Being strong in the Lord.

How to wrestle against spiritual wickedness.  Pray INCESSANTLY.  Do we? Really? Do we? Short of locking ourselves away in a private room how do we pray  incessantly? Prayer as a way of life, does it lack something? When we imagine that prayer must be on the knees, in a special time set aside, we can't imagine praying incessantly. There are different ways of praying. Remember Jesus telling His disciples after they tried to release a possessed child of the demon possessing them that they had to fast and pray to release that kind? There is praying together, and there is praying privately. Prayer is something we have in our arsenal of spiritual weapons.  We need to make our weapons real to us and we need to be…

…strong in the Lord, it is a necessity.

'A Christian must understand how to wrestle against the assailant with his spirit. Otherwise he cannot detect how the enemy will attack or discern how God will direct him to fight. But if he walks by the spirit he learns how to pray incessantly therein against the wicked powers. And with each battle his inner man waxes that much stronger. He comes to realize that by applying the law of the spirit he not only can overcome sin but also Satan. From that part of the Scriptures in which the Apostle touches on spiritual warfare we can readily estimate how important strength is in such conflict. Before he mentions the problem of spiritual warfare (Eph. 6.11-18), Paul first exhorts his readers to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (v.10). Where should there be this strength of which he speaks? Paul tells us in Chapter 3: “strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man” (v.16).'  The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee

We win spiritual battles through prayer. 

We become stronger spiritually through prayer.

Let us PRAY!

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

Testing our beliefs.

'No matter how the feeling is during the moment of experience nor how the phenomenon appears or declares itself to be, believers should investigate its source. The charge of 1 john 4.1 must be strictly observed: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” '  The Spiritual Man - Watchman Nee

We get carried away by feelings ALL the time!

Even the seemingly non-feeling, non-sappy, unemotional person gets carried away with their emotions. They have very strong emotions just not the emotions that are typical in given situations.

Those who are emotional in a typical manner have very strong emotions as well. And those considered over-emotional have extraordinarily strong emotions and no matter the person or their level emotion, those feelings can often carry us away.

We truly need to NOT believe all we witness but rather EXAMINE what we witness and make sure it is of God.

There are so many emotionally fulfilling beliefs in our world, but we should NOT seek the emotionally pleasing.

More tomorrow… today has been extremely busy.

By the grace and mercy of our LORD we will study and try the spirits so we are NOT led away by falsehoods, but kept close to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Help us to think on the things that YOU would have us think on, Lord.

Think on these things-------   We are told what to think.  People don't like being told what to think. If I tell you to stop thinking about something, you might tell me that you will, but sometimes being told not to think about something makes us think about it more. If I tell you to think about something you might, but you also might quickly forget to think about what I told you because other things pop up in your thoughts. If God tells us to do something wouldn't it be great if we simply listened to Him?  We try, don't we? We try to try? We want to try. So often the things we think of are NOT good things. We may tend to dwell on things that make us sad, things that depress us. Or we might obsess about things that scare us. Anxiety reigns in our thoughts gone awry. Can we control our thoughts? So often it appears we cannot control our thoughts. People will take various drugs to control their thoughts, hoping to stop them from being emotionally overwhelming, distressful, painful, too much to bear. Those who have never had a problem with their thoughts may not be able to understand, but I'm not among those people. I HAVE had a thought control problem and from time to time it creeps up and tries to take over again.  I know others who also will start thinking of things and spiral downward into those things that only make them upset. I've told others to try to stop thinking of those things and fill their mind with other, better things, and even as I tell them this I know how hard it is. We can't give up trying though, can we?

God tells us the best things to think of…

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Php 4:9  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 

True things-    Consistent with fact or reality; not false or erroneous.(Dict. Def.)

Honest things-   Honest definition, honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and Fair things-  An honest person. (Dict. Def.)

Just things-   Guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness (Dict. Def.)

Pure things-   Having no moral failing or guilt:  (Dict. Def.)

Lovely things-  Of a great moral or spiritual beauty (Dict. Def.)

Virtuous things- Moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. (Dict. Def.)

Praiseworthy things-  The act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation (Dict. Def.)

Thinking TRUE things, not the things made up in our minds, things we imagine, but things that are reality. If we are prone to thinking of things that aren't real we open ourselves up to a lot of trouble. God would have us think on GOOD things.  In the world we live in today it's not easy, is it? The stuff that floods our minds on a daily basis is often very far from lovely, pure, fair, honest, pure, true, just or praiseworthy. We need to think on CHRIST JESUS our SAVIOR and the HOPE of the eternity He came to bring to us. He came to bring us HOPE not to scare us, not to bring us despair. He wants us to think on Him, He wants to live in us because HE IS OUR HOPE, truly our ONLY HOPE in a world filled with so much darkness. Hope found outside of Him is false hope.

Please, Lord, please help us to find all our hope in YOU so we may think on lovely things- You and the Hope You give to us, a hope that goes far beyond this world, this short life of ours.

All in the name of our SAVIOR, Jesus Christ our Lord!

AMEN!

Think on...

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Php 4:9  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 

True.    Consistent with fact or reality; not false or erroneous.(Dict. Def.)

Honest.   Honest definition, honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and fair: an honest person. (Dict. Def.)

Just.  Guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness (Dict. Def.)

Pure.  Having no moral failing or guilt:  (Dict. Def.)

Lovely. Of a great moral or spiritual beauty (Dict. Def.)

Virtue.  Moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. (Dict. Def.)

Praise.  The act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation (Dict. Def.)

We are to think on things that are consistent with facts or reality, things that are honorable, upright and fair. We are to think on truth, justice, fairness, and things that have no moral failing. We are to think on spiritual beauty, of moral beauty and excellence as well as goo and righteous things. 

Do we think on these things? Or does Satan try hard to consume us with things that aren't real, or honorable, or upright, or fair. Does the evil one wish us to have our thoughts filled with immoral, guilt producing things, shunning things of goodness, of righteousness?  There is so much EVIL in this world and it comes disguised in so many ways.  We fail to see the evil because it's become so commonplace around us. When we do see it we are quickly told we are wrong that it is good. We are placated and encouraged to just ignore the evil because it's what is everywhere and so common and believed by so many- millions and millions.

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of God. 

All through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior!

We shall have tribulation....

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Php 4:9  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 

We long for inner peace, don't we? Peace of mind is a valuable gift. We know that the world will not have peace-

Joh_16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

We CAN have peace.

In the WORLD we will have TRIBULATION-  but…

…we are to be happy!  Why? Because Jesus Christ has overcome the WORLD!

Mat_10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

No peace on earth!

Yet we long for personal peace. Spiritual peace. Peace with God. We

Joh_14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

We need JESUS' PEACE. We do NOT need the world's idea of peace.

We don't want our hearts troubled and we surely don't want to be afraid. We don't long to be anxious, worrying is something that troubles our hearts.

We need Jesus' peace!

We need to PRAY, to SUPPLICATE, to THANK GOD!  Our minds must be instant in PRAYER, instant in seeking help, instant in thanksgiving. 

Too often we let ourselves get washed away on a current of emotion and once caught in that current we find ourselves battling against the torrent of upset engulfing us.

We are instant in lashing out, in speaking our mind; a slurry of words flows out of us as we are consumed with responding to the awful situation - the tribulation- we find ourselves immersed in. We rail against injustices, slights, inconsideration, degradations, impositions and we verbally or mentally (both perhaps) give back in kind.

We come face to face with situations that bring out the worst in us and we cringe and cry out to ourselves, longing to be free from what's going on. We wish away time so that we can get to a place of safety not realizing at all that the truest place of safety is a SPIRITUAL place in Christ Jesus and His peace, a place that has no beginning and no end.  Jesus' peace is accessible at all times it will never elude us unless we neglect to --  'Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, letting our requests be made known to God'.  

Rom_12:12  Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer--

Instant in prayer. 

While Satan would have us latch immediately onto our emotional reactions-  legitimate emotional reactions- Christ would have latch on to Him in prayer so that He can guide our legitimate emotional responses to any given situation.

Instant in prayer.

Psa 55:16  As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. 

Psa 55:17  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. 

Psa 62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.

Psa 109:4  For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. 

Psa 109:5  And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 

Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 

Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 

Luk 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 

Luk 11:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 

Luk 11:7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 

Luk 11:8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 

Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 

Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

Luk 11:11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 

Luk 11:12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 

Luk 11:13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? 

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 

Luk 18:2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 

Luk 18:3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 

Luk 18:4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 

Luk 18:5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 

Luk 18:6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 

Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? 

Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 

Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing. 

1Th 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered

Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 

1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 

Anxieties of this life.

I'm revisiting a couple verses I studied a few days back because they are still on my heart to study.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Be careful for nothing--

Mar_4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Luk_21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

The cares of this world and the cares of this life are obviously to be shunned. The cares of this world can choke the word of God and it becomes unfruitful. The cares of this life can make it so we are unaware of our Savior's return. Two horrific outcomes from 'caring'.  I'm so obviously not talking about having compassion- that sort of caring. 

Mar 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 

(CEV)  But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything.

(Contemporary English Version)

(EMTV)  and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things coming in choke out the word, and it becomes fruitless. (English Majority Version)

(ISV)  but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can't produce a crop. (International Standard Version)

(YLT)  and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, and the desires concerning the other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.  (1898 Young's Literal Translation)

Anxieties of life, worries of life-  cares of life.

If we are to be careful for nothing we are truly being told we aren't to WORRYING or have ANXIETY about anything.

To know this as a truth I have to say I really do understand my fascination with these verses, with this message because I worry, I have anxieties and I know I shouldn't.  I tell myself it's my nature, it's just who I am, it's a part of me.  Yet, God's word tells me something different.

My husband is NOT a worrier as a rule and has very little- next to no anxiety. I see him in situations that would have me freaking out, panicking and he is as calm as could be. He literally sees no reason to worry about things he has no control over. 

My mother is another non-worrier, at least overtly.  I've read some of her journals and now realize that she did have worries and concerns but she never let on about them, they didn't consume her.

Being told to be careful for nothing is a message of great magnitude for me.  Instead of worrying and having anxiety I should--PRAY.

Pray. 

Is my prayer life ineffective when I pray and still worry? Am I NOT trusting God? If the peace that passes ALL understanding doesn't keep my heart and mind is it because I am not believing in Jesus Christ who gives that peace?

After that initial instruction we are told the following--

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

A list of things we are to THINK about.

Think about-

True things.

Honest things.

Just things.

Pure things.

Lovely things.

Good reported things.

Virtuous things.

Praiseworthy things.

More on this tomorrow by the grace, the mercy, the will of GOD.

I need more.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!

Amen!

When we rise to meet the Lord in the air.

Living with God always - now and forever.  Imagine it.  Imagine the day arrives and our Savior sounds the last trump and by HIS amazing grace we begin to rise off the ground and our body changes in the moment it takes to blink an eye, we have been REDEEMED!  We are rising to meet our Lord, our savior in the air!

Now stop and think- when we rise and we change- what exactly is changing in us. We have to KNOW we have been redeemed, right? But the CARNAL/FLESH nature in us is GONE. We are JOINING our Savior in a new world, a new existence. We are leaving behind ALL that is of the carnal nature but our relationship with Christ, with God the Father, with the Holy Spirit will FOLLOW still be a part of us.

There will be no sorrow as we rise into the air, but joy!

We are taking the final step into our being completely at ONE with the three Gods that long for us to be one with them in total agreement, living in pure love.

God will know us and we will know God.

Our relationship right now with our Savior matters.  How much time do we spend with God now? Seriously.  Is He really in our mind as we live?

We have been studying from the book - A Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee and doing so with our Bible in hand. We want to be spiritual men and women- children of God, followers of Jesus Christ. 

The more we read the further is seems that we will ever be how we know our Lord would have us be. We need to recognize our completely inability to do anything without God, without our Savior, without the Holy Spirit. 

Joh_8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

Jesus did nothing of Himself, though to read of Him He did a lot, yes? We constantly talk about all our Savior did and does for us. Yet we have to realize that He did nothing without God, the declared Father as His power when He took on human flesh.  We in our human flesh can do nothing without God, the declared Father, the Savior Son, and the Holy Spirit.   Unlike Jesus who was Emmanuel - God with us, we are pure human flesh and need the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as our spiritual power.

Mat_1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

We have no power of our own, we need to submit to God fully and pray that we live in Him and His will is done in us always.  Recognizing our dependence we rest wholly on Christ for all things.

Please, Lord as we seek to be Yours- to be spiritual men and women in You, bless us and keep us Yours! We long to hear the sound of the last trump and rise into the air to meet You. Please Lord, we would e Yours now and forever!