THE HEART OF THINGS

Hebrews 4:12-16 (NIV) For the word of God is living 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. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Do you ever stop to think that as you are angry at someone and railing on them within yourself that you are showing God just who you really are? We can go around acting pious but the living word of God says that nothing is hidden from Him and all will be laid bare and we will have to give account to Him.
Wow, if that doesn't cause you to ask forgiveness for the things you know are true about yourself that other people don't know, I can't think of anything that would EXCEPT that God sent His Son to save us from our own personal sin (of which no man can deny having because God knows our hearts!)
This scripture tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way we are but did not sin and we may go to the throne of grace and mercy because of Jesus.
A great man of God explained to his congregation many times that the difference in grace and mercy is this. Grace is when you receive something you don't deserve (forgiveness). Mercy is when you don't receive something you do deserve (punishment).
Please think about these scriptures today as you go through your day and when you become tempted, even if it is in your heart where only God can see, give it to the Lord that it might not become sin. The sin is not in the temptation, but in the acting on it even if it is in your head and heart that you are acting on it.

CAN WE BE HOLY?

I Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

The apostles were with Jesus & the Biblical disciples were with the apostles. We, on the other hand, can be with Jesus through the Holy Spirit and we can experience what He and the apostles said through the Word. (See also John 1-the entire chapter to understand who and what the Word is).
God has given us the truth through His Word and in it Jesus tells us to be holy because He is holy. When the truth is revealed to us through the Word, and we repent from our sin and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit can come and reside within us. Through the guidance and prompting of the Spirit we then can cultivate the fruits of the Spirit through study of the Word in preparation of our minds, prayer and fellowship with the Lord and by listening to the bidding on our hearts and minds to do His will and not our previous unrighteous acts.
The Holy Scriptures of God make us witnesses to what He has done for us that we might be prepared as His disciples to go out and make other disciples. (see Matthew 28)
The only way we can be holy is through Jesus Christ who is holy.

HOW DO WE PRAY?

Mathew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Lord's prayer was given on two separate occasions and settings in the Bible, but both times the Lord was giving instruction to us on how to pray. (While I usually use the NIV in this blog, I chose to use the King James because that is the way I learned it and I like the harmonious flow of it.)
As we see the Lord instructs us first to address the Father. This tells us that this prayer is for the believer (the Christian). God becomes our Father when we become adopted through faith in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son. Therefore, we are approaching God in a whole new light than someone else (who could also pray to God but is not in a personal relationship with Him).
After addressing Him, we then proceed to praise His name. The word hollowed as described in the dictionary is: holy or sacred. The importance of praise is emphasized throughout the entire Bible, but to me the significance here is that it is to be first, above any other communication we have with Him. If we can't praise Him than we don't truly honor who He is.
Thy kingdom come. This is a stand alone sentence. It ends with a period and is a statement of the desire for God's kingdom, and what we have to look forward to. Our hope for our future with Him. As His children we should always want His will and as His children we know that our lives are chaos in any will other than His.
Now we ask simply for our daily provision. Bread is representative in the Bible in two ways. One way is as physical food and the other way is spiritual food. Both are important ingredients to the health of a Christian, but spiritual food (the Word) is what actually will sustain us through eternity. (Something to consider as you move on to the next verse.)
Forgive us our debts (the version of the prayer in Luke says sins), don't sins make us indebted to God. Isn't that what Christ did for us on the cross, forgave our sins. The next part is the one that makes many stumble though. Christ knew that and went on after the prayer to further elaborate on our forgiveness of others being a criteria for our own forgiveness.
Asking to be kept from temptation and being delivered from evil or the evil one is in itself a testimony of what we face on a daily basis, but with the Lord's guidance, we can overcome all temptation as it comes our way.
For thine is the ........does not appear in the oldest manuscripts and in Luke's version is left off all together, however, once again it is acknowledgment of who God the Father is and a fitting praise of His Holiness. As Christians after Christ's sacrifice to make it even possible to address God as Father, we then end the prayer in Jesus Name.
I find it interesting that the people of the time as well as ourselves need to be taught to pray. Obviously, we do or Christ would not have told us how to do so on two occasions. I encourage you to study this prayer for yourself and evaluate your own prayers as you move forward in your walk with the Lord.
Have a blessed day and don't forget to PRAY.

Until He Comes or until I go,
Nikki

DON'T GO OUT WITHOUT IT!

Ephesians 6:18And 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 saints.

As I promised I have included this verse with those describing the armor of God, BECAUSE IT IS INCLUDED in the Bible with the armor. Note the word AND at the first of the sentence. It doesn't say to put all of the pieces on and then just rush out into the world; it says to put all of the pieces on and then in the Spirit pray. We are to pray on all occasions. We are to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ (all the saints).
When we praise God, we are acknowledging who He is in all of His majesty as creator of everything and Lord. Jesus Himself prayed continuously. He gave us an example of how to pray (see Matthew 6:9-13).
Note as well, that it says prayers and requests. I bring this up because I wanted you to note the separation of prayers and requests (see also, I Timothy 2:1). In too many "christian" churches today, there are a plethora of requests and very little praise, and sometimes the other way around, not praying for each other at all. Prayer meetings have become about man and not about God. The Lord has been laying this on my heart lately because of my own prayer life. Our family has been through many hard things lately and when things are happening all around us, we (all people) have a tendency to become self centered instead of God centered.
So before you go out that door with your armor in tact, on ALL occasions pray. Prayer is praise of and communication(the imparting or exchanging information or news) with God!
I hope you have enjoyed this series on the armor of God. The next series will be on the Lord's prayer. I look forward to your comments and questions.

Until He Comes or until I go,
Nikki

HELMET AND SWORD

^{Ephesians 6:17}Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We might ask ourselves why salvation is portrayed here as a helmet. When God calls us to Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, He no longer sees us but instead sees the blood of Jesus that covers us. There are many times in the Bible where the word covering, covered or cover is used but two of the interesting ones are where Noah was told to put the cover on the ark (which we know the ark represented salvation) and in 1Corinthians the 11th chapter where it is talking about a woman covering her head and a man not, but then goes on to say that in Christ there is no separation (we are all the bride of Christ). I challenge all to do a study on the cover words and see some of the interesting things you start to perceive. Do not, however read only the verse but the chapter in context with the writing. You will, I guarantee, find some interesting things out!
Notice that the helmet does not stand alone in the sentence. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. As a Christian we know that the Word is God breathed, that Jesus became that Word in the flesh, and that the Holy Spirit comes to seal us and convict us of our sins by revealing Jesus through the Word of His gospel to us.
We have now gotten all of the pieces of the armor on during the last few writings, but we are not done getting ready for our day. Join me on Sunday, February 14 and find out how to finish up getting ready before you leave out for your day.

EXTINGUISHING FLAMING ARROWS

Ephesians 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

The shield of faith is a gift of God, as we see in Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
If we know this to be true in our own lives , we can face anything that we are called to face. The flaming arrows are the things the world throws at us; things the forces of the devil either want you to believe, do, or receive from others. By faith we walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil(part of 23rd psalm.
Pray for God to increase your faith and see what happens!

SHOES OF PEACE

Ephesians 6:15 (NIV) and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In Sunday school as a child you heard this piece of armor referred to as the shoes of peace, and while we all want world peace, that is not the peace that this speaks of. Peace can only come to our hearts through the hearing of the gospel, repentance and submission. When we become a part of God's family through the Lord Jesus Christ, he sends the Holy Spirit to abide in us that imparts to us the peace of God; it imparts a peace that is beyond understanding to the world. (See John 14:23-31)
We could not and cannot create this peace in ourselves because we were separated from God and within ourselves we warred with Him, but Jesus made peace with God for us when He bled and died for our sins of His own accord. (See Col. 1:20)
Note that the verse says 'fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel (good news) of peace'. We were told by Jesus to go into all of the world to preach and teach the good news. (See Matthew 28:18-20) Unless we get ready, how can we go? Unless we are willing to take the first step, how will we do what is asked of us?
Examine yourself, do you have a peace that others in the world outside the body of believers just can't perceive of. If not, re-evaluate your repentance and submission. Maybe you are trying to do it on your own and are still warring within yourself. You can't put on the shoes if they aren't yours to wear.