Look Up for the Battle is Truly the Lord's

I've always heard "God gives His hardest battles to His strongest warriors".  I believe that is true.  I'm sure that some of those warriors would not agree.  In fact I don't think those warriors felt like they were strong at all.

Let me back up and explain something first, actually a couple of things:

#1  Not every battle we face is because of God or because of our faith.  We bring some of our battles on ourselves.  i.e. bad choices, bad company, rebellion, neglect are just a few of the things that can get us into trouble.

#2  Our sole purpose on this earth is not to grow rich, grow famous, get married, have kids, have a career, etc.  Whatever prosperity we have is solely blessings from God, not what we deserve.  Our purpose is to bring honor and glory to God, our creator.
Shock!!!...  Do they tell you that in church.  Probably not.  Modern day churches preach as if God owes us something, when in fact it is just the opposite. We owe God EVERYTHING, literally.

Let's take a look back in history at some of God's warriors.  (These aren't in any particular order or if they happen to be it is purely accidental.  I am just listing them as they come to mind.)  

First, Job, he was a man dearly loved by God.  Did he do anything to cause the battles he endured?  One thing, he loved God.  He believed God.  His battles drew him even closer to God.  No matter what happened, he would not turn on God.  In fact, he said in Job 19:25-26, "As for me, I know my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on this earth.  Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God."

Can you imagine?  Job lost his children, all his livestock, his home, everything dear to him.  He had boils covering his body and yet HE DID NOT DENY GOD.
People tried to get him to admit he had done something to cause the curses that came on him.  They thought surely he had to have done something.  Job knew he hadn't but he knew God and he believed God.  He was a warrior, chosen by God.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace, DID NOT DOUBT GOD.  They told the king even if God did not save them, He was still God and they would not bow to another.    Daniel 3:16-18, 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18“But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

God's only son, Jesus, chosen by God Himself to be the one to die on the cross for us.  

Every instance of every warrior, their faith did not waiver.  When little David went up against the giant Goliath, he trusted God.  When Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, he trusted God.

That is why God gives His toughest battles to His strongest warriors because through the battle their faith remains.  There may be  lapses of weakness but their faith does not waiver.

The war is not against death, infirmities, cancer, aids, autism, etc.  The war is against the powers of darkness that would separate us from God if they could.   To name a few: the parents who have lost a child to sickness, disease or accident, keeping the faith that God will reunite them someday.  The person who has fought cancer or has a family member or loved one that fought or is fighting cancer, keeping the faith that if not cured in this life, they will be cured in eternity.  The person who stares down the barrel of a gun being told to deny God, that says, I will not deny my God even in the face of death.  The missionaries over seas who are killed, beheaded etc for their faith in God.   I doubt any of these warriors would tell you they were strong.  I am sure most of them would have said they could never make it through something like that.  But they have.  How do they fight?  What keeps them going?  God.  Their faith in God, their insistence that God will get the glory regardless, their belief that no matter what happens,  God is still God.

The next time you face a battle, remember that even when things are hardest God is right there with you.  

Philipians 4:13 says, " 13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Not some things, but all things.  God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  

I wish I could say the battles would be easy but if they were we wouldn't lean so much on God and we would lean too much on ourselves.  What I can say, with certainty, is that God will never leave you or forsake you.  God does not lie, what He says in His word He means.

Ending with this:  Ephesians 6:10-17, " 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

How did they all fight those battles, look up!

God bless.

The Rest of the Story - The Truth Will Set You Free, Jesus IS That Truth

Here's the thought for the day: How much do you REALLY love your family, friends, 
parents, kids, spouse, etc? Enough that you are concerned about their souls? Have you 
shared Jesus with them? Do you care if they split hell wide open?


and here's my answer.... I love each and every one of you enough to tell you the truth. The
 truth is... If you don't get your life right and get a real personal relationship with God and
 seek Him and His approval rather than man's (or woman's), you will miss the Kingdom of 
God and living throughout eternity. That thought may not bother some people but it's 
where you will spend eternity that is the problem. A relationship with Jesus is not just a 
word here and there. It's not yelling, "Oh Jesus" when a car almost sideswipes you, it's not 
being sick or having a loved one that is sick and praying for healing one day and forgetting
WHO healed as soon as you/they are well. When you are in a true relationship with God,
 you strive to live according to HIS will. You stay away from evil and "all appearance" of 
evil. You follow HIS laws. Some people think that because they don't kill they haven't sinned or that telling "a little white lie" isn't as bad as killing or stealing, well from what I read in the Bible, SIN IS SIN, there is NO big sin, little sin. Yes I love you and yes I care about your soul. Please get your life right with God and then strive daily to keep it that way. We aren't perfect any of us, it's a daily walk not just a one time thing.

The first thing you have to do is accept Jesus into your life.  Accept that HE IS the Son of God and HE DID come to die for all of our sins.  Then you must confess your sins to God, and yes HE does already know them but true repentance comes when you yourself acknowledge them as sins.  The Bible says if you will ask for forgiveness HE will grant it, doesn't say might or maybe but that HE will.  

1 John 1:9(NASB)

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Many people today think the Bible is "just a good book of morals".  It is a good book of morals to live by but it is so much more than that.  It is the living breathing Word of the Most High God.  The instructions laid out in the Bible are not just "good words to live by", they are the life of a Child of God.  You can't pick and choose what you want from it.  When Jesus died on the cross He completed all the man made laws in the Bible, but HE did NOT do away with God's laws.  Those laws being the 10 Commandments.  Even Jesus followed those.  He said, "if you love me, keep my commandments".  He added two commandments that people today think override God's 10 but they don't, they add to.  

My point is that not only do you need to confess Jesus and confess your sins to God but you need to read and study your Bible to learn the ways of God and what He wants and expects.  The Bible tells us that sin cannot enter into God's Kingdom.  The Bible goes on to tell us what sin is, not just with the 10 commandments but in other verses too.  Sin and unrighteousness are the same thing.  

Read this: Proverbs 6:16-19, 16 There are six things which the Lord hates,Yes, seven which are an abomination [i]to Him:

17 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 18 A heart that devises wicked plans,Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 19 A false witness who utters lies,And one who [j]spreads strife among brothers.

Broken down this means pride, lying, killing, trouble making, looking for evil.  

There are other things the Lord hates, adultery, idolatry, fornication, drunkenness, stealing, coveting, fighting.  Most of these don't need explanations but some people try to justify what they do.  (Example:  my husband/wife doesn't give me what I want/need, I love them but I'm not satisfied so I go elsewhere, but I always come home to them.- That is adultery.  Example 2:  NOTHING, I mean NOTHING gets in the way of my football game, or my exercise class, or my soap opera, etc. etc. - that is idolatry; Example 3:  We can have sex, it isn't adultery because we aren't married. - that is fornication.  Drunkenness, stealing, lying, fighting I think needs no explanation.  Coveting - I want to keep up with the Jones, Rockefellers, etc.  I want that car that he has or that dress she has or that husband, that job etc.)  Sin = unrighteousness.  

The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory but it doesn't say we are hopeless.  It is a daily walk.  We stumble, we fall but we need to get up and move forward, never looking back.  Ask forgiveness as often as we realize we have sinned.  Ask forgiveness again during prayer even if we aren't sure.  Talk to God all the time, not just when we need something.  What family member or best friend would stick around if we only talked to them once or twice a year or when we needed something and especially if we never came back and said thank you.  

Being a Child of God isn't hard, you don't give up anything, you gain everything.  

Do you love your family, your friends, etc?  This is only a part of the truth you MUST share with them, you must care about where they will spend eternity. You must care about their soul.  You must love them, even if you don't always like them.  You are responsible for what you tell them AND what you DON'T tell them AND what they see you do.  YOU will answer to God one day.  When HE says, what did you do with MY Son?  What will you say? When HE says what did you do for those you love to help them make it into the Kingdom and into Heaven? How did you show your love? What will you say?

As Jesus told Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep". 

John 21:17(NASB)

17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you [a]love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you[b]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I [c]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

John 21:17 (KJV)

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
If you love HIM, feed HIS sheep, if you love them, feed them. HE doesn't mean physical food, HE means Spiritual.
Love you all.  

I truly love you.  If you are committing any of the above sins, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you do not confess your sins, accept Jesus and live your life for God, you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  I truly love you, if you continue to live in sin, you will die in sin and you WILL NOT make it into Heaven.  
I truly love you, I want us both to walk this walk and talk this talk for the Lord and make it into not only Heaven but the Kingdom of God that is coming.  I'm not perfect by any means, it is a daily walk and sometimes a daily struggle but the key is to keep on keeping on.  

Matthew 24:13(NASB)

13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 

I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS

I was talking to my youngest daughter today about feelings, more specifically about being afraid of making people mad, getting in trouble, etc.  She had some very wise words for a young woman.  She said, "I used to be like that, I wanted to make everyone happy, and do everything right.  I could never even take up for myself.  I started thinking about end times and how Christians will be killed for being Christians and (I) DECIDED that I needed to get a backbone.  I didn't want to be 'afraid' to be who I am and have to go to the fiery pits because I was 'afraid' to stand up for myself and the God that loves me."
There was more to our conversation and who knows, the rest of it might end up being another blog lol.  What my mind has been on this evening is we need to DECIDE, we need to CHOOSE how we want to be.  She took action in her life to make sure she did not deny God.
We all need to take action in our lives.  We need to be prayed up and battle ready because we DO NOT know what we will have to face.  I see a lot of going back and forth Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib.  I'm not going to argue that in this blog post.  What I am going to say is no matter when Jesus comes back, NO ONE said we would not have trials.  NO ONE promised that bad things wouldn't happen to us just because we are Christian.  What God did promise is that HE would be with us.
Look at Daniel, look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo, Jesus, Peter, Paul, etc. etc. etc.  They were following God, they were true believers and yet they suffered.  I hear a lot of people say, we are going to be raptured out and not feel the wrath of God.  What about the wrath of satan?  and who says we won't be in a battle?  We are in one everyday, that's why we have to put on our armor every single day.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:10-13,  ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
We are in the battle of our lives, for our souls.  We are fighting the powers already of this dark world.
There may come a day when you have to stand up for God, will you be able to?  Think of the shootings that have been going on.  We are precious children of God, however, look at Job in Job 1:1, 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.  He was also a precious child of God and in the end God restored everything to Job, because He stood.  When the day of evil came upon him, he stood his ground and when he had done all he could, he just stood.  BUT, he went through a battle, one most of us would not be able to withstand.
We have to decide today for each daily battle that we are going through.  The Bible says, "choose this day who you will serve" in the book of Joshua.  Don't wait around until a fiery trial comes upon you.  Decide today.  So if you end up in the lion's den, or walking in the fiery furnace, looking down a gun barrel with someone saying deny Jesus or die you can stand knowing that He died for you and He will be there to bring you home. Things are wrapping up, I've never seen or heard of so many prophecies coming to pass as there are in our life time but it doesn't mean it's over.  It's the beginning of birth pains.  (I'll let you look that up :-)
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
God bless you and love to all.