Seek God for the City - Day 2 - Heart and soul

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We continue to Seek God for the City, a blessed prayer initiative from WayMakers .


Our weekly focus is Praying through hope; Revival of the church.  Under that umbrella, today has, like each of the forty days will have, a specific action, a specific people group, and a specific geographic region that we are praying for.  


Today, we are seeking God, specifically, to break through our pride and complacency.  We are seeking him on behalf of married people, and we are seeking Him on behalf of the Americas and the Caribbean.

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But how do we do that?  How do we seek God?  How do we do that?

Deuteronomy 4:29 says "...if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul...."


In days to come, we'll look at some specifics - but let me ask this question:  How do you look for your car keys?  Let me break that down.  If you came home on Friday afternoon, had no Friday evening or Saturday plans, and noticed your keys were't hanging from the usual hook, how would you look for them?


Now let's suppose it's Monday morning, you have a twenty minute drive to be at work by eight, it's twenty two minutes before eight, you grab your jacket, reach for the keys - and they aren't there.  Now, how do you look.


OK, I am not suggesting that we look for God frantically, or in a rush...after all, the Scriptures tell us to be still in order to know God.  But I am suggesting urgency.  I am encouraging fervency.  


Yesterday's focus people group was youth.  Today's involves married people.  


I know some great kids and bet you do too.  I know some great marriages. 


I also know that we've had a stunning rash of teenage suicides in our area.  And I know that more marriages end in divorce than not.  


How do you feel we need to seek God for youth?  For marriages?  Can it wait until next Sunday morning's worship service?  Is it OK if we leave it to the pastor?


I don't think so...I think we need to do it now.  


So, be still.  Know God.  But do it now.  Do it with urgency and fervency.  The troubled kids, the troubled spouses need help.  Won't you join me and seek God on their behalf?  After all, "... you will find him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul...."

Seek God for the City - Day 1

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Today thousands of people are beginning Seek God for the City, a forty day prayer journey from Waymakers.  


Three Stones Church, which I am blessed to be a part of is participating as are churches an ministries throughout our area.  I have asked our congregation not only to take part in this prayer initiative, but to consider it a call to arms.  Since the first of January there have been an alarming number of teen suicides in small communities in southern Delaware, seven or eight that I know of.  One only 13 years old.  Three from one high school.  Three more attempts.


"...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..."  
from Ephesians 6.


We want to mourn with those who mourn, indeed.  But we also want to remember the encouragement, peace, passion, strength, hope, and authority that comes to us from the Holy Spirit.


I am asking anyone who reads this to begin each day "getting dressed" with the Ephesians passage below, before you do anything else in the morning; don't enter the world undressed, unarmed, and hungry!


And please, join us as we Seek God for the City.  Get more information here: http://www.887thebridge.com/connect/40-days-of-prayer/

Week one focus: Praying toward hope for REVIVAL OF THE CHURCH
Week/ Day	Seeking God to, or for, a specific action	Seeking God on behalf of a certain segment of people	Seeking God on behalf of a geographic region
1/1	To bring lasting revival	Youth	Americas and the Carribean

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  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 saints.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.  Ephesians 6:10-20

Do you realize who He was?

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This is the time of year when we think of the birth of Jesus.  


What type of image of Jesus does Christmas bring to mind?  For most of us it is the image of the Baby Jesus, born in Bethlehem, born to the Virgin Mary in a cattle stall, tended to by His adoptive father Joseph, and placed gently into a manger, surrounded by the livestock and visited by the shepherds.


And this is all true; these images are accurate, this little vulnerable Baby, a gift from God, in His swaddling clothes.


But what other images might we have?


Hold that thought for a moment and tell - me how do you imagine God?  The One who is "mighty to save"?  How do you picture the Almighty?  He who opened the Red Sea?  Who led the Israelites with the pillar of fire?  Who's words rumbled to Moses?  


He who created all existence by the mighty word of His mouth?  For in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....and God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light...and God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” ...and God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” [1]


 And on and on throughout creation, God - God Almighty - fashioned the world with a power, a might, an authority over nature that we cannot begin to understand...in the beginning...


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.[2]


Yes, this same little Baby was God Almighty, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, suddenly, willingly, confined inside one of Earth's most fragile creatures - a human baby.  God the Father, yes, gave us the gift of His Son; but, please remember, God the Son gave up all of Heaven for us as well.

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And beyond what happened in the world that Mary and Joseph and the shepherds could see, amazing and wondrous and horrific things were happening in the spiritual realms.  


The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

 “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, 
   and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, 
   who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.  
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!  
But woe to the earth and the sea, 

because the devil has gone down to you! 

He is filled with fury, 

because he knows that his time is short.”

When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child...then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. [3]

The Christmas story we all know and love, the one from the Peanuts' Special and thousands of children's pageants is true.  But there is more, much more, to the height, breadth, and depth of the love God displayed on that first Christmas.  There was a battle that began, that still rages, but with victory assured!

The Reminders have this incredible song about that night, When the Baby Cried.

[1] from Genesis 1
[2]John 1:1-2
[3] from Revelation 12
Unless other wise noted, all Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible; New International Version - 1984, Zondervan

The Armor - the Conclusion

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The Armor - the Conclusion

Hi friends, today we conclude our study on Ephesians 6:10-18. Jim
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 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 saints. Ephesians 6:10-18

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 saints.

Paul is reminding us hear that prayer is also part of the armor -- a great part -- of what keeps us safe.

I think that there are, among the many messages, three great thoughts in this passage to remember:

 

1. Satan and his cohorts are ever looking for opportunities to do us wrong.

2. We must be ever ready to stand our ground.

3. God provides us with all we need to do just that.

What new perspectives has God given you, concerning this passage?

Has it caused a change?

Has it given you any confidence or comfort?

May we be aware and prepared to glorify Him. Pastor Jim

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"This much is sure in all churches, forgetting party labels; the smallest meeting numerically is the prayer- meeting. If weak in prayer we are weak everywhere."

Leonard Ravenhill

A good offense; part II

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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 saints.

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Take the...sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Now then, there are two schools of thought on what this 'sword' represents.  One is, that it is the the Bible, which is the perspective we looked at yesterday.  There is another perspective...

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth...what is the belt?  The belt is truth...

...with the breastplate of righteousness in place...what is the breastplate?  The breastplate is righteousness...

...the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace...what is the readiness?  The readiness is gospel...

...the shield of faith...what is the shield?  The shield is faith...

...the helmet of salvation...what is the helmet?  The helmet is salvation...

 
OK, sorry for the repetition, but necessary to make the point; following this same logic, and 

from what I have read, this is grammatically true in the original Greek, then...the sword of the Spirit...what is the sword?  The sword is the Spirit...

When we see the phrase "word of God" we nearly always assume it means the Scriptures...but John 1:1 also calls Jesus 'the Word'.

The phrase is also associated with the Holy Spirit in the fourth chapter of Acts, where we are told that the believers were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  1 John 1 says that Word of God lives in you.

And consider this image from the Revelation of John:  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

So is the sword the Bible or is it the Spirit?  There are good arguments on both sides...that talk about linguistics, the original Greek, antecedents, verb/noun agreement and the like...but I don't want to argue.

To be honest, I do not see where there can be a separation.  Jesus himself quoted Scripture while dealing with Satan, and was accompanied by the Spirit also.  We need to know the written Word...we need to be empowered by the Spirit...we need the full armor.  Father, Son, Spirit, distinct yet one.  The believers make up a single Body.  One message of the Gospel is that we are not, and cannot be, separate in Christ, but one with Him, in the Spirit.

Questions:

1. What do you think of the sword is?

2. Are you confident in using this sword?

3. Are we able to pick and choose from God's armory?

May we use His Word to the fullest.  Pastor Jim

A good offense...

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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 saints.  Ephesians 6:17-18
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Take the...sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Now then, there are two schools of thought on what this 'sword' represents. One is, that it is the words of God, as in the Bible, which is the perspective we will take today.

Today's discussion is quite different from the other parts of this passage. The other items mentioned, the full armor, the belt of truth, the breastplate, the gospel of peace and the shield of faith are all defensive items.

A sword however, is an offensive weapon, and this sword is the word of God.

This passage has been misrepresented at times, I think, to turn the Scriptures into a weapon with which to batter other people. We must remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. While the Word of God may be used for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training people, it is always to love and never to harm.

How then, is this sword to be used? Consider the story in Jude, about Michael the Archangel, invoking God's Word to rebuke Satan...or consider Jesus dealing with Satan in the wilderness.

The idea is, that we are not, of our own accord, equipped to deal any damage to the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms...but the Word of God is more than adequate.

Consider a few of these tools:

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that, and shudder.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Questions:

1. What do you think of this perspective?

2. Are you confident in using this sword?

3. What else might the sword be?

May we use His Word as He sees fit.   Pastor Jim

 

"There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit."

D.L. Moody

So, what's on YOUR mind?

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Today we continue our study on Ephesians 6:10-18. Jim

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17
 
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Take the helmet of salvation...
 
We have talked about protection for the heart, the feet, and the whole body in general...now we have the helmet of salvation.  A helmet protects the head, right? What then, are we to make out of this idea, the helmet of salvation?
 
This is one of my favorite images.
 
In physical battle we would think about the head itself...in a spiritual sense, we are to consider the mind...the intellect.
 
Take the helmet of salvation...in other words, take the knowledge of your salvation...it will save you! 
 
When you find yourself in the midst of sin, all is not lost...you can know you are saved!
 
When illness or even death is near...you can know you are saved!
 
When the rest of the world seems to be against you...you can know you are saved!
 
It is this knowledge of salvation that allows us to think straight through these and all spiritually challenging situations.
 
Knowing...knowing...that you are saved, forever through the blood of Christ.
 
Knowing...knowing...that your eternal home is already prepared and waiting for you.
 
Knowing...knowing...that your name is written, permanently, in the Lamb's Book of Life.
 
This knowledge is a protecting, saving knowledge.
 
Questions:

1. What do you think of this perspective?
 
2. Are you confident in your salvation?

3. How can this knowledge help you in dealing with the world?

May we be confident in the knowledge of our salvation.  Jim
 
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"The Gospel that represents Jesus Christ, not as a system of truth to be received, into the mind, as I should receive a system of philosophy, or astronomy, but it represents Him as a real, living, mighty Savior, able to save me now."   Catherine Booth