THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

December 5, 2015

AWESOME moment!  Revelation and profound understanding of ~

THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Thoughts provoked from study of Joseph in Genesis 41:38-40

“…can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?  …for as much as God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are.  You shall be over my house and…all my people.  Only in the throne will I be greater than you.”  ~Pharaoh

The Holy Spirit is GOD within us…with Jesus’ Promise:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that, you can say ‘The Lord is my Helper’ I will not fear what man may do to me.”  Hebrews 13:5-6

My body is the Temple of The Holy Spirit – I am responsible for using what God has given to give Him glory.  

Example:  Everything in the Tabernacle and Temple was holy, set apart for God’s Glory.  It was made out of the best materials to provide an atmosphere of worship and prayer to God Almighty.

Illustration:  JOSEPH

EVERYTHING in Joseph’s life was for GOD…at all costs!  He simply trusted God and saw all situations as being from Him.  He acknowledged God in all situations and God directed His paths.  In every situation of injustice and unfairness, because of Joseph’s character and integrity, God favored him in the circumstances of his life: 

*Sold into slavery ending up in Potiphar’s house; he was favored because God blessed him and Potiphar saw that God was with him, and he gave Joseph control of all he owned.  Pursued by his wife, Joseph refused and ended up in prison.

*In prison the Chief Guard found favor in Joseph and put him in charge of the prison.  He used opportunity to glorify God with his gift of interpreting dreams, which lead him to Pharaoh.

*As a result of interpreting his dreams, Pharoah acknowledged that Joseph had the Spirit of God and found favor in giving Joseph control of his entire kingdom of Egypt with the exception of his throne.

We don’t see Joseph trying to get out of any of his situations;  he seemed to believe God was in EVERYTHING.

It would seem that back in his youth when he was favored by his father, Jacob, because of being the son of the wife he loved, and having two dreams:  one said he would rule over his brothers; and the second said his father, mother and brothers would bow down to him; that Joseph believed the dreams.  However, the brothers resented him for them and devised a way to get rid of him...from there we have the rest of the story.  It ended with Joseph telling his brothers that what they meant for evil, God meant for good…for this time, to preserve his family and make them into a nation.

EMMANUEL ~ GOD is with us! ~ The Holy Spirit of God promised by Jesus.

We are wrapped in His Presence-a Hug from God The Father;  a gift of Grace to give us power to Glorify GOD, The Father and Jesus Christ, His Son!  We are to be Holy as He is Holy – set apart only for His use (purpose; will). 

The Holy Spirit is given to help us to “work out our salvation” that God has placed within us. (Philippians 2:12)   He is our Companion/Confidant; Helper; Comforter; Teacher; Revealer of Truth; Guide; Power.  We MUST believe it is so and receive Him and release Him to do ALL He was given to do in us…which is to glorify The Son.  (John 16:7-15)

Our work (part) ~ Wrap each day with His Presence by:

     Acknowledging Him verbally

      Practicing His Presence – He is a Reality!

      Seek His plans from His Word – “He is the Way…He is the Life”

      Fellowship with Him in prayer – it should be a delight!

      Worship Him with praise – in words and song! 

      Love Him ~ by giving Him the very best

                        ~ by “loving one another” – we are His Body!

Lord, You have given me everything I need to be Your Temple, and I am responsible for using what You have given for the purpose of giving You glory – it is The Holy Spirit; He is given to us to give You back the Glory due to You.  “Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, do ALL to the glory of God” for, “we can do nothing apart from Your Indwelling Presence ~ The Holy Spirit.  I am responsible for the activity of The Spirit by confidently trusting Him by working with Him and His plans.  You are the Life and You use mine to work with You! Be glorified!

WHAT TO PREACH...ACCORDING TO JESUS?

"Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures

and He said to them, Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer

and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance

and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name

to all nations..."   (Luke 24:45-49)

                                 

WHAT TO PREACH...ACCORDING TO JESUS?

     What is usually preached?  What we call the Gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God  was born of a virgin, died on the cross shedding His blood, was buried and rose again to redeem the world from sin that separates them from God.

     That’s not all that Jesus said!  He said “...that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to  all nations…”       We hear very little about REPENTANCE.  Repentance is having a change of mind and turning to God.   More preaching emphasis is only believing in Jesus and being saved...but,  if  the life has not changed and turned away from sin to Christ… then, there is no salvation of sin!  You CANNOT go in both directions.  It you turn to God seeking forgiveness for sin, and receive salvation, remission, forgiveness of sin, you will NOT turn back away from God to the life you had before.

       John the Baptist preached repentance...Jesus preached repentance.  (See Matthew 3:2 & 4:17)   At Pentecost, Peter preached repentance. (See Acts 2:38)  Paul preached repentance. (See Acts 17:30)

       Christian America needs repentance!  So much emphasis has been on 2 Chronicles 7:14 to pray for God to heal our land.  There are 3 conditions for God to hear, forgive and heal the land.  They are pray, seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways!  This would be (1)prayer of confession, (2)seeking God with your whole heart (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13) and (3)repenting (do whatever it takes to turn back to “One Nation under God.”)...THEN, God will hear!  We don’t have His attention yet—we haven’t even begun. 

CHRISTIANS, GOD’S PEOPLE, BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS

WE ARE CONVICTED AND GUILTY OF

NOT STANDING UP FOR GOD! 

How long before it will be too late?

        

“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

THE GLOVES

John 15:1-17

I have a pair of gloves that were given to me.

They are very special.

I was told that they were handmade;

…and probably out of organic material.

They were made in sizes to fit anyone;

…and mine were just my size.

They were made in lots of designs;

…and mine was chosen to match my personality.

My friend said they would do anything I wanted them to do.

That they would help me to do better work;

…and bring much delight to my life!

I couldn’t wait to try out this special gift.

I thought about all the things that could be done with these gloves.

So, I said: “Gloves, I need to go and visit my friend to thank her for giving you to me so that I can get a lot more things done. Would you wash the clothes, and prepare supper from the recipes on the counter, and while you’re cooking, would you make a loaf of bread and take it to my neighbor that has been sick and tell them that I send my love; and a batch of cookies for the children when they get home from school. Dear Gloves, thank you for helping make my life much more fruitful.”

When I returned from my pleasant visit with my friend, I noticed my special gloves right where I left them and nothing had been done that I requested. I was very disappointed and called my friend to tell her that the gift has not proven to be all that she said it would.

My friend lovingly said, “The gloves will only work when your hands are inserted, then they will do ANYTHING your hands will do!”

Recorded in John 15, Jesus said that He is The Vine of God The Father (The Holy Spirit) and everyone who belongs to Him will become a Branch of Him and produce fruit of His likeness. He said “if” the Branch remains living in Him, The Vine, then it would produce more fruit (because The Holy Spirit is now the life of the Branch.) He added that if the Branch remains living in Him, and His Words are living in them, then they would bear much fruit and bring glory to The Father who is the Gardener. If the branch does not produce any fruit of His likeness, it will be pruned, cutting off the useless branch so that it will bear fruit. If the branch still does not produce any fruit, because of unbelief in The Vine, it has no life and will die and be removed from The Vine. Verse 5 says if He is not living in the Branch it can do NOTHING. However, in verse 7 Jesus says, IF His Spirit and His words are living in the Branch, THEN the Branch can ask for ANYTHING and The Vine/Sprit will do it! That’s Almighty Power from God The Father, and The Branch becoming entirely HIS making the Person, Power and Presence of God known to the world!

Just like the gloves, The Branch (Believer/Disciple of Jesus) can do ANYTHING The Vine/Holy Spirit can do! THAT’S POWER that delights The Father!

…Do you believe it?

"THE SEED & THE FIRST FATHER"

June 21^st Father’s Day

FATHERS…and a day to remember them!

FATHERS are the HIGHEST rank in God’s Creation order!

ALL men were created with the SEED for procreation of Mankind…he is the NECESSARY requirement for human life!

*All the barren women in Scripture, whose wombs were opened, all had husbands with the seed that God used!  Think on that one for a bit…

***God’s genealogy order for the Jews was…”father to son” and they recorded and identified their birth and lineage through the father and son…See Genesis 5, 10 & 11 and Matthew 1.

PART 1 ~ INTERESTING FACTS about Adam, the First Father ~ Genesis 4

…he and Eve did not conceive until AFTER they left Eden!  They had intimacy but no conception.  Think about that one!  A child born BEFORE the sinful nature would have been PURE AND SINLESS just like Adam and Eve even though a child would have still had the nature to choose!  I think we can see why God prevented this from happening…Him knowing ALL THINGS and our choices!

***Back to the facts…it is supposed that the First Child was a son, named Cain. (I have a thought abut this to come back to.) 

Like Adam, Cain was a tiller of the ground.  Adam & Eve had a second son and he was named Abel.  He was a keeper of sheep.

***Obviously these two boys had to grow up and become old enough to work.  During these growing up years, Adam and Eve would have spent time telling them where they came from.  Wouldn’t you think it strange that there aren’t any others around?  They would have been told the creation story and how they disobeyed God, The Creator and that the penalty for disobeying was death.  However, God killed an animal and made them clothes from the skin to cover their sinfulness and to be made fit for God’s Presence.  And the process of death and dying began.  God had instituted the sin offering of atoning blood of an animal to be shed as a substitute sacrifice for man’s sin.  They were living east of the Garden of Eden that was protected by Cherubims and a flaming sword because the Tree of Life was still there.  The Eastern side of the Garden of Eden would have likely remained the place of worship with God where they would have come to bring their offerings. 

…So…one could imagine that Abel chose to be a keeper of sheep for the purpose of providing for sacrifices.  Scripture doesn’t say that this event in verse 3 was the first time Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord; but on this occasion Cain decided to bring an offering from the fruit of his labors; which would have been fine for a Thank Offering, but he was bringing for a sin offering and that’s why it was not acceptable.  Abel brought required sin offering and he made it the best of his sheep.  God did not accept Cain’s offering because it was not a blood offering and when he got angry God reminded him that there was no reason to be upset, just bring the acceptable offering or sin would lie at his door.  Cain’s chose to remain angry; and he became resentful of Abel.  Sin truly took hold of Cain and he shed blood but it was his brother’s; and then he lied to God.  His punishment should have been death, but instead God saved his life but it was not blessed…the ground would no longer respond to him because it had blood on it; he would be cast out and become a fugitive and a vagabond.  Cain protested to God that it was unfair punishment and that everyone would want to kill him.  God gave him a mark and said that vengeance would come on whoever killed him sevenfold.  He was sent out from the Presence of the Lord unto the land of Nod east of Eden.  He and his seed built a city and established a splendid material civilization, arts and industries; but no moral state.  That’s all we know about Cain because his lineage was destroyed in the Flood.

***When Adam and Eve were 130 years old they  had another son and he was named Seth.  Eve said God had appointed another seed instead of Abel…then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

Chapter 5 gives us the generations of Adam and his seed Seth that will lead us to Godly men and finally Noah who found grace in the eyes of The Lord.

***Back to my thought about the First Child.  I think the first and perhaps several others before Cain were girls.  Eve said of Cain “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” Verse 1

Then we know that Adam is 130 years old when Seth is born.  So there was a lot of time between Cain & Abel and Seth to have those daughters that had to help be fruitful and multiply and provide a wife for Cain and all the other sons he had for 800 years after Seth.  I don’t even want to imagine how many children Eve actually gave birth to.  Remember “Adam called her Eve because she was the mother of all living.”  Gen. 3:20

PART 2 ~ INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GOD THE FATHER ~ John 5:17-47

*** Genesis 3:8-15  ~ A woman with Seed!

…The miracle of Mary was that she was not barren, but she did NOT have the seed from a husband.  The SEED that produced her CHILD was from THE CREATOR…GOD …thus, why HE would be called FATHER!   *Up until the birth of JESUS, GOD was identified as I AM, CREATOR, THE ALMIGHTY and SPIRIT  OF GOD.

…when was The Son of God created?  Answer:  at conception…God became flesh!  Life always begins at conception!

…So, what kind of relationship does The Son of God have with His Father.  Let’s take a look at John 5:17-47.

***What do we need to learn from Jesus about how to respect and honor our fathers?

Death should not cause that respect and honor to cease…neither should marriage!

Thank You, Lord, for fathers...and for being our Forever Father to those who have been born again in Your Spirit!  May we give you both our Love, respect and honor.

ON THE ROAD TO NEW LIFE!

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death

in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead

 through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

Romans 6:4

I literally get on the road to New Life every day...

"Walk by faith, not by sight."

"In all your ways, acknowledge Him (the Lord your God) and He will direct your paths."

A gal on the radio was giving her testimony of being overweight all her life and trying to lose weight for boys, or cheerleading, for herself and never being able to keep it off...but she never had asked The Lord to help her to do it for Him!  She has lost 80 lbs.  She weighed 282! 

This hit me so targeted on my own battle with losing and keeping off pounds and giving God glory in it.

I have just taken a bold stand for my Lord and challenging myself to eat a plant-based diet like Daniel did to show that this is the way God designed our bodies and created for food and medicine.  I totally enjoyed doing this unto my Lord and boldly acknowledging Him and His Word to doctors who are Christians but believe that man's medicine is the only and best way to treat many diseases and sickness...in my case, the heart! 

Today on the way to New Life Baptist Church, where I work,  I realized this girl is so right.  I must continue to eat according to HIS WORD and boldly acknowledge The Creator with my body that is His Holy Place...so that He would be delighted and glorified.  My desire should be to eat, exercise, work, teach, influence and live to delight my Lord and Creator...Almighty God!  To become a Peculiar Pattern that others will want to follow as I follow His Pattern...every day on the road to "new life!"

"...so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus..."  Acts 20:24

JOY is the flag that is flown when The Master is at home! ~Ruth Harms Calkin

March 5, 2015

Betty Nunes

"SO THAT..."

Hebrews 13:5-7 NCV

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. God has said,

“I will never leave you;Matthew 28:18-20 KJV

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Acts 1:7-9 KJV

⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

⁸ But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

⁹ And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

    I will never abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

⁶ So that we can boldly say,

“I will not be afraid, because the Lord is my helper.
    People can’t do anything to me.” (Psalm 118:6)

⁷ Remember your leaders who taught God’s message to you. Remember how they lived and died, and copy their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We know these words of Jesus as The Great Commission.  The writer of Hebrews reminds us of  how and why we should obey Jesus’ instructions…”so that.”  We can boldly, confidently, without fear tell all those we have opportunity as we go about in the world about Jesus because His Spirit is within us to empower and help us…so that, we can tell about Him! 

Jesus said to tell them everything He has told us about Who He is, where He came from, why He came, what He did and why He left.  He also said to tell how knowing Him has changed your life and how He can do the same for them. 

Jesus came from Heaven to earth to redeem mankind from the bondage of SIN.  He ONLY could give His blood as the perfect sacrifice because He was without sin.  He did this by dying on a cross.  Then He rose from the dead 3 days later to a new life He had never known before and would be changed forever!  We are to tell the world that they are redeemed and that they can be set free from the bondage of sin by believing in what Jesus did and asking Him to give them a new life they have never known before that is changed forever! 

He promised He was preparing a place for those who believe in Him and have received His Spirit and would come back for them and take them to be with Him in the place He had prepared.  We are to tell others until He comes!  Scripture indicates that ALL things have been fulfilled and we are the last generation to tell that He is coming SOON!

So…why aren’t we doing what He said we should be doing until He comes?  Not telling is NOT preventing Him from coming, it is only preventing you from hearing “well done, good and faithful one” when He comes!

You know how to tie a gift, Lord!  You are with us in The Holy Spirit “so that” we can do Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 – Your way for Your glory; “so that” we can give You our best; to boldly witness, teach, disciple and baptize with water and The Word “without fear…” because I have Almighty God as my Helper!

O Lord, I love You, and Your Word sustains me.  Your Word today has become my life handle and confidence.  Thank You for proving Your Presence and for pursuing a Love relationship with me full of reality.  May the passion of loving You draw others in – “so that” You will be a reality to us all!
                                                                                                                                         2/12/2012

IT'S TIME TO LOOK UP!

For years I have been enjoying the mystery and delight of watching the pine trees introduce us to The Holy Week of the Passion of Christ and His Resurrection.

Today as I was driving to work and thinking on these things, I watched the trees along the side of the road.  To my delight many of them were pointing their fingers heavenward and it caused me to raise my hands and heart in praise and anticipation of the celebration coming soon!

If you haven't seen this spectacular wonder, start looking up at the pine trees.  You will see the tips of their branches lifted like fingers and hands in praise to The Creator and announcing the coming of Easter and Passover.  They do this every year a couple of weeks before Easter!  Almost overnight the fingers will transform into crosses lifted toward Heaven reminding all of us of what our Creator God did to redeem us from the bondage of sin. Then the crosses become the new life on the tree. 

As the pine trees display their yearly message of telling us that Easter is coming...I wondered about mankind (especially those who have received the gift of salvation) and our praise.  Are we pointing the world to the cross?  Are we demonstrating the new life of The Holy Spirit of God living within and helping us to love as He loved?  Our lives should be pointing others to Heaven…like the trees!

I stay amazed at the wonder of God and His creative genius!   May we demonstrate that He lives! ~Betty

"You are My witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God." Isaiah 43:12

Jesus said:  "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,

will draw all men unto Me."  John 12:32

Prayer: Father God, thank you for the created world that declares your glory and proclaims the work of your hands. Help us this day to look up and see the splendor of your presence with us amidst the ordinariness of the daily tasks at hand. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

HAVE A MESSAGE AND BE ONE!

“Preach the Word!”  (2 Timothy 4:2)

“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”  

(John 6:53)

“…you shall be witnesses unto Me…” (Acts 1:8)

Before you can preach (proclaim) the Word, you must become related to the Word!

John said that Jesus was The Word…and those who received the Word and believed shall become children of God. (John 1:12)  We are His sons and daughters and that makes us descendants of The Word, and the Message must be a part of us.  Our lives must be a holy example of the reality of His Spirit and our message His words, just as Jesus’ words are spirit and life. (John 6:53)

How does one’s life become a holy example of God’s Message?  It takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crumbled into submission to the purpose of God.  The purpose of God is to become One with Him in our relationship with Jesus through His crucifixion and resurrection. (Galatians 2:20)

We have the example of becoming God’s Message as we look at Jesus’ disciples after Pentecost and the baptism of The Holy Spirit.  The receiving of The Holy Spirit made them the incarnation of what they preached, literally becoming God’s message in the flesh…”you shall become witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8)

What a Holy Life we have:  SON/DAUGHTER – MESSENGER – WITNESS OF ALMIGHTY GOD!

Lord God, I am listening with a pounding heart searching for clarity to what I’m hearing – “God infleshed!”  Why does that paint a different picture to me than “Spirit-filled” or “Indwelling Spirit”?  That’s POWER!  And with it, the life is to be the Message…the power of Resurrection and Pentecost living in me?!  I am overwhelmed.  May it be so, as You have said, Lord.  Be glorified!

THE TEMPLE & JESUS

December 28, 2014 Bethel Sunday School Lesson ~  

Focal Scripture:  John 2:13-3:16

Today we connect the dots of the meaning and purpose of The Temple and how it relates to Jesus and to us.  We observe Jesus and the first Passover of His ministry; and the first Pharisee who received the New Birth.  Jesus comes to the Temple for the first time in His ministry and creates a lasting memory!  Let's look at the Temple and remember why it was made, what has happened to it, and where is it today?  We connect the dots to understand Jesus' actions and how they apply to us today.

We need to take a look at the instructions that God gave about a place for His Presence to be among His People. 

He first gave instructions for the Tabernacle in the 40 years of the nation Israel roaming in the wilderness (Exodus 25); and then through David’s desire for God to have a permanent House, God gave him instructions on how to build the Temple that was actually built and called Solomon’s Temple 

(I Chronicles chapters 22-29; 2 Chronicles chapters 2-6).  That Temple was destroyed when the Babylonians came and took the Israelites captive and destroyed The Temple and Jerusalem.(Jeremiah 27)  Then as we read in today’s lesson, Herod built the last Temple.  The future Temple (show menorah) will be built during The Tribulation. (Daniel 9 & 11, Matthew 24)

It is Passover (Exodus 12) that has brought Jesus to Jerusalem and the Temple.  Let’s remember that Jesus would have been coming to Jerusalem for the Passover every year of his adult life.  Can we imagine how this moment was brewing in His heart.  Judgment and cleansing must begin in the House of the Lord.  The House of Prayer and Worship had become a place of merchandise and politics. 

Passover was to remember what God had done in freeing the Israelites from bondage in Egypt and looking forward to Him sending the Messiah who would free them from the bondage of sin.  The shedding of blood was the means that brought life from possible death.  I think Jesus was also thinking about the Passover that would come in a couple of years that would be that moment when the Perfect Passover Lamb would shed His blood redeeming the world from SIN.

As Jesus cleansed the Temple of all that was not honoring God, so we must do the same with our bodies.  (I Corinthians 3:16-17)  1John 1:9  As we accept the revelation that all those born again of The Spirit become the new Temple of God, we are given a heavy role as High Priest. (1 Peter 2:9)  We are greater privileged because we don’t just enter into the Holy of Holies, but the Holy of Holies is within us and The Presence of God dwells there.  Consider why we must be Holy – set apart for God!  Consider how we enter His Presence and why we come to Him.  We ARE the new Body of Christ and we need to have the same zeal He did about the Temple…it was consuming!  We must be as harsh as He was about getting rid of everything that would prevent worship, prayer and concentration of Almighty God.

My personal challenge is that it should be “a delight…not a duty!”

There was those in the Temple who were observing Jesus actions and I’m sure some became fearful, some angry and some pleased.  One such person was a Pharisee named Nicodemus.  He must have followed Jesus when He left the Temple to privately speak with Him because He observed Jesus actions and his spirit was moved to believe that Jesus was from God.

Jesus tells Nicodemus what he must do to be saved and explains to all of us about “being born again!”  Let us listen again and examine ourselves to be sure that we have The Son of God born in us as well.  We will be changed forevermore and the characteristics of The Son of God will become evident in our lives.  Do we need to do some cleansing?  How about a beautification makeover?  How about some praising?  Today is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time!  (2 Corinthians 6:2)  We have the prospect of a new year for a new beginning…for new life!  Let’s make 2015 a Jubilee Year unto The Lord!

THE TEMPLES:

First – The Tabernacle

Solomon’s Temple

Herod’s Temple

The Born Again

Tribulation Temple

How close are we to the building of the last temple mentioned in Revelation?

 The Temple Institute in Jerusalem is making plans for the 3rd Temple to be built.

The Golden Menorah is already made and stands encased outside in the Old City. 

Here's a picture I took when I was there: 

Rejoice in Dance - Teaching video for "Hora" dance

ARE WE READY FOR BATTLE?

“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.”

Ephesians 6:12

Choose your battles well…and your leaders!

To be battle ready, a soldier must:  be physically fit, in uniform, skilled in weapons and ammunition.

Since our battle in life is NOT against flesh and blood, but the spiritual world of darkness and evil, we have to prepare with a different mindset than what we normally think about life.  First, we have been cleverly deceived.  It has been subtle and expertly infiltrated into our senses.  We have compromised our morals and intellect until what we see, hear, taste, feel and think has been reversed.  Right has become a subject of debate and freedom of expression.  We have become blinded and desensitized by self-centeredness and greed.  When TRUTH was challenged – we compromised, like getting into a cool spring of water on a really hot day and being told that you’ve got time, you deserve it, it’s free and can’t harm anything!  Now, we find ourselves having listened and lingered and like the proverbial frog kept adjusting to the temperature and feeling satisfied.  We don’t even realize that we are in boiling water about to die!

WAKE UP THE WORLD’S ON FIRE!

It’s time to have a splash of cold water thrown in our faces and bring us back to our senses and TRUTH!  Truth hasn’t changed!  Belief has changed! 

CHRISTIANS UNITE!

It’s time for The Army of God to rally and go to Boot Camp.  It’s time to REPENT – turn away from our wicked ways.  It’s time to refocus, get cleaned up and turn back to GOD!  HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO BE SAVED FROM SURE DESTRUCTION!

Step One:  To come to God, you must believe that He is.  You get to know Him from The Creator’s Instruction Manuel, THE BIBLE.  “To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become Children of God.” (John 1:12)

Step Two:  Be battle ready!  Physically, in uniform, weapon

Spiritually this is BODY, SOUL & SPIRIT

~ Physically-this definitely requires exercise that produces a fit, strong, healthy body.

                    -the fuel for the body is the food and drink that is put in it.  God created the body and food for it and said it was to be plants and herbs including nuts, grain and seeds and meat without the blood in it.  The meat we see Him instructing the Israelite's to eat was fowl, beef, lamb, and fish.  He never said the unclean forbidden animals were ever approved for eating.  The exception to the rule was ONLY if not eating would offend someone and keep them from believing in God.  It was not approval to eat it because it tasted good!  Remember who made the fruit on the forbidden tree look delicious and taste good?

                     -the food should be a balance of ¼ meat or legumes; ¼ whole grain; ½ vegetables & fruit *best in raw form or at least half uncooked.  Beverage should be primarily water.  Teas and juices secondary.

***A sick or handicapped body cannot function in battle and weakens the unit.

~~Spiritually the body is the Temple of The Holy Spirit-it belongs to God and is set part for His plans and purpose, holy.  The Joy of the Lord is the strength; the power is the Spirit of God that is the life breath from within; Prayer and The Word – food.

~Uniform-It is first the identity of the army you are in.  Secondly it is designed to protect the body from head to toe from the weather and the environment.  It is a camouflage.

~~Spiritually the identity of the Christian is Undividedly Devoted Faith in Jesus Christ.  The evidence is Love…joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness and self control.

~Weapons-the soldier must know his weapons so well that he can assemble and load in the dark!

                  -the weapons must be in excellent condition and the soldier must have expertise in how to use it.

~~Spiritually the weapons are The Holy Spirit and The Word of God which is the Sword of The Spirit and Prayer that is the power.  The Holy Spirit will never leave us or forsake us… He is our Helper in time of need when we call on Him in prayer…He will bring to our remembrance the Word of God that always defeats the Enemy; we must have our artillery full so that He has much to use. 

Here’s some ammunition to fill your artillery belt:

Ephesians 6:13-18

Matthew 4:4
Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8

John 16:33

Romans 8:35-39;  12:21

Hebrews 4:12;  13:5-6

James 4:7-8

1 John 4:4;  5:4

Rev.2:7;  17.14; 21:17

~December 6, 2014