Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner?

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Peter reminds every born-again believer to stay alert clear-headed so we’ll know when we see the enemy at work. He identifies our enemy as “the devil”–the one who was thrown out from heaven–the one who was and is angry with God for creating us out of love (his creation was for function–the singing angel)–the one who has determined within himself to destroy all of mankind, by any means possible and he’s succeeding–at least with those who are not paying attention.

The devil prowls–-stalking those who seem befuddled and who stumble at the least bit of adversity and are not operating with a clear mind.

The devil roars–making enough noise to drown out a person’s ability to hear God clearly and what God is saying and unfortunately, many are listening to the roar that drowns the still, small voice of Holy Spirit, who is trying to protect us, but we do not hear.

The devil devours–with some people, he simply swallows them up whole–those who have never believed God, the work on the cross, or in the Risen Savior.  With others, he eats hungrily, ravenously, because he can’t get enough of the gullible and fearful and every time he devours someone, he is strengthened in his resolve to have us all for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. He seeks a weakness in our character and speaks to our minds, influencing thoughts and what we continue to think about we will eventually act upon and then once he has convinced us to live outside the safety net of those who are preaching and teaching The Word in Truth, he pounces–blinding eyes from seeing Truth and Light, and stopping up ears from hearing truth, tearing us from limb to limb and then he sits–only for a moment, licking his chops, enjoying the havoc and chaos, he’s created and when he has fully digested us, he moves onto the next person.

And this is why we–Born-Again Believers–must always be suited up, ready for battle–with our heads and hearts protected from the onslaught of negativity and rebellion fueled by the devil. Now, we’ve already been told what to look for so we can recognize the devil at work: he lies, steals, kills, destroys, and is a master of deception.  When we know The Word, have an intimate Relationship with the Father and Hear Holy Spirit when He speaks, we will never be food on the devil’s dinner table–we are neither breakfast, lunch nor dinner, for we are fully persuaded and convinced, no weapon (none of the devil’s attempts to cause us to fall) formed against us shall ever prosper!

Remember–the weapons we use are not carnal–man’s creation, but spiritual and they are more than capable of bringing down strongholds and overthrowing wickedness in high places. Stand tall, in full armor, with the shield of faith and The Word as sword–at the ready and move forward–knowing the battle is not ours; it is the Lord’s and we win–victory in Jesus!

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Message For The Times!

“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Revelation 2:14-16 NLT)

The simple, but powerful message–used by John, the baptist (one who baptized, not the denomination), spoken to John, the Disciple whom Jesus loved, and should be used by Believers all over the land--REPENT!

We hear all sorts of “feel-good” messages from various preachers of The Word. We hear prosperity messages (which some have rejected), we hear messages for healing (always appropriate), we hear messages of deliverance (again, appropriate), we hear messages of forgiveness (we should forgive since we have been forgiven) and we hear messages about the power of prayer (there is power in prayer), but what we seldom hear is a message that deals with repentance–turning away from sin and turning to God–and this is why the world is in the shape it is.

John’s message before the appearance of Christ–REPENT and be baptized for the remission of sin.

God’s response to our needs–because He loves us so much–He came down from heaven, in the likeness of sinful flesh, tempted by all man could be tempted, and chose to be raised upon a cross for our sins though He never committed a sin.

Our response to God has been–negligible at best–we come to an altar, sorry for our sins (sorry we got caught), and ask Him to forgive us–and as soon as we get out of the church, away from the altar and those who were praying for us–turn back to our sinful lifestyles, like a dog returning to its own vomit–absolutely sickening.

The real problem is that not many–who are preaching–understand the need to teach REPENTANCE and what it really means. To repent is more than to say, “I’m sorry, Lord forgive me.” True repentance is an acknowledgment that we have sinned, we need Him in our lives to help us to remain sin-free, and give our lives over to Him to keep us from sin–turning completely to Him–away from sin.

When we say we allow Jesus to be our Lord and Savior–what we should mean (and some don’t know), is that we give Him complete control over what we do and say–we submit to His Lordship. Accepting the work on the cross is acceptance of His being our Savior–saving us from ourselves. This is the first step on the journey to living a life that glorifies God and puts us in position “to receive” all His many benefits--prosperity, longevity, good health, etc. REPENTANCE–comes first–then we receive the rewards from pleasing Him–not the other way around.

It is time for us–all of us–who believe and agree with God–to preach the message for this time–REPENT!

Wearing the Whole Armor

When we put on the whole armor—the belt of truth (covering our private parts-lives), the breastplate of righteousness (covering our ability to breathe and love freely),  having our feet covered with the preparation of the gospel of peace (ready to witness in any kind of weather), the shield of faith (thwarting the enemy’s attack by blocking his little air pellets, the helmet of salvation (protecting our minds and thought life), and the sword of the spirit (The Word of God)—we can “move forward” with all confidence in our protective gear. Now, notice—there is nothing covering our behinds because—God has our backs (pasts) covered and there is absolutely nothing hindering our forward move with the weapons we use!  Hallelujah!   Here comes that praise dance!  Watch me now!