I Have the Equipment…Now What?

So after last night, I was thinking today: How do I use the equipment? How do I put on the armor? What does that look like in my life? So I did a little research and this is what God is showing me. There are six pieces in the Armor of God:

The Belt of Truth

Ephesians 6:14- “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth…”

Gird- To surround or enclose, to prepare for action.

The Word of God is true and unchanging, therefore to “gird” myself with truth for me means to surround and enclose myself with the Word and Papa’s presence. Prepare myself for action with the appropriate rhema strikes. 

John 1:1- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Breastplate of Righteousness

Ephesians 6:14.

Righteous- Morally right or justifiable.

So how do I put on the breastplate of righteousness? By keeping God’s word written on my heart, Proverbs 7:2-3. Through the power of Christ who I now live through in faith, Galatians 2:20.

Readiness from Gospel of Peace

I actually didn’t find much on this so it may be the topic of my next blog when I can do a little more searching. I’m definately open to tips though.

Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16- “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

How can I use my faith as a shield? By digging into the Word I can pull out Rhema Strikes to swat down the lies of the enemy. Also, the more I draw near to Papa, He draws near to me says James 4:8. As I do this and get to know my Papa more, I learn more about who He is and what He is capable of. I then add that to my rhema strikes and use my shield.

Helmet of Salvation

Ephesians 6:17.

How do I use the helmet of Salvation? Again, Galatians 2:2o says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Christ now lives in me, my salvation…bringing Christ into my heart ensures my spiritual life. The helmet of salvation protects my life source. Ephesians 6:12 says, “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.” I must protect my mind, where I fight my spiritual battles.

The Sword of the Spirit\Word of God

Ephesians 6:17.

I learned tonight, or re-learned that the Word of God is used for offense and defense. You use it to prepare yourself for action in a defensive way, and to cut down the lies and the enemy with knowledge of scripture. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

This is what I felt Papa showing me tonight, I would love to hear thoughts and insight you guys have on this.

Irrevocable…

Romans 11:29 (ESV) “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

“gifts” – charisma - 1 a favour with which one receives without any merit of his own. 2 the gift of divine grace. 3 the gift of faith, knowledge, holiness, virtue. 4 the economy of divine grace, by which the pardon of sin and eternal salvation is appointed to sinners in consideration of the merits of Christ laid hold of by faith. (Rom 1:11; 5:15; 6:23; 11:29; 12:6; 1Cor 1:7; 7:7; 12:4; 2Cor 1:11; 1Tim 4:14; 2Tim 1:6; 1Pet 4:10)

“call” – klesis - basically means vocation and a divine invitation, but comes from the word kaleo, which implies to receive a name or to bear a title.

“irrevocable” – ametameletos - Strong’s Lexicon says “Two occurrences; AV translates as “without repentance” once, and “not to be repented of” once. 1 not repentant of, unregretted.

This is interesting because “to repent” means “to change one’s mind.” It basically means to do a 180 and go the other direction.

Substituting those meanings into this verse makes it read much different.

God’s divine gift of grace – my eternal salvation – and my calling – my vocational call, my title, my position in life, my destiny – if you will – is something that God has given me, granted me and will not change His mind on… ever.

The cool – and freeing – thing to me is that I can’t do anything to “undo” His gift.  I can’t remove myself from his list.  I can’t do anything that will make Him rescind his gift or my calling.  Those things that affect my relationship with Him (sin, unforgiveness, disobedience, etc) can greatly affect my effectiveness in my calling, but it can’t change my calling.

So, how do I become as effective as possible?  How do I walk in and know what my calling is?  That is the question.

Sent with a purpose

Romans 10:13-15a

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

Paul lists a backward progression to the salvation of all. The meaning of the word “call on him” means to place their trust in; to identify themselves with.

Someone must be “sent,” which implies for a particular purpose, in order to “preach.” “Preach,” is the same word as “proclaim” found in verse 8, “...the word of faith that we proclaim.”

Someone preaches in order that others might hear and believe.

When someone hears and believes, then and only then can they call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

So what? That’s great! I’m not the one who is to be “sent” with a purpose! It’s easy for me to say “that’s not my job or calling.” I’m not an evangelist. My spiritual gifts don’t include evangelism or mission work.

Ah… but wait. I Tim 4:2 says “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” Notice there is no qualifying statement around it – check the references.

I am to be prepared in season and out of season. Convincing, rebuking, exhorting… that sounds a lot like being “sent” – to be sent with a purpose. In season and out of season, i.e. all the time, I am to be prepared with a purpose for proclaiming the Truth. What is the Truth? Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

In the wit and wisdom on Golden Child… “What does that look like?“

For me it is being in His presence daily. What about you?

Abundance of good treasure

Romans 10:8-10 (ESV)

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Lots of words with much deeper meanings that we describe in their English translations here.

heart – the word kardia – means “inner self, never the literal body part called the “heart,” this is a reference to the areas of the inner self, including: the volition, the mind, the desires, etc., though the facility of the intellect make be slightly more emphasized.”  The volition (will), the mind (mind), the desires (emotions) all make up the soul… that battleground between the spirit and the flesh.  This is where we store up good treasure OR we store up bad treasure according to Jesus in Luke 6:45.

Luke 6:45 (ESV) 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

It is the same word used in Luke as is used in this Romans passage.  The interesting part to me in these passages is that heart (kardia) and mouth (stoma) are both used together in the same sentences.  Stoma (the mouth) literally means the fleshly mouth that utters sounds.  So, in a way, it could very well represent the flesh.  That would mean to me that the condition of my soul is reflected in what comes out of my mouth and my flesh.

Back to the Romans passage…

near – can mean “be close to a place“, but can also mean “be close to a time.“  Which changes everything in the context of this verse.

proclaim – means “to proclaim with the goal to persuade, urge, warn to comply”, “to announce publicly”.

word of faith – doctrine, trustworthiness, Christian faith, what can be believed

confesses - According to Strongs (homologeo) – “1 to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent. 2 to concede. 2a not to refuse, to promise. 2b not to deny. 2b1 to confess. 2b2 declare. 2b3 to confess, i.e. to admit or declare one’s self guilty of what one is accused of. 3 to profess. 3a to declare openly, speak out freely. 3b to profess one’s self the worshiper of one. 4 to praise, celebrate.“

OK.  THAT is a drastically different meaning than to “utter” something.  I think we’re too quick to assume someone is a follower of Jesus based on our Western definition of “confess.”  I’ve always struggled with this verse because only God can know if a person truly believes in his heart.  The heart and someone’s belief is hidden.  All we look for is someone to say “Jesus is Lord,” and that’s good enough.

What we need to be looking for now is the NEW definition of “confess.”  When someone truly believes and understands the grace Christ afforded them, they cannot help but “confess” Jesus is Lord with praise and celebration and declaring themselves both by word and action to be a worshiper of Christ.  This worship comes from adoration and thankfulness, not out of duty or because someone said so.  Everything about salvation is about relationship, not religion.

I’ll try to tie it all together.  First – His Word is near me- near in location and near in timing.  He wants to use me at any place, at any time to proclaim publicly that which is trustworthy, with the goal of persuading and urging others to the Truth.  However, there is something that can influence my vocal utterances – my heart (my soul, if you remember our definition).  In my heart I can store up good treasure or bad treasure.  That is my choice.  What I store up, is what will come out.

How can I persuade others of the truth, if I’ve stored up bad treasure?

I can’t just put “enough” good treasure in either.  Jesus was very specific in the word “abundance” and it means exactly what it says, “in excess”, “scraps left over”, “overflow”, “plenty.”

So today’s exercise for me is “How do I store up an abundance of good treasure in my soul (mind, will, and emotions)?”

How do I get here?

Today I read Acts 16.  SUMMARY.–Paul at Troas. The Call to Macedonia in a Vision. The Journey to Philippi. The Conversion of Lydia and Her Household. The Damsel with the Spirit of Divination Healed. The Rage of Her Masters. Paul and Silas Seized, Scourged, Placed in Prison in the Stocks. The Events at Midnight. The Jailer and Household Baptized. An Appeal to Rights of Romans.

OK so what jumped out was twice in that chapter not only did two people get saved but as did their families.  That was just a different thing back then.  Paul and Silas get out of jail start preaching to the guard who asks how he himself can get saved, they go on to tell him and let him know not only will you be saved but your whole family, and they were.  Same with the woman down by the river.  Not only did she get saved right then and there but her family and friends immediately got saved that same day.  Do I expect that when I lead others to God that their whole family will be saved?  How about this one, there are people in probably all of our families that are lost, why?  Do we not chase them down like we should or present it in a way that they have to have it?  Or maybe because its just not the same now as it was then, the culture, the times, the way we preach the gospel of salvation.  Maybe we just don’t believe God is big enough or still does that like He did then.  Does God really want little ‘ole me to be a conduit of salvation to the rest of my family?  There is something to Paul and Silas’ faith that allowed them to see differently then I do.  They knew that after one person in the family got saved so would everyone else.  I don’t believe that…..right now. 

That wasn’t even really what God showed me through this passage.  As I was reading I thought of myself doing like Paul and Silas.  They get out of the jail cell, the guard asks how to be saved and Paul and Silas go and preach to his whole family.  I get uncomfortable speaking to one person about Jesus most of the time and yet these guys were going into peoples houses and speaking to everyone even though they didn’t ask.  That when Holy Spirit began to confront me.  I have been talking about wanting to do things differently than I ever have.  And I say that to get something different then I ever have I must do things differently than I have before.  I want to see what those men saw.  I want to have the faith to preach to whole families or households knowing that God will overtake them and save them.  I want to see the things those men saw i.e. the miracles, and healing, and salvation, and deliverance’s, and the grace in prisons.  Really I want to know Dad like they did.  I don’t know what any of this means right now.  I will need to dig into this and ask Holy Spirit to reveal what He is trying to speak to this slow man.  I just know that these men were confident that not only the woman at the river and the guard who was watching them in prison would get saved but their families as well and I am not that sure.  I know these men lived extraordinary lives like I want to, but I am not……right now.  I want what they had……right now!