put on His righteousness to stop the penetrating darts and lies that the enemy throws at us from soiling our hearts and minds. Ask forgiveness daily.

So far armoring-up means: read your bible, and be free from sin.

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, Ephesians 6:14

September 27

Our dogs are quite noisy when someone comes to the door. It’s insane the amount of yapping they do. A lot of little dogs are like that. I’ve noticed that when I go to someone’s door when the owner is not home, the dog may still bark, but it’s not over the top. Most of the time you hear them barking more quietly, probably hiding in another room. Their bravery and strength is not because of themselves, but because of their human, and they feel powerful having them near. This is a good picture of our strength in the Lord. When the evil one comes knocking on your door, and Jesus is home, you can stand strong and go after him with all your might, because it is Jesus who gives you the bravery to defend yourself. If Jesus is not home, and you open the door, the enemy will tear you to shreds! Opening the door to the enemy is allowing willful sin into your life; he is just waiting for you to step outside without Jesus so he can make you pay the price, and he’s itching to tell everyone what you have done. DO NOT open the door without Jesus!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Ephesians 6:10

For the next several days, I will be covering spiritual warfare and going over our armor piece by piece. This is good stuff y’all! I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us.

September 26

I once had a job that I absolutely loved. This was a management position where I counseled and trained others. There were also office duties, which was not what I signed on for, so I reorganized the office, downsized the paperwork, eliminated, cleaned, got files transferred to the computer, and brought everything up to date. Now that the office part of my job was easier, I could spend more time with people, which was the main thrust of my position. This job captured my heart, unlike any other. I was able to keep all the plates spinning in the air with only a few wobbly moments. After a year, something changed and I began to feel unappreciated and targeted. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t about me. Even though emotionally, things had gotten harder, I still worked diligently as unto the Lord. This is the key; even if your boss doesn’t have the same qualities as Jesus, you are to serve them well as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that the good you do will be paid back by Him. If this is happening to you, and you are able, look for another job, life is too short to live being tormented by an employer. Ephesians 6:5-9

rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Ephesians 6:7-8

September 25

If you watch the news and the headlines, you will see that there are some pretty heinous parents out there. Most of the time, if someone is watching closely, children are taken away from a bad parent so that no harm comes to them. When children of bad parents read the command to obey their parents, they wonder how it can be that they should follow this teaching. Upon further clarity of the scripture, and reading it in its context, is says “in the Lord!” When you were a child, if your parents didn’t obey the Lord, who reigns supreme over them, you are not to follow them into sin. You must obey the Lord and His precepts, over and above anything your parents might have told you. 

A good example of a biblical character disobeying his bad parent is when Saul told Jonathan to bring him David so he could kill him. Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Then Saul threw a spear at him to strike him. Jonathan then left in anger. 

If you have good and decent parents that are following the Lord, and teaching you to do the same, then you better follow this commandment. However, if a parent is leading you into sin, you must follow the Lord for He is over and above your parents. 

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4

September 24

This is where the hornets nest gets stirred! Remember that I’m just the messenger, or as my teacher might say, “I’m just delivering the mail.” I’m not responsible for its content. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the sandwich method, but the bread is like compliments or the positive reinforcement, and the meat is the constructive criticism, or hard teaching. Paul does this under the instruction of the Holy Spirit, and I think we miss it because whoever divides the Bible into topics, leaves this verse in the former section in some translations. As followers of Christ, we are to accept the will of one another and count others more significant than ourselves (vs 21.) God says this before He tells the wife to accept the will of her husband. 

What’s more telling is that He compares the husband to Jesus, because He’s the head of the church. Most women would tell you that if their husbands would love like Jesus, then they would have no trouble submitting to him, and husbands would have no trouble being like Jesus if their wives would adore them the way we adore Jesus. Just as we are a part of the body of Christ, we become one, with Him being the head, when we joined together as husband and wife, we became one, and should treat each other as our own flesh. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church (vs 29.) Ephesians 5:21-33

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However,   let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she  respects her husband. Ephesians 5:32-33

September 23

Did you know that God wants to hear us sing? I’m not sure anyone wants to hear me sing, but God does! There is a lot of us who can’t carry a tune in a bucket, and yet He still wants us to sing to Him. The dogs might be howling, but the Lord is delighted. Not only does He want us to sing to Him individually, but He also wants us to come together to sing to Him. Can you imagine what it would look like if life was a musical, and we addressed one another with hymns and songs? The unbelieving public would think we were a bunch of fruit loops! Heck, so would the believers! What’s new about that? This goes along with what I wrote yesterday about not getting drunk. People who are drunk sing filthy songs and praise the god of wine. Well, God wants us to be more devoted to singing psalms and spiritual songs that raise Him up instead. 

I picture people in the old west around a piano with their booze in their hand laughing and singing. Why can’t we do the same thing when we are having fun, but instead of being drunk on alcohol, be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? If we would include God in our fun and fellowship, I believe He would make it memorable.

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:10-20

September 22

Ouch! God’s word is really hitting some nerves! If you’re waking up from a night of partying, today’s message is really going to sting! “Oh Lord, why did you lead me into Ephesians? I’m not going to have any friends after this!” He starts by telling us to use our time wisely because the days are evil. We all know this to be true; just read the headlines! Many years ago I saw a prediction that said that the Middle East would overtake the world, not by invasion, but by opium. Guess who produces over 90% of the world's opium? Afghanistan! How’s that for an eye opener. Now we see people on the streets walking around like zombies. This type of behavior is nothing new; there’s always been something to sedate humans. Wine was the drug of choice in the biblical days, and people would get drunk, and do salacious things that shouldn’t even be spoken of, just like they do today! We are warned against being involved in this type of behavior. If this sounds like you, then you need to stop. If you can’t stop, seek help to get your life under control, and remove the hooks that the enemy has in you. Once you’ve experienced a life filled with the Holy Spirit, you can’t get enough, He’s much better than a drug and He keeps you fully alive!

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:15-18

September 21

As we venture into this next chapter of Ephesians, I decided to get bold with God. I took my hands off the keyboard and said, “you take control for this section!” His response to me was, “I already did! Look at my scripture.” God does not mince words when it comes to sexual immorality. This includes adultery, sexual acts of a married person with someone other than their spouse, and fornication, sexual acts between the unmarried. I’m not sure how a Christian can get away with this without being riddled with guilt. If you’ve toyed around with promiscuousness, and have no guilt or feel no shame, you had better check your salvation! He is very clear that a whoremonger has NO inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. Over and over again, He tells us not to live like the world does. We get beat up pretty bad whether we do or not, but I would rather get beat by the world than deal with the consequence of going against God and His precepts. It is guaranteed that once the light of God and His holiness illuminates you, any darkness and sin will be exposed. It would be like wearing a white robe that has muddy handprints all over it, or like a pig that has wallowed in his own filth. I certainly don’t want to look or smell like that, do you? Let the Holy Spirit be your guide, He will give you warnings. You will never be tempted beyond what you can handle, you can be sure of it! Ephesians 5:1-14

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:5

September 20

The stronger I grow in the Lord, the more I understand where Paul is coming from as he is trying to teach the Christians in Ephesus to clean up their act and walk in a manner worthy of God. This is not just for them, it is for us. This comes from Ephesians 4:17-32.

1. Stop acting like you did before you knew Jesus. Vs 22
2. Renew your spirit so it resembles God and His holiness. Vs 23-24
3. No more lying. Vs 25
4. Be angry, but then let it go. If you don’t, you leave the door open for the devil. Vs 26-27
5. Don’t steal. Work for your money and the things you want. Vs 28
6. Clean up your filthy mouth, or clean up your heart so that what comes out of your mouth is a good representation of Jesus. Vs 29
7. Let go of all bitterness, wrath, anger, shouting, lying, and intention to do evil. Vs 31

The sum of this is, be kind and forgiving, because we have been forgiven by God. We are different from everyone else, we have the Holy Spirit and our lives should reflect that. Why would anyone want to be like us if our actions are like those who don’t know Jesus?

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:42

September 19

You have to wonder what God is up to when you are awakened at 4:45 am and cannot go back to sleep. I laid there for about an hour and decided to get up. I fixed my coffee, which I add chocolate too, and sat down to pray and study. I got distracted by the dog and dropped my coffee and it splattered all over the floor. Remember the chocolate? Now it’s in the grout! At 6:15 am, I was on my knees cleaning up a mess! The only way to get the coffee and chocolate out of the grout is bleach! It’s amazing what bleach can do! When I was finished, my floor was perfectly clean, no more stains. 

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It began last night at dark and ends tonight at dark. It is a Sabbath holiday found in Leviticus 16 and 23. Christian tradition does not usually follow along with the feasts of the Lord. However, it is important to know about them because of the prophecy that it points to. It is thought, by many Bible scholars, that the fall feast are those days that have yet to be fulfilled. These days point to the second coming of Jesus. In the Jewish tradition, Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and prayer for forgiveness of sins committed against God.

Getting back to the story; my spilled coffee, and broken cup, is a good representation of our brokenness due to our sin. Jesus is like the bleach that removed the stains from my grout. We don’t just leave a mess on the floor, we clean it up! If you have unconfessed sin, today might be a good day to go before Jesus in prayer to ask for forgiveness. Not only will you be participating in an appointed day of the Lord, but you will clear your conscience. 

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John:1:7-9

September 18

God called my friend out into nature, so she could hear His voice more clearly. She decided to share a portion of that experience through video, and challenged her friends to discuss it as if it were a parable. It was interesting to see how God spoke to each person so differently. She was sitting at the edge of the water and had fixed her eyes on some minnows that were grouped together doodling around in the shallow water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a water turkey, Anhinga, swim by. She was so enthralled watching the fish that she almost missed seeing this bird. When she looks back at the fish, they had multiplied! The message I received from this goes right along with my study of Ephesians 4. If you’ve ever watched fish swim together, you’ll notice that they swim in sync, they move together as one. Every now and then one will swim off on its own, making it vulnerable to being gobbled up by its enemy. These fish represent the body of Christ, the Anhinga represents the enemy, waiting for that one fish to get separated from the others, and my friend represents God’s presence. The Anhinga won’t come near the minnows my friend is watching over because it’s too afraid. When we strike out on our own, away from the body of Christ; it makes us susceptible to the deceitful schemes of the enemy. However, when we stick together as one, the body of Christ grows and we are safe!

I challenge each of you to spend some time alone in nature and see if you can hear God’s voice more clearly. If you invite Him to join you, He will!

so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:14-16

September 17

As I was exploring my gifts, I realized that the way I use them comes together for this daily post. However, if I don’t stay connected by keeping a close relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit, I couldn’t write each and every day like I do. It may not always appeal to you, but God has someone in mind when He perks my interest in a subject, and He knows the words needed to draw their interest to Him. He wants all of His children to do the work of the Kingdom, and to build up the body of Christ until it matures, and is no longer easily drawn away by every crazy cult that is put in the path by the devil. Every believer is equipped with at least one gift of the Holy Spirit, and rather than continuing to try and guess what it is, do a little research and find out yours. Some “smarty pants” has figured out a way to test you to find out what those gifts are. There are a lot of questions to answer, but there are a lot of gifts. The more questions they ask the more accurate the results will be. If you keep asking God what your purpose is, maybe this is the first step to finding out. Don’t just sit there doing nothing, being tossed about by every wind of doctrine, get busy becoming a useful part of the body of Christ. If you decide to take a test today, share with us your results so we can encourage you!

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Ephesians 4:11-14 

If you haven’t discovered your gift/gifts, there are many online tests that can give you guidance and help you see what they are. You might be surprised. As a precaution, I always go to the “About” section on any website that I visit to make sure their Statement of Faith matches my own. I suggest you do that for any online information you are seeking.

September 16

When Jesus was carried away to die on the cross, it seemed like the war was over, and that Jesus had been defeated. The hopes of His followers were dashed. They didn’t understand that His death was just the beginning, and what He was doing would free them and deliver their sins, and ours, to the depths of hell. When He rose from the dead, He conquered hell, Satan, and all of his minions. After every battle that is won, there are spoils, bootie, treasure, that are plundered by the soldiers and brought home to their family. Jesus, being the King and the Commander, was no different. After He ascended to go back to Heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit as comfort, like a wall around His kingdom. He had won, and we are now safe. But, that’s not all! There is treasure that has been distributed to those who are in His kingdom. Each person is given a measure of grace, distributed however seems fitting to our Savior. That unmerited favor, shows up as spiritual gifts to equip the saints for the work of ministry in the kingdom, to build up the body of Christ. You will know when it’s a gift, because it’s something you’ve had no formal training in, at least in the beginning, yet you are able. Once you know your gift, you can perfect it through training. This covers Ephesians 4:7-12.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” Ephesians 4:7-8

If you haven’t discovered your gift/gifts, there are many online tests that can give you guidance and help you see what they are. You might be surprised. As a precaution, I always go to the “About” section on any website that I visit to make sure their Statement of Faith matches my own. I suggest you do that for any online information you are seeking. Giftstest.com is pretty accurate. 

September 15

Have you ever been around people whom you assumed were Christ followers because they were in a Christian environment, but questioned their motives? We are servants of the Most High; and we should project His leadership, example, and loving attitude. We all want to do an excellent job for our Savior, but not at the expense of others. We should never run over and trample the hearts of other people while trying to reach a goal. We should walk in a manner worthy of our calling. Our humility, gentleness, and patience, should without a doubt, show everyone that Jesus is our King and that His goal of love is being carried out. No one should ever question whether or not you belong to Jesus. Yes, we all have times where we slip up, and we know God will redeem us, but those times should be few. Never get so wrapped up in the excitement or get preoccupied with the task at hand that you forget who it is you belong to.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

September 13

Unbelievers don’t understand why we have such confidence in an invisible God. As a matter of fact, they think we are insane! They don’t know the mystery that has been revealed to us and the hope we’ve been given. We didn’t come to know Jesus without the prompting from the Holy Spirit; He opened our eyes to our need. In a lot of cases, He shows us who we really are, how great our sin is, and our distance away from Him. Because of our faith, we can come before Him with boldness.

We are watching a scary storm barreling toward the Carolina coastline. Those in its path have either fled, or are bracing for the impact. In both situations, whether they know Jesus or not, they are praying. When they don’t know Jesus, who are they praying to, the air? What are good vibes, and what do they do for you? However, those that do know Him are coming before Him with boldness to ask for protection. We have confidence in Him, and know that whatever the outcome, He will be the one who picks up the pieces and puts things back together.

  

Stand strong, mighty warriors of God and know He is with you!

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. Ephesians 3:12

September 14

Until the weather changes for the worst, we don’t realize the power that exists that is beyond our control. As Americans, we are taught that we are a mighty superpower, however, our strength is weak in comparison the category five hurricane making its way to the American coastline. When we witness its power we realize that we can’t control it, and are at the mercy of God. Thanks to the powerful prayer of many, the current storm is coming onto land at a much lower category, and instead God has relented and spared our people from complete devastation. It will still be catastrophic, but prayerfully, loss of life will be minimal. When the world seems to be collapsing, turmoil has taken over, and the storms around you threaten to bring you down, God has given you strength through His Holy Spirit to overcome all kinds of adversity. May you be at peace as a Cat 5 hurricane threatens to devastate your life, knowing that you can get through it with the powerful strength that is within you!

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ... Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:16, 20-21

September 12

I became a mother early in 1990, before my son was born on November 4. It wasn’t until then that I fully understood the depth of love, even though I had the amazing love of my mom and dad, the giving of my love was not complete. Even though I feel like I now understand the fullness of love, it is dim in comparison to the depth and breadth of the love Jesus has for us. There is no measurement for it; it is a treasure chest without a bottom, you could search for the end and would never find it. So in my finite knowledge, my only comparison would be the love I have for my child. He could treat me with disdain, reject my love, withhold love from me, and I would still love him. Imagine a world full of children doing exactly that, yet Jesus’s love for us is unsearchable, there is no ending. This is the mission that Jesus gave to Paul, to take these riches to the Gentiles, to help us understand, as much as we can, the love, grace, and mercy He has for those of us who believe in Him. This love is reflected in the price He paid on the cross, and He did it so He could spend eternity with us. That kind of love is real love.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3:8

September 11

Many years ago, when all of our children were old enough, we went through the process of becoming certified to scuba dive. Our kids dive more than we do, and Richard is anxious to get into it again, so he signed us up to go to a gathering of divers he found on Facebook. We didn’t know anyone in this group and they already had a special bond with one another. I felt like we were outsiders. They talked about all their adventures, and diving to great depths, which made me quite anxious. They were nice and willing to share their experiences, which helped us to decide is we wanted to join them. I’m not so sure if it’s for me, but Richard liked it. Compare this to the revelation of the mystery given to Paul. The Jews, at the time had been made known of the gospel of Jesus, and word was spreading throughout that nation. The mystery that was revealed to Paul was that salvation was also available to the Gentiles, you and me, and that we are co-heirs with the believing Jews. We are no longer outsiders and have a special bond and are able to dive to great depths with them. In my comparison, I would be the unbelieving Gentile, not sure if I want to go to great depths with the Jews. It takes a lot of courage to be a follower of Christ. It’s not for the timid. The great thing is, you're not alone, there is always someone on the boat keeping a close eye on you, ready to rescue you when trouble arises. 

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3:6

September 10

My husband is a builder. A couple of years ago we decided to build two duplexes on some property we owned. There is quite a process that you must go through before you even move one ounce of dirt. After we cleared all the hurdles required by the county and state, and the permits were approved and ready, we could begin preparing the area for the foundation. Together, he and I measured and set the stakes for the corners. If you don’t get this important step right, the whole building will be off. Perfection for this step is imperative! After the corners are marked, then the dirt is brought up to the elevation required, then a footer is dug, rebar is placed, then it’s filled with concrete. A row of block is then set, dirt brought up to the perfect level and compacted, pest control sprayed, underlayment and rebar placed, then finally the foundation poured. If you get any of this wrong, your building will be weak, and could crumble. Throughout scripture we are compared to a temple, a building with Jesus as our cornerstone, the perfect corners; the foundation the apostles and the prophets. If we build upon this foundation, our structure will be strong and able to resist the elements, and the Father will have a dwelling place. The apostles and prophets are found in the Bible, if you’re not reading it, your foundation will be weak.

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22

September 9

Do you ever meet someone, and you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you feel you already know them? There's something familiar about them that you feel drawn to. There is a reason for it, the Holy Spirit! The Bible says that we are no longer strangers, but are fellow citizens and members of God’s household. We are not strangers because we both have access to the Father. If this is true, and the Bible says it is, you should be able to tell who isn’t a part of the kingdom through that same Spirit. Some people talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. There are imposters among us. The truth is that it’s easier to tell who is than who isn’t, because the spiritual connection is powerful, but if they are an imposter you may like them but something will be missing, and it’s usually their fruit. My question for you today is, are you fooling yourself? Many people sitting in the church pews on Sunday will be left behind when Jesus calls the saints. Don’t be one of them! There is a simple test: if it’s easy for you to lie without feeling convicted, you may be in danger. Even a tiny white lie will convict you. Do you pass the test?

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Ephesians 2:18-19