2002-01-01
Good Morning Siblings in Christ,
As you can see from what I've been writing, the Spirit is leading me to delve into this magnificent metaphor of the soldier of Christ outfitted for battle in EPH 6: 10-18. This entire passage is God's way of letting us realize the weapons for successful warfare with which He has outfitted each one of us. I'm sure that it's hard to imagine certain people we know out there battling for the Lord, but with the specific talents He gives them even the weakest appearing believers are fully equipped to do so well. An example of a young man with Down's syndrome that I know of comes to mind. His family was on the verge of splitting up when this child was born to them. The immediacy of his needs unified the family in meeting them, as he grew up in to what they began to describe as their "bundle of love." This young man taught them how to love by the attitude he showed toward the rest of his family. And, in so doing, brought this family together in a way it had never been before. God was, indeed, an integral part of this picture.
We have looked at the soldier of Christ's belt (truth) and his breastplate (righteousness). Now let's look at his shoes (the readiness to announce the Good News of peace). Let me share with you the KJV version of a gorgeous verse, IS 52: 7, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion Thy God reigneth!" Now let me give you the more modern version from GNV, "How wonderful it is to see a messenger coming across the mountains, bringing good news, the news of peace. He announces victory and says to Zion, 'Your god is King.'" There are times when it really helps to see both versions, and this is one of them. That is because I couldn't resist sharing the connection that I see between IS 52: 7 and EPH 6: 15. This is a very personal issue to me, and I would hope it would be to you too. Speaking publicly, teaching a class, or writing devotions are the talents God has given me to convey His word. Without Him, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, I would be totally powerless and unable to do it. I thank God that every day He is out there sending people to listen to me or read my messages. But there is another area in which both He and I know I have lacked confidence and been lax. It is in the area of witnessing to my personal testimony and in sharing one on one with non-believers helping the Holy Spirit to bring them to faith. This year, the Spirit has truly convicted me in this area. God is at work in my life. I have been asked to present my testimony at a church luncheon soon and have been brought into a situation where I was led by the Spirit to witness to my faith to a non-believer.
I was waiting in a medical waiting room while Peter was having a test done. A lady came in with her husband who was having that same test. The preparation for this test is harder than the test itself, and she was complaining to her husband about it. Believe or not, I was working on my testimony at the time. God has already been preparing this situation as the Sunday before that day our senior pastor had given a stirring sermon on how we should take every opportunity God affords us to witness to our faith in Him. He had spoken on his own experience not doing this when he had a chance while waiting for his auto to be repaired that week. He related how the Holy Spirit had caused him to realize what he could have done for God. I could hear the fear and anger in this lady's voice and felt bad for her when her husband left her alone to go to work. She buried herself in a novel, and I struggled inwardly to get the courage to do what is not comfortable for me. I had written 1 PET 5: 7 down on piece of paper to claim that day. "Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you." That day, God gave me the courage to put my work aside and sit down next to that lady. I shared with her the Scripture I had written down and encouraged her to claim it for herself as she faced her test. She smiled at me and thanked me. It felt wonderful. I will never know if that brought her to faith, but I will know that what I did that day was right with the Lord. EPH 2: 8-9, "For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared us to do." God really does want us to witness to our faith in Him and gives us the tools we need to do it, no matter who we are. The only requirement is that we have to believe in Him with all our heart, mind, and soul.
PRAYER: O Lord, You gave us the great commission of MT 28: 19-20 out of the love You have for us. Your wisdom tells You that our repentance and acceptance of Christ is the only way, we can be saved. Those of us who have already come to faith share many privileges and blessings from You. These are counterbalanced by the responsibility You have given us to boldly proclaim the truth of Your Gospel and to make the way open for the Holy Spirit to bring others to faith. We gladly pledge to take on this responsibility and are deeply grateful for the trust You have placed in us to carry it out according to Your purpose. We are reminded that You are always wise and always righteous. For that reason, when we allow You to lead us through the Holy Spirit, we can be assured of pleasing You and carrying out the purpose You have for us. We are not to be bold on our own accounts, but we are to take comfort in knowing that we can confidently proclaim Your word, witness to the truth of Your teaching, and repeat the wonderful promises You make to Your children. We can do this all the while knowing that You always keep the promises You make. We experience You through obeying Your commands to us. Your presence in our lives gives us the strength and endurance to fight whatever spiritual warfare comes our way to a successful completion. Today, we humbly place at Your altar our worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and heartfelt thanksgiving. In Christ's name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at the helmet (salvation) and, if there is space, the sword (word of God. No matter who we are or what our circumstances might be, God loves each of us. While we can't see certain strengths in some others, He can. It's a good reason for us to leave the judging up to the Judge [Jesus Christ]. There are times when He has given ourselves strengths that we don't know we have. The only way to find out where these are is to listen to Him as He speaks to us. No social ranking or prestige that humans put on a person really matters. It is only what God thinks that does. Our God is awesome, loving, always-righteous, and never a liar. He will tell us the truth, if we will only listen to Him. He is with us every day, every minute of our lives. Praise be to Him Who loves us without prejudice or other impediment! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn