The Armor of God

What kind of sense does it make for us to be in the midst of a battle and to leave our armor over in the corner, collecting dust?? That's right, it doesn't. Yet, we do just that. 

We are in a spiritual war. You, me...every person.  Some of us are, without a second thought, doing exactly what the enemy approves of. 

(Living in and of the world. Choosing not to live for Christ. Maybe even refusing to buy-in to this whole "Jesus" thing. A very self-indulgent and self-centered mind set. A "What about ME?" mentality.) 

Some of us want to resist the enemies commands, but we had taken our armor off, leaving ourselves vulnerable. We are weak against him. 

(We have not kept the Word of God hidden in our heart and consistently spoken on our lips. We choose not to stand on God's Word and promises. Our armor may only partially be on; we aren't fully protected. We pray to God when times are tough, and "forget" to when times are better.)

Some of us choose to put our armor on fully. Our enemy doesn't stand a chance, although he wouldn't dare stop trying to penetrate the impenetrable. 

(We choose to read, speak, and release the promises of God over our lives. We refuse to walk in fear, because we know we have the God of Angel Armies battling on our behalf. We obey His commands and we trust in Him. We love Him, because He first Loved us. We choose to claim the victory over the battle, because He promised the Victory is already ours!) 

Ephesians 6:11-18 (NLT)

"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.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."

~I pray this encourages you to evaluate your spiritual life. I pray you find strength, because you turn to Him...to Jesus. His gift of Life is absolutely free!! 

If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and would like to know how to, leave a comment below or private message me. I would love to share a prayer with you to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior! 

Be blessed! 

~Rue

The Blessing

Hello out there...Jayley here. The holiday season is always a very stressful time for me especially with a blended family. Hurts haunt me from the past...New hurts are made..but through it all I try to stay positive.  The reality is I probably put too much emphasis on the holidays and have ideas I try to fulfill about what the day should look like.

Hello. ...me playing God once again.  :)

Knowing this is a time of weakness for me and a time I can really fall prey to the enemy has made me very aware of my need to stay in constant contact with My Lord.  In addition to my daily routines I like to kick it up a notch by occupying any free time I have with Godly wisdom. This helps fight off the depression which can quickly take me captive if I am allowed to mind wander the past.

I have been reading this really great book given to me by a friend. It's called "The gift of the blessing". Such great wisdom in here...it talks about t he elements of the blessing parents should strive to bestow on their children.  And they discuss what happens when the blessing is not given, or given partially.  I truly know my calling at this season in my life is to give this blessing to the children God has placed in my family. I see the holes in some of my children's lives right now and I recognize what those holes X an and will do if not addresses. I can see the damage to one's soul created by living without the blessing. It's blaringly obvious in my husband and I too have elements missing.

So what are these elements so vital to a child?
1. Meaningful touch. Have you hugged your child lately..held hands...petted their hair?
2. Spoken words...what comes out of the mouth plants seeds that can be weeds or flowers. What are you speaking?
3.Expressing high value. Our children believe they will be what we say they can be.
4. Picturing a special future. Teach your child to dream and believe the greatness they were created for.
5.An active commitment.  Bestowing the blessing is something a parent gas to commit to.  Not a one time act. A continuous,ongoing act of love. Get to it!

Raising a Child of God

Today is E’s 8^th birthday. Eight years ago today, God blessed me with a wonderful little girl!  She is so full of spit fire and spunk. Those qualities are both fun for me and trying for me as a mother. 

I pray circles around that girl, that God leads her to use her nature in a most holy way. It’s difficult being a mother and coming to terms with your children and their futures. I find it heart-wrenching to think about the trials she may face, but exciting to imagine how she will face them. As a mother, I know that my God given task is to instill in her a deep spirituality from which she can build.

Rue is really great at this sort of thing… I on the other hand still fall flat on my face-often. I listen sometimes to the conversations she has with her oldest child and am just amazed at the wisdom she has and how cleverly she imparts it.

 

It is in those teaching times that the building blocks of their future are laid and layered. I pray that God gives me many, many opportunities to grow and excel in this area and that one day E will be a holy example of God’s grace, his omnipotent, divine, grace.

So how does one actually go about the task of raising a child of God? Here are a few ideas I have:

1.  Set a Godly example. Show the character of Christ to your children. You are their first hand example in this area. Be honest, prayerful, bold, creative, decisive, dependable, joyful, kind, and  patient. (Tall order I know, but this is the calling.)

 

-Deuteronomy 6: 6-9:

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

 

2.  Give them resources and teach them how to use them. We may not have the answer, but we know where the answer to every situation lies.

 

-John 1:14:

“Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

 

3.  Teach them God’s promises and how to claim them! Our children need to know that God isn’t big and imaginary. That our God loves and hears us and is faithful to His people.

 

-Joshua 21:45:

“Not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.”

Knowing God's Voice

Today, I want to share from a devotional our church offers each quarter. As I read it this morning, I was reminded of why KNOWING God's voice is so vitally important. 

Here are seven occasions when knowing His voice will protect and benefit our relationship with him and His plans for our life:

1.) Hearing from God before you entertain the ideas of others. 

-Why? Because their ideas are not His commands. Don't make commitments and end up bound by promises you can't keep. You must love others, but be led only by God's Spirit. 

2.) Hearing from God before you listen to the complaints of others.

-Why? Because you are not responsible for their happiness. Your need to "fix" others in order to feel good about yourself is called "co-dependency". Give them to God!

3.) Hearing from God before you consider the needs of others. 

-Why? Because their needs are driving them; only the plan of God should be driving you. 

4.) Hearing from God before you respond to the requests of others. 

-Why? Because you must discern what is behind their requests. Check the soil before you sow the seed. 

5.) Hearing from God before you share your dream with others. 

-Why? Because it's not enough to have a dream, you must have a team. You need people to help you, cheer you on and lift you to a higher level. The right people motivate you to grow stronger, think better, work harder, and risk more. They compel you to continue! 

6.) Hearing from God before you seek the approval of others. 

-Why? Beacuse people with an agenda will flatter and manipulate you. Hearing from God's voice will keep you from falling into their trap. 

7.) Hearing from God before you make significant changes. 

-Why? Because it's not your job to decide what God wants you to do, but to discover it and do it. 

"His sheep follow him because they know his voice."

-John 10:4

Eyes to See

"But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help.

He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears."

~Psalm 18:6 (NLT)

In those moments when I realize I have been allowing past hurts and present fears to hold me hostage, Lord, I thank You for reminding me that You are nearby, and that I don't have to do life alone! 

My expectations of people frequently leave me saddened, frustrated, and disappointed. But You...You have never failed Your promises to me!  I know You will not abandon me, and in THAT, I find comfort and peace. 

I refuse to project my hurts caused by those I love here on earth, on to You, Lord.  I refuse to allow the enemy to convince me of his lies. Give me eyes to see from YOUR perspective, Father...so that I may not be deceived! 

Continue molding me into Your image...and to You be the glory!!! 

~Rue

Back on this Horse

So here we are in October, almost November, and our blog has kind of fell by the wayside. I won’t give excuses, but I will say that my life has been refocused some due to a lay off and the changes that occur from having your life uprooted unexpectedly. 

I really do want to get back to writing, I think it’s a good way to share my feelings with others and not just keep myself all bottled up. Bottling emotions will equal an exposition at some point I am quite certain.

So hang on everyone, Jayley ( and I’m sure Rue) are going to get back on this horse! 

Teaching our children the wholeness of Christ

My family watched Passion of the Christ the other night. I have to admit I did not make it through the movie, I cannot bear to watch it and my children’s eyes were wide as can be through the whole thing. I don’t know if showing them that movie was the right thing to do. Although it portrays the human path of Christ, I think the true lesson gets lost. It’s difficult to get adults to understand the spiritual and symbolic representation of Christ’s crucifixion and even more so for children. Or maybe it’s not the child/adult division that makes it difficult, but the level of spiritual maturity. I believe children come into this world with a strong spiritual understand which we slowly squeeze out of them and then as adult work to re-acquire.

Where am I going with this ramble, I’m not sure. I guess what I want to discuss is what we are feeding our children spiritually. I grew up with a religious background which emphasized the loving aspect of God. I was not raised fearing God, nor Hell. I always knew my Father/Mother to be a loving God, a healer and a supporter. I am bothered somewhat by the teaching my children are receiving, they lack spiritual depth and my children are, I believe, missing the mark of Christ’s teachings. I have this overwhelming desire to attempt to explain what I believe to my children, but my fear is its too abstract for their young minds. My son was telling me about something he had heard in class at Church. I can’t remember exactly what it was about, but he was very confused because he had been given a story from the bible which to him didn’t make sense because he was looking at it purely from a human presepctive. I had to explain symbolism to how Christ spoke in parables at times. I tried to help him understand to look for the lesson and not focus so much on the seemingly concrete story line.

I really don’t know why, but this whole subject lays heavy on my heart.  I want my children to grow SPIRTUALLY and not get stuck in that age old box of doing good deeds to earn a tick mark in the “good” column. Our God gave us so much when he put Jesus into human form, but Jesus was so much more than a MAN. I pray that my children’s spiritual eyes and hearts be open to Christ and that I am given the wisdom and means to give them even a spark of the wholeness of Christ.