Day #31: James 1:1-4

For this week’s devotions, Pastor Mike has given me, Pastor Matt Moore, the privilege to write these devotions because I preached this past Sunday.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker about lemons? You know, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Now I know that bumper sticker is cheesy but in fact it is easier to read it and smile than to actually try to apply that principle to our lives! Now here is the funny part, that statement is biblical. James talks about this in the first four verses of his letter.

Time and time again we find people in Scripture who faced insurmountable odds and trials yet they were able to be triumphant! Instead of lying down, giving up and becoming a victim, they stand firm and are victorious. God gives us the same opportunity now to become victorious at the onset of trials!

If we are going to turn trials into triumphs, we must obey four essentials for victory: 1- a joyful attitude, 2- an understanding mind, 3- a surrendered will, and 4- a heart that wants to believe.

Today I want to look at three of those keys.

1.) A Joyful Heart (vs. 1:2)

There are two words we need to look at here; “Count” and “Joy”. The Lord tells us to count, count what? We need to count on the fact there will be trials in our lives. Trials will come and it doesn’t matter where they come from. It could be financial, physical or spiritual problems but the truth is that they are coming, no matter what you do! Are you ready for a trial? It’s around the corner.

When trials hit, and they will, will you be joyful? Can you consider it “pure joy” as Scripture says? God is not a dope; He’s got amazing things planned for you on the other side of the trial. God is our Shepherd and He will walk us through the valley of the shadow of death. The problem we face is our perspective. Trials are never fun but God sees the finished product of the trial. He sees a more mature believer with a greater faith than when the trial began. Do you face trial with a joyful heart?

2.) An Understanding Mind (vs. 1:3)

The key word in this verse is “know”. Do you know about the testing of our faith? Our faith is always tested. When God called Abraham to live by faith, He tested him in order to increase his faith. God always tests us to bring out the best; Satan tempts us to bring out the worst. The testing of our faith proves that we are truly fully devoted followers of Christ. The truth is that the testing our faith works for us not against.

Peter said it this way,
“ These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold...(1 Peter 1:7 NCV)”.

When we triumph our faith is worth more than gold! What an image to strive for. God wants to produce in us endurance, steadfastness and the ability to keep on keepin’ on! When trials hit do we have perseverance and faith to sustain us?

3.) A Surrendered Will (vs. 1:4)

God cannot build our character without our cooperation. If resist what God is trying to do in our lives we will never grow and never mature. God is never okay with a half-way done job. Vesre 4 says that He wants us to be perfect and complete, not lacking anything. God will use whatever trial we face to produce endurance and to equip us for later trials. God is not okay with the status quo! He wants us to grow in our faith!

What trials are you facing in your life right now? Will tackle them with a joyful heart, an understanding mind and a surrendered will? If you do, you will be a more mature follower of Christ once you are on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death(Psalm 23).

DAY #30: 1 Samuel 17:48-58

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

This giant named Goliath has the entire Israelite army paralyzed with fear. Along cam David - the shepherd boy. David had a secret weapon. He came against Goliath in the name of the Lord Almighty. With God on his side, David could not lose.

Those who defy the living God can sometimes seem like Goliath's. They are often well equipped, well financed and stand tall in the world, but God uses small and faithful people to topple these giants. Are there any giants standing in your path? Are there any situations or problems or organizations that seem to daunting? As God for help to stand up to them and defeat them in the power of His name. God is the secret weapon.

And when you take a stand, when you decide to take a courageous step, you give courage to others. That's what happened in this passage. Once Goliath was slain, the army of Israel had the courage to take on the rest of the Philistine army. Who needs you to take a stand? Who needs you to live for God? Who needs you to face the giant, to prove that it can be done?

These truths we have looked at this week make no difference whatsoever until you decide to live them out in your life. I pray to God that you will be the "DAVID' of this generation.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

DAY #29: 1 Samuel 17:40-47

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

"and the whole world will know that there is a God in heaven" Talk about a verse that motivates you... David wanted more than anything else for his life to count and give glory to God. He saw everything in spiritual terms. He knew who he was and what he was about. He knew God personally and intimately and he wanted all that he did to bring glory to God. Would to God that all we did would be for that same motivation - to bring glory to God. In our homes, in our marriages, the way we raise our kids, our workplace - school. Would to God EVERYTHING we did would be about bringing glory to God. Read Colossians 3:23. It may give you some insight into this.

For those who would assume that this was the first time that David went into battle against a stronger and more formidable foe, you would be wrong. As a young boy, he fought squirrels and snakes and advanced to eagles and foxes and progressed to bears and lions. In each battle he saw the hand of God provide and protect. God always did his part. I wonder what future giants God might have you face, but right now, He has you face the squirrels and snakes and foxes. Right now, God would have you trust him and step out in faith into battle, and as you do He will build your faith. He will prepare you for the giants down the road.

Some also would be remiss to think that on this fateful day that God directed the stone from David's sling into Goliath's forehead. They would be wrong. David spent countless hours perfecting his talent and gift. It was with his sling shot that he slayed the squirrel and snake and eagle and fox and bear and lion. David was ready for this day. He been preparing all of his young life for this day. What has God gifted you to do? What gifts has God given you that you need to refine and perfect to be of even greater service to God?

Just some thought for you as you consider being the man/woman of God that The Almighty has prepared you to be.

DAY #28: 1 Samuel 17:28-39

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

As we discussed yesterday, I am amazed that not only did the Israelite soldiers endure that daily mocking by Goliath, but so did the King. It is amazing to me that it took a 13 or 14 year old boy to fight the giant. King Saul was only to willing to allow this boy warrior to do what he was unwilling or to fearful to do.

But, that is not what stands out to me today. I read this passage and I think about Saul's armor. Saul tried to fit his armor onto this young man, and obviously it was way to big, way to bulky and way to cumbersome. My point? Sometimes when God calls us to a task, we try to do it just like someone else would, when their armor really doesn't fit us.

We are each unique masterpieces of God (Ephesians 2:10). Be the person God has called you to be. Serve in the ministry that best fits you. Embrace your giftedness and style. Make any sense? I pray so. Take CLASS 301 and contact Pauline Alker to do a spiritual inventory checklist for your life. Determine your SHAPE. (Spirtual gifts, Heart, Apptitude, Passion and Experieces)

What's holding you back? What's stopping you from entering the fight? Get after it today!

DAY #27: 1 Samuel 17:12-27

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

For 40 days, Goliath swore against God. For 40 days he mocked God and Israel and the men of Israel. For 40 days, these battle hardened soldiers heard this mocking, they heard these insults. For 40 days, they did nothing. What happened? Why the apathy? Why the indifference? Was there not one who would take a stand?

You've heard it said before that all it takes for evil to exist is for good men to see evil and do nothing. Why do some choose to do nothing? Fear. Fear of what others will say. Fear of rejection. Fear of standing out. Fear of failing.

I read this passage today and I wonder - what will it take? What will it take for some to be moved to action? What will it take to stand up and share your faith? What will it take to drive the apathy out of your life? What will it take to see a need and meet that need?

Lord, help us. Move us. Give us courage and faith and power. YOUR power. YOUR strength. Oh Lord, move in and through the people of COV. Drive apathy and indifference on any level from our lives.

DAY #26: 1 Samuel 17:1-11

This is without a doubt my favorite passages/stories of the entire Bible. Because I'm on vacation this week down here in San Diego, I'm going to follow a bit of a different format this week than I normally do. I'm not going to give the background and explanation of the passage, but rather just do the normal so what? Here goes.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

I am struck today by the contempt that David's brothers had for him. He's serving them and caring for them, but all they could see was his youth, his innocence, his heart for God, his anointing, his blessed life - and it drove them crazy with hatred, bitterness, envy and jealousy.

I read that and I ask myself, why is it so hard for us today to rejoice with others when God shows them His favor? Why is it so hard for us to rejoice with others when they are blessed, when their children do well, when our friend at work advances faster than we do, when our neighbors get a new car - again? What is wrong with us that we can't be happy for others who have success?

Whatever the reason, it is my heart today to go the opposite way. I will be glad and happy and rejoice when God pours out His blessing on others. I will not question how they got it or why, I just want to rejoice. I will pray for God's blessing to be poured out on others more deliberately. I will ask God to kill the pride and evil in me that allows envy to want what others have.

God help me. Help those at COV in this area of life. Protect our hearts from harboring envy and jealousy. Remind us of Hebrews 12:15 - "See to it that no bitter root grows up in your heart that would cause others to be defiled."

DAY #25: 1 Samuel 16:14-23

As David was anointed by the Holy Spirit, that same Holy Spirit left Saul. This is evidence of the fact that the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament says nothing about salvation but only that His power worked in those whom God selected for service (Judges 3:10; 6:34).

With the departure of the Spirit of God, Saul became tormented by an evil spirit which God permitted to come. Whether this spirit had sinful or only harmful characteristics, it is quite certain that it was a demonic, satanic instrument (1 Kings 22:19-22). In his troubled state Saul could find relief only in music, so he commanded that a musician be found (1 Samuel 16:15-17).

In His providence, God arranged that David be the one, so the shepherd boy was introduced to the palace of the king. As God is prone to do, the Holy Spirit empowered this soon to be king - David - to drive away the evil spirit that overwhelmed Saul.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

This is one again one of those passages, that on the face of it at least, may not seem very fruit filled. But for me, it is a quiet reminder that God is in control and He has a plan. God always has a plan. When I don't think that God is paying attention, when I don't think God sees, when I don't think is working, he always is. I don't know about you, but I need to be reminded of that foundational truth.

Habakkuk 2:3 (TLB)says, "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!"

When I read that verse, my heart grows patient. My vision is realigned. I once again am reminded to trust God and His ways. His ways are not my ways.

Isaiah 55:8 (ESV) says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."

What in your life today are you trying to "make happen?" What are you trying to manipulate and coerce? My encouragement for you - RELAX. God is in control.

DAY #24: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

After Saul’s (Israels first King) further rebellion against the Lord and his subsequent rejection by the Lord, Samuel (the Prophet of the day) was commissioned to seek out the one who would succeed Saul as the next King of Israel.

This new king had already been identified as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) and “one of [Saul’s] neighbors” who was “better than” he (1 Samuel15:28). David had been chosen from eternity past to be ruler of Israel. The rejection of Saul did not force the Lord to a new course of action. Rather, God’s action followed His omniscient plan in such a way as to use Saul’s disobedience as the human occasion for implementing His higher plan.

God had permitted the people to have the king of their choice. Now that that king and their mistake in choosing him had been clearly manifested, God proved the superiority of His own wisdom in raising up a king who would come in fulfillment of His perfect will.

After an undetermined length of time in which Samuel morned over the rejection of Saul, the Lord commanded the prophet to go to Bethlehem to select a son of Jesse... to be king (1 Samuel 16:1-3). Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:18-21), and so was in the line of promise. As the wives of Jacob gave birth to a royal house (Genesis 35:11; 49:10), so Ruth would produce the Davidic dynasty (Ruth 4:11). God did not tell Samuel to be deceptive, but rather to combine the anointing with the business of sacrificing (1 Samuel 16:2). The elders in Bethlehem wondered and feared if Samuel had come for judgment.

After the seven older sons of Jesse were disqualified one by one, David was singled out by the Lord and anointed by Samuel. The anointing, as in the experience of Saul, was accompanied by the coming of the Spirit of God mightily on the young man. This was the supernatural authentication of God’s will. Later David was anointed king over Judah and then over Israel.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

I'd like to share this week from one of may favorite authors (Alan Redpath) and one of my favorite books (The Making of a Man of God).

The Bible never flatters its heroes. It tells us the truth about each one of them in order that against the background of human breakdown and failure we may magnify the grace of God and recognize that it is the delight of the Spirit of God to work upon the platform of human impossibilities.

No where is this more true than in the story of the life if David. As I think abut the life of David, I am reminded of the old adage - "The conversation of a soul is the miracle of a moment; the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime."

Another way of saying that is that salvation is istant but sanctification (becoming like Christ) is a lifetime. Bottom Line: None of us has arrived, we are all a work in progress. What lesson can we learn from the life of David in this passage?

Many of us tend to size a person up based upon external evidence. Are they beautiful, intelligent, propoer grooming, the right kind of education, a good paying job, nice car, nice home, etc...

In this passage, God obliterates that type of thinking. That's why 1 Samuel 16:7 is ourmemory verse this week. The foundational truth found in that verse is lif-changing. Man looks at the outward apperance but God looks at the heart.

Nobody involved in the drama that day in Bethlehem would have guessed that David, of all the family of Jesse, would be God’s chosen one. His brothers despised him- to his family, he was only the lad who kept the sheep; the others pursued their business and pleasure in total disregard for the young stripling.

Even David’s father called him “the youngest” - and the word used in this connection, suggests something other than mere youth. It meant he was the least in his father’s estimation; so small was David in his father’s esteem that it wasn’t considered necessary to include him in the family when the profit of God called them to sacrifice.

Samuel himself, God's man - the Prophet of the day - had no idea that David was God’s chosen one. Samuel was ready to settle upon the others sons of Jesse, thinking surely that they were the Lord’s anointed, andbecause of that short-sightedness, he drew upon himself the rebuke of the Lord.


It has been my own experience, that so many well-educated, intellectual, clever personalities - have turned their heel on the simplicity of the gospel; it was not refined enough for them. Sometimes we covet attractive and talented people for the Lord’s work, but they turn out to be heartaches because they are not God’s chosen.
The basis of God’s choice is contrary to all this-when He would “build a man or woman of God” He looks for different timber.

Folks, God is looking today, just like He did in David's day, for a man, a woman, a student, a child, for a heart that loves Him and will obey Him and follow Him. My question for you today - will you be that person?

What's the condition of your heart this morning? You, like David may not be well thought of by others, maybe even by your own familyy. You may not be the prettiest, or the most talented, or the smartest, but take great comfort today in the truth that God does not look for those things when He seeks someone to use. He looks at the heart.

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." 2 Chronicles 16:9

Will you give Him you WHOLE heart today?

DAY #23: Epesians 6:21-24

Paul closed this letter to the Ephesians and the surrounding churches by sending greetings from Rome and the Christians there. The Roman Christians and the Ephesian Christians were brothers and sisters because of their unity in Christ. Believers today are also linked to others across cultural, economic, and social barriers. All believers are one family in Christ Jesus.

Tychicus is also mentioned in Acts 20:4; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12; and Titus 3:12. He carried this letter to the Ephesians, as well as the one to the Colossians (and probably the one to Philemon as well). Tychicus brought news about Paul to the Ephesian church, which would be very interested in hearing how Paul was doing. Paul had lived in Ephesus for three years and had become very close to the believers there (Acts 20:17-38). Paul did not write of all those details in his letter because this letter was meant to go to several churches in the area (see the Introduction). Instead, he would allow Tychicus to give the Ephesian believers the details of how he was getting along.

Paul wanted Tychicus to encourage the believers, for it seems that they were discouraged by Paul’s imprisonment. Paul wanted them to know that his imprisonment was resulting in great things for the worldwide church.

Paul closed his letter with a prayer that they would have peace. He knew they had faith, but he prayed that love would accompany it. The source of peace, love, and faith is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As he began his letter, so he ended it. Paul’s final prayer was for God’s grace upon his readers, a topic he had also written about in this letter. God’s grace can only be upon those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Such love for our Lord is a taste of the eternal life of love that is our guaranteed inheritance.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Sometimes at the end of a book of the bible or a passage of the bible, there are things said that we kind of just gloss over. We don't really pay attention to them like we should. As Paul closes off the book of Ephesians here in chapter six, he says something I want you to get. He says something I have to get.

Paul says he is sending them Tychicus to encourage their hearts. Folks, that is key, because we are to do the same. We are to encourage people. I mentioned this on Sunday, but let me say it again.

Hebrews 3:13 (NIV) says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." BTW, this is not a suggestion, this is a command. We don't encourage people if we have the time or inclination, we do not because it is a command - whether we feel like it or not. It is an imperative.

Folks, A safeguard against believers turning away from God is for them to encourage each other every day. Believers should continually remind each other to turn away from sin and to stay focused on Christ. People cannot live as Christians in a vacuum. Christians need each other so that they don’t become deceived by sin and hardened against God.

We protect against sin’s deceitfulness by checking our private intentions and desires against those of a group of trusted Christian friends, and our group’s intentions and desires against the teachings of the word of God.

So let me ask you, who do you need to be daily encouraging? If you don't encourage them, who will? Who will you call today? Who will send off an email to today? Who will you write a letter to today, offering them words of encouragement to stay the course and finish well. Who will you encourage to stand their ground? Who will you encourage to keep on keeping on?

Go to the COV website, the home page and look at some of the quotes we have listed their. Maybe you can use one of them to encourage somebody today.

DAY #22: Ephesians 6:14-20

In order to stand their ground, like we looked at yesterday, in the heat of battle, believers need every piece of God’s armor. The order of the pieces listed in the following verses is the order in which a soldier would put them on. Scripture is clear - without this armor, we will fall pray to the enemies schemes. Without this armor, we will be stricken by one of our enemies deadly arrows. So let me ask very early today the key question of life....

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Today we’re going to take a look at the different parts of the armor that God teaches us about in Ephesians 6(pretty long, but really good). I have three simple questions we’re going to look at with each of these. What does it look like, this piece of armor that we’re talking about? How does it protect me? I think it’s important to know that because understanding that helps you to understand how to put it on. Then, How do I put it on?

The first piece of armor is in Ephesians 6:14, the first part.

#1. “Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”

What is the belt of truth? What is truth? There’s an amazing story in the Bible. Jesus right before He’s crucified meets up with Pilate. They’re having a conversation. Pilate doesn’t want to condemn Jesus and he starts to talk to Jesus about Him being a king and about religious things. In the middle of all this conversation, Pilate flippantly and sarcastically says to Jesus, “What is truth?” and that ends the conversation. I wonder what would have happened if Pilate had been serious, if he’d looked at Jesus and said, “I see something in You I’ve never seen in any other man. Can You tell me the truth?” I think if he’d have asked sincerely Jesus would have given Pilate the same answer he did Thomas the night before when he asked that question sincerely. Jesus looked at Thomas and said, “I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.”

What’s truth? Truth is what God says. Lies are what Satan says. Whenever God has said anything about anyone or any subject (and He talks about a lot of subjects – a lot of things about us, how we work, a lot of things about our world, a lot of things about morality) you can count on it: that is the truth. Truth is what God says.

Truth isn’t relative. Truth is revealed. Truth isn’t figured out by our circumstances. It’s revealed by God who sits above all of our circumstances and see it all. He can say to us, “Here’s the truth that will get you through life.” What can seem very true to me right now, sometimes I need somebody to reveal to me that that’s not going to be true to me soon. And God can do that. I can be driving down the road and it can look like a beautiful road until I see a sign that says, “Bridge out ahead.” The road can look beautiful right up to the edge of that bridge, but because somebody revealed some truth to me that I couldn’t see in y circumstances it saved my life.

God does that for us in our history. We’re going along in life and thinking, “This will be a great decision… this is what I need to do… this feels good so I should do it.” God says, “Wait a minute! Bridge out ahead. If you keep going down that road there is going to be a time when you meet up with some real difficulty and disaster in your life.”

The simplest definition I know for truth is what God say. And where do we find what God says? In the Bible. Satan is the father of lies. Jesus is the Way and the Truth. God is the Father of all truth.

Before you became a believer, who you choose to believe, Satan or Jesus, determined your eternal destiny. Satan says, “Here’s how to make yourself happy.” Jesus says, “Here’s where abundant life comes from.” Who you chose to believe in that battle determines your eternal destiny.

Most of you reading this have already made that choice. You’ve said to Christ, “I believe that You’re the truth.” But now that we’re a believer we still face an everyday choice about who’s telling the truth and who’s lying. It’s no longer a matter of our eternal destiny. Now that we’re a believer, who we choose to believe determines our everyday victory. Whether we live with a sense of victory or a sense of defeat in our everyday life. Who do you choose to believe? Satan is a liar and God always tells the truth.

Truth is what God says. How does this truth protect us in this battle against Satan? There’s probably several ways but I want to focus in on some of the main ways that these protections come into our lives. Truth keeps us from being tripped up by our temptations. When you and I think of a belt being part of battle armor, it’s hard for us to think about than it was in New Testament days. Their belt had a very specific purpose. All the men in those days, even the soldiers, would wear long tunics. We’d call them skirts or dresses today. Ladies, any of you who have ever worn long dresses have you ever tried to run somewhere in a long dress? If you try to run in a long dress, it trips you up. So what these Roman soldiers would do, they had this battle armor on underneath their tunic and they would tuck this under the belt when they were ready for battle. Then they would be free to move in battle. They wouldn’t be tripped up.

Temptations trip us up. That’s the picture here. You’ve got this belt of truth where you can sort of get everything cinched in and you’re not tripped up. Hebrews 12 says “Let us strip off everything that slows us down or holds us back and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up.” What a great picture! The picture here is you can have a lot of these things of armor we’re going to talk about tonight, wearing them all under this tunic, but if you’re not careful with your temptations they’ll trip you up. It’s inevitable in our lives. You can know God’s word and be in church and have a daily quiet time but temptations can still trip you up.

What’s the answer to that? Truth. Temptation is always a lie. Satan says, “This is what it’s going to do for you,” and it may do a part of that. It may make you feel good… for a little while. But it’s not going to fulfill your needs. He comes to Jesus in the desert and says, “If You do ‘this’ I’ll give You all the kingdoms of the world.” He couldn’t promise that. He didn’t own any kingdoms of the world. He was flat out lying. Temptations are a lie. The truth helps us to see temptations for what they really are in our lives.

How do I buckle this on? This is really where I want to focus today. I want to give you a picture so when you get up tomorrow morning you can think, “Truth. Put on the belt of truth.” And picture in your mind what you’re going to do to start your day. You don’t want to go half way through the day, get a lot of hits and really be bloody and say, “I'm going to put my battle armor on now.” This is better to put on at the beginning of the day. Then when we face the battles we’re ready.

How do I buckle on truth? 1 John 3:18 says, “We should love people not only with words and talk but by our actions and true caring. This is the way we know that we belong to the truth.” To know that I'm walking in the truth the Bible says there’s a specific action that lets me know that, that lets me be confident about that in life. It’s not what you would have thought. It’s acting in love towards other people. When I choose to do that it focuses me in on the truth. Unless you and I act in love towards others we’ll be in doubt about the reality of God’s truth in our lives. It’s when you choose not just to try to think about it inwardly but when you share it with others and act in love towards others that the truth really becomes real.

The more that you pull into yourself the more that you’ll be filled with doubt. The more that you give yourself to others, the more that you’ll be filled with confidence about God’s truth in life. Years and years ago there were some very spiritual men called monks. They decided that if they were going to be truly spiritual they’d go up in the mountains and pray and not see anybody. They were isolationist monks. They didn’t get more spiritual by doing that. In fact, they grew less spiritual. It was destructive to their spiritual lives. They became filled with doubts. You can read it in some of their journals. There were a few of them that sort of grew but most of them drew away from God. Why? Because they weren’t giving themselves to others. That’s an essential part of the Christian life, of living out the truth.

There’s still some people who try to copy them today in churches. Churches that try to pull away from everybody. Maybe you feel like that sometimes. You’re not a monk – you’re a monk-ee. Sorry!

It’s very tempting to do that sometimes. The teaching here is when you’re facing doubt in life, face the doubts, tell God about them, let Him deal with them. But don’t pull in. Keep giving yourself to others. Because that’s one of the ways God gives confidence in the truth that answers those doubts. Confidence in the truth is what the Bible says girds our loins that means it ties that “skirt” so we’re free to move, free to act. We’re not tripped up by our temptations.

The first part of the battle armor of a Christian in facing this battle against Satan is truth.

#2. “The breastplate of righteousness”

I want to take a few minutes with this one. I think “righteousness” is one of those words that is used a lot in the Bible. It’s the theme in the book of Romans and the book of Galatians and yet in talking with most Christians, they sort of have somewhat of an idea of what righteousness but they honestly don’t have any idea what the word means.

When you think of “righteousness” what do you think of? Do you think negative or positive primarily? A lot of people have a negative sort of impression of righteousness. That people who are righteous are people who look down their nose at you. A lot of people’s picture of righteousness is this strict librarian picture. If you break one little rule, if you’re not quiet, if you don't do everything just right you’re in big, big trouble. That’s not righteousness.

Righteousness is one of the most winsome of characteristics we can have. Righteousness is not found in looking down on others. Righteousness is found by looking up to God.

One time Jesus was with the Pharisees who thought they were righteous and they always looked down on others. He told them this story about two men who were praying. One prayed and said, “God, thank You that I'm not like that man over there, a sinner.” The other man prayed, “Please be merciful to me. I'm a sinner and I need You.” Jesus asked, “Which one do you think was heard by God?” It helped those men to recognize that you can’t get righteousness by looking down on others. A lot of people think if they can put others down, it lifts them up and makes them righteous in God’s sight. God doesn’t do it on the comparison basis.

Righteousness is not earned by us. Righteousness is credited to us. It’s not like the lottery. It’s not a luck kind of thing. It’s God’s choice to credit it to us. In Genesis where Abraham one of the first people to have faith came along. The Bible says, “Abraham believed the Lord and God credited to him as righteousness.” God credited that belief, that trust in God to him as righteousness. Then in Romans 3:22. “This righteousness from God comes from faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” The way to open up that credit account is faith in Jesus Christ.

The Bible even tells us exactly how God does it. “God made Jesus, Him who had no sin, to be sin for us. [That happened on the cross.] So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” God credited this righteousness to us when we trusted in what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

What is it? Righteousness is being right before God and becoming right with others as I'm right before others in my actions. It starts with being right before God. I can stand before God knowing that my relationship with Him is cleared up. There’s nothing standing between me and Him. Jesus did that on the cross. That’s part of righteousness. That’s already been done.

Also, if you read the Bible closely, part of righteousness is also becoming right in my relationships with other people and right actions in my relationship with people. But it starts in being right with God. Don’t get it backwards. Don’t try to become righteous, to earn righteousness by making all your relationships on this earth right and doing a lot of good things and try to earn it that way. You have to have it credited to your account. Then you start spending off that credit account by developing your relationships here and by acting in new ways towards people. That’s what righteousness is. Righteousness is Being right with God is where it all starts.

This thing of righteousness that the Bible talks so much about, how does it protect us? My heart is protected from Satan’s attacks – and remember we’re talking about this breastplate of righteousness – it protects all the vital organs, that breastplate. It protects our heart, the most vital. And spiritually – my spiritual heart is protected from Satan’s attacks when I focus on this new relationship I have with God, as I act out this new relationship I have with men. It’s really the first two commandments. Jesus gave them to us: “Love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.” The righteousness that God credits to my account gives me the strength and ability to do that. I can’t do it on my own. God gives us the strength to do that.

If that’s what protects me, what that means is Satan is going to try to mess up your relationship with God. Righteousness secures our relationship with God. So when you look at the fact I'm in right standing before God and Satan comes and accuses me of “You did ‘this’ and you did ‘that’. You don’t deserve ‘this’ and you don’t deserve ‘that’.” It doesn’t change the truth about you that we said in the first three chapters of Ephesians. God has chosen you. Nothing changes that. That’s what it means to be righteousness. Whenever I'm afraid of God (Like when I go to pray, I know He’s going to pray it up. Or I’ve done something I'm sort of nervous God knowing about as if He didn’t know about it.) we’re easy pray for Satan. Whenever we don’t have that relationship straight with Him. But when I recognize I'm in right standing before God and I'm forgiven and I can live that out in my life, then I can live with a sense of protection in my heart in my life.

How do I wear this thing of righteousness? What does it look like? Let me give you a warning before I given you two ideas the Bible talks about.

The warning the Bible gives again and again is don’t try to make your own righteousness. Don’t try to build it yourself. Trying to make your own righteousness is like trying to cut your own hair: you’ll always come up a bit short somewhere. Trying to make your own righteousness, no person can do it. Paul says, I tried. Philippians 3 says “I was the best Hebrew, I was the best Pharisee. I kept every law in the Old Testament perfectly. I did that and it wasn’t enough. I had to set all of that aside and find a new righteousness – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Two ideas about how you put on this breastplate of righteousness.

1. You have to hunger for it. Jesus said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Jesus said, “If you hunger for it, My promise is you will be satisfied.” Satan tries to thwart this by tempting us to fill up and something else. It’s sort of like you’re headed towards this great meal at the best restaurant in town and on the way you say, “I think I’ll stop and have ten Big Macs.” Satan tempts us to fill up on things that don’t eternally satisfy us. God says if you’ll just hunger and thirst for righteousness, sometimes that means you say I'm not going to try to satisfy my own needs; I'm going to wait on God to satisfy my needs.

When you say that and you allow a hunger for righteousness develop in your lives He promises He will satisfy it. If you want a better relationship with God, if you want to better your relationship with others, if you want to begin to live out more of the Christian life you read about in the Bible, if you want those things the Bible says that God will satisfy that in your life. Continue to pray about those wants and God will bring your life in compliance with the things you’re saying you want.

How do you develop a hunger? A hunger and thirst for righteousness? You develop a hunger by focusing on the things you want to be hungry for. You focus on what it would mean to live out that new lifestyle. You focus on how it would feel to be in that kind of relationship with God. You focus on how it would feel to know God in that kind of way. It’s temptation in reverse. When temptation comes into our life we focus on, “Wouldn’t it be great if I did that?” and Satan keeps encouraging that: “This is what you need; you should do this.” By focusing on it you get closer and closer to what you’re focusing on. You’re driving down the freeway and you’re trying to watch what’s happening in the car beside you, you tend to drift into their lane. We tend to drift towards what we’re focusing on. We move towards what we’re focusing on.

If you focus on what it would feel like – allow yourself to spend a few minutes just to think about what it would feel like, what it would be like to develop a deeper relationship with God that you have now? Let yourself daydream about that instead of all the other things we tend to dream about. That would develop a hunger for righteousness in your life. Hunger for it. That’s one way you put on this breastplate of righteousness.

The second way is I offer yourself to God. Romans 6:19 “Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” Instead of being a slave to sin, make the choice of being a slave to what’s right. The great thing about that is when you make the choice to be a slave to what’s right you’ve never felt freer in your life.

Satan is going to tempt you – I promise you. He’s going to come to you and say, “If you become a slave to that you’re going to be miserable. God just wants to put you in bonds and make your life worthless.” Satan’s lying. God’s the one who tells the truth. The truth is when you and I make ourselves a slave to what’s right, when we say, “I'm going to offer myself to that,” it doesn’t take away from our personality, it doesn’t take a way from our life. It fills us up like we’ve never been filled up before. It’s one of the most incredible feelings in life.

As we look at these things like the breastplate of righteousness and the different ways God wants to work in our lives, there’s two things I want you to be aware of. I want you to be fully aware of the power of Satan. He does have power. It’s obvious from what happened in the Garden of Eden. Be aware of that. But on the other hand, I want you to be fully confident of your victory in Christ over Satan. I want both for you, not just one of them. If you’re fully aware of the power of Satan but you’re not fully confident of your victory in Christ, you’re going to live in fear in your Christian life. But there’s a danger on the other side too. If you’re fully confident of your victory in Christ and you’re not fully aware of the power of Satan, you’re going to live in defeat and in pride in your Christian life because you’re going to think, “I can do this on my own.” It takes both sides to do that. Confidence without awareness is pride. Awareness without confidence is fear. Either will get you.

You can’t defeat Satan but Christ has already defeated him. He’s taught us how to put on some practical armor in our lives to live out that victory He’s already accomplished in our lives. Armor like that belt of truth – the truth of God’s word. Jesus is the truth. Armor like that breastplate of righteousness and the Bible tells us that Jesus is our righteousness. All these things we put them on in Christ.

#3. “The gospel of peace”

What is this gospel of peace? It’s the good news about God’s peace accomplished in our lives. It’s not peace between nations. It’s peace between man and God. It’s peace of mind and peace of heart. It’s all about the good news of salvation in our lives. How does this good news of peace between man and God help me in the battle?

It helps me in the battle because it keeps me ready. It’s like the shoes you’re wearing on your feet is the readiness that comes from this gospel of peace. The good news in our lives keeps us ready for the battle. You can’t face a battle without shoes on. You’re not going to do well in the battle. Paul writes and says, “You need to put on the gospel of peace ready for victory.” Don’t discount the value of the good news of Christ in keeping you ready to win the victory of Christ in everyday life. Bad news gets us ready for defeat. Good news gets us ready for victory.

Whose reports are you listening to the most? The reports of the bad news or the reports of the good news. There’s lots of sources in our lives right now for bad news reports. Any newspaper, any local newscaster. It’s not wrong to know the news of what’s happening in this world but the question is whose reports are you listening the most to? Christ says He’s got some good news about our lives that you need to listen to.

Sometimes I listen to things like 20-20 (the news report) and that can be depressing. Instead of the 20-20 report, I want to give you the 16:20 – Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” When I read things, or hear things on the news, it breaks my heart the world we live in. But I have to remember: that’s not the whole story. Romans 16:20 is still true. Satin is at work in our world – yes. He is trying to mess up our lives and our world but the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Very, very soon. That’s good news that this world isn’t going to continue forever. That's the news. All this other stuff that we read that’s what’s happening in our world. But the news – that’s the rest of the story that God has.

Romans 16 tells me that what’s happening now is not what’s going to happen then. That I'm getting a little slice, all these evil things that Satan’s bringing in – the good news of the gospel of peace is the most important news in this world.

How do I wear this news? When I get up in the morning, how do I put it on? There’s a good clue in Romans 10:15 “How can they preach unless they are sent as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’” That’s a great verse about witnessing. It’s saying look how beautiful it is when someone shares with another person the good news about Jesus Christ.

How do I wear the gospel? I share the good news. For those of you who are already believers it becomes more real when you share it with somebody else. In your own life you know it’s real but sometimes you get sort of depressed by all the other news in life. But when you get a chance to share with somebody else the good news in this world it’s like it brings it to life again. I know you may not get a chance everyday to share the good news specifically with somebody, but the Bible says when we’re ready to, when we’re looking for opportunities, when we’re looking for people to pray for that they’ll understand the good news, that’s one of the things that gets us ready for victory in everyday life. It keeps me ready for victory.

#4. “Take up the shield of faith by which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

What’s faith? Hebrews 11:1 says it’s the conviction of things that aren’t seen in our lives, that we’re convinced that even though we don’t see it we trust in it. It’s trusting God above all else. That’s what faith is: it’s trusting God above all else.

The opposite of faith in our lives is usually not not trusting God. When we have a lack of faith we don’t say, “I don’t trust God.” That’s not usually our problem, especially as believers. Usually our problem is we’re trusting someone or something else other than God and when we do that, we have a real lack of faith in our lives. Like trusting ourselves for instance. Or trusting some self help book we read recently.

Trusting God above all else. That is a very important part of the armor. It’s the shield of faith. How does that help me in the Bible? The Bible says it extinguishes these flaming darts. In battles of that day they had a couple kinds of shields they would use. One was a smaller shield that they would hold up maybe in a sword battle. But a lot of times in battle they would carry these larger oblong shields with a wooden front to them. One of the ways of battle in that day was to dip darts in some kind of flammable liquid a flaming arrow kind of thing and they’d shoot it at the enemy. You’re out therewith brush all around you, if you had a metal shield and it bounded off, with all the brush around, it would start a fire around you. So they’ve got the wooden things so the darts would stick. They’d intentionally try to catch the darts as they came so they’d stick and the flames would go out. It’s a good picture.

Sometimes when we try to use another shield, beside the shield of faith, our own shield. We try to duck and play dodge ball with Satan. We just get on the edge of the sin. We don’t want the dart to hit but we want to see what it’s like. The problem is it’s still on fire. It bounced off and it’s right beside us and it’s creating a bigger problem than the first place. The only way to extinguishing them as they come is to deal with them by faith. That puts them out and then you don’t have to deal with them any more.

These shields were made in such a way that they would lock together with other people’s shields. In a battle you’d have a wall of shields marching towards the enemy. That’s a good picture for us as believers. We need to encourage each other as we lock our shields together. We’re not in this alone. We fight this battle together. If a dart’s thrown my way, if somebody else’s faith can help me that’s encouraging. You don’t have to do it alone.

Focus on this shield of faith by putting it on. Something specific we can do about putting it on. If you want to be full of faith focus on God’s faithfulness. One way to try to full of faith is focus on your lack of faith and pray that it would be built somehow. That will never work. You’ll just get more and more depressed, more and more down on yourself. But when you focus instead on God’s greatness and faithfulness, how faithful He is to you it fills you with faith. The faithfulness of His promises. The faithfulness of His patience. The faithfulness of His love. That fills you with faith.

The great picture of this in the Bible is Peter, when Jesus challenged him to get out of the boat and walk on water. When Peter focused on Jesus and the faithfulness of Christ and the power of Christ, he was able to walk on the water. That’s incredible. But then when he tried to focus on the circumstances around him and how much faith he had he started to sink. And as he started to sink, Jesus had to lift him out because of His faithfulness.

You and I in our everyday lives, if we’re going to have faith we have to focus on God’s faithfulness. That’s the shield that extinguishes those darts.

#5. “The helmet of salvation”

Salvation is being rescued. We’ve seen a lot of pictures of floods and somebody who falls in. There’s no way out for them. The water’s rushing so fast, the sides are so slick. There’s no way no matter how strong they are, how good of swimmer they are there’s no way for them to get to the side and climb out of that channel. They need somebody to rescue them.

The only problem when it comes to us spiritually is that all of mankind is in the flood channel. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There’s nobody standing up on the bank to lend us a hand except for God. And God decided in His Son Jesus Christ to comedown to this earth, stretch out His strong hand and say, “Take My hand.” And He lifts us up out of that flood channel. We’re headed for certain destruction if we stay in it. Fast! But He lifts us up out of that. Only God is strong enough to do that. That’s what salvation is. The Bible says it’s part of our spiritual armor. The helmet of salvation. It’s interesting that it pictures it protects our head, our mind.

The fact that God loved you enough to save you not just mankind but you is a weapon. That is a piece of armor that Satan can’t penetrate. The helmet obviously has to be one of the most important pieces of armor. That’s a weapon that Satan cannot overcome.

How do I put it on? How do I get this helmet? My mind is protected from Satan’s attacks when I choose to think about the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ. Satan hates it when you do that! It’s when we think about His blood that Satan has to flee. Why? Because that’s where he was defeated. That’s where the power is. When we try to do it on our own he can laugh at us. But when we recognize the cross, that’s where the power is. When you’re feeling like, “I can’t make it another day,” you might paint a mental picture in your mind of yourself standing at the foot of the cross and think, “How does this situation look in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ? How does this sin that I’ve committed look in light of the cross of Jesus Christ?” It looks forgiven is how it looks. “How does this decision that I'm facing look in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ? How does this sin that someone committed against me look in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ?”

When you begin to think that way it changes your mind. It changes your thoughts. Because the cross has the power and always will have the power to defeat Satan. It’s the helmet of salvation and the way you put that on is by thinking about the cross.

#6. “The sword of the Spirit.”

We’re ready. We got all this stuff on – our shoes, the skirt all girded up around us with our belt, this battle armor, a shield – we are ready. But how are we going to attack? The offensive part of the battle armor was the sword. “Take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” The Bible, when Jesus was faced with temptation from Satan, the weapon He used to defeat him was the Bible. He quoted scripture back to him. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

Notice that it’s the Spirit’s sword not your sword. If you’re going to use this you need the Holy Spirit to understand it, you need to Holy Spirit to use it. It’s the Spirit’s sword not your sword.

The reason that’s so important is this verse about how it works in our lives and what it does in our lives. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active. It’s sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

How does this sword protect me? It protects me as it works as a sword on me and a sword for me. The Bible says that not only is it this thing I fight Satan with and when he uses temptation I use the word of God to defeat that temptation. But the Bible also says I’ve got to let that sword work on me. Maybe some of you like to do surgery on yourself but I don’t want to. I want the Holy Spirit to be holding that sword. I trust Him a lot more than I trust myself. He cuts into the deepest parts of my life and slowly, gently, surely shows me attitudes I need to change, actions I need to change, a new heart I need to have. I want Him to be the surgeon that does that. The Bible is able to do that. It can judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I don’t even know what motivates me sometimes. But God does. He can say, “I can change that. I can fix that.” And He always does it at just the right time, not too soon, not too late. He always starts to work at just the right time. I have to give Him that freedom in my life and let the word work on me and then I can use it to defeat Satan. A lot of people try to use it to defeat Satan without letting it work on them and they find out it doesn’t work. If the sword is going to be part of your life, it has to be both ways. It’s a double-edged sword. It does cut both ways. It cuts into your life but it also cuts into Satan’s attacks in life.

This sword of the Spirit helps us to help face some struggles and difficulties of temptation in our lives. It helps us to make the right decision. It helped Jesus to do that. Satan came and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world, offered Him the power to make bread out of stones. Jesus was able to say no based on the power of God’s word in His life.

There’s a picture I use sometimes in my mind when temptation comes. It’s really a choice when it comes to temptation. You might picture it this way. On one side is a black pit, dark. Satan says, “If you’ll just fall in, it’s great down there. You wouldn’t believe all the pleasure and joy that’s down there.” Here’s the picture to get in your mind. For every temptation that Satan’s offering, the Word tells us that there is a real need in our lives that God wants to answer by His word. There’s a black pit but on the other side of the narrow ledge we’re standing on, there’s beautiful, refreshing living water. God’s saying, “Dive into this!” The mental picture I try to build in my mind is if Satan’s tempting me to do this, what’s the other side, what’s God’s side of that?

Sometimes we just stand on the ledge – “Black pit – Living water…” It’s sort of like one of those old James Bond movies. The ledge is getting narrower and narrower as you stand there. If you let it get too narrow and don’t decide to jump into the living water you’ll fall. And you never fall into faith. You always fall into temptation. So what’s helped me in life as I face temptation is building that mental picture and say, “If Satan is saying ‘do this’ I'm going to turn around and see what does the word of God say is the positive alternative.” For instance. Satan says, “Things aren’t going good. You should be depressed. You should be down. You should think you’re a rotten, terrible person in life.” What’s the other side of that? God says you’re a holy person. God says, “You’re acceptable in My sight.” I can choose to stand there are wrestle with that and finally fall in or I can turn around and dive in to the living water.

The thing that gives me the power to make that choice is the Word. Without God’s word I’ll stand there and fall the wrong way every time. The thing that gives me the power to choose is God’s word. The next time you’re standing on that ledge and it’s getting narrower and narrower, what’s the alternative to what Satan is saying? Don’t play dodge ball with Satan. Don’t look into that pit and think how great it would be. He’s lying. Think about the wonderful truth of God. You have to choose to dive into it. You’ll find you can overcome some of those temptations in your life. It’s incredible how making that choice based on God’s word makes a difference in our lives.

That’s an idea about how I take up the sword. But in a practical way the thing I tell you to do is have a quiet time. If you’re going to live your life based on God’s word you’ve got to get to know God’s word. I can’t tell you how many times I read something in the Bible, jot something down and it’s the exact situation I face that day. I guess God knows what I'm going to face that day and He gives me His word to get me ready.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, “But the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” He will. He’s given us the tools to do that.

I have a dream for every one of you that you’re going to be living your life in increasing victory. I believe that one of the things this church stands for is standing at the end. We don’t want short-term disciples here. We believe that God can develop in this church and in your lives the kind of people that will be standing at the end.

DAY #21: Ephesians 6:12-13

Christians are fighting against evil—describing hand-to-hand combat. But we are not in an earthly military campaign—our battle is not against people made of flesh and blood. Instead, we battle the demons and forces of darkness and evil over whom Satan has control. Demons work to tempt people to sin. They were not created by Satan because God is the Creator of all. Rather, the demons are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion and thus became perverted and evil.

The descriptive words reveal the characteristics of these enemies as well as their sphere of operations. These spiritual beings have limited power. They are invisible to us, operating in the unseen world. The mighty powers refers to those spiritual powers who aspire to world control. They are evil (of the darkness) and they currently rule this world. The wicked spirits in the heavenly realms refers to the demons’ dwellings, planets and stars, from which the demons control the lives of people.

Paul used the names of groups of evil powers not so much to establish classes or distinguish demonic powers as to show the full extent of Satan’s warfare.
Here is a host of spiritual forces arrayed against us, requiring us to use God’s full armor. These are real and powerful beings, not mere fantasies.

Believers must not underestimate them. The Ephesians had practiced magic and witchcraft (Acts 19:19), so they were well aware of the power of the darkness. We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, the satanic beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from him and back to sin. Although believers are assured of victory, we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns because Satan constantly battles against all who are on God’s side.

Believers’ response to the reality of this warfare should be to use every piece of God’s armor. The armor is available, but the believer/soldier must use it. We would be neglectful to do otherwise, for the battle is real, and we are Satan’s targets. Only with the armor will believers be able to be standing firm, a word describing standing against great opposition; indeed, it would be impossible to stand on our strength alone. Christian soldiers must be able to hold their ground and not flee or surrender under Satan’s attacks. The time of evil refers to the hours of trial that have within themselves the seeds of the last and greatest trial. Christians must be prepared for every day’s conflicts with the forces of evil.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

The Bible says if I'm going to win the battle of good vs. evil, the battle of God's plan for my life of good vs. Satan's destructive plan here’s some simple pictures about God’s armor in my life that I need to get a hold of so that I can wear the whole armor of God.

Ephesians 6:13 says, “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.”

The word “stand” came up a couple times in that verse. The whole theme of this passage from Ephesians 6 is it’s not enough to know about the armor of God, to put on the armor of God. It’s one thing to know that all this armor is available for you somewhere but it’s quite another thing to put on the armor of God. For the rest of this week, I want this to be a real practical session. I don't just want to talk about some of the things that’s in the armor or inform you about those things. I want us to focus in on how can we put on this armor in everyday life. We are going to face the battle. How can we in advance make some faith choices that will help us not to be defeated in battle?

We get to put on the armor of God. Paul writes to the Ephesians and doesn’t say, “Recognize that it’s already put on for you.” He has said that about some things but here he says, “You need to make a choice in your life to put on the armor of God if you’re going to win this battle of good vs, evil.” You have to make the choice to put on this armor. That’s our choice. We can try to live without armor. That’s like being spiritually naked in the Sierra or Siberia or something and you have no defense if you try to do that. But more often we try to put on our armor instead of God’s armor. We’ve got our own schemes and our own ways to make sure that we win in this battle. The way to victory, we’re going to find out, is to choose to put on God’s armor. That’s a choice you and I can make.

This choice is incredibly important for a couple of reasons.

#1. Battles are guaranteed. It says “…that you may be able to stand your ground in the day of evil.” I know and you know that we live in an evil world. I know we face temptations everyday of our lives. But that phrase “the day of evil” sort of indicates to me that there are sometimes in our lives when it seems like everything falls in on us. We have struggles all along but “the day of evil” – sometimes that means the last days, the second coming. In this case I don’t believe that it does. I think it means there are times in our lives when everything sort of caves in on us. Do you ever have days like that?

The Bible says if you put the armor on now when that day comes you’ll be able to stand firm. Because battles are guaranteed. They’re going to be a part of every one of our lives. It’s not that something’s wrong with you. It’s not that you’re a better sinner than anyone else it’s just that we all face battles. It’s part of this life. Jesus faced battles when He was here. Battles are guaranteed.

#2. Victory is possible. I want to give you God’s definition of victory from this verse: STANDING AT THE END. For God, our life in this world isn’t some 100-meter dash where if you win one sprint you’ve victorious and you get a medal and you get to parade it around the rest of your life. That’s not victory in this world. For God it’s more like a marathon. In a marathon, everybody who finishes has some sense of victory even if they weren’t first in line, if they finish that long race they feel like, “I’ve won this race! I did it. I accomplished it.” And everyone of us, it doesn’t matter where you are. We are in a marathon. For me, the definition of victory is standing at the end.

It’s important personally. One of my goals is to not just start well in life but to finish well. I think that’s a goal every one of us should have. To finish well in life. There are a lot of Christians who start well, a lot of people who, when their kids were growing up, they spent a lot of time with the Lord helping them to grow up, but then when their kids leave home they sort of drift away from the Lord. A lot of people when they first come to know Christ there’s excitement and enthusiasm but then it sort of wanes. They don’t finish well. God’s definition of victory is put on this battle armor and you will finish well.

Whenever I see older people, older pastors that are living out their faith even in their last days. They’re still creative, they’re still thinking of ways they can really live for the Lord, I like to get around those kind of people. They impress me. It impresses me greatly that somebody who at the end of their lives who could say they could just sit back and rest of their laurels and let somebody hang some kind of medal around their neck, they say instead, “I'm going to finish well. I'm going to live out the rest of my life to the best of my ability for Jesus Christ.” That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change gears sometime later in life and retire and do some different things, but it does mean you never retire from service for the Lord. That’s a challenge for all of us. Victory is standing at the end.

How is that going to happen? We are going to face battles. We are going to take hits in life. The way to do that is to put on God’s armor in an everyday way. Then those hits and arrows that Satan throws at us, they don’t defeat us, they don’t damage us, they don’t destroy us.

Will you commit today to God that you will finish well? Will you commit to God that you'll stand, no matter who else falls you will stand?

DAY #20: Ephesians 6:10-11

Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power refers to strength derived from God, not strength we humans have to somehow obtain. The words “be strong” describes continual empowering of the Christian community. God’s strength and power are part of the Kingdom blessings available to God’s people. The power that raised Christ from the dead empowers God’s people as they prepare for the spiritual battle they must face on this earth.

God empowers his people, but he does not send them into battle unarmed. God’s people must put on all of God’s armor (see also Romans 13:12). The full armor means complete equipment, head-to-toe protection, both defensively and offensively. This gear was for hand-to-hand combat.

This “armor of God” was mentioned in the Old Testament. Isaiah 59:17 describes God as wearing the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. Paul wrote this letter while chained to a Roman soldier. Certainly the soldier’s armor must have brought this metaphor to mind. Paul described a divine and complete “outfit” that God gives believers in order to provide all we need to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.

The Devil rules the world of darkness, the kingdom opposed to God. “Stand against” was a military term meaning to resist the enemy, hold the position, and offer no surrender. The Devil will not fight fair; he uses subtle tricks and schemes. Our ability to stand firm depends on our use of the armor.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

How do you face this everyday battle that we have in this world? Paul has just told the Ephesians of the schemes of Satan and battle we’re in and we’re not unaware of all those things. Now he’s thinking about “How can I paint a picture for these followers of Christ so that we can win the battle?” He’s in a prison cell as he’s writing to the Ephesians.

He’s setting there trying to picture the potential for victory in these people’s lives. In the prison cell he’s chained to a Roman soldier. He’s writing with one hand, chained somehow with the other hand. How can I picture for these believers the victory that can happen in their lives? He uses that Roman soldier, the things that he wears to be victories in battle as the picture for the Ephesians of how they can be victorious in battle.

It’s a real common picture. If you’re going to win at anything, you’ve got to have the right uniform for battle. Can you imagine a basketball team showing up in scuba gear? That just wouldn’t work. Or somebody trying to win the 100-meter free style in a football uniform. Because they have the wrong thing on they’d just sink straight to the bottom. Or they wouldn’t be able to get down the court. What’s the right thing for the battle of the Christian life?

The Bible says if I'm going to win the battle here’s some simple pictures about God’s armor in my life that I need to get a hold of so that I can wear the whole armor of God. And when I do that - when I put on the whole armor of God, I can stand against the schemes of Satan.

I can stand against temptation and lust and greed and pride and selfishness and envy and apathy and laziness and thoughtlessness. But, not in my power and strength - in HIS. I can be strong in the strength of HIS might.

Zechariah 4:6-7 (ESV) says, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."

What is God able to do through HIS might? Ephesians 3:20 (ESV) says, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.."

God is able to do far more than we can imagine. The key question? Will I allow HIM to do have HIS rightful place in my life. Read John 3:30 today. It will give you the key to allowing God HIS rightful place in your life.

DAY #19: Ephesians 6:5-9

Paul used the same word for obey here that he used in 6:1. Slaves were to obey the commands and desires of their masters; this was their duty because of the authority of the master. Paul addressed the slaves who had become Christians and needed to understand how their new faith affected their service to human masters. Paul advised the slaves to treat their earthly masters with deep respect and fear (referring to an attitude of reverence and honor, a desire to do right). These slaves had been set free from slavery to sin, but they were not freed from serving their masters. They should serve their masters in the same way they would serve Christ.

Slaves were to work hard for their masters, not only when they were being watched and hoping for a reward, but at all times. They should work not only for human approval but also to do the will of God with all their hearts. Why? Because they were slaves of Christ as well as of human masters. They should work hard to do their job well in this world, while at the same time working hard for Christ as they look forward to the next world, where all believers will serve Christ in his Kingdom. All believers, as slaves of Christ (whether slaves or free in this world), should do the will of God with all their hearts, wholeheartedly, not halfheartedly, doing their work well enough to pass God’s inspection.

Slaves had a variety of tasks—running errands, caring for or teaching children, cleaning, preparing meals, or doing menial work. Paul gave their jobs a new dignity, telling these slaves to work as though they were working for the Lord rather than for people. Our true Master, the Lord Jesus, knows the state of our hearts and knows if we are shirking the job that we, as his slaves, have been given to do. We should also faithfully serve our earthly masters in this way. The Christian slave should obey as an expression of his or her commitment to the Lord. In the end, all people, slaves and free, will be rewarded by the Lord.

Paul also had words for the masters, for those who had become Christians needed guidance in relationships with their Christian slaves. Paul advised them to treat their slaves in the same way. In other words, the masters should have the same concern for God’s will and for the slaves’ well-being as the slaves were expected to show toward God and their masters.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

It's pretty early in the morning, yet as I read this passage today, one verse in particular comes to mind - Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV).

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Every time I think of that verse, I am prompted to think - what's my motivation for ministry? What's my Motivation for serving? What's my motivation for loving and putting the needs of others ahead of my own?

The only lasting motivation for ministry and serving and loving and putting the needs of others ahead of our own is because we want to please Jesus Christ. Out of a deep heart of gratitude, I don’t deserve to be saved much less in the ministry.

All that God does in us and for us and through us is by grace through faith. So out of a deep abiding heartfelt gratitude for the fact that I’m saved, I want to give my life to Jesus Christ and I want to serve Him in any way possible. I know that your heart is like my heart and my life goal is to one day stand before Jesus Christ and have Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” At that point, when God says that, it will all be worth it. Every bit of suffering. Every sacrifice. Every bit of self-denial. You won’t be in heaven five seconds and you’ll say, “Why didn’t I serve more? Why didn’t I give more? Why didn’t I love more? Why didn’t I obey more?”

To stand before Jesus and have Him say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” it really doesn’t matter what other people think of your ministry. Because you only have one master to please and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. So my motivation (and I know your motivation) is I want to please Jesus with my life. But the catch is not all ministry and not all service is pleasing to God. Just because we are serving the Lord does not automatically mean that what we’re doing is pleasing to God.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Does that apply to ministry and service and loving others? Yes. It doesn’t matter if I’m in ministry or not, if I’m not ministering in faith, I’m not pleasing God. If I’m not serving in faith, I’m not pleasing God. if I’m not loving in faith, I’m not pleasing God.

If that’s true, and obviously it is because it’s in God’s word, then the very most important question I can ask myself as a pastor, and that you can ask yourself is what does it mean to minister and serve and love in faith?

I want us to look at four foundational truths of how to minister and serve and love in faith - all because you want to please the Christ.

#1. BELIEVE WHEN YOU DON’T SEE.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, being certain of what we do not see.” Faith is visualizing the future in advance. It is seeing the future in the present. Every great achievement began when somebody saw it in advance. Nothing happens in life till somebody believes it’s possible. We didn’t put a man on the moon until one day JFK stood up and said, “Let’s put a man on the moon.” When he said that, the technology had not even been invented.

Faith is believing when I don’t see it. Some things have to be believed before they can be seen. The world says, “Seeing is believing.” God says, “Believing is seeing.” You have to see it in advance. Faith is believing when I don’t see it.
This pleases God.


#2. OBEY WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.

Has God ever told you to witness to somebody when you didn’t have the time? Has God ever told you to leave a comfortable situation and go to an unknown quantity? Has God ever told you to give when there was nothing left to give? Or serve when you had no more time or energy? Folks, when those times come and you obey that is called faith.

Hebrews 11:8 (Good News) “It was faith that made Abraham obey God when God called him to go out to a country that God had promised him. He left his own country not knowing where he was going.” Abraham is a classic example of obeying when I don’t understand it. He was 75 years old and God asked him to give up all his security – when he’s ready for social security, God says You’re going for social insecurity – and He says at 85 years of age I want you to leave, pick up everything and get ready for the greatest adventure of your life. The scary part of it is God gave him no details. Abraham says, Where are we going? God says, You’ve never heard of it. How long is it going to take? You’ll find out. How will I know when I get there? I’ll let you know.

Would you go? Would you go at age 75? I want to challenge you to make the rest of your life the best of your life. Folks, you cannot minister or serve or love in faith without taking risks. If you're taking are no risks in your life then you’re not living by faith. And if you’re not living by faith you’re not pleasing God.

Constantly I have to ask myself, “Lord, what can I do that will force me to live by faith? That will force me to minister outside of my comfort zone in ways that I don’t feel comfortable doing?” Faith is doing what God says even when it seems absurd. How many stories in the Bible are an example like Gideon: Three hundred men against 135,000 men. The odds are 450 to one. God says, "Here are the weapons you’re going to use, Gideon. Everybody take a torch, a trumpet and a clay pot.” Not exactly your typical warfare weapons. It didn’t make sense.

Right! That’s God’s plan. Because faith is obeying when you don’t understand it. Sometimes God will tell you to do something in your church and in your ministry and you’ll think, “There’s no way this is going to work!” God says, Do it. And guess what? It works!

Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.” One of the tests of ministering and serving and loving by faith is how quickly do I obey God? Sharon and have taught our kids that delayed obedience is disobedience. If I tell them to do something and they don’t do it immediately, that’s not obedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. “Lord, one of these days I’m going to get around to doing this.” God says, That’s not obedience. That’s disobedience.

#3. GIVE WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE IT.

Hebrews 11:4b says, “In faith Abel was commended as a righteous man and God spoke well of his offering.” Isn’t that interesting? Giving and faith go together. God uses finances to test us. I think probably one of the verses we overlook most often is Luke 16:11 “If you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will commit to you true spiritual riches.”

God uses money to test our faithfulness. God watches the giving of a pastor and the giving of His people. The Bible says if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you true spiritual riches. There is a direct relationship between how I use my money and the power of God in my life. We don’t talk about that much. The Bible says real quickly there is a direct relationship between how I use my money, how I manage the unrighteous mammon, and god’s blessing upon my life and ministry. It influences how much God can bless my life.

#4. PERSIST WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.

Do you ever feel like giving up? I heard about the mother who went into her son’s room on Sunday morning and she said, “Son, you must get up. You must get dressed. You must get ready and go to church.” The son said, “I don’t feel like it.” She said, “You must! It doesn’t matter if you feel like it, you’ve got to go.” He said, “Why?” She said, “Two reasons: One, you’re 36 years old and two, you’re the pastor.”

The truth is, I don’t always feel like studying for another sermon. I don’t always feel like counseling one more problem. That’s the last thing on my agenda sometimes. Yet the Scripture says, “Be persistent in season and out of season.”


Persisting when you don’t feel like it. Let me tell you how to be a success. Successful people simply do the things other people don’t feel like doing. Do you want to be a success? Do the things that nobody else feels like doing. Most of what is being accomplished in the world today is being done by people who don’t feel like doing what they’re doing. If you want to be an Olympic athlete, you put in hours of exercise. If you want to be a master musician, you put in hours of practice. If you want to be a super salesman, you make the extra calls. If you want to be a godly man or godly woman, you pay the price. You develop the spiritual disciplines and habits that pay the price for godliness. If you want to be a master communicator, you put the hours in to study and you sharpen your skills, you listen to tapes, you go to conferences, you never think that you’ve learned it all. You keep on sharpening that ax.

How do you develop that kind of persistence? How do you develop the kind of persistence that keeps you in a position when God has put you there, when every bone in your body says, “Move or quit the ministry!” Where do you get that kind of persistence?

Hebrews 11:27. The example of Moses. “It was by faith that Moses left Egypt and was not afraid of the king’s anger. He held onto his purpose like a man who could see the invisible.” Notice the key to persistence is that last phrase – he could see the invisible. Only as we see the invisible can we accomplish the impossible. The key to persistence is keep your eyes on God. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Corrie Ten Boom says, “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.” It all depends on what you’ve got your eyes on.

This is the type of life that pleases God.

DAY #18: Ephesians 6:1-4

We start out this famous foundational passage of scripture by seeing this undeniable truth; If our faith in Christ is real, it will usually prove itself at home, in our relationships with those who know us best. With our spouses, children and parents.

In the previous chapter of Ephesians, Paul talked about the importance of submitting to one another. He begins chapter six continuing that theme. Paul turned next to children. His command to them is simple: Obey your parents. This is not an absolute command; when a parent tells a child to do something unbiblical, immoral, or unethical, the law of God supersedes the will of the parent. But aside from those extremes, children are to obey their mothers and fathers. This is the way God intends it.

The Greek word for “children” (tekna) refers to young children living at home. God requires children to obey because children need to rely on the wisdom of their parents. Jesus himself submitted to the authority of his earthly parents, despite his authority as the Messiah (Luke 2:51). All young children will, at times, disobey and test their parents’ limits. As they get older, they will understand why God wants them to obey. Obedience that recognizes parents’ authority can carry over into recognizing God’s authority. God’s plan for his people includes solid family relationships where there exists respect, obedience, submission, and love for one another. When both parents and children love God, all of them will seek to obey and please him.

Paul added the authority of the fifth commandment, recorded in Exodus 20:12, Honor your father and mother. Obeying and honoring are different. To obey means to do what another says to do; to honor means to respect and love. Children are to obey while under their parents’ care, but they must honor their parents

Paul also speaks to the expectation that God has of parents. Parental discipline should help children learn, not exasperate and make them angry. In Colossians 3:21, Paul gave the same advice, adding that if children are disciplined in unloving and irresponsible ways, they may become discouraged and resentful. In families of Paul’s day, the father had full legal rights over his children and often ran his household with rigid control.

In Jewish families, the fathers were responsible for the education of the children. Paul did not have to establish the fathers’ authority; rather, his aim was to set the limits on harsh treatment. Parenting is not easy—it takes lots of patience to raise children in a loving, Christ-honoring manner. But frustration and anger should not be causes for discipline. Parents can remove the exasperating effect of their discipline by avoiding nagging, labeling, criticizing, or dominating.

Don’t goad your children into resenting you. Paul wrote specifically to fathers because, in that culture, fathers were the absolute head of the home, with complete control and authority. For Paul to say that they needed to treat their children as human beings and consider their feelings was revolutionary. As Christ changed the way husbands and wives related, so he changed the way parents and children related.
Parents ought not provoke their children, and neither should they abandon their responsibility to guide, correct, and discipline them. Parents still have a job to do for their children—to bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

On the face of it, this first section of Ephesians six doesn't seem to have much to do with the armor of God or spiritual warfare. Oh cointreau my friend; It has everything to do with spiritual warfare. You see, if you are not living the christian life at home, it doesn't matter what you do outside the home.

The credibility of my ministry is a pastor is not based on how I wow you with my sermons or my biblical knowledge. The credibility of my ministry is based on what happens in my family, in my marriage and in my relationship with my kids. It doesn't matter how well the ministry is doing if my family life is hell.

The same is true with you. I have seen so many talented and gifted men and women of God who Satan has blown out of the game because they were not tending to the home front. They led others spiritually but their home life was a disaster. Folks, is it any reason then that one of the qualifications for leadership in the church is that your kids respect you, that your wife loves you and that your home honors the Lord?

1 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

So, let me remind you of a few things that might help you lead spiritually in your home.

When Sharon and I got married we started thinking about having a family. (Actually I started thinking about it the first time I saw her.) I subscribed to the Beatles philosophy of parenting -- all you need is love. I was sadly mistaken! Four children later 21, 20, 18 & 12 – it became real obvious you need more than love. In fact the Bible says that. To have a healthy family takes more than just love. The Bible says it takes wisdom. Proverbs 24:3, "It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong." Healthy families are not an accident. They are the result of wise actions and wise decision by wise parents.


And folks, I'm not talking about a perfect family. There's no such thing as a perfect family because it's made up of imperfect individuals. But you can have a healthy family without it being perfect. How do you have a healthy family? How do you grow one? Four things...

#1. YOU HAVE TO PREPARE YOUR KIDS FOR LIFE.

The Bible says that one of the goals for parenting is to prepare your kids for life. God intends the family to be a learning center for life. You learn things in your family that you don't learn anywhere else. A couple of weeks ago my youngest taught me how to burp and sneeze at the same time. A very cool thing. I don't know if I'll ever use it anywhere but it's a great spiritual experience to be able to do that!

You learn life's basic skills in the family -- walk, talk, eat ... use a TV remote -- all the basic skills of life you learn in the family. God says we are to prepare our kids for life.

The Bible says this about Jesus in Luke 2:52 "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with man." Circle the four ways Jesus grew. Those are the same four ways you, as a parent, have to help your children to grow.

First it says Jesus grew in wisdom. That's mental or intellectual growth.
He grew in stature. That's physical growth.
He grew in favor with God. Spiritual growth.
He grew in favor with man. That's social growth.

That ought to be the goals you have in your family for each of your children, that you help them have balanced growth -- mental, physical, spiritual and social. The Bible is very clear that the primary responsibility of raising children, helping them be prepared for life, is laid at the feet of parents. It's your responsibility. The moment you took part in a conception you got a job description. You took on a role.

I know you've heard people say, "I'm not going to impose my spiritual values on my kids. I'm going to let them decide for themselves." Baloney! What that basically says is "God is an option." He is not an option. You are hurting your kids if you say God is an option. As long as they are under your roof, you have the right to impose on them certain standards. When they're out on their own, of course they have to make their own decision. But if you don't force your kids to go to church, where do you think they'll get their values? At school? When you say, "I'm not going to impose my values on my kids" what you're doing is abdicating your authority as a parent. And you're abdicating it to the television. Television is the number one purveyor of values today.

The Bible says one day we're all going to be judged before God and give an account of our lives. Those of us who are parents will give an account of our parenting roles. Did we care enough to say, this is right and this is wrong, because most kids don't know right from wrong today. Society certainly doesn't know the difference.

I suggest that you be more intentional. Make a list of the values you think are important, that you value. Then start intentionally sharing those, making sure those come up in the conversation with your kids. Don't just let it go haphazard. Because it's not true that all you need is love. You need wisdom.


#2. PROTECT YOUR KIDS IN STORMS.

Notice the phrase is "in storms" not "from storms." When Sharon and I had Kelsey, I remember praying, "God, please protect her" and I started listing all these things I wanted Him to protect her from in her lifetime. I began to understand as she has grown and my other kids have grown that love is not enough to protect my kids from all the problems that are going to come their way. I can't necessarily protect them from the storms of life. They're going to come.

But I can protect my kids in the storms. Those of you who are first time parents or you have young kids you may still be under the illusion that your love is enough to protect your kids from all the evil that comes into life. You need to rearrange your thinking to know that while you can't do that, you can make your home a place of protection in storms.

Life is full of storms. It's like being in a hurricane sometimes. The things that come in to it just batter us, bruise us and beat us up, you get dumped on and things don't go the way you planned. Life is very tough and we all need a place of safety, security, peace, protection. God has planned that our homes be that place.

Proverbs 14:26 "Reverence for the Lord gives a man deep strength; his children have a place of refuge and security." The home is supposed to be a place of refuge and security.

There are a lot of kinds of storms that come into our life -- emotional, physical, relational. I want to mention three of them to you today.

Change. This world changes so quickly. From day to day, relationships change, jobs change, we change where we live, health changes. That storm of change comes into everybody's life. Whether a change is positive or negative, studies tell us that too much of any kind is stressful. So we need a place where that stress can be taken care of. Alvin Tozier says we need "islands of security" places that are stable, predictable, where you know it's going to be the same.

Failure. Nobody wins all the time. Sometimes you get passed up for the promotion, you don't make the team, you fail the test, you bomb. Failure comes to everybody. And it hurts. But failure is more bearable if you're coming home to hugs, if you know that, when you get home, you're going to be soothed, you're going to be encouraged from that failure.

Kelsey and her first boyfriend: When they broke up, it was awesome to see how our family rallied around her. That's what a family is to be. That place of shelter in a storm.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, "Two are better than one. If one of them falls down the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad, because there is no one to help him." Family is to be there in times of failure.

Rejection. Probably one of the toughest storms to handle. Everybody knows what it's like to feel criticized, ostracized, pushed away, not allowed to be part of the in crowd. We all know what that's like. Most of that starts to happen to us when we are kids on the playground. Can't you still remember something that happened to you on the playground as a little kid? Kids are ruthless and the things they say to each other at that age are so mean. They pick on everything about you that's not perfect and point it out to you as if you're not aware of it.

The real tragedy about this is that in many homes, rather than being a place of refuge and safety and stability in a storm, many homes are the center of the storm themselves. Many homes are like being in the eye of the storm and that's not right. That's not what God has planned for our families. He warns against it in Mark 3:25. He says "A home filled with strife and division destroys itself." So the place that was supposed to be the ultimate source of acceptance, sometimes becomes the ultimate source of rejection. This is not right.

#3. PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS FOR FUN.

God intends families to be a haven for happiness, a format for fun, and a place to party. A place to kick back, relax, have fun, have a good time. It ought to be a place of fun.

I have a pet peeve. A lot of Christians get so serious about the first point I talked about -- the learning center thing. They want to get the values right, the character right, the relationships right. They've got a school where they turn themselves into a schoolmaster or a drill sergeant. Or like Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" who blew the silly whistle and the kids came marching in and marching out. If I were to say anything to some Christian families, these are the people who are listening to Dobson five times a day and checking every book. They're so up tight, afraid they're going to make some mistake. God's word to you today is this: Lighten up! You're coming on a little bit heavy.

A family that prays together, stays together. Also, the family that plays together, stays together.


The fact is, your kids aren't going to be with you forever. Parenting is just a season of life. You better enjoy it while you've got it. Someday the kids are going to grow up and you may be thinking, "Someday things are going to be a whole lot different. The kitchen will be incredibly neat. The sink will stay free of sticky dishes. The garbage disposal won't get chocked on rubber bands or paper cups.

The refrigerator won't be clogged with nine bottles of milk and we won't lose the tops to the jelly jars. Someday when the kids are grown up, the instrument called the telephone will be available to adults. It won't be hot from being held two hours. It won't look like it's growing from a teenager's ear. It will simply hang there silent and amazingly available, free of lipstick, human saliva, mayonnaise, freto crumbs and tooth picks stuck in those little holes. Someday when the kids are grown I'll actually be able to see through car windows. Fingerprints, tongue licks, sneaker foot prints, dog tracks will be conspicuous by their absence. Someday when the kids are grown we'll return to normal conversation.

`Gross' won't punctuate every sentence seven times. `Yuk' will not be heard. `Hurry up, I gotta go!' will not be accompanied by banging fists on the bathroom door. Someday when the kids are grown, things will be a lot different. One by one they'll leave our nest and the place will begin to resemble order and maybe even a touch of elegance. The clink of china and silver will be heard on occasion and the muffled crackling of a fireplace will echo through the hallways and the phone will be strangely silent. In fact, the entire house will be quiet and calm and filled with memories. And so lonely and we won't like it.

Folks, if your home isn't fun while your kids are growing up, don't be surprised if they don't come back often when they're grown. Why should they?

#4. POINT YOUR KIDS TO GOD.

The bottom line of parenting is to point our kids to God.

You don't have to have all the answers. If you haven't figured that out yet, you will. You don't have all the answers for the questions your kids are going to ask. I don't mean things like, "Why are trees green? Why is the sky blue? Why do dogs bark?" and you make up the answers to satisfy them for awhile.

But they ask questions as they get older like, "Why did God make me this way? If God is loving and in control of everything, why did He allow Grandma to die?" They ask questions like that and they're very tough to answer. I don't have those answers. My reservoir of answers is very small, but I have a God, a Heavenly Father, who does have answers. It's my job as a parent to point them to God.

You can do that in some formalized way. You can sit down and teach kids some things about God and that has some effect. But, even more important - you teach your kids the most by modeling for them the truths you want them to understand. We are to live our lives in such a way that our kids want to emulate us. They want to be like us, rather than run the other direction.

Sometimes parents make a mistake by hiding from their kids the problems that are going on in their own lives, the struggles that are going on within themselves or the external things they're having to deal with. They think maybe that's protecting their kids and there is some truth to that.

But there are so many other situations in which we need to share with our kids the things that are going on in our lives because it helps them see how to get through them. How better to teach your kids to have faith in God in financial difficulties than when you're in the middle of a financial difficulty and you constantly express to them, "Yeah, it tough right now but we have a God who is faithful to us and He'll provide for us." Or when you're going through grief or pain or struggles, say to your kids, "Yes, this hurts, this is hard. But God will comfort us and sustain us." We are to show our kids from our own lives how we get strength and help from God. If they don't see it in our lives, why should they do it. If they don't see us pointing to God all the time, why should they trust in God, why should they rely on Him? That's one of our main jobs.

Why is it so important? Proverbs 9:10 says, "Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding." Philippians 3:8 says, "Everything else is worthless compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." Knowing God is the foundational issue of life. Knowing God is what you build every other form of learning or training on. It's not just enough to talk about God. In America today, many parents who are not even Christians, talk about God. They talk about a higher power or the great baseball coach in the sky. They refer that there is a God in this world. But that's not enough. We need to make sure we point our kids to Jesus Christ, their Savior, the one who loves them, the one who died for them, the one who gave His life. We don't just point them to God. We point them to Jesus, their Savior, and make sure they know Him.


If you want a healthy family, you need to make that kind of commitment. You commit your own life to Jesus Christ and say, "Jesus, I need Your help in all my life -- not just parenting. You be my savior." Then you say, "I commit my family. I dedicate my family to you. They're gifts are from You. I dedicate them back to You -- my spouse, my children." Then you dedicate yourself to becoming a wise parent.