If You Want Peace, Prepare For War

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12, NLV)

If a country desires peace they must have an army, armed and prepared, to protect its citizens from those who desire to overtake it.

Soldiers train for battles they may never face, in order to keep their country secure and safe.  But what happens to a country when its army is not well-equipped, poorly trained and undisciplined?  It is left vulnerable to attack.  In order for peace to be achieved a country has to be ready for war in every way.

During basic training drill sergeants want their platoon to be the very best at everything they do. That means that every man has to be excellent. If one member falls behind, they all would pay the price. Platoon's will drill 8-9 hours straight in order to achieve their best in drilling. The platoon's will compete to see who is the best. No one wants to be second in this competition! The drill sergeant will line them up in their barracks and begin to scream and yell at them for taking second place. “There is no second place in war!  You are either first or you’re dead!”

As followers of Christ, we are in a war!

We have an enemy that hungers for our souls and preys on our weaknesses.  He seems to find all the places that we are weak, or not equipped.  One of his best tactics is to get Christians to think they are at peace when they really are at war, to catch them unprepared and untrained for battle.

We need to be prepared for the battle.  We cannot let down our guard, we must be strong and alert!  But what does that look like in our life as a follower of Christ? We must train just like a soldier does – we need to learn God’s Word and be ready to use it.  Jesus used Scripture in defeating Satan when he was tempted.  We need to not just read it but apply it to our lives.   God’s word needs to be a huge part of our everyday life!

We must develop our relationship with God.  We need to know who He is so that we can place our trust in Him even when we don’t understand what’s happening or can’t see the way.  The Bible calls us to walk by faith.  Notice that in the first part of those verses it says that we are to be strong in the Lord and that we are to draw our strength from Him.  We cannot do it on our own – we need His power, His strength and His might.

If you want peace in your life as a Christian, you must prepare for the battle.

Father, My strength is in You alone. When I am tempted to believe that I can handle this on my own, gently remind me that the battle is Yours.   Help me to faithfully study Your word so that I can know You better.  Amen

 Are you aware and ready to fight spiritual battles in your life?

Dead to Sin, Alive to God- How the Devil Holds You Hostage

  Why is it that we go to church on Sunday, and enter in to praise God, but then when we leave we feel bound again? What happens to us between the pew and the car? We feel that the chains are off, but then all of the sudden they re-snap. We know God is able, we believe that God is able, but we can't break free. How is it that we can't keep our marriages together? Why do we have to go on feeling miserable? Why is it that we have to go to bed early at night to escape from our miserable day? Why do some people need a pill to get up in the morning, and a pill to go to sleep at night? Why after all of this....we still feel chained? God says "Come as you are" and He will do the rest, but in order to truly be free, we must realize that we are HOSTAGE! God can't free you if you don't know your bound. In order to shed your chains , you must realize you are in them. In order to be free you must realize your slavery condition. God can only help folks who know there is something wrong.

  So, what is wrong?  Why are so many good people hounded day in and day out with all these problems?

In order to understand what is wrong, we must go to the scriptures for help.

2 Corinthians 11:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

  Paul was afraid that the church of Corinth was being doped by the plotting of the Enemy. He was afraid that the serpent had encoiled their minds. Paul knew that whatever controlled the mind controlled the feet.

So, if the devil has your mind, He has control over you. Many times we try to fix our problems by addressing our problems ourselves, but the snake is still wrapped around our minds. If you don't get the snake off of your mind, your not addressing what is causing your problems. Often times, we try to fix our problems without fixing our minds. We have to get the snake off the mind, in order to fix his effect in the light. The serpent has been doing this for thousands of years. He started with Eve in Genesis....

Genesis 3

New International Version (NIV)

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

  

  In these verses Satan messes with Eve's mind.  His method of deception is to  give you His thoughts in your mind, until you adopt them as your thoughts. Once He has you thinking His thoughts, He's got you! Eve only took a bite, when the serpent's idea became Her idea. Satan has continually deceived us, because he has told us his ideas for so long that we believe it is our idea. At that time he has our mind, and we believe that we can't overcome our problems.

  We then say....I can't control my marriage!  Who's idea is that?  I can't control my addiction!  Who's idea is that?  I can't control my temper!  WHO'S IDEA IS THAT?  We say that it is our idea, because we know we CAN'T, It is only your idea by adoption, not by origination! God would never give you that idea. God would never give you the idea that divorce is the only option. God would never give you the idea that you have to be an addict for the rest of your life. We adopt these ideas of the enemy as our own. Once the Serpent has taken his idea, and made it your idea, then it becomes a strong hold. Like a snake squeezing itself around your mind. It has control over you. Once He has your mind He has your emotions. Once He has placed a strong hold on your mind, you then FEEL like you CAN'T. The only reason you FEEL the way you FEEL, is because you THINK what you THINK. The enemy has your mind! Our feelings are tied to are minds, so if the Serpent has your mind, He also has your emotions.

  The bible says "Satan is the father of lies"....the only way He can be a father is if He has kids. Satan has a whole bunch of kids running around today, who have adopted His ideas and information. We blame God for our inability to control our thoughts, when He had nothing to do with them in the first place. 

  How do we fix this?  Jesus said " I have come to destroy all the works of the Devil". God has purchased you out of your problems.  I heard a Pastor put it like this one time.....a hamster looks outside its cage and sees freedom. It thinks to itself, there is freedom out there let me run to it. He starts running on his wheel to freedom, but never gets anywhere. So he starts running faster. He still isn't getting anywhere, so he sprints. An hour later he is still in the same spot. You have been trying to fix your marriage for years, but your still in the same spot. You mad a New Year's resolution to stop that bad habit, and a week later your in the same spot. Why? You thought by your human effort of running, by your power of positive thinking that you could become free. After all that, you realize your a slave, your chained, your trapped in a cage. 

  The only way you can escape is if the one that purchased you intervenes. You need someone that is bigger than your problem to reach down and pull you out of the "cage". You need God to reach down and save you from your problems. Someone bigger than the Hamster has to take over. Until Jesus Christ reaches down and takes a hold of your life you are not going very far.  You can try, you can run, you can plan, but until Jesus takes a hold of the wheel, your not going very far.

  Let Jesus Christ save you from your situation today. Don't be a slave to the enemies lies any longer. God can only help you if you let Him. Read Romans 6:1-4. It will,also, help you realize your victory over sin. Yo have been made new once you our saved from your problems.

 

Living Water

It’s estimated our bodies are 80% fluid.  Apart from brains, bones, and a few organs, we’re walking water balloons! Stop drinking water and see what happens.  Coherent thoughts vanish.  Skin gets clammy, and vital organs wrinkle. Eyes need fluid to cry.  Your mouth needs moisture to swallow and your joints need fluid to stay lubricated.  Your body needs water the same way tires need air!

God wired you with thirst–a “low-fluid indicator.”  Let your fluid level grow low, and watch the signals flare.  Dry mouth.  Achy head.   Weak knees.  Deprive your body of fluid and your body will tell you.  Deprive your soul of spiritual water, and your soul will tell you.

Dehydrated hearts send desperate messages:  Bad tempers.  Waves of worry. Faith dries out!

Jesus said, “if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink.  He who believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water! John 4:14″

Powerful Preaching

Acts 17:10-34

The Message (MSG)

Berea

 ^10-12That night, under cover of darkness, their friends got Paul and Silas out of town as fast as they could. They sent them to Berea, where they again met with the Jewish community. They were treated a lot better there than in Thessalonica. The Jews received Paul's message with enthusiasm and met with him daily, examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said. A lot of them became believers, including many Greeks who were prominent in the community, women and men of influence.  ^13-15But it wasn't long before reports got back to the Thessalonian hardline Jews that Paul was at it again, preaching the Word of God, this time in Berea. They lost no time responding, and created a mob scene there, too. With the help of his friends, Paul gave them the slip—caught a boat and put out to sea. Silas and Timothy stayed behind. The men who helped Paul escape got him as far as Athens and left him there. Paul sent word back with them to Silas and Timothy: "Come as quickly as you can!"

Athens

 ¹⁶The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.  ^17-18He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: "What an airhead!" But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: "That's a new slant on the gods. Tell us more."
 ^19-21These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, "This is a new one on us. We've never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand." Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.
 ^22-23So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. "It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
 ^24-29"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
 ^30-31"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead."
 ^32-34At the phrase "raising him from the dead," the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, "Let's do this again. We want to hear more." But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.

If you are responsible for communicating biblical truth, consider yourself a preacher (at least for the now)—you are a communicator of God's Word. If that describes you, these next four principles are especially for you. Pay close attention, read thoughtfully and carefully, as I apply this to whatever may be your ministry.


First, always stay on the subject—Christ. For Paul it was always about Christ. Though explaining the altar of the unknown God of Athens, everything for Paul pointed to Christ. Preaching that doesn't exalt Christ is empty preaching. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). For Paul, to live was Christ and to die was gain.


Second, always speak the truth without fear. Do not be overly impressed with those who have come to the class or who sit in the church where you serve. And it makes no difference how much they're worth or how little they contribute.


Third, always start where your audience is. Paul hooked those men in his first sentence. You can, too, if you spend some time thinking about it. Know your audience well enough to build a bridge quickly. Find a way to get into their world and then build a bridge to Christ. Remember: begin with the familiar in order to acquaint them with the unfamiliar.


Fourth, always surrender the results to God. Once they have heard the message, your part ends. Your task is to communicate truth. It's God's job to draw people to Himself. You prepare the patient; He does the surgery. They don't need manipulation. There's enough of that going on. You don't need to follow them out to their car or push them into a corner. God will reach them, just as He did in Athens. Leave the results to God.


When your heart is right, it's amazing what you're able to see. And when you see it clearly, it's remarkable how God can give you the words to say. You may be amazed how God uses you, just as He did Paul in that ancient metropolis so many years ago. When his moment arrived, he was ready.


When your moment comes, stand and deliver. God will give you courage as you tell others of His Son. There is no greater honor on earth.