God's Church Triumphant is Alive and Well

God's Church Triumphant is Alive and Well
I'll be heading home from Tulsa after attending church with so many of my dearest friends this morning. Of course, my sweet godson will be sitting by me. That's been his seat since my Sweetheart went to heaven. Each Sunday, he'd wait for me, or I would wait for him to snuggle close to me, often holding hands, and while in that place, I would remember the precious man whose place he took there. That man and I treated going to church like “date night”, except God was the center of our attention, while we held hands together. I never loved him more than when we were worshiping God together. My godson has helped me carry on that love.

The recent “church” tragedies could cause one to question that attending church isn't that safe place that it once was, but, without fear or doubt, I know it is still a place of hope, peace, comfort, faith, community, and fellowship with God and His people. Of course the enemy of our souls celebrates if he can create fear in our churches, in outdoor music concerts, in our schools, and even just a walk down the street, but fear only paralyzes us and keeps us from the abundant life Christ came to give us. Isaiah 41:10 says 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Rather than being on the defense, St. Paul gave us a warfare strategy against our greatest enemy in Ephesians 6:10-17 Ephesians 6:10-17 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 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. Stand firm then, with the BELT OF TRUTH buckled around your waist, with the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS in place, and with your FEET FITTED WITH THE READINESS THAT COMES FROM THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. In addition to all this, take up the SHIELD OF FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the HELMET OF SALVATION and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the word of God.” Now that's what I call "suited up for day AND night patrol!

We continue to ready up each day by putting on our whole armor and that includes carefully choosing those friends that brighten our day with good news instead of bad news. That's why I love attending my church. It's the Body of Christ -- fellow believers. We're the family of God and when we gather together, we realize that these are the people who love to talk about the things that we love to talk about; they love to dwell on the topics that are dearest to our hearts. If our hearts have been given to the LORD, we gravitate to hanging out with His people who are like-minded in our desires to know Him and his children more. We even sincerely desire to reach out more to others to help them know Him more, too. We are motivated and inspired to live out our faith in word and deed. We find solace and peace within the Body of Christ. And in a world that presents so much chaos and confusion -- it's a safe place of refuge. I would propose to you that the Church is such a place. I am who I am today -- faith-filled, joy-filled, purpose-driven, and passionate about my Lord because of Church. The fact is: I've got friends in high places, where the Spirit of God dwells, not in just a building or place, He lives inside us. We are not just going to Church. We ARE the Church triumphant -- and we are ALIVE and WELL!