Under Attack

We recently sent out a newsletter to our friends and family updating them on everything going on with our family and Liberia. In that newsletter, there was a quote by an unknown author that reads:

“Faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised when 

God puts a shovel in your hands!”

We all will face mountains in our lives, some small, some big, and some astronomical. Whatever the case, we are never ill-equipped for those mountains, even though, at times, it may feel as if we are. The mountains in our lives are no surprise to the Lord. He knew they were coming. He has the tools we need to conquer those mountains. The Lord equips us with everything we need to face our mountains.  

As you know, my family has been called to the mission field of Liberia, West Africa. We have spent the last year traveling the United States raising funds and I am excited to announce that in one short month from now we will depart for this sweet country. As we have been diligently packing bags and applying for visas, satan has been setting siege to our family. My extended family has undergone a flood of attacks some of which include heart attacks, car accidents, dog bites and our most recent news a diagnosis of muscular sclerosis (MS). Part of me is outraged, the other part of me just has to chuckle because the attacks only mean one thing, we have satan so upset and in such a state of panic that he has no other choice but to throw a temper tantrum. Please don’t get me wrong, I am in no way happy that my family is under heavy attacks from the enemy. But I am reminded of the words of Paul: 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. And perseverance must  finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

I can either choose to ignore this passage and get angry and bitter, or I can stand on the word of God and know that coming out the other side of these things, my family and I will not be lacking anything. I much prefer standing on the fact that we will be made mature and complete and not be lacking a single solitary thing.  

As I have been praying about all these situations, I asked the Lord “why?” (Yes, I know, faith is the crucifixion of the question why, but I believe that sometimes a heart can ask this question in a truly honoring way.) The response I got back was “in order for your faith to grow.” If the Lord simply takes away the attacks before we have to walk through the trial, what have we gained, how has our faith grown? I am a firm believer that the Lord will put a shovel in our hands in order to not only move the mountain but to build our faith in the process. 

Quite a while ago I read a devotional from “Our Daily Bread” that talked about a man who was in desperate need to have access to hospital care for his wife. (Please note that this story was coming from a time before there was access to planes and cars.) The only way to get to the hospital was to go over a mountain that lay between his village and the hospital. As the man frantically attempted to get his wife safely to the other side she passed away before he could get her the help she needed. Upon returning home he had determined that he would make a way to have faster access to the hospital for others. After much deliberation, he began to dig. The townspeople assumed that the death of his wife had caused him to lose his mind. However, despite their best efforts, they could not convince him to stop digging. As the weeks and months went on, people in the town began to understand the need to have access to medical care. Little by little, they began to join in the digging. And after several years of digging day in and day out, a tunnel had been dug through that mountain!

Our faith starts out as a mustard seed, but this does not mean that God wants it to stay that size. He will ask us at times to put in some blood, sweat, and tears in order for our faith to grow. Our faith must be made “mature and complete” in order for us not to lack anything. As my family remains under attack I take comfort in knowing that despite satan’s best efforts to shipwreck our faith, we persevere. Our faith may start out as a mustard seed, but with stubborn perseverance, it will grow! 

Related posts: The School of Trial, Falling Into Place, Touching The Hem Of His Garment, My By Faith Shoes

Heavenly Father, you know the needs of our hearts. You know the trials and mountains that we face. Thank you that your plans are to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) in the midst of our mountains. Things might not go according to our plans, but our trials and struggles never surprise you. You saw them coming long before we did. Give us this day the things we need to accomplish today’s mountains or even today’s section of the mountain. Help us to remember that just because our mountains get bigger, does not mean you love us less. Your love is not a yo-yo, up one day and down the next. Please solidify in our spirits that our mountains are not an instrument to measure your love for us. Lord, seal all these things upon our hearts in Jesus precious name.

Christian Bondage?

We should not be fooled; Christians can be as much in bondage as those who do not know Christ and in some cases even more so. The devil is out to rob kill and destroy (John 10:10).  The very second we say yes to Christ we inherit a target on our backs. We become marked. When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we gain all power and authority leaving the devil no choice but to attack. If we are not ready and aware of his schemes we can find ourselves more bound than free. So, yes, there are times when even Christians need freedom from the chains that the enemy is trying to desperately entangle us in. Satan does not desire to watch us thrive in the kingdom. He desires to watch us fail and with flying colors, might I add, so that we can become a walking advertisement for why Christianity might not be such a great idea. Satan is not out solely to rob kill and destroy us as individuals, but he is hoping that by our bondage we will bring others down with us. What a tangled web Satan desires to weave. 

How do we know that we are being held in bondage? How would we even begin to recognize the schemes of the enemy?
I am currently working through a book, for the second time, that brings some clarity to these questions. The book is entitled “Breaking Free” by Beth Moore. I will be the first to admit that sometimes we need to review things several times before freedom can come, and other times we are simply facing new battles. Between these two reasons, I decided to read through this book again.

Beth Moore states... 
“A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God has planned for him or her.”
Anything that holds us back from fulfilling God’s plans and purposes for our lives is bondage. I believe God has a good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives (Romans 12:2). But in our times of unyielding to that still small voice, we sacrifice that good, pleasing and perfect will. We can find ourselves listening to the voice of reason instead of the voice of the Shepherd. There will always be two voices, which one are we listening to?

As I continue to read through “Breaking Free” I am sure the Lord will pursue my heart and reveal areas of bondage, areas that need to be surrendered. I know that only by God’s revealing and my yielding will I be able to become more like Christ with each drop of the chain. 

Related posts on this subject: Time To Wage War, A Clean Cup

Father, thank you for showing me that there are areas in my life that I have held me back from the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life you desire for me. Help me to recognize those bondages clearly and surrender those areas to you so that I can live in freedom. Give each of us the spiritual eyes and discernment we need to recognize satan's schemes and to deal with them quickly so we do not find ourselves in chains. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ. 

Where Is Your Heart?

I was reading a portion of scripture this morning and something seemed to jump off the page. What’s funny is that this was not some kind of new understanding or realization. It just got me thinking about this question… Where is your heart?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,” Luke 4:18 (Emphasis mine)

After reading this I realized Christ came for the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed so they can be set free. I was once all of those things, but have been set free. Not that I don't’ need Christ on a daily basis, because I do, but it got me wondering where my heart is. If Christ’s heart longs for the poor, prisoners, blind and oppressed, then who am I longing for? Who am I proclaiming the good news to? It convicted my heart to realize that the majority of the time I am talking about Christ it is with other believers rather than with the lost. I began to look up other verses about whom Christ came for and why he came and believe it or not the pattern is very similar to the verse we just went over. Let’s take a look at some of these verses, shall we?  

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17 (Emphasis mine)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 (Emphasis mine)

“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:8 (Emphasis mine)

Christ’s main goal is to destroy the devil’s work. Now, I realize at times it may seem like the devil is winning the battle, but the beauty of this whole thing is that he never wins the war.  If you look at the back of the book Christ wins! That is exciting news! The way He wins this war is one soul at a time, one person who is poor in spirit at a time, one prisoner at a time, one blind eye opened at a time, one oppressed spirit at a time, one lost heart at a time, and one sinner at a time. Where is my heart in all of this? Am I willing to fight the good fight of faith and go after these precious souls, or will I just be comfortable in the fact that I am “safe” in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? Am I willing to seek out the lost and hurting or do I want to stay in my comfort zone and pretend like everything is going to be fine with my neighbor, the clerk at the grocery store, my co-worker or the librarian at the public library? Where is my heart?

How about you? Where is your heart? Do you feel drawn to the lost and hurting or do they scare you and freak you out? Are you like me and would feel way more comfortable saying nothing at all because we don’t want to offend anyone. I believe we are in a day where if we don’t speak out the name of Jesus to this lost and dying world, then the rocks and trees will do it for us. And if that actually transpires, then standing before the judgment seat of Christ is going to be a miserable experience for us. Instead of “well done good and faithful servant,” we are going to hear “why didn’t you say something to the clerk in the grocery store when you could clearly recognize her hurting heart? Why didn’t you say something to your co-worker when you recognized they were having a bad day?”  

I don’t mean to scare us here, but scripture clearly states we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for what we did when we walked this earth. I would much rather find myself in a position that God is pleased with instead of the other end of the spectrum.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

Heavenly Father, we plead at your feet for forgiveness for being complacent about the lost. Please place within us a burning inside our bones for the lost. Break our hearts for what breaks yours. Guard our hearts against the many excuses we come up with on a minute by minute bases for why we can’t share your love with those around us. We know that they are nothing more then lies from the enemy in the attempt to stop your kingdom from coming as it is in heaven. Jesus, birth a passion in our souls for the lost that literally consumes us if we are not seeking out the lost. Give us backbones of steel, that we will not back down in the moments of testing. We know that fear is not from you. It is just a weapon that satan uses to keep your people silent. Fill us with your loving boldness. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ.

Weapons Of Warfare (Part 3)

We continue today in with our examination of our weapons of warfare. We have already looked at the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness and feet fitted with readiness. To read about those please visit Weapons of Warfare (Part 2). If you have not read Weapons of Warfare (Part 1) please feel free to read that as well.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:11-18

4. The shield of faith

In Biblical times the Roman shield was a pretty large piece of equipment. It stood about 3.5 feet tall, 16 inches across and weighted about 22 pounds. The purpose of the shield was to protect any area that was exposed after all the other armor was strapped into placed as well as pushing back the enemy in face to face combat. 

The physical purpose of the shield has direct application to our spiritual lives today. Not only can our faith “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” (Ephesians 6:16) but our faith can literally push our enemy out of the way. The beauty of taking up the shield of faith is just what Jesus tells us about faith… “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) We do not need to have piles of faith to see satan running for his life. All we need to do is put on just the tiniest bit of faith and watch satan flee! How awesome is that!

The issue lies in this, we choose not to pick up faith, rather we choose to pick up doubt, fear and unbelief when faith should have been our shield all along! (Related post: Time to Wage War.) Trust God at His word! When He says He will do something He will do it! That’s faith. Believing that God is going to do what He said He would do. Faith is summed up by simply believing that God is going to stay true to His character not matter how bad our circumstances appear. ( Related posts: Facing Our Giants, Faith That Impresses Christ, Believe And Not Doubt). So, pick up the shield of faith and watch satan flee. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee, not he might flee, not maybe he will flee. No! He WILL flee! Resist with the shield of faith. 

5. The helmet of salvation
The helmet is protective armor for our heads, more importantly our minds. In warfare the enemy will try to attack the opponent's head, because if they can damaged the mind they take the soldier out of the fight. Satan is no different with us. How many thoughts a day do we have that are not godly? I know for me personally, it’s more than I can count. I would say it’s because most of the time I walk around without my helmet, which gets me into trouble. (Related posts: Time to Wage War, Being on Guard Duty, 5 Words that Hijack Our Faith, Unchecked Emotions And God's Faithfulness) Do you ever walk around with your mind as an open target for the enemy?

How do we begin to take authority over our thought life? I believe the first step is recognizing weather or not a particular thought is of God or not. The best way to do this is to measure it against scripture. Do the Philippians 4:8 test. I shared this in test in a post entitled “Being On Guard Duty.” So, if you are unfrmilulare with this test, go back and read that post. Once you have established the source of the thought, then it is a matter of lining that thought up with God’s word if it’s not already. Quoting scripture and rehearsing thankfulness are great ways to redirect ungodly thoughts.

6. Sword of the spirit
Thus far, all our discussion has been on items of armor, items in which we put on for our protection. We have yet to discuss any items in which we can use to do actual damage to the enemy. The sword is a weapon that was designed to destroy and kill. Our sword of the spirit is the word of God, and Hebrews tells us just how destructive the word of God can be. 

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 

When we battle with the word we send satan away wounded. (Related post: My Battle Verses) The best part of battling with the word is not just the effects it has on the enemy, but it is the effect is has on our own hearts and minds. When we make a practice of hiding God’s word in our hearts it begins to change our thought life, our actions and our words. This is yet another reason why Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word can penetrate soul, spirit, joint and marrow. It gets inside of us and transforms us. I can think of no better weapon to fight with. Not only does it send satan away like a dog with his tail between his legs, but it strengthens our souls. There is your double edge! (One that wounds, one that builds up and strengthens).

7. Prayer
The last thing that Paul presents us with in this list of spiritual armor In Ephesians 6 is prayer. Prayer is the yet another weapon God has placed in our hands to do some serious damage in the heavenly realms. 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

“Pray continually.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1

We are called to be consistent in prayer. How often do we get about ten minutes into our prayer and either get distracted or frustrated that we haven’t seen God do anything amazing and earth shattering? So often we get impatient with God. We are called to pray continually, pray without ceasing, and pray and not give up. God is not raising up a bunch of spiritual sissies here. He wants people who are going to fight for the kingdom! Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons we have in spiritual warfare, and when we pray the scriptures, satan doesn’t even have a chance. 

Prayer is a conversation we have with the Lord. If we keep that conversation ongoing throughout the day then satan has less of a chance to interject his two cents. Because prayer is a conversation we must give the Lord time to speak. How many of us want to be in a conversation with a friend that we never are given the chance to talk because all they want to do is tell you everything that is going on in their life and the lives of those around them? Prayer really is designed to be a two way relationship and an ongoing conversation. There is no magic words we have to say, or special way in which we should say them. God knows our hearts, but bear in mind He desires for us to know His heart as well, and the only way that is going to happen is if we give Him time to speak.   

For more on prayer visit: Prayer, Challenge # 10 - Pursuing Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the armor to use in warfare. Give us the strength we need to take up the shield of faith to protect us against the fiery darts of the enemy. Help us to remember to always wear our helmet of salvation so our minds can be protected against the schemes of the enemy. Grant us the the desire to take up the sword of the spirit and do some damage in the heavenly realms. We know that prayer is how we build our relationship with you. Help us to remember that it is not just a one way conversation, but that you desire to share your heart with us as well. Help us to make the time to stop talking and just listen. Thank you for placing weapons in our hands and not just leaving us unarmed. Give us the strength we need to actually use these weapons each and every day. We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ. 

Weapons of Warfare (Part 2)

If you have not read Weapons of Warfare (Part 1) please fee free to read that first. It lays the foundation to this post.

What are these weapons?
God’s word gives us so many weapons we should wage war with. Please bear with me because I am going to cover many of these weapons, but note that by no means is this an all inclusive list. Please search the scriptures for yourselves to find out exactly what weapons God is calling you to fight with in your particular battle. Not all battles will require the same weapons, nor are those weapons going to be used in the same manner in every battle we face. Spend some time seeking God’s direction on what weapons you need to be fighting with and how you are to fight with them. 

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:11-18

The most logical place to start examining our weapons is in Ephesians 6. This section of scripture introduces us to the armor of God. We will be looking at each individual piece of armor and the significance behind wearing it. Please note that some of the pieces we will discuss are for our protection while other pieces are for us to physically battle with. Each piece is important in our battle against the evil forces in the heavenly realms.

I want to mention quickly that verse 11 tells us to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes. I don’t know any soldier who would go into battle and not wear ALL of their protective gear. I guess if you wanted to lose, become injured or die, you might consider going to war with parts of your armor missing, but in reality, who really wants any of those things to happen? Yet, this is what we do on a daily basis as Christians. We leave our homes for work, school, play dates, errands, and even church without getting dressed in our full armor. By not getting battle ready we are basically inviting satan to wreak havoc in our lives.

1. Belt of truth
In thinking about the belt of truth my mind immediately takes me to one place, the next generation. The belt is a garment worn around the waist. The body parts in and around that area deal with the reproductive organs. I truly think there is a reason why scripture talks about covering our waists with truth. My understanding of this is that we should be covering our children, both physical children and spiritual children with the knowledge of God’s truth. 

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4

Our children can never walk in a truth they have never heard. It is our responsibility to put on truth and in turn pass that along to the next generation as well. In doing so we will reap a beautiful harvest. One major aspect of waging war means sharing the knowledge of God’s truth to anyone who will listen.

2. Breastplate of rightness
The breastplate is used to protect vital organs such as our lungs and heart. I truly believe the key protection area is our heart. It is crucial that we protect our heart with righteousness. Please bear in mind that we can not produce the type of righteousness that has the capability of protecting our heart from the evil schemes that satan is skillfully planning. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” So in other words,the righteousness we need only comes from the Heavenly Father Himself.
“...For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45 When we allow the Lord to fill our heart with His righteousness, our mouths then become a vehicle for God’s righteousness to be spread to those around us. Protecting our hearts begins with allowing God’s righteousness to fill us and then allowing His righteousness to flow from us.

3. Your feet fitted with readiness
What good is it to get dressed for work in the morning if you never actually go to work? God not only desires us to put on the full armor, but to actually go and use it. Ephesians says that our feet should be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. We can never be fitted for readiness if we don’t daily delve into God’s word. We should be so involved with the word of God that it affects the way we walk, the manner in which we carry ourselves, our demeanor, our mindset, our speech and our interactions with others. Our Heavenly Father desires for us to come to such an intimate place in our walk with Him that every aspect of our being reflects the character of Christ. We can not arrive at such a place without putting on the gospel of peace each and every day. I truly believe that the reason God desires us to ready our feet is so that we don’t keep Christ for ourselves. When our feet our equipped for readiness, we have a burning and urgent passion inside to share the things of God with others. It’s time to put on our running shoes saints. We are facing a lost and dying generation that needs to hear the gospel more than ever before.

To continue this series please read: Weapons of Warfare (Part 3).

Heavenly Father, please help us to put on the belt of truth so we can share your truth with the next generation with a sense of urgency. May we faithfully put on the breastplate of righteousness so that our hearts can be protected because we know that when our heart is guarded our mouths will speak forth the godliness that we have stored up inside. Fill us with diligence to lace up our shoes of readiness so that we may go wherever you are sending us and share with whomever you place in our path. Overwhelm us with an urgency to do battle in the heavenly realms.

Weapons Of Warfare (Part 1)

 In my last post, I challenged us with the thought of waging war with our sin nature. This truly is a big responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. But, what exactly are we fighting against? How do we wage war? What weapons has God already placed in our hands to wage war with?  And, where do we even begin?

What are we fighting against?
“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

So many of the challenges we face in this life are not just because we are merely human and make mistakes, or because things “just happen.” There is a much greater force at work than simply the little lives we live. Our Heavenly Father has plans and purposes for each and every life on this earth (Jeremiah 29:11). However, satan has plans too! The heavenlies are waging war against us, our families and our friends. Satan wants to annihilate all traces of God’s plans and purposes for us, and if he can’t completely knock God out of the picture he at least wants to keep us distracted enough so that God’s plans are no longer our priority. And satan will stop at nothing to see God’s plans derailed in our lives. We get ourselves into trouble when we don’t acknowledge the fact that there is a war raging in the heavenly realms. I have heard well-meaning Christians say “I don’t want to make this out to be a spiritual battle.” What is it inside of us that makes us think that the struggles we find ourselves in are not spiritual attacks? I can only assume that this concept of the heavenlies waging war for our souls is a topic that makes people extremely uncomfortable. It is an area we as humans do not understand nor are we able to have complete control over. And quite frankly it’s a scary concept to think about. It is this very entrapment of discomfort that satan is so eager to keep us entangled in, because living in fear of the unknown will, in fact, paralyze us from ever waging war. All the while, the situations we are facing are continuing to wage war with us. Can you see the dangers of not acknowledging the spiritual forces of evil working in the heavenly realms? They will wage war whether or not we acknowledge their existence. We might as well trust God when He tells us that there are spiritual forces of evil at work in the heavenly realms.

How do we wage war? 
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Since God’s word tells us there are spiritual forces of evil that we must wage war against, the question remains of how do we wage war? According to 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 God has given us weapons with divine power. These weapons are used to demolish strongholds, arguments (speculations), and pretension (a lofty thing) that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. In other words, anything contrary to the word of God or the character of Christ we are to wage war against using the divine weapons that God has given us.

To continue this series please read: Weapons Of Warfare (Part 2), Weapons Of Warfare (Part 3)

Father, help us to believe you at your word when you tell us there is a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realms for our souls. Give us the courage we need to wage war, to not back down, and to fight the good fight of faith. Heap upon us the fortitude that we need to use the weapons you have already placed in our hands to demolish strongholds, arguments and any lofty thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of you. Fill us with the tenacity we need to wage war in the heavenlies! We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ.