Sunday, October 7, 2012

Missing in Action?

Do we take the time to choose to equip ourselves with God’s Armor when we start our day? Do we allow the busyness of our schedules to forget we are not alone, no need to pray?

With purpose we should tighten His belt of Truth around our waist; for it is not a noose like some may think, for ourselves or anyone else, all our lives are at stake.

When girded in His Truth, His belt in its proper place, the breastplate of His Righteousness will then fit perfectly, as we are seen in Christ. Beware of imitations though, for they tend to try and steal God’s Glory, using mirrors for their magic tricks, basking in the reflection of their own selfishness.

To be able to stand firm, to be ready for battle, our feet must be fitted with the Gospel of Peace, which helps us to want to move about Christ like; spreading the Good News of Christ’s Peace to the ends of the Earth; to be on guard and protect; looking forward for His return.

We should never give up. We have His shield of faith to keep the enemy from piercing our hearts, which could otherwise render us immobile without His hope. God gives us grace for the day when we take refuge in Him; we are not alone, He is with us. The battle is the Lord’s, one He has already won, and we should live like we know this.

In case we should fall (and we all do sometimes), we should put on our helmet of salvation, which helps to keep His Truth, His Living Word of Jesus, intact in our brain; this will help prevent the lies of the enemy from setting up camp in our minds, giving us clarity on whether we are following His Truth, or following a lie (the façade of sin is usually thought of as being alright, and sometimes feels oh so good).

To keep fighting the good fight, we need to take up the sword of the Spirit, His Word. We need to keep renewing our minds with His Word, letting Christ bathe our thoughts in His Righteousness, for in our minds is where our actions are conceived. And if we let bad thoughts continue to grow, they will spread to our hearts, giving our actions an unhealthy birth.

So, Armor up! And be of good heart; don’t let fear rob you of His Joy in life. God gave us His only Son to help us; His Holy Spirit is provided to be our Helper by God Himself. Don’t miss out on His sacrifice. We can experience His Peace right now in this life; no need to wait for an eternity, for His Eternal Life is within us.

© Sheri * September 2012



About the “Missing in Action?” poem:

While contemplating how a person can change from being in a war, fighting in combat, killing another person, or watching others die from the act of it, made me wonder what affect it would have on me, which is one of those things you would not know for sure until you experienced it yourself. And thankfully, so far, I have never had to do so. But there are many people that have experienced it, and their lives have been changed because of it, and for most, not in ways they care for…if only people could just get along.

Thinking about the effects of war also made me think of the spiritual war we fight every day, which many of us seem to be unaware of, or tend to forget about at times, hence came the poems name “Missing in Action?”…which refers to just that, being unaware of the battle we are in, WE are missing in action so to speak, blinded by the visible of the invisible. We tend to put out of our minds what we cannot see with our eyes.

It takes a conscious effort to live life with a purpose. With the constant whirlwind pace of life so many of us have niched out for ourselves, or bang our heads together trying to do so, we seem to forget what life is really about…people (processed from another great sermon from Pastor Jeff Arnett at TVC ~ Soul Shift #2)… http://thornapplevalleychurch.podhoster.com/index.php?sid=779). After all, God gave His only Son for us, so we may live eternally through Him with God. I would also say that means GOD LOVES PEOPLE!

Inspiration imbedded in this poem, and most others that I write, contain verses or meanings from Scripture, which is part of the process of letting Christ renew our minds; some verses are from the Bible, I don’t always remember where exactly.

God’s Word helps us see God’s love for His people, and in reading Ephesians 6 we can clearly see that we were not designed to do it all on our own, that we need God, and in His strength, we can do anything God calls us to do. But we do have to make a choice…to let Him be our only God, to receive His help, and live our lives as His children; to not cultivate our own selfish pride and be too grown up and self-sufficient that giving God glory is removed from our minds, our hearts, and our souls.

(Photo by: Google Images)

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