Whole....

Whole… Webster says it means ‘all’. Not part, but the entire.

We are instructed to put on the ‘whole armor’ of God. (Eph. 6:11ff)


‘Panoply’ in classical Greek, is the full armor of a heavy-armed soldier. It is the word that is used by Paul here in his letter to the Ephesian Christians, teaching them truths about spiritual battles.

You can be assured that you are in spiritual battles. If you aren’t aware of a struggle, perhaps you’ve just surrendered. ???

Every choice, every decision, every attitude, every action…all have spiritual implications.

This morning, once again I am brought to this armor of God. He asks me which of these I have decided not to put on today. What part of the armor have I decided I don’t need?

Are the things that I complain about a result of not being properly protected? Am I intentionally putting on what He gives and USING it?


"God is strong, and he wants me strong. So I must take everything the Master has set out for me, well-made weapons of the best materials. And I must put them to use so I will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws my way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that I'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. I will be prepared, I’m up against far more than I can handle on my own. I will take all the help I can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting I'll still be on my feet." (Ephesians 6:10-13 The Message, personalized by me)


I purpose to inventory my armor, beginning as Paul did, with truth.

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (v.14)

Do I have that belt buckled on me? Is it encompassing me? All the way, my entire life, all situations, all realms? Is it HIS truth? Or my version of it? All of it, or just part.

Whole?

Part of truth is not sufficient. I must accept all of God’s revealed truth. And I must put that truth to use.

And, I must recognize what is truth about myself. It is often not pretty, it is always difficult.

Yet it is always safe to do so, with my Savior, the Lord of my life.

Alarm...

Alarm.. We woke up one night in the wee hours to our smoke detector going off. When that sounds, take heed...your house may be on fire.

Relax...we didn't have a fire, just need new batteries. But we got up and checked the house.

I wonder what alarms I do ignore? And what do I suffer that might be avoided if I'd just heed the warning?

In scripture, Jesus has issued a 'take heed...' many times.

Luke 17:3 issues a 'take heed' about forgiveness. "Take heed to yourselves. If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him."

I am to recognize sin and confront it, but in Mark 4:24 He addresses how I measure..."Take heed...... With that measure which you measure, it shall be measured to you..."

He also reminds me of His advice about the mote in my brother's eye and the beam in mine. ("...why do you look on the splinter that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?" Matt.7:3)

I could list dozens....dozen of 'take heed's and warnings. Alarms to be recognized.

Yet, even if we could hear all the alarms, even if we respond to every threat, we can never defeat sin and death.

We can not fix the problem of humanity. But we can live without feeling alarm.

"The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus."(Phil.4:7) Yes, I take that personally. My heart and mind feels no alarm.



I'm hearing the old hymn 'Living By Faith' in my head....
♫♪♪♫•*•♫♪...♪♫•*•♫♪♪♫I'm living by faith, feel no alarm...♪♫•*•♫♪♪♫•*•♫♪.♪♫•*•

Respond...

Respond… When in a difficult situation, facing conflict or uncertainty, maybe even a threat…how do you respond? Or do you?…

Often I think we don’t. Instead of responding, we react. And there’s a big difference.

To react, according to Webster, is to resist the action of another body by an opposite force. To respond, is to answer; to reply.

I believe it is much easier to react than to respond. I also believe as followers of Christ, we are called not to react, but to respond.

Our mission is to imitate Jesus. We are to have taken off the “ old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. “(Col.3:10) That old WWJD has a lot of profound truth.

Let us purpose in our minds and hearts to respond in every thing …purposefully, for HIS purpose, led by the Holy Spirit, depending on Him to defend and protect us, trusting Him to supply all our needs and even bless us far beyond our needs. “God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”(Eph. 3:20 The Message)

We must remember, He does not work things out like we do. In my experience, it never ‘looks’ like He is answering or sometimes even paying attention!! And almost never within my time frame!! My task is simply to live in this moment, making RIGHT choices, behave as HIS child…in my now. And trust Him to work everything out. I believe that it will always be for my good.

“The moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. …. He knows us far better than we know ourselves…That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him. (Romans 8:26-29 The Message )


“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way…(every word, deed, and response,) Christ is preached.(imitated WWJD) And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me (every difficult situation and hard response) will turn out for my deliverance.” (Phil. 1:18-19 The Message with personal application by me)

Wireless...

Wireless… It’s a fascinating concept. The little machine across the room from me can print out whatever I type on this machine, just by my pushing the ‘Print’ button.

No wires connecting it, it’s completely separated from the brain of this computer. How does that happen? How can information and data be transferred thru thin air?

Imagine all the data that’s floating around you right now. If you had a receiver to process each different one, it might fill up the room! The information is there, but it must have a proper receiver.

In the spiritual realm, God’s Spirit is present and is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”(Eph.. 3:21)

We aren’t connected to Him by special lineage. We are Gentiles, not Jews, (but praise God that “ Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 3:6)

We don’t get connected by doing some particular activity. “…not by works,”(Eph. 2:9)

We don’t SEE this connection. "No eye has seen….but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”(1Cor. 2:10)

He chooses us to receive. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Thes. 5:9)

So the question is, “Will you?”

Will you be a receiver to re-present Jesus Christ?
Will you respond to His wireless request?
Will you let Him transform you, changing you so that you document and display the power of His saving grace?

I am not hardwired to God. But there is a definite wireless connection….

I don’t push the ‘print’ button and have Him do my bidding. He presses mine.

His desire is that my life duplicate the life of His dear Son.

The print job is in progress.

“And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Eph. 2:22)

Sliding...

sliding...dread driving on ice to work...don't like that feeling of sliding.

But I manage to do it often...in the sunshine. With my mouth.

I said I'd speak life with my mouth.


'If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall.'(1Co.10:13)


Using my tongue is like driving on ice..better slow it way down, think before every action, and be aware of everyone around you...

but I CAN use my brakes on my words. I just don't always……


I know I'm probably the only one with that problem.... :)

Fire...

fire..in weather like this, it is so comforting to hear it crackling from our Earth Stove.

But it can be so destructive.


My words are so often like that. I confess.

"The tongue is a small part of the body....consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."(Jam.3:5) "The tongue has the power of life and dea...th"(Prov.18:21)


Today, I will speak life with my mouth.

Cold....

cold..anybody complaining about it?

Want to be hot? Nope...we complain about that too.

We want to be somewhere in the middle.

What about your spiritual heart? Is it cold or hot?

If it's somewhere in the middle, I urge you to the consider this..our God is a consuming fire( Dt.4:24) and it's one or the other...all or nothing...hot or cold. No lukewarm. (Rev.3:16)

Don't think to follow God somewhere in the middle.(Rev.3:16)

Connection....

Connection…

Isn’t it frustrating when you need to make a call, and your phone tells you ‘no service’ or ‘failed connection’?

The metal walls of the store you are in interfere with the signal, or the mountains are too high they cut off the signal all together, or you’re simply so far away from a tower, there is absolutely no signal at all. Been there?

Yep… Me too.

It’s especially frustrating when the call is vital, you need to get an important message thru to someone or you need help.

We are so accustomed to our easy communications, but they fail occasionally, and we are shocked and frustrated. Even scared sometimes.

Our communications are built around a system… towers, little tiny devices we call cell phones, and invisible things called digital signals. They all work together to keep us invisibly connected to each other.

Ever call God and feel like you’re got ‘no service’?

Ever thought you just didn’t know how to pray at all, that you just don’t have a contract with Him for ‘service’?

Ever pray about something and seeing no answer think you just failed to make a ‘connection’, that your prayers don’t reach His ears?

Sometimes in prayer time, I find myself NOT praying at all, but thinking about what I need from the grocery store tomorrow or some such thing…I call that a ‘dropped call’ …and I’m the one who dropped.

God does not fail.

And the truth is, He’s even interested in my grocery list !!


This is not a perfect analogy, but it gives us a reference point.

When we use a cell phone, we have to operate within the system. Our location is important.

When we want to communicate with God, our location is important.

We have to be praying WITHIN His will.

THAT is our main problem. We often talk to God about things strictly based on our perspective. What we desperately need is to see from HIS.


Jesus Himself deliberately chose to pray within The Father’s will. “..if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away…may Your will be done.’ (Matt.26:42)

He surely didn’t relish the idea of spikes being hammered thru His hands and feet, but He saw from The Father’s perspective. He saw the big picture, what was at stake overall.

He could save Himself from the circumstances...

.. or save every person throughout time.

He chose to save those who would choose to participate in His death, choosing that He be responsible for their penalty of sin, instead of them being responsible for their own sentence of death and separation from God.


‘..this is my prayer…that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best….’ (Phillipians 1:9)


This morning, I am again encouraged and filled afresh with love and adoration because of the words of Jesus as recorded by John in chapter 17.

I encourage you to read this chapter for yourself. Pay close attention to verse 20

...because if you believe in Him, Jesus personalized this for you.

Put your name in it…

He did.

Forecast...

Forecast… guess you’ve watched it, know that it will likely get snowy around here in a day or two. The stores will probably be packed soon. People will ‘stock up’ on things. We won’t want to run out of milk and eggs, or bread, or whatever tops your list of important items. We want to be prepared…...right ?…..

We will make all sorts of preparations, buy more groceries than we really need, fill the tanks with gas, bring the firewood in under shelter. After all, the prediction is for snow.

Propheteia=prediction in Greek, and nbula=prediction in Hebrew, the original languages of scripture.

Predictions.

Prophecy.

I wonder, do we pay more attention to the weather-man on television than we do to the One Who is Creator and Master over it all.

‘In the beginning, God created…’ (Gen.1:1) ‘ lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding..’(Psa. 148:8) ‘He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast?’ ( Ps. 147:16) ‘…the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet…’ (Nahum 1:3) He changes the times and seasons. (Dan. 2:21)

This is the God we serve.

Give Him more consideration than the weatherman.

Give His forecast some serious thought.

He has gone to such great lengths to help us be prepared.

The book we call the Bible is full of predictions and advice. How long since you held one in your hand, how long since you asked Him to reveal the message it contains…and it does have relevant messages for each of us, every day.

Go ahead and stock up…...but hear the words of Jesus…

’Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths, corroded by rust, or stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe..’ (Matt. 6:19 The Message)

Harmony....

Harmony.... Someone asked what Southern Gospel music is... I immediately think of harmonies.

God created harmony. He created the instrument we call 'voice'. In singing, we use our voices in different ways, creating harmonies that can stir every emotion God made and placed within us.

Some voices sing the melody...the saprano, or lead. Some voices add other tones that harmonize, we call them alto, tenor, baritone, or bass. The lead may carry the melody, but it is not fully complete without the other parts.

The voice is an instrument, and we must learn our own particular voice, discover the function of it, identify it, explore its use...and train it.

The voice that is regularly used becomes more capable and sure...able to produce sounds that were not possible before. It is more dependable, less likely to squeak out off key or crack and make you want to hide, never to sing again!!!

There is other harmony as well...the harmony of His Body, the church."...the body is not made up of one part but of many'.(1Cor.12:14 )

Here too, we must learn and train....learn who we are in Him...learn what part of the melody is ours to sing..."..they form one body...So it is with Christ." (1Cor.12:12)

We must learn He has created in each of us, a part of the harmony...a place and purpose.

'..God arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be' (1Cor.12:18)

He did not leave you out.

'..There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord' (1Cor.12:5)
'..Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1Cor.12:22)

You may not sing the lead...

but the song is not complete without your voice.....