October 21, 2020
Wednesday PM
Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
As we’ve been saying all year, 2020 is a year of preparation. If you don’t prepare, you won’t get to partake in what’s after that on the level that you would have, had you prepared. Preparation means making ready beforehand. Opportunity scarcely comes to those who don’t prepare. If an opportunity does arise, they don’t recognize it and they’re not ready to take advantage of it. But, if you’re prepared, and the opportunity presents itself, you’re ready and you can go higher and further! Preparation is not exciting, but we have to look at it like this: Preparation is not something we HAVE to do, it is something we GET to do. Preparation is a time to draw near to Him.
Be prepared, you’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get. Take every weapon God has issued. You’re no match for the devil apart from Gods help. Take onto you the whole power of God. Here’s why. If you don’t, you won’t stand. You won’t be prepared. You’ll be like a soldier going into war without your armor and weaponry.
Ephesians 6:13-18 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
This armor is not something you put on the outside. It’s put on from the inside. And in all reality, you do not equip yourself. The Holy Spirit does as you yield to Him through prayer. Equipping the belt of truth REQUIRES us to stop lying. Be a person of truth! The only way to purge lying from your character is through purging prayer. Allow Him to help you! He will not do it for you but He will join and help you. We will not be delivered from things we don’t truly want to be free from. We must take God’s perspective on the matter. We must view it as UGLY. When you reach that point you’ve given God what He needs to help you. We have to look at ourselves though the eyes of prayer. Get honest with ourselves. The breastplate of righteousness is another defensive weapon.
Unrighteous Living
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
He made us the righteousness of God positionally. The gift of righteousness enables us to live a righteous life. He gave us what we needed to do that. The blood covers all! The good that Jesus did is more powerful than any of the bad you’ve done or will ever do. None of us can be righteous apart from repentance and His blood. Unlike humans, God FORGETS when He forgives!
The shoes of peace give you an inherit ability to stand in the face of adverse circumstances without shaking or moving. When that pressure comes, God wants us to have an inner peace! When that pressure is on, the person that’s cool, calm and collected is able to make right decisions. Because if you react out of pressure and emotion you may be right, but you do it in the wrong way and have the opposite effect of what you were striving for. When you have an inner peace, you can handle the pressure.
Purging prayer is praying in the Spirit and letting the Holy Ghost do things in you. It is of the spirit. Worship involves the spirit but, it affects the soul. Where most people collapse under pressure is in the soul. When you spend time in worship, it baptizes your senses and soul. Worship affects you with the peace of God, and things that would have bothered you before, won’t.
God installed His love deep within us when we were born again. We have the capacity to love and forgive like God does. But it has to be developed through prayer. It has to be developed from the inside out, not the outside in. You have to start somewhere! Every time you go beyond what you usually do, you will experience more! You’ll never reach goals of 2 -3 hours without starting where you are! Don’t set unattainable goals! The key is consistency! The people who are more intentional than they’ve ever been, will experience more than they ever have. He who dwells in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Stay close to Him. Stay in His shadow. If you want to get closer to God, WORSHIP HIM.