The Breastplate of Righteousness

 The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness.

 Ephesians 6:14 “with the breastplate of righteousness in place.”    The breastplate was the part of the armor that protected the vital organs like the heart and lungs.  Therefore, it was one of the most important things that the soldier could have on.  

  The Greek word for righteousness in this scripture is dikaiosune (Strong's #1343).  Crosswalk's online lexicon gives these definitions for this word: In a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God; the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God; integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.  In a narrower sense, justice or the virtue which gives each his due.    

So, if we are to put on the breastplate of righteousness, what does that mean and how does it protect us from the devil?  Since this scripture is directed at those who know Christ, the righteousness here is the part of the definition which speaks of integrity, purity, rightness, correct thinking and correct acting.  As Christians, if we are putting on these things every day, then we will definitely have trouble following the ways of satan.  We can’t have integrity AND steal, we can’t have purity AND be sexually immoral, we can’t act correctly AND cuss someone out…you get the picture!   If we have truly given our lives to Christ and are seeking God’s righteousness, we will be changed. 

 Ephesians 4:22-24 says “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” 

 So put on the breastplate of righteousness EVERY day and guard your heart from satan’s wickedness.

The Belt of Truth

The first piece in our armor is The Belt of Truth.  

[Ephesians 6:13-14 NIV] "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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist..."

If we do not know the truth of God, how can we ever fight against the devil and his schemes?  Satan doesn’t tempt us with things that we wouldn’t like.  Think of Eve in the garden…he used lies and deception to make that apple sound like the most amazing thing that she could ever eat. Ultimately, it led to death and destruction….for the entire world!  Satan will tempt us in the same way…it will look good, feel good, taste good, or give you (false) power! His tricks have not changed.  He is the ultimate deceiver.  That is why we must be grounded in the truth...so that we can spot the lies.

 In John 8:31-32 Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  

  Every question or situation that you may come across will have a solution in God’s word…but you must read it!  Never in history has God's word been so readily available. There are endless websites that assist with bible study and tons of apps for your phone that enable you to carry the word with you wherever you go.  We have no excuses for not reading the bible.  My bible app will even read it to me!!  

We must use every tool that God gives us to seek out HIS truth.  I challenge you to buckle it around your waist EVERY DAY!  Get in God’s word and KNOW the truth!  You must have it to fight in this battle! 

Battle Ready

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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.  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.”  Ephesians 6:11-13 

 Sometimes I don’t think we fully understand that we are in a battle.  Every day we must battle the god of this world…satan.   

2 Corinthians 4:4 says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,

 who is the image of God.” 

 Our battle is against an unseen presence, but he is here.  Satan causes sickness, he causes conflict, he gives us shame and worry, he gives us evil thoughts, he tries to steal our children, he tries to steal our joy…anything that is evil comes from satan…not from God.  God is a healer; he gives peace, joy, comfort, hope, protection and LOVE.  The next few days we are going to look at each piece of the armor.  Evil forces will ALWAYS come against us because satan wants to ruin our witness and keep us from bringing others to Jesus.  When we learn how to protect ourselves with His armor, then we are to STAND…never run from the battle.  Stand. 

 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

  Exodus 14:14 NIV

 Satan is the god of this world, but we serve GOD ALMIGHTY and He has the power to crush the enemy.  That same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead lives in each of us who know Him as our Savior and that gives us authority

 over the enemy IN JESUS NAME! 

 Praise God! 

Join me for the next few days as we learn how to be BATTLE READY!!!

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

April 11, 1934

To you that may not seem like an important date, but to me it is.  Clara Dell Grider was born on that date.  She is my mother. There are really not enough words to describe her…she is just simply the best.  She is the most generous, loving, selfless and nurturing person I know.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…that is why I chose this picture to post today. The look on my Mama’s face captures who she is.

  (You will notice that I am looking at the camera…but she is looking at me.)  

 

This picture was taken right after I had given birth for the first time. My mother had always taken care of me and been the strongest person in any room, but on that day when I was in labor with Cody, my oldest child, I saw a side of her that I had never seen.  She was very uneasy.  She said that she could not stay in the room with me while I was in labor because she could not bear to see me in so much pain. (Now that I am a mother, I totally understand.  I would rather die than see one of my children hurting.)

Afterwards, when she could finally come back in the room, everyone else was looking at the baby, but she was looking at me.  I know that she had to make sure that I was OK.  That is what this picture conveys…her looking at me with “love eyes” to make sure that her baby was OK. Nothing could ever take away the love that she has for me. 

I am 43 years old…and I still know that she is looking at me with that love and concern in her eyes…making sure her baby is OK.  It reminds me of my Heavenly Father…looking down on me with love eyes…making sure I am OK. 

I have always known a mother’s love and I hurt for those that have not ever felt that.  I am so very blessed.  I think that is why it is so easy for me to understand the love of Jesus.  I know that some of you have never felt that kind of love from your parents here on this earth...but I am here to tell you that there is One that loves you just like my Mama loves me...His name is Jesus.  He is looking down from Heaven with eyes of love just for you.  

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..."  1John 3:16 NIV

Today is my mother’s birthday…and there could be no greater gift for her than for someone to read these words and begin to grasp how much they are loved by Jesus today. 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

Happy Birthday Mama!!!!!   I love you so much!

What's in a Name

In the bible, names were very important.  A name was the reflection of who you were.  

  

“Many names described nations, people, and ancient history. Some described expressions of hopes, revelations of divine purposes, and prophecies of the future. Some were part of genealogical histories, as it was common in Jewish customs to keep a family history. Sometimes names indicated certain circumstances with their birth or family line. Characteristics and traits of people were an important aspect of names in ancient Israel.” Wikipedia.com

God also gave people new names as they entered into different stages of their lives:  Abram became Abraham (Genesis 17:5), Sarai became Sarah (Genesis 17:15) and Jacob became Israel (Genesis 32:28).   Their new names reflected the future plans that He had for them.

As I pondered on this one day, I began to think about my name, Sherri, and what the meaning might be (because there is a story behind my name)…

My mother told me that the entire nine months that she was carrying me, she knew that I would be a girl.  She had prayed for a girl, because they already had two boys.  Actually, my middle brother and I were not even supposed to be here.  After the birth of my oldest brother, my parents were told that they could not have any more children because there was a problem with my mother’s womb.  When my oldest brother was eight, my mother became pregnant with my second brother.  They were overjoyed and knew that he was a miracle…but not only did they get one miracle, they got two!  My middle brother was only four months old when she became pregnant with me. 

 

 (As I got older, I asked my mom if I was a mistake, because who in their right mind would get pregnant on purpose when they already had a four month old??  

 She said “absolutely not, I wanted a girl so badly

 I would have kept having babies until I got one!”) 

 Now…on to the story of my name…Until the moment she saw me, my name was going to be Rebekah Dawn.  It did not have any significant meaning…she just liked that name.  But after I was born, she looked at me and decided that I didn’t look like a “Rebekah Dawn”, I looked like a “Sherri LaJuan” instead.  (How does a baby not “look” like one name or the other??? I asked her, “Where in the world did you come up with that name??”  

 She didn’t know the answer to that…she said it just came to her.)   

  

Anyway, that is how I became Sherri LaJuan. 

 I have always wondered why she changed my name like that…because honestly I have never liked my name.  I thought Rebekah Dawn was so much prettier!!  But now I believe that it was divine interruption on that day.  God had a different name in mind that he dropped into her heart.  Why?  Because he knew that when I was forty-three years old I would search out the meaning of that name and it would solidify what He wanted me to know about myself. 

 Sherri means “beloved” or “darling” or greatly loved. 

   LaJuan is derived from John which means “Yahwah is gracious” or God is merciful and compassionate.    

How beautiful!  I am greatly loved by God and He is merciful and compassionate to me.  Now every time I think about my name, that is what I will see.  Never again will I regret not being named something different.  I have the exact name that God meant for me.  So thank you Mom for following your heart and giving me the name Sherri LaJuan. 

 It suits me just perfectly. 

 “But now, this is what the LORD says--- "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”  Isaiah 43:1 NIV

***After I wrote this article, Jason Gray's song, "Remind Me Who I Am" came on the radio.   These words stood out to me like never before, "If I'm Your beloved, can You help me believe it?" 

 Please listen to the song...it goes with this so perfectly!!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Fa5eFcIIA

 

My Two Cents on the Phil Robertson Controversy

If this offends you…I’m not sorry.  I have to put in my two cents on the whole Phil Robertson gay bashing controversy.  I admit that I do not watch Duck Dynasty…I don’t get that channel.  Honestly, I have actually been a little disgusted with the way people worship the Robertson family.  But since it is all that everyone is talking about…and in order to give my opinion…I had to go to the source and read the famous GQ interview that started this whole thing.  I DO NOT agree with the way it was written…the writer used terrible language to get his point across…but I will have to say that I am impressed that amidst the immorality that IS GQ magazine, you find words like these…

Phil:  “We’re Bible-thumpers who just happened to end up on television,” he tells me. “You put in your article that the Robertson family really believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and let’s get on with it, 

and everything will turn around.”

What does repentance entail? Well, in Robertson’s worldview, America was a country founded upon Christian values (Thou shalt not kill, etc.), and he believes that the gradual removal of Christian symbolism from public spaces has diluted those founding principles. (He and Si take turns going on about why the Ten Commandments ought to be displayed outside courthouses.) He sees the popularity of Duck Dynasty as a small corrective to all that we have lost.

“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong,” he says. “Sin becomes fine.”

What, in your mind, is sinful?

Phil:  “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God.

 Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.” 

Hmmm that is almost word for word what MY bible says…

 [1Corinthians 6:9-11 NIV] “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

OK, people.  Phil didn’t “pick on” homosexuals.  He listed several sins including sexual immorality, idolatry, greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling.  Guess what; in my past I’m sure that I have been guilty of most of the things on that list! The difference between me and those that are “offended” by Phil’s words (which are actually Paul’s words in Corinthians) is that I have recognized my sin as sin.  We all sin.  But because I have accepted Jesus and what He did for me on the cross, I am now washed, sanctified and justified through Him.   

Not even mentioned by anyone that I have talked to about all of this was the fact that Phil made sure he told that reporter about Jesus.  How many of us can say that we take every opportunity to witness to those we come into contact with???   

Phil:   “So you and your woman: Are y’all Bible people?”

Reporter:  Not really, I’m sorry to say.

Phil:  “If you simply put your faith in Jesus coming down in flesh, through a human being, God becoming flesh living on the earth, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, being buried, and being raised from the dead—yours and mine and everybody else’s problems will be solved. And the next time we see you, we will say: ‘You are now a brother. Our brother.’ So then we look at you totally different then. 

See what I’m saying?”

What was he doing?  Planting a seed.  That reporter didn’t receive salvation on the spot, but he started thinking and he ended the article with these words…

“We hop back in the ATV and plow toward the sunset, back to the Robertson home. There will be no family dinner tonight. No cameras in the house. No rowdy squirrel-hunting stories from back in the day. There will be only the realest version of Phil Robertson, hosting a private Bible study with a woman who, according to him, “has been on cocaine for years and is making her decision to repent. I’m going to point her in the right direction.”

It’s the direction he would like to point everyone: back to the woods. Back to the pioneer spirit. Back to God. “Why don’t we go back to the old days?” he asked me at one point. But now, I’m afraid, I must get out of the ATV and go back to where I belong, back to the godless part of America that Phil is determined to save.”

So what is my take on all of this???  I have a new found respect for Phil and I totally agree with what he said.  After all, he was quoting the BIBLE.  We need to recognize sin as sin.  Phil didn’t invent what sin is.  It’s all listed there in your bible.  Pick it up, dust it off and read it.  And if you are offended….take it up with God, not me or Phil.  

 Let’s get back to the woods, back to the pioneer spirit, and back to God.

 

And my advice to Phil…Matthew 10:14-15 NIV “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town (or TV station or restaurant or store) and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”  (parentheses mine)

Quotes taken from: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson?currentPage=1

Immanuel - God With Us

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us")."  Matthew 1:23

 
Last Sunday morning our church choir performed a beautiful Christmas musical entitled, "All is Well."  When I awoke on Monday morning, I prayed and asked the Lord to show me what He wanted me to write about for Christmas.  Suddenly I couldn't stop hearing parts of that musical in my head...the words repeated over and over, "Immanuel, God with us.  Immanuel, God with us."  So that is what you needed...I think I need a reminder, too!

Out of the hundreds of names used in the bible to describe Jesus, I believe that Immanuel (or Emmanuel) is my favorite.  To me, it is a reminder that Jesus came to this earth in human form, not just to die for us, but also to live a life here on this earth so that He could understand us better.  He put on an "earth suit" so that He could feel what we feel, see what we see and  experience  everything that we go through. He was filled with happiness, peace, love and joy.  But at times He was also hungry, thirsty, broken, homeless, poor, lonely and rejected.

  He went through it all. 

Hebrews 2:17-18 NIV   "For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

His life here on this earth gave him the ability to have greater mercy and empathy for us when He returned to Heaven as our intercessor at the right hand of the Father.

But even more wonderful is the fact that Jesus not only came to this earth to understand us better and give His life for us, He also left us with a precious piece of Himself - the Holy Spirit.  That Spirit is here for all who wish to receive Him into our hearts.

John 14: 15-17 "If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." 

Not just WITH YOU, IN YOU! 

I told you it was wonderful!!
So what does this mean to you?

You may be alone, but you don't have to be lonely - God is with you.
You may be broke, but you don't have to be broken - God is with you.
You may be facing fear, but you don't have to be afraid - God is with you.
  You may be lost, but you have a Savior waiting with open arms to rescue you - God is with you.

I pray that each and every one of us can grasp this concept this Christmas season.  Immanuel...God With Us, God IN Us.   

John 1:1, 14 NIV "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."