The Armor of God, Faith

The Armor of God

Faith

    We get the word picture of it from the Roman military, which was the world superpower during the time of the early church. These Romans otherwise known as ancient killing machines, were demonized by the commanding generals to dehumanize them so they could in fact destroy life.
    The shields that these soldiers used were generally about 2 ½’ wide by 4’ long, which enabled them to hide behind them efficiently. In comparison, most of the other armies of the world at that time used small round (sometimes square) shields that had to be moved around quite a bit to protect their bodies.
    These shields were sometimes used in unison with soldiers lined up beside each other creating a wall of defense for several soldiers to hide behind. This enabled them to advance into the fray as one unit behind a moving wall. Sometimes the battle would get really tough and the soldiers would create what they called the tortoise shell. What that was is, they would band together in groups with walls of shields around them and a roof of shields over-top of them. This was often a last resort and could be used to move along fighting out of pockets of shields. The Romans’ shields were constructed of light wood with brass bands and then covered in strips of leather that could then be soaked in water to extinguish any fiery darts the enemy launched at them.
    The shield we use against the devil is Faith, drenched in the Water of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to apply the Water thoroughly so the Water of the Word is not just surface. This Shield of Faith is light enough to be easily moved around, yet large enough to cover all exposed areas. Faith is an invisible shield that is efficient and well able to ward off the darts the devil hurls at us. When we hold up the Shield of Faith, nothing can break through that barrier. The gift of Faith is precious and not to be taken lightly, but to be used to further our resolve in Jesus Christ. We are not forced to take this gift, but choose to take it; for without it no one can please God! The flaming darts that come against us are from Hell itself, but cannot penetrate the barrier of Faith that is built by the work of the Holy Spirit.
    Faith is having confidence in what you have hoped for. It is the reality of things you cannot see. Faith is based in Love. If we truly Love God we will have Faith in His Sovereign will.
A hope that is alive is not just wishful thinking. There may have been times we may have wished for something only to as time passes have our hope vanish before our eyes. That is a dying hope, there really is no future in a hope that wishes but doesn't dare to hope. A lively/living hope has full confidence it will be realized no matter how long it takes.
    Our Shield of Faith is a faith that will not get tired of waiting, but will be able to deflect the fiery darts of discouragement and doubt that Satan hurls at us. Our Faith in Jesus Christ is what will save us from our sin and keep us from sin. It is when we lose sight of Christ that we sink into the perilous waters that want to sweep over our soul.
    Faith has a lot to do with the Christian Life as well as Trust and Love. Love is the greatest, but is only possible by Faith. We must believe in Jesus and then believe that we can have a relationship with Him and then search for it then believe He will reward our search by revealing Himself to us.
Having Faith in Christ may well include our having to look at our situation a saying, “I will not doubt God’s goodness, strength, and etc…”
    Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Without a doubt, Satan has launched an attack on Faith in Jesus Christ. Doubt is a major tool that Satan will use to undermine our Faith in Jesus, so we need to be strong and defend our Faith. In a way Faith is the pin that holds our Christian life together, because once Faith has crumpled we are no longer a believer.
    Faith, when exercised, will grow into a Faith that will stand the test of time. Each time we face temptations and use our Faith as a weapon against Satan, our Faith in Jesus will be stronger than ever, producing in us the ability to fight stronger and stronger battles; through the power of Jesus Christ. It is as if we are in God’s Gym of life and the many hurdles, the giants, the trials we face are the means by which our Faith is stretched, therefore causing it to grow ready for the next bigger battle.
    When Satan comes against Faith, he has no chance against you because you are not trusting in yourself but in God. Satan loves to use doubt but faith will give doubt no room.
Paul told Timothy to be an example of Faith. Timothy, a young pastor, seems to have been receiving some disregard from people who believed he was to young to lead.
When it comes to Faith, there really is no age level on maturity of your Faith, and really Jesus said that to have Faith as a child is a good thing. As we age physically, we tend to be more driven by the cares of this life than by Faith and Trust.
Satan tempted Jesus with an extremely ridiculous temptation. Satan first questioned whether Jesus truly was the Son of God by using the word “IF”. In Genesis 3 Satan used the question “Did God really say that”? The temptations that Satan uses really doesn't change a whole lot from time to time. Satan pretty much uses things that either question the existence of God or what He said. What this amounts to is an attempt to disrupt the Faith we have in God and what He says.
     Faith is extremely necessary for the strength of our armor. As a clarification…let’s look at whether there is something we can do to enhance our Faith.
It seems as though faith is almost elusive because of how difficult it is to attain. On one hand, “Faith comes by Hearing”; while on the other hand, “Faith comes by Trials working Patience in our lives which produces Hope (a living hope), which translates as Faith”. While all this goes on, Faith is not like some free-radical agent that may or may not occur; nor will it grow in our hearts, without the work of the Holy Spirit in our Soul. Faith is a gift which comes as a yearning of our heart ie. “Lord help my unbelief” or “Lord, increase my Faith”. When we pray these prayers, and mean it with our whole heart, our Faith will indeed be blessed, and will grow, but only through the hearing of the Word of God and through our trials.

• Hebrews 11:1,6
• 1 Thessalonians 5:8
• Luke 17:6
• Romans 10:17
• Matthew 17:20
• 1 Peter 1:3
• Matthew 14:30
• Proverbs 30:5
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 2 Timothy 2:3-5
• 1 Timothy 4:12
• Ephesians 3:17
• Matthew 4:3
• Philippians 4:8
• Romans 10:17
• James 1:3
• Romans 5:1-5

The Gospel of Peace

Having Your Feet Shod

With The Preparation Of Peace

    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee!

    The Gospel of Peace is all about reconciliation.  Our mission is to bring peace between two parties...God and Man.  The Bible says "Blessed are the peacemakers".

    The shoes the Roman soldiers wore had intermittent bands up to the knee and spikes underneath.  The reason for the bands was most likely for pressure relief so they could stand fighting longer.  The spikes have a three-fold purpose...they were used to dig in and stand your ground, or as your were charging the enemy so you didn't slip, or if the enemy was getting you down you could still kick.   While our method of fighting spiritual battles is not as such, the lesson is there.  As we fight the devil, we must stand our ground, advance into his territory, and if need arises give him the boot.

    As we stand and wield the Sword Of The Lord (the Word Of God) against the devil, we must have our passions in the right place or we will slip and fall.

 

Romans 10:15  

Isaiah 52:7

    The message of Peace is wrought through the hands, feet, and voice of those who truly care about the message.  How can we so graciously experience the Peace of God and then not spread it around?

    Peace is one thing that sets the Christian apart from the non-Christian and peace is what gives the mind rest in traumatic times.

Proverbs 16:17

    Another wording of this is "bathing your feet in the good news of peace".

    If you are facing temptations, take a look at where the feet of your mind have taken you.  We may be creating scenarios that are conducive for the devil to play with our minds, and that is a temptation that can be avoided.  Satan does, however, enjoy the thought of plaguing Christians as a means to get their mind off the real purpose of spreading Peace.

    We need to handle ourselves in such a way that we can be reconciled to God and others.  Our entire life should be such that we are constantly working for peace with God and our fellow man.  If our hearts are hosting impurities we will not have peace.

    Something we can glean from this is we must be prepared.  Our feet are to be controlled by the gospel of peace.  Everything we do must be in line with the gospel of peace.

    When our feet are bathed in the gospel of peace, they will take us to places of peace and our focus will be on God.  We will be able to walk on hot coals when our feet are held to the fire.

    David, as a man after God's own heart, made the pact within himself; "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes" Psalm 101:3

    Our peace can only come through God, and will only be applied to our lives if our mind is "stayed on Him".

    Our hearts are prone to wander and when we allow them to wander from God and forget His goodness, and righteousness, and authority, our peace will be elusive.  If our peace is elusive, then The Gospel of Peace will have no power in our lives nor in the lives of those we are trying to help.

Colossians 4:3,4

Colossians 4:15

Revelation 12:11

Proverbs 3:6

    When our desire for God does not direct our ways, our passion for God needs re-ignited.

Luke 2:14

    When Jesus was born, the birth announcement included "peace and goodwill to men". After Jesus went back to Heaven the only ones left to carry this message are His followers.  Are we extending Peace and Goodwill to those around us.

Colossians 3:15,16

    The peace that we extend to others, must first come from God, then be real in our own lives and through this peace, we will be able to encourage our contemporaries.

John 14:27

    Satan has worked very hard to destroy our message of peace.  In many cases, the peace in our hearts, the peace in our homes, and the peace in our churches does not exist or there is very little of it.  Somewhere along the line, Christians have taken off their shoes of peace, possibly thinking they didn't even need them.  Satan has tricked many into dismantling their armor one piece at a time.

    The fact remains, the Gospel of Peace is part of the armor and if you want fully protected from Satan's fiery darts, it must be a part of your life.

    “My Peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth give I unto you.  Let not your Heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid!”

Righteousness - The Armor of God

   First of all, we must come to the place where we realize our righteousness is as filthy rags. After having realized the deplorability of our unrighteous condition before God, we then understand that in order to commune/see God we are without hope.

   The word Righteous refers to having been made right, and in order for something to be made right it must have been wrong before.

   As God's Ambassadors, our mission is to bring rightness to the world. This will be our offensive mission, and in order to carry this mission out, we must first bathe ourselves in the righteousness of God.

Psalm 24:3-5

Matthew 5:20

Philippians 1:11

James 3:18

   To regain the perfect righteousness that our forefather Adam & Eve once had, we must receive it as a gift from God. God knows our condition and longs for fellowship with you and has paid the price to purify your soul, thus beginning the work of the redemption of your soul.

God's Righteousness was imputed/placed upon Abraham because of Abraham's faith and obedience. The idea of being reborn into a new family, the family of an upright God, indicates a change that must take place in our hearts. As a child of God, we must exemplify His characteristics.

James 2:20

James 2:26

   Christians, after having Christ work in their heart, should have the righteousness of God exuding from their lives. If we are consciously bathing ourselves in the righteousness of God, our spiritual vitals will be covered.

The Roman breastplate, which the Ephesians would have been familiar with, was laced together in the back. They knew not to turn their backs to the enemy.

   As the Holy Spirit works in your life, the righteousness of God will become a greater reality. The righteousness of God comes about by having faith in the promises of God, accepting His plan, and obedience to His will (nothing other than submission).

   We must be able to enter the presence of God to receive the gift of His righteousness, which will then become a part of us.

1. Enter in through the gate of Jesus Christ
2. Enter into the court of sacrifice
3. Partake of the Bread of Life/the Word
4. Bask in the glow of Truth
5. Send prayers before the throne of God

   When people spend time with God, they come out of that Holy Chamber, changed with the radiance of God written on their hearts.

   Moses after spending time with God, became a man whose face radiated with the Glory of God, and the sinners around him couldn't stand to be in his presence. God's Glory is a constant reminder to sinners of their plight, but fellow christians will be refreshed just being around someone from whom the Glory of God is coming from.

   Without living in the righteousness of God our spiritual vitals are wide-open to be prey for the devil. This is not something we can live off a past experience, rather must be a current part of our life. As we continue to stand in God's righteousness, we will recognize how fallible our own righteousness is.

Proverb 21:4

   No amount of "good" things we can do will be good enough to counteract the bad things we do.

When we do "good works", we are doing them for the wrong motives , thus it is sin. A sinner who plows his field, does so to gain for HIMSELF, but a man who is righteous plows his field to the honor of God.

   A man who has the righteousness of God within him does good works by allowing the Holy Spirit to work through him.

Galatians 5:22-25 Gives us a list of what the righteousness of God looks like and is to be an all-consuming part of our life.

The Armor Of God - Truth

Ephesians 6:10-20

Truth

   Truth is the foundation for the rest of the armor. It is what holds the armor together sealing our armor so no darts can pass through it. We need to know what truth is so we can identify what it is that we need to envelope ourselves in. A man of truth will be a man who has the fear of God. (Exodus 18:21)

   Truth is the nature of God; it is an absolute fact or idea. Without God and if we could still exist, we would have no truth and we would be left with a changing untrustworthy world. The fact that the world is changing and is untrustworthy in its present state does not indicate that God does not exist; but rather that the world has gone its own way. The farther humanity gets from God, the more erratic it gets. (Romans 1)

   Nature itself receives its commands from God, with the exception of humanity, and follows God's commands so we are able to determine the patterns in which it moves. Humanity, on the other hand, has been given the right to choose his own actions, even though the destiny for those actions are pre-determined.

   The reason for being created with a choice is, when we choose to follow God, the amount of Glory He gets from us is more than if we are forced to follow Him. Sadly, however, many are not fulfilling their created purpose.

John 1:1

Psalm 119:1-16

3 John 4

   The joy that God gives us when we follow His commands is unmatched by any other, and it will only come from doing His will. We can just obey His commands or we can obey them from the deepest part of our heart. Our obedience should be out of gratitude for the escape that God has provided.

   The truth of God is absolute and cannot be changed, so are we going to go along with it , or are we going to ignore it?

• Seek the Truth Jeremiah 5:1
• Walk in Truth 1 Kings 2:4
• Speak the Truth Psalm 15:2, Acts 26:25

• Work in Truth Psalm 33:4, John 3:21
• Worship in Truth John 4:24
• Keep the Truth Isaiah 26:2
• Teach The Truth Matthew 22:6
• Rejoice in Truth 1 Corinthians 13:6
• Continue in Truth 2 Thessalonians 2:1
• Believe the Truth 2 Thessalonians 2:13
• Know the Truth John 8:32
• Obey the Truth 1 Peter 1:22

   When Jesus was on trial before Pilate, He was asked "what is truth"? Truth is what Jesus came to bear witness of, for truth is what He is.

   Jesus told His disciples "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life". John 14:6 By declaring "I am the Truth" Jesus was saying "I am full of truth, and without me truth does not exist".

   Denying the truth in our life will result in believing a lie, and then you will become a dying individual with death on your breath, and then you will succumb to it in its entirety. Jesus told the Pharisee leaders that they were of their father the devil because of their belief in a lie. John 8:44 We cannot claim God as our Father and believe a lie.

   Jesus Christ (the Truth) needs to be folded or wrapped around our lives. When we make truth a part of our lives, we will begin to live. Spiritual death will never follow truth! Mortal wounds come from not being covered or not having truth wrapped around you properly

John 8:32

   Sin has kept each one of our hearts in bondage from birth which magnifies over time. The longer we remain in bondage to sin, we will find a stronger chain that needs broken.

Proverbs 23:23

   Truth, like a precious jewel, is to be sought after and never to be sold! We have a tendency to sell truth cheap by selling it for a little bit of "fun" disregarding it and our "fun's" consequences.

   Too many times we compromise the truth because it doesn't fit into our agenda. When we do this, we are living/walking in a lie, and God cannot bless our spiritual life.

   Esau, Jacob's brother sold truth for a bowl of soup. The birthright belonged to Esau as the oldest son, but because he allowed his flesh to get in the way, he lost everything that could have been precious to him. The Bible says that he sought repentance with tears.

   Once we sell the truth, we have become a sinner and need a Savior to redeem us from our life of destruction.

Psalm 103:4

   The fruits of a person caught up in a lie are in line with Romans 1 and Galatians 5:19-21 and are a stench in the nostrils of God and His people.

    Romans 1 says that darkness will begin to follow those who do not follow truth. Once we start down the path of rejecting truth we become disillusioned by the apparitions and the shadows will encompass us to the point of totally losing our way.

   If we have followed any thing other than truth, we have followed a lie and need to repent of it for it is sin.

We must apply truth to our life if we expect to live a victorious life. It is through truth that we are redeemed. It is through truth that we are kept from evil. It is through truth that we have the strength to live in truth. If we live in truth, we will die in truth and our souls will then live forever with truth, and in truth.

   Our agenda needs to be yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20
    It all begins with a fear/reverence of God. It is fear that draws us to Salvation after which we have experienced, we then need to protect our spiritual life.
    Paul begins this section with "Finally". This refers back to the rest of the book of Ephesians which teaches what God expects of us as Christians. It indicates "Here is how to get there".
Be Strong In the Lord!
10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Neh 8:10 (KJV)
    Your thought pattern affects the strength you have...Are You Victorious?
Philippians 4:8
    Following the attributes of God.
    The attributes of God are Mercy, Truth, Righteousness, Holiness, Honor, Wisdom, Humility, Prudence, Faithfulness, and Purity.
The more we fill our mind with who God is and what He is we will begin to develop a strong character like His. Whatever we focus on is what we will become.
    "The Lord Is A Strong Tower". Think of it like a tower with each stone being an attribute of God, and when we run to this tower and place ourselves inside this tower, the attributes become our attributes.
John 15
    The vine bears the strength for the branches; for by themselves they are nothing, but would be left to decay. The branches by themselves are dead "full of sin" and therefore need to be grafted into the vine so the life of the vine can pass through the branches, changing them from the inside out. Only when this happens can the fruit begin to show.
    The Life which is now within us is anti-death as long as we allow God to continue pruning of spots of disease or mold.

"Put On The Armor Of God" 

• Truth 
• Righteousness 
• Sharing the Gospel 
• Faith 
• Salvation 
• The Holy Spirit/The Word Of God 
• Full Of Prayer for yourself and others 
• Watching/Be Alert

    In order for us to be truly effective against Satan, we must make these a part of our lives.

Life

Life is God imparting Himself to us.

Life

• What is life and where does it come from?
• Who is responsible for protecting it?
• Who determines the quality of life?
• Is there such a thing as a poor quality of life?
• What makes life in mankind unique?
• What is the meaning of Life?
• What Does it mean to live life to its fullest?
• What Is The Path To Life?

    The "germ" of life is programmed into the various elements of creation which include physical elements and the elements of the laws of that God has set up to sustain life.
    Evolutionary scientists have yet to understand what life is. They are coming to research with a skewed view on the origin of life, therefore, they can not understand it. Life has been dubbed as the "germ" that evades being found out, but does it really evade them or are they just blind to the truth because their skewed view?
    These evolutionary scientists think that if they were to take two atoms and smash them at high rates of speed, life would emerge. There is even talk of a "god particle" that they need to find to complete this experiment.

Let Us Look At Where Life Began

• Genesis 1

    God created the earth and it appeared empty and mysterious. This was before life as we know it entered the equation.
    "The Spirit Of God moved upon the face of the waters". The beginning of Life is a direct result of being energized by the Creator. He has endowed part of who He is to His creation giving it life.
    We could talk about the significance of life in animals, birds, and the rest of creation, but I want to focus on the significance of life in mankind.

• Genesis 1:26-27 
• Genesis 2:7

    As God created mankind He needed to breathe into man's being to bring him to life. A lot went on in that episode that we can only begin to understand.
    God, when He breathes on something, makes it become alive because He imparts His living self to the object. In this case, however, God puts part of His Spirit within man as a means of setting up mankind as a spiritual, relational, emotional as well as physical being. These are all characteristics of God that He imparted to mankind on that initial encounter.
    The Life is in The Blood!

What Makes The Life Of Man Unique?

The key aspects to human life are:

• Spiritual (a never dying soul) 
• Relational (able to correspond and show you care) 
• Emotional (able to laugh or cry) 
• Physical (we have a body that allows our spirit that is alive to move and physically serve others) 
• We are able to rationalize (think) 
• able to build things that have not yet existed 
• We have the capability of blessing or cursing others.

    There may be many more aspects to human life but this gives an idea of how unique we are in the creation of the world.

Who is responsible for Protecting Life?

Genesis 4:9
    While the sacredness of human life was established at creation, very soon afterward man chose to disregard life, even if it was the life of his brother. Cain killed his brother Abel and tried to cover up by asking whether he had to know where his brother was.
    Cain as a murderer that was unrepentant was driven from the presence of all other humans with the exception of his wife. It is evident that God values life and will not allow murderers to go on killing/ destroying life that God specifically imparted to the individual.
Genesis 9:5,6
    Mankind had become so debased that God sent a global flood to get rid of the debauchery, the murders, the infamous men who were destroying God's plans. After this flood, God gave instructions to those who were left, not to allow anything human or animal who had taken a human's life co-exist with mankind.
    God has given the responsibility of protecting life, whether adult, child/ unborn baby to the fellow humans that populate this sphere. Inasmuch as they are alive, they have been imparted with the very character of God and carry His seal upon their life.

Who determines the quality of life?

    There is a lot of talk these days about the quality of life, but I raise the question, Is there anything such as a poor quality of Life? The fact that God has imparted His life to us as His creation should speak for itself. We may be physically or mentally impaired but the quality of life never changes. God does not withhold His life from anyone nor does He desire that anyone should suffer alone.
    God has given life and He alone determines whether life as we know it should cease. We as humans have no business interfering with God's plan for life and must recognize that life does not end with death. Life is eternal and the carriage for the spirit gets transferred. Pain does not end with physical death so suicide will not alleviate your pain.
    Suicide is always sin... it is nothing else than a disbelief in the grace of God to be with you in what you are going through that is carried out in murdering yourself. God may be asking you to go through a hard time so you bring Him Glory through it. If what you are going through is His will, and it is, then to step out to avoid it is to step out of His will.

• Ecclesiastes 7:17

     Do not take your life in your own hands, to do so is to set yourself up as God and to destroy the life which God has placed within you.

Life In The New Birth

• Ephesians 2 
• John 1:11-13 
• John 3:1-8 
• Psalm 16:11

    Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our choices of death with His on Blood, therefore our life hinges on His Blood and thus "The Life Is In The Blood".
    To deepen the mystery of life, God has called each one of us to partake in eternal life. Our souls and spirits were made for eternity, but to experience it to its fullest we must make choices that are conducive to the favored eternal destination.
    When a person is born of God, his spirit is conceived of the Holy Spirit producing a spirit that will change the behavior of the soul and body. To be born of God is to have God impart yet a bigger part of Himself to you, making you completely alive.
    To turn your back on Christ in you is to commit spiritual suicide and to commit spiritual suicide is to desecrate the life of God within you.
    When we have been born of the Spirit of God, our desires will be different. We will desire to continue to partake in the goodness of God, fashioning our lives after the likeness of Christ. Our desire to serve our flesh will be diminished as we become more like Jesus.
    As we live life to the fullest, we must steer clear of the besetting sins. Many people are alive physically but are spiritually dead. God has made us alive with His Spirit and to remain alive we must live in the Spirit.
    The besetting sins are often the sins that we are so naturally inclined to, such as: fear, anger, bitterness, covetousness and there are many others.
    God does not want us to wander around in the wilderness with no direction which would mean death, but willingly shows "the path of life" to all who desire to find it. In order to find this path to life we must first open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and then to God's revealed Word (the Bible). Sometimes God will reveal Himself to us in installments so we are not overwhelmed by the change of course (our hearts natural course is a path of death).
    Once we have opened ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He will begin to change our hearts creating in us a new heart that desires fellowship with God. The dark corners of our heart become alive and we will begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Meekness, Temperance, and Faith). Galatians 5:22,23
    In a word, the path to life is about opening your heart to the work of the Holy Spirit, which will eradicate the sinfulness of our human desires from our hearts and make us more like Christ.
    The fear of the Lord tendeth to life. Proverbs 9
Acts 2:28 He taught me the way of life.

Abundant Life

You can be alive, but not have abundant life or eternal life.
What does it mean to lose your life and then find it?
In order for you to live, you must first die. In order for someone else to live you must first die to yourself. I die to myself by killing my desires so I can serve others without payback.

    What does it mean to have more abundant life?
    First of all, you are physically alive; then as God speaks to you and you accept Him, you can live an abundant life. Many people even in their spiritual lives are just "alive", but abundant life is when you have died to yourself so Christ can can live in you and through you. Abundant life comes by obedience, faith, living intentionally for God, service to God and others, believing, being alert and watching out for the besetting death causing sins, etc...

    A person who is striving for abundant life is not self-serving, but serves selflessly. Jesus came to teach us the way of living abundantly.

Alive By The Spirit

• Romans 8:14
• Ephesians 2:1

    In order for us to have abundant life, we must first have been made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit. We then need to live as He leads to receive this more abundant life.

    Abundant life is more than being saved, although being saved is part of it. Abundant life is hopeful, joyful, vibrant; for our dead spirit was rejuvenated by The Holy Spirit, thus bringing us to this place of freedom in our spirit.

    Our humanity gets in the way of abundant life at times causing us to dabble in the realm of death. To counteract this system of death we need to recognize it and fight against it.

• Ephesians 4:21-32

    Here are a few examples of the fruit of an abundant life:

• Ephesians 4:32 Kindness
• Ephesians 5:2 Love
• Ephesians 1:17-23 Hope
• Ephesians 4:2,3 Lowliness, Humility, meekness longsuffering, and forbearance
• Ephesians 5:9 Goodness, righteousness, and truth
• Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time
• Ephesians 5:19,20 Thankfulness
• Ephesians 5:21 submission to each other
• Ephesians 6:1-4 Godly homes
• Ephesians 6:5-9 Godly business practices
• Ephesians 6:10-20 Being prepared to fight 
• Ephesians 6:18 Being prayerful
• Philippians 2:1-18 Joy, unity of mind/spirit, obedience, blameless, harmless, without rebuke, holding up the word of life, sacrificial, faithful
• Philippians 4:7,8 Peace, thoughts are pure
• Philippians 4:11 Content
• Colossians 1:11 Patience
• Colossians 3:1-3 Thoughts are on Heavenly things
• Colossians 3:17 Do all for the name of Jesus
• Galatians 5:22,23 The Fruit of the Spirit

    We all desire eternal life and God has wrought a work within us (straightening our twisted, cleansing our perverted) completely renewing our minds to become more like His, thus enabling us to live with him eternally.

Passing Life Along

    Each time we bless our fellow man we are extending life to them. God has blessed us with so much and in so many ways that we actually can live and bless each other. God never intended for us to extend death or curses to those around us and Christianity itself is based largely on blessing everyone, even our enemies.

     May God Bless you with a full life as you live in the Spirit.

Spiritual Enlightenment

Spiritual Enlightenment

• Isaiah 2:1-5
• Hebrews 4:12

     The Light of God is monumentally life-changing.  It is attractive to some and makes others shield their eyes.

• Ex 34:33-35

    To a people who were presumably "God's People" Isaiah gives this message "All nations will come to God's Temple and learn of His ways".  I do not believe that "God's People" in the Old Testament Understood what it meant to be a true child of Abraham (the father of the faithful).
    The Jewish people thought that because they were born in Abraham's family, they were God's Chosen people.  In reality, God only chooses those who want to follow him.
    The children of promise are indeed tose who choose to follow God with their whole heart and are not necessarily of a faithful family.
    The same thing applies today, even though many people come from godly homes, this does not negate the fact they need to choose to open the temple of God in their hearts.

• John 12:46
• Matthew 5:14

    When God created the world (Genesis 1), He said, Let there be light".  This was before the creation of the sun, moon, and stars.  The light that began to shine was none other than the Glory of God shining through the darkness that existed until that moment.
    The absence of God always leaves darkness and the presence of God always brings light to the soul
    There is a big push for spiritual enlightenment that comes from within yourself, but light can never come from a sin darkened soul and  any light that does show up in anyone is the Glory of God shining through.
    Following God's laws are never designed to be burdensome to us, but were designed so our hearts become aligned with God to allow His Glory to permeate our being and then work itself out as a witness of His majestic Glory to those around us. 
    In Matthew it talks about whether your eye is single and states that if your eye truly is single (if you have one focus) for God's will, then our whole body will be full of light.  Most of the time we have to battle our humanity in order to have a single focus.  If we allow our humanity to get the best of us it is evident that we have a double focus and darkness will exude from our soul.
    We have been called (invited) out of darkness and into God's marvelous light.  Let us therefore walk in it.

• 1 Peter 2:9-12

The Invitation

God has given each one of us an invitation. “Come Ye Let us reason together”

What does it mean?
In our fallen state, God desires fellowship with each one of us and invites us to fellowship while determining that we are indeed fallen and that we need Him to escape the last death (hell). No other religion has a god that seeks out people for worship of itself. No other god offers himself as a means of connecting with mankind, but rather requires that mankind comes crawling to him. All other religions are about pummeling its subjects into submission while the True God gives mankind the power to meet His demands.
Sin that is as scarlet is very visible yet God promises that He would provide a way to cleans it as white as snow. In other places in the Bible, God promises to remove it as far as the east is from the west. God is Merciful and wants us to have complete victory over our sin and willingly removes any power the sin had over us.
Who receives it?
John 3:16
The entire world is to receive this invitation and God speaks this invitation through His people and His creation. The entire universe including the stars speak of this invitation. “God is not willing that any should perish, but have everlasting life.”(2 Peter 3:9) God knocks at the door of our heart waiting for us to heed His invitation. (Revelation 3:20)
Who resists it?
Romans Chapter 1
The people who are lifted up in pride, think they are self sufficient and are constantly looking for a way to put God down or out of the picture.
Who accepts the invitation?
John 1:12
Those who are willing to put their trust in Jesus Christ are the ones who accept the invitation.
What is in it for those who accept it?
John 1:12
John 3:16
God gives them power to be His children and eternal life in a home in Heaven.
What is in store for those who refuse it?
Revelation 20:14,15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Hell or the second death is in store for those who refuse the gift of the invitation.

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest"  Matthew 11:28 KJV