Hold Back the Wall

Prayer is the strong and mighty weapon we have at our disposal in the body of Christ. The church is able to press back the forces of darkness by bringing down His kingdom to earth. We are part of the army of God that is warring on behalf of people that will come into the kingdom. Many in the body are too ill-equipped to defend themselves and too ignorant to know they are deceived. It is the army of God that is to be the wall that holds back the tidal wave of attack and assault against the people. (Remember Jesus said the gates of hell would not be able to prevail against the body that rest under this mantel of who Jesus is: “You are the Messiah/Christ, Son of the living God” – the very proclamation made by Peter to Jesus) 

 

We are to gear up. We are to be alert. We are to be prepared for the battle at all times. We are to be dressed and ready not only for our sake, not only for the sake of our family and not only for the sake of our church; but for the sake of those that do not even know the Lord yet. But why must we? How will they get to know, how will they learn and who will live it out in front of them? We must demonstrate and grow up in our salvation. We must teach them by walking with them and discipling them. I see the church holding back the tidal wave of harsh judgment. I see the body of Christ holding back the tidal wave of curses that will come upon all the people. I also see the blessings that can come as the wall is holding back the curses but bringing forth the blessings on all behind that wall.

 

Those in and of the world hate the Christian. They persecute us and misunderstand us, but the world needs to comprehend and understand that believers are the very force that stands between the world and the judgment of God that is coming upon it. It is standing between the plans that Satan has for this world and his forces of evil. His plan is for utter destruction, and I am certain of that. Nonbelievers may despise the believer, but I tell you there will come a day when the church will no longer be able to hold back the inevitable judgment to come. When it comes like a powerful tsunami, many will long for the day the church was holding back this disaster of evil. And in those days, you will desire for the peace, joy, and salvation but it will not be found. 

 

The earth and the sins of many have brought forth curses. We are standing currently in the outpouring of the blessings of those that have gone before us. Those blessings came from the covenants made that were honored by those that laid the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and walked in loving obedience. We need to comprehend the magnitude of that which the church is responsible. I cannot overstate this especially to the believers. We have to take our role seriously. We need to wake from our slumber, rest, ease and time of complacency. We no longer can sit in the sterile, sanitized, impotent useless state any longer. This was never true, fulfilling or worthy of our calling. We are free at this point in history not for our sake but for the privilege of carrying the message of hope, peace and love of our savior to the world. We truly need to take up our call! Get up out of your seat. Activate your faith. Pray like never before. Be strong and courageous. And today, choose the one you will serve. I choose to serve the Lord. Join me!

 

Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray for believers to rise up. Pray for the army of God to be activated. Pray for the warring angels in the heavenly realm to be activated and charged. Pray for and cry out for deception to be exposed like never before. Pray for revelation and light to be brought forth and for all to see clearly. Pray that those who will receive the Lord will begin to seek Him and turn to Him. Pray church pray.  Be the army of Almighty God. War on behalf of those that do not yet know Him. And Pray for the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to fill you now. Pray for protection for the Body. Pray especially for believers to start walking in integrity, righteousness and loving obedience. Pray for the equipping of the saints. Be bold, strong and courageous; and do not fear.

Phalanx: Battlefield Formation (revised)

(The pictures below are of a phalanx formation. This formation was one of the most successful military formations. Perhaps the church could learn a thing or two about this)

Becoming the Phalanx:


                           
There is a call to action and a call to prayer for the body of Jesus Christ. I think it is time for the Christians to rise up! It is time to suit up for battle. It is time for us to put aside our petty agendas and minor differences and lock arms with fellow believers so we can become the true Body of Christ and do battle with the TRUE enemy of our soul. Our enemy is not fellow believers who may see things a little differently, it is satan. He has done such a fabulous job keeping us busy fighting with each other over baptism, communion, worship style, interpretations of scripture, what we wear, etc. If it is flesh and blood it is not our enemy, it is either our brother and sister in Christ or our mission field.


BUT Our battle is not against flesh and blood. (so remember: if you cut it and it bleeds, it is not your enemy)


Our weapons are not of this world. Our weapons have divine power. They are able to destroy strongholds, and blow up every argument and everything that pretends to be bigger than God. We are able to control our thoughts and make them line up with the word of God which is Christ. (2 Cor 10:3-5)

We need to be intentional to get dressed daily in the armor of God. (soldiers would not go into battle without putting on their armor)
We need to be certain of our salvation by guarding our mind with the helmet of our salvation.
We need to be certain of our right to stand before God because we are right with God through Christ's sacrifice if we believe it and receive it.
We need to KNOW the Word/ the TRUTH which is Jesus Christ "word became flesh
We need to be saturated in the word and immersed in all that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. Our belt is the truth which helps us recognize lies from the enemy.
We need to know what we believe, and what we truly believe is our faith. That becomes our shield which will put out the fiery arrows thrown at us by our enemy.

We come back at the enemy with the word of God which is our offensive weapon the sword of the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:13-17) Our salvation guards our mind, our righteousness guards our heart, and the truth guards our gut or the seat of emotion if we will not act on our feelings but rather measure our feelings according to the word of God.

In Gen 15:6 and Gal 3:6 the scripture says that Abram/Abraham believed the Lord and He credited it to him as righteousness. How do we know that he believed God, because the scripture writes of his actions being that which the Lord had commanded him to do. That is obedience - appropriate actions that follow a command.

According to Romans 10:9-10, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. For with the heart a man believes and is made righteous or justified, and with the mouth he confesses and is saved.

So our righteousness (being able to stand before God rightly) comes through believing God. We should not say we believe God unless we obey Him. If our actions oppose His commands, do we truly believe Him? Ephesians 2:8 By grace we are been saved, through faith.

Therefore if we choose to believe Him and His word, we must study the word so the Word of Christ will dwell in us richly Col 3:16
But do not merely study the word or just listen to the word, so that you deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS James 1:22 In other words, don't just listen, DO IT!!!!

Be a word doer!!!!!

The way we will be able to do this is not by our own merit, ability or determination. We will be able to do this as we dwell on Him, and invite Him to be Lord of our lives. As we surrender to Him and allow Him into our lives, we will grow in LOVE for Him and the Love will enable us to obey Him. It will motivate us. John 14:15 (If you love me, you will obey me)

We purify ourselves by obeying the truth and that enables us to love others deeply, and as we crave spiritual milk we will grow up into our salvation. 1 Peter 1:22 - 2:2

As we reveal our love and devotion to one another in the body of Christ, ALL the world will know we are His disciples John 13:35

You see in Christ the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22

So once we are maturing in our salvation, being fully convinced by His word, we then need to GO and make disciples of every nation, immersing THEM in all that GOD is as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We need to teach them to also obey His commands. Matthew 29:19-20

We need to daily choose to put on the armor, to love one another in the body. Our shields are to lock together as we stand arm in arm. We go to battle in the spiritual realm together. Many will be able to seek refuge and heal in the safety of our temple that Christ is building up.  But people: we have to choose to get on our armor every day not just for ourselves but also for one another. We have to choose to walk in unity with the WHOLE body.  A house divide will not stand. The church is SO divided that it cannot stand against the real enemy for warring within its self. We must recognize the tactic the enemy has used on us all and stop allowing him to do it. We need to wake up, wise up and become the sanctuary we are intended to be for the weary soldiers that are on the front line.  These are our missionaries, pastors, pastors wives and children.  These are our teachers, the person that sits beside you on the pew. The weary soldier may be the person who cannot even bring themselves to the physical church. Perhaps they are the hard working single parents trying to keep their heads above water.  Sometimes it is you or me in need of refuge and healing.  We need to allow Christ to join us together as He intended and stand once and for all against the REAL enemy. The destroyer. The one that comes to steal, kill and destroy unity in the body, testimony of the believer, and joyful life along with much more. He is the one that hates us deeply.

I can just see those weary believers seeking a place of rest and healing under the umbrella of those shields of faith as each of us warriors stand over the weak and fallen. I see the shields of faith joined together by Christ to provide the weary soldiers an opportunity to be strengthened. We must remember when they seek this sanctuary, not to be turning on them and piercing them with your own sword.  Let's become the healing place for the weary.

I pray that as you read the blog today, you were able to see the beautiful picture of the body's phalanx creating a dome like structure for weary soldiers to seek rest. Also, I pray you see that Christ is the glue that holds each shield together to create the unity within the body. Just as with Nehemiah who had the Israelites in Jerusalem to build and/or repair a portion of the stone wall, each of us in the body can be responsible for our part of the spiritual wall within our the body of believers. If we will all take the time to get dressed in our armor and train to use our weapon and shield, we will be joined together by Jesus Christ with others who do the same. We will become the church that Christ refers to as the church He will build and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Matthew 16:17-19

Remember, the battle is on no matter whether you get dressed or not. The battle is raging whether you bring your sword and shield or not. The enemy is not going to go easy on you if you do not have it.  On the contrary, you will become his primary target. The choice is not will you go to battle, the choice is will you be ready!!!!!

This is a revised version of the attached link How We Ought to Live.

Simplicity of the Gospel

Gospel Simplified!?!?

According to the scripture, I am in right standing with God because I believe Him and accept what He says.  He is the creator, He made the rules, and He knows how His creation operates.  So if I believe Him, then I will obey Him by following His commands.  When I  follow His commands, I will be purified.  As I obey, I grow up, I mature in my spirit, and I love other believers; so that by that love, the world will know that I follow Christ.  As the body, we are joined together to become a place for the Lord to dwell in His Holy Temple.  This is true individually also.  We are able to go to war against the enemy of our soul.  We can even take our own thoughts captive and make those thoughts line up with what Christ says in the word.  We dress ourselves up in Christ with the full armor for our battle against the evil in this world, and we put on our shoes of peace so we can GO into the world that sees who we belong to by our love for each other, and draw them out of darkness(world) into the light(love/peace).  We then teach and immerse them in all that God is.  We teach them the commands and encourage them to obey them.  Then as they grow up in their faith, they will GO and draw others out of darkness to light and so on and so on….

See all the scriptures referenced below.

Belief >> Righteousness:  God decided to accept Abraham's belief as his righteousness. (Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Gen 15:6; Gal 3:6)

Belief >>  Salvation:  God decided even though we don't deserve it, to save us because we believe.  (We are saved by grace through faith. Eph 2:8)

• How can I let the word dwell in me?  By reading it. By obeying it, and obeying it is doing what it says. (Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Col 3:16a; Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says. Jas 1:22 If you Love me, you will obey me.  Jn 14:15)

Obedience >> Purification: We are able to be purified when we obey the truth/word.  Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere...

When we obey the truth we will love one another.  ... Love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart...   We get rid of all the things that can hinder our purification.  Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.   And we are to grow up in our salvation.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.  1Peter 1:22-23; 2:1-2

The world will be able to see we belong to Christ by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  Jn 13:35

Christ is like the mortar that holds all the living stones together in a bond of unity.  In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  Eph 2:21-22

Remember that the weapons are spiritual.  We are able to conquer our thoughts that pretend to be bigger than God by making our thoughts line up with the what Christ says.  We need to make our thoughts obey Christ.  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 take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Cor 10:3-5

Scripture tells us to put on love, put on Christ and put on armor of God etc. If we just deal with getting rid of our sinful behavior, yet do not take the time to put on all we are commanded, we will stand naked before our enemy and be very vulnerable. Therefore put on the full armor of God... 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.  Eph 6:13-17

As our feet are fitted and ready, we go to the world with our good news not just on our lips, but also demonstrated in our actions.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you... Matt 28:19-20

Things to Put On According to the Scriptures

The following scriptures are action scriptures that tell us to put on something.  If you are jumping out of an airplane, you will want to PUT ON your parachute.  Let's see what we need to put on to jump into our day.

OT

Job 29:14 NAS

"I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.

·         Isaiah 51:9 NAS

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD ; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon ?

·         Isaiah 59:17 NAS

He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head ; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

 Ezekiel 42:14 NAS

"When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments ; then they shall approach that which is for the people."

·         Ezekiel 44:19 NAS

"When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers ; then they shallput on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.  

My pondering (So does our garments that we PUT ON spiritually transmit holiness?)  HMMM

NT

Romans 13:14 NAS

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

·         1 Corinthians 15:53 NAS

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

·         1 Corinthians 15:54 NAS

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put onimmortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.

·         Ephesians 4:24 NAS

and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

·         Ephesians 6:11 NAS

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

·         Ephesians 6:14 NAS

Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

·         Colossians 3:1 NAS

[Put On the New Self] Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

·         Colossians 3:10 NAS

and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-

·         Colossians 3:12 NAS

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience ;

·         Colossians 3:14 NAS

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

·         1 Thessalonians 5:8 NAS

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Getting Dressed

Looking at the Old Testament and New Testament verses that tell us to "put on".

Click here to see all of the scripture verses in the Old and New testament telling us to put on something.

As I ponder these verses, I think of our daily routine.  We get up out of bed, we eat breakfast, we shower, and we chose to get dressed for the day.  We women tend to contemplate our attire more deeply than our male counterparts. Either way, we all make an effort to get dressed.

So as I review these verses, as I stated in my pondering of the OT verses, So our garments that we PUT ON spiritually transmit holiness?  It sure is worth thinking on.   

What are we told to put on?

OT

Put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.

Put on strength

Put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head 

And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

NT

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Put on the new self,

Put on the full armor of God

      HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

Put On the New Self

Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience ;

Put on love

Put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

So we are to intentionally to get dressed each day spiritually just as we do physically.  We are to be clothed in Jesus Christ.  We mortals are to put on immortality as God has set eternity in our hearts.  As we put on Jesus, we cannot manufacture it.  As we sit quietly in His presence, basking in that fellowship, He becomes our armor bearer.  The armor bearer helps the warrior PUT ON their armor before the battle.  We cannot do it ourselves.  We must come before our armor bearer and allow Him to work with us as we CHOSE to PUT ON all that we are to PUT ON for the day.  You see we have an armor bearer that KNOWS what we need to wear in order to face the day that is before us. 

So as we choose to be clothed in Christ, we will be a new self, we will be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient.  As we allow Christ to dress us in this new self

Since we no longer really use a breastplate, lets take a look at what it is.

• One definition says it is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. (I think the closest thing we have in our time is the bullet proof vest)

• Also a "breastplate" or "breastpiece" was among the clothes of the Jewish High Priest. In the Bible, the word Breastplate is used figuratively to describe protecting oneself from unrighteousness ( Isaiah 59:17, Ephesians 6:14 )

Read some of the information regarding the breastplate on this web page.  It is beautifully written. The Breastplate of the High Priest   Also  from Breastplate of Righteousness    "At the time the Bible was written, the breastplate was perhaps the most important piece of armament for a Roman soldier to put on and keep on in battle.  It protected his heart area, and other vital organs.  What significance does the “breastplate of righteousness” have for believers now? It is perhaps best understood in this manner:

• Project yourself into the future.  Imagine standing before God on the Judgment Day.  You will enter the place of Judgment with one of these two garments.
• 1) Your filthy robe of unrighteous rags.
• 2) Christ’s spotless robe of righteousness.  
• Either you will have your filthy unrighteous robe of rags covering you, or you will have Christ’s spotless robe of righteousness covering you -- there is no third robe God will allow you to wear on the Judgment Day.  And ... it will be your choice of which robe you will be wearing: God gives each of us that choice right now. 
• How do we describe your or my “filthy robe of rags?”  Our robe of filthy, sin-saturated rags is our own perceived holiness – our own perceived righteousness - we bring or attempt to present to God, based on our “religious doing good.”  This was what we ignorantly (or pridefully) did during our lifetime on earth to try to help make ourselves “good enough” to be allowed to spend eternity in heaven with God."

The battle for Christians is in the mind. Thoughts believed become spirit. God has given us armor to protect us in this thought life battle. Righteousness is the first thing to seek, and the first thing the devil wants to take from you. If he can get your righteousness he can inflict a terrible wound.  The devil always wants Christians to base their righteousness on their own performance. Your performance will never qualify you to be righteous. Even if you had a a perfectly flawless performance and never sinned but one time you would be disqualified. The bible says Jesus is our righteousness. When the priests took the lamb before the sacrifice in the temple they examined the lamb for the flaws not the person bringing the lamb. If you start talking to the devil about anything righteousness related that relies on your performance you loose. The only righteousness that exists for human kind is the blood of Jesus Christ. Their is no human righteousness. If you messed up then put it under the blood and use your breastplate.

Joseph prince quote:

“I believe that right believing leads to right living. You cannot set yourself free from condemnation by self-efforts. But when you believe the finished work of Jesus has made you righteous in God’s eyes, you receive His power to reign over your negative circumstances and live the abundant life.
Condemnation kills, but the Spirit gives life! Always look to the finished work of Jesus who paid the price for your freedom. Look and live!”

As a trainer in the fitness industry, I am always encouraging my clients to strengthen their core.  the reason we strengthen the core is so we can stand strong and be able to properly support our structure.  A strong core helps prevent injuries and maintain healthy living, it also allows you to do the things you need to do with less fatigue.  ALL physical movements originate in the "core"