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!

What's Wrong With Me?

Day 197 of Photo Inspirations -- What's Wrong With Me?
I had three siblings that graduated to heaven; two of them had Alzheimer's disease and the other had Diabetes so severe that she lost one foot to the disease.  My Mom, now in heaven, had congenital heart disease. My Dad, also in heaven, had a brain tumor.  Goodness gracious.  With all that medical history, you'd think I'd be saying "What’s wrong with ME?”

Honestly, when I forget someone's name or where I've put my keys or where I was headed in my house and forget why I was going there.....my mind tries to tell me "You've inherited your family's issues."   I take a baby aspirin each day to fend off heart problems.  I take mineral and herb supplements to help keep me healthy.  I walk and work out to keep my body strong.  I do the things that I can do to be healthy and strong as though it depended on me, but I've learned to pray, speak God's Word and BELIEVE God as though it ALL depends on Him.  The best antidote against the lies of the enemy and the threats he tries to place over me when it comes to my health and well being is I purposely change my thinking to keeping my mind on the ONE who paid the ultimate price for my healing, my freedom and my victory.

We must put a halt to the voice and the lies of the enemy.  The more we put up our "shields of faith" against his fiery and lying darts, the stronger we are in defeating him.  God doesn’t want us to allow the enemy to convince us we are defective or infected.  He doesn't want us entertaining the enemy who loves to cast a shadow of doubt over us.  His sly tactics are to get us to focus on what could be wrong with us (real or perceived), instead of focusing on ALL THAT IS RIGHT with us.

To put it bluntly -- Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44) and his main intent is for us to worry, doubt, fear, be dismayed and discouraged. That's just the way he operates.  But we can change that -- starting today. First, we need to realize Satan’s schemes are the same for us as they were for Eve.   She fell into his trap.  Second, we need to determine we are not going to keep falling into his traps. Instead we BELIEVE an stand on God's promise that “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us…” (Romans 8:37) Period. The end.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our healing and our victory in every area of life.  All those sicknesses, diseases, challenges in every area of life were broken and paid for on the cross.  It's time we lay hold of the victory Christ brought us in overcoming and defeating the enemy.   A little shepherd boy, David, defeated the giant with his words and his slingshot.  The same holds true for us today in defeating the giants in our lives.  It starts with a simple word.....BELIEVE.....and you shall receive!  Matthew 21:22

Here are the TRUTHS of the ONE who loves and ONLY speaks TRUTHS to us:  "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Corinthians 15:57
"Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
BELIEVE

The 5 Awesome A's -- Assignment, Anointed, Abilities, Authorities, Armor

As I woke this morning, I had one of the precious ladies in my Life Group on my heart and started to pray for her. I was going to send her a private message, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to send it to all the ladies in my Life Group, as well as to my FB friends and family, because each of us face “stuff” on a daily basis, and this message is one we can ALL use.

I believe God is equipping us ALL, as He did with Queen Esther “for such a time as this”. Often we go through “stuff” in order for God to get our attention. He is raising up an army of FULLY DEVOTED followers of Christ, who are committed to being in a “preparation season” because He needs us to be His hands extended to a very hurting world.
We ALL must realize, as we get ready for our day, that we are here for specifically designed purposes by Father God, at THIS TIME. He has given us ABILITIES and the AUTHORITY, and like the little shepherd boy, David, He wants to ANOINT us to complete the ASSIGNMENTS He has given us. But before we head out into this day....into the battlefield, we need to be sure we put on the whole ARMOR of God. And, here’s how to put on the ARMOR:

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.”

Beautiful people, I love you so much and I pray this day we are fully equipped and armed and fully ready to take on whatever comes our way with the tenacity and determination to conquer……because “we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus”, and “greater is He who lives in us, than he who is in the world”!