ARMED FOR BATTLE

Image result for CLIPART OF MAN WITH A BIBLE The Israelites are leaving Egypt.  Recall with me that Egypt is the metaphor for being enslaved to sin.  There are some 600,000 of them, Exodus 12:37.  (Just think, yesterday, I had a challenge leading 17 first graders to march them out to meet parents after school!) 

The narrator of Exodus adds a phrase which is so important for us who have left our "Egypt, the land of slavery", "The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle."  Exo. 14:12b.  I am amused at remarks on social media which decry the fact that as Christ followers we are in a battle.  I cannot figure out their "let's pretend game" mentality that all is perfect in my world.  Today it is so common to see and hear people "carrying and wearing guns"....yet, I must ask, "Have you armed your mind and heart for the battle that you are in...against your own selfish mindset or against the evil one who crouches at your door, so willing to pounce on his prey?

Foolishly, we think our weapon is our wit, our words, or our strength, but our weapons are the WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER.  The Sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6, which is part of God's armor provided for us is to be welded.  Sword is the Greek word, machaira, and it could be a large or a small knife carried as a weapon.  Hebrews 4:12 speaks, "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."   As Christ followers, we are to be prepared for battle, yielding to the Holy Spirit within us, being wise and discerning in the use of the weapon, the Word of God. The WORD used in this passage is rhema, which points to a specific word of God for a circumstance.  An example of rhema could be a promise specifically to speak to the circumstance which is pressing you.  

In your present "present traffic pattern" of life, are you equipped for the press?  Are you armed and carrying the Word of God in your mind and heart?   Are you fighting the good fight of the faith?  Forever learning.  In process.  #IHAVETHREESONS.   

 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THOSE SEEING CAN BECOME BLIND

Image
John 9 is the story of the healing of the blind beggar.  Not only is it a marvelous story of the miraculous healing of the man as he is given his sight, but a sad story of the religious of whom Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind ." The religious have seen the miracle, even though it has taken place on a Sabbath, and they interview the man and his parents for their stories and understanding. I find it so thrilling that the healed man speaks so articulately and logically with the religious in their "interview" with him.  His statement, " Now that is remarkable!  You don't know where HE comes from, yet HE opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners.  He listens to the godly man who does His will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." What truth he has spoken to the religious wh...
Read more

REHEARSALS

Image
  I wonder how much time do I give to rehearsing God's goodness and how He has intervened in my life to "save" me from myself?  How alike the Israelites I can be, complaining about what goes wrong, how it affects me, and what I lack.  As a Christ follower, I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit to give me remembrance NOT of my complaining and grumbling, but of a recall of God's faithfulness to me.  It is recorded in Psalms 78 and 106 that " They forgot what He had done, the wonder He had shown them", "They did not remember His power--the day He redeemed them from the oppressor...", "They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.", "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.", and "They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt...". Contrast with me, God's remembrance: Ps. 106:44-46, "But He took note of their distress...
Read more

A DONKEY SPEAKS!

Image
    Numbers has been full of repetitive accounts of the Israelites and their disobedience.  They have now made several laps around Mt. Sinai, many of the original people have died off, or been killed for their arrogant and presumptuous actions against the LORD, Moses, and Aaron. The overriding truth of the accounts is the merciful grace of the LORD! Moses is in his last days of leadership.  The forty years are coming to an end and they are moving toward a second attempt to enter the Promise Land.  They have been victorious in taking land, and they are moving further into the interior of the land of Moab.  The king and the residents of Moab are "filled with dread because of the Israelites.  The king of Moab, Balak, sends messages to Balaam, who is a sorcerer and is able to to place curses or blessings on others.  King Balak wants to know how to defeat "this horde" that is licking up everything around them.  Of course, he is desirous th...
Read more