PRESENTING YOURSELF IN CHRIST
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
I don't know how many times I have heard people in the last year speak about putting on the full armor of God as it tells us in Ephesians 6: 13- 16, and even though these are the right words to look into when it comes to our battle with this world there are many Christians who do not have a clue as to what this armor is, how to put it on, or how to use it in God's spirit to obtain victories.
One of the things that I find that tends to help me in discerning how to use the armor of God as it is described in Ephesians 6: is our need to move from a theological viewpoint of what this armor is to us, and into a practical application of it. I find it interesting that Paul becomes the main author of our New Testament in Christ, and he is used through the power of the Holy Spirit to give us guidelines within the church to live as redeemed people who are faced with living with in a fallen world. When we come to Christ we are to give ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices, and that means to obey the laws of the land we live in, or the government, to love others, or our neighbors as we love ourselves, and then to take special care of those who are weak in the faith.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul, urges us to take a personal responsibility, and in Romans 12: 1-2 gives us a particular message. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship." In some translations it tells us"this is your reasonable service". "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is; his good, pleasing and perfect will." It feels like I may have already written the complete book on these concepts through the many blogs I've written about this subject over the years. As I continue to look at the words before me I realize that God from the very beginning has very good, pleasing and perfect plans for us as his children, but I also realize that God wants for us to be changed in our minds and in our hearts so that we can live in a way that honors and obeys him. That change is not merely an obedience to a command given from God to us, but that change is a very intricate part of our citizenship into God's kingdom because unless we are changed in our mind and heart, or (transformed by the renewing of our mind, and heart) we will not be able to partake in the victory that Christ has intended for us, nor will we be able to feel the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. For a vast majority of Christians today I am convinced that most do not as yet understand what God's good, pleasing, and perfect will is for their lives because they are still thinking and reacting under the influence of this world. We are not called us Christians to conform to the patterns of this world with its behavior and its customs that are usually selfish and often corrupting, and there are many Christians wisely decide that most of this worldly behavior is off-limits for them. For most of us that is an extremely difficult decision to make, but if we are going to be transformed we must be able to go even deeper into Christ than the normal levels of behavior and customs that this world requires for us to be a part of society. What does it take for us to finally be firmly planted in our minds or to be convinced or persuaded as was Paul's words that God is indeed able to do for us all he has claimed that he can do? Most of us can avoid getting involved in most worldly customs and still come out on the other end proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant. It is only when the power of the wholeness renews us from the inside out and begins to re-build and redirect our minds and our hearts that we truly become transformed.
The second part of all this is that we cannot understand or fully on parade within the armor of God that he Ephesians 6: 13- 16 tells us about until we have dealt with this transformation process; at least to a major degree in our lives. In order for us to be able to operate within the power of the Holy Spirit to which he the kind of spiritual success we long for we must be first of all sold out to Christ. "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, 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. And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
These tools can only be effectively used by the child of God who has allowed themselves to be transformed by the renewing of their mind and heart to the power of the Holy Spirit. May you richly bless God through your life in the him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
I don't know how many times I have heard people in the last year speak about putting on the full armor of God as it tells us in Ephesians 6: 13- 16, and even though these are the right words to look into when it comes to our battle with this world there are many Christians who do not have a clue as to what this armor is, how to put it on, or how to use it in God's spirit to obtain victories.
One of the things that I find that tends to help me in discerning how to use the armor of God as it is described in Ephesians 6: is our need to move from a theological viewpoint of what this armor is to us, and into a practical application of it. I find it interesting that Paul becomes the main author of our New Testament in Christ, and he is used through the power of the Holy Spirit to give us guidelines within the church to live as redeemed people who are faced with living with in a fallen world. When we come to Christ we are to give ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices, and that means to obey the laws of the land we live in, or the government, to love others, or our neighbors as we love ourselves, and then to take special care of those who are weak in the faith.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul, urges us to take a personal responsibility, and in Romans 12: 1-2 gives us a particular message. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship." In some translations it tells us"this is your reasonable service". "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is; his good, pleasing and perfect will." It feels like I may have already written the complete book on these concepts through the many blogs I've written about this subject over the years. As I continue to look at the words before me I realize that God from the very beginning has very good, pleasing and perfect plans for us as his children, but I also realize that God wants for us to be changed in our minds and in our hearts so that we can live in a way that honors and obeys him. That change is not merely an obedience to a command given from God to us, but that change is a very intricate part of our citizenship into God's kingdom because unless we are changed in our mind and heart, or (transformed by the renewing of our mind, and heart) we will not be able to partake in the victory that Christ has intended for us, nor will we be able to feel the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. For a vast majority of Christians today I am convinced that most do not as yet understand what God's good, pleasing, and perfect will is for their lives because they are still thinking and reacting under the influence of this world. We are not called us Christians to conform to the patterns of this world with its behavior and its customs that are usually selfish and often corrupting, and there are many Christians wisely decide that most of this worldly behavior is off-limits for them. For most of us that is an extremely difficult decision to make, but if we are going to be transformed we must be able to go even deeper into Christ than the normal levels of behavior and customs that this world requires for us to be a part of society. What does it take for us to finally be firmly planted in our minds or to be convinced or persuaded as was Paul's words that God is indeed able to do for us all he has claimed that he can do? Most of us can avoid getting involved in most worldly customs and still come out on the other end proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant. It is only when the power of the wholeness renews us from the inside out and begins to re-build and redirect our minds and our hearts that we truly become transformed.
The second part of all this is that we cannot understand or fully on parade within the armor of God that he Ephesians 6: 13- 16 tells us about until we have dealt with this transformation process; at least to a major degree in our lives. In order for us to be able to operate within the power of the Holy Spirit to which he the kind of spiritual success we long for we must be first of all sold out to Christ. "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, 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. And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
These tools can only be effectively used by the child of God who has allowed themselves to be transformed by the renewing of their mind and heart to the power of the Holy Spirit. May you richly bless God through your life in the him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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