Sunday best…

Ephesians 6:14

…with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

The breastplate was the portion of the armor tha covered the chest down to the waistline, it provided protection for the heart and other vital organs. We’re going to focus on the protection of the heart.

Webster’s definition of righteous- acting in accordance with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin.

Anyone feel like they have that one covered? This one falls squarely on the shoulders of Christ, as He IS our righteousness, and as such He can provide the very best protection for our hearts.

His love endures forever…

Psalm 118 (NIV)

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

² Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” ³ Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” ⁴ Let those who fear the LORD say: “His love endures forever.”

⁵ In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. ⁶ The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. ⁹ It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

¹⁰ All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. ¹¹ They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. ¹² They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

¹³ I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. ¹⁴ The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

¹⁵ Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things! ¹⁶ The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”

¹⁷ I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. ¹⁸ The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹ Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. ²¹ I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.

²² The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; ²³ the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵ O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. ²⁷ The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

 His love endures forever.

How long is that? Ummmm…forever…

He’s God…

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

These are some of my favorite verses. I love the truth that is found here.

And sometimes I HATE it. I want to KNOW, I want Him to act as I want Him to act. I want things to work out as I see fit.

Sunday best…

Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…

The Roman soldier used his belt as the basic foundation of the armor, it attached the breastplate and other pieces together, and was the place that held his sword and his dagger. Truth is critical to our walk with God, truth is a counter agent to the one that is called the father of lies.

John 8:44

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Here Jesus was admonishing the jewish leaders because they did not believe the truth of who He was. He points out in no uncertain terms that those that do not believe in him have no truck with the Father, they follow another.

Without love…

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (ESV)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Usually, the pastor will preach about the verses that follow these, about what love is in and of itself, and I also love that as well, but today I want to look at what it avails us if we don’t HAVE love. Let’s take a look at the verses…

Some Scripture…

Romans 12:9-21 (NIV)

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those that rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.

Some Scripture this morning, no expansion on my part. I noticed a few things for me to further reflect upon. Hopefully you might too.

Grace and peace,

Tony

And breathe…

Genesis 2:7

…the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

And that same breath is what fills our lungs today. And what are we doing with that breath?

God likes to poke at me, and there by poke at those of you that may come by here . And this morning as I was driving to work, I came to one of those breaking moments, you know the one, it usually involves tears and a bit of an ego deflation, and out of it came the question of what am I doing with the breath He has given me.

With my breath do I choose to form words of uplifting and positive intent, or do I form words of anger and derision? Do I whisper gossip and slander or do I speak in kindness and care?

The tongue is all the things James calls it to task for (Homework- James 3:1-12), yet it gets most of its steam from the breath that drives the words and their intent.

We only get so many breaths, God knows exactly how many, we have no idea when we will breathe our last. With that in mind, how much time have you spent wasting yours?

I know my answer, and it fit in pretty well with the tears and such this morning.

Try something…

THINK before you use your breath today, before the breath goes across the vocal cords and the tongue moves to shape the sounds, THINK about what will be the result of that breath you are using.

Breath is precious, a gift from One who loves us beyond measure.

Let’s try and get the most out of every one.

Grace and peace,

Tony

Choose joy…

Today’s assignment, should you choose to accept it….

Choose joy.

Be joyful, especially if you’re a Christian. I am tired of seeing (and being) Christians looking like someone stole their joy from them. We wander about moping and whining, and it gets tiring. Both for us, and for those lucky enough to have to hear about it.

So stop. Choose joy.

Sunday best…

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 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. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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.

Be strong in the LORD and HIS mighty power, how often we miss that (I know I have at least ) when we preach on this subject. We go into great detail on the armor and its components, but I think we spin right on by that most crucial point. We are putting on the armor of GOD, not some things that we have decided will work.

If you try to put on armor that you have decided will work, it will be equivalent to using tinfoil to stop a hurricane; the devil will blow through your tiny little defenses like they aren’t even there.  It’s also very easy to tear down your own defenses from the inside if they are made of fluff and dreams instead of being rooted in God.

Persevering…

Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.

Rejoice in our sufferings? Hmmmm….

I think that sections of Scripture like this one are used far too often to place a burden on the flock that was never intended. We (pastors, teachers) try too often to use this as a way to get folks to try and see their sufferings as something almost bright and shiny, a great opportunity to show everyone else how easily and almost joyfully a Christian handles adversity.

And while there is definitely something to be said for having better tools in our arsenal to cope with suffering and pain (when we make use of them) than the world does; prayer, study of Scriptures, other Christians, etc.; the truth of the matter is that suffering sucks, plain and simple.