Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Ephesians

The Armor of God

by

What does the armor of God look like in your life? Ephesians 6:10-18 is a familiar passage of Scripture detailing the armor of God. Like many familiar passages, it can be easy to overlook and never take the time to apply it to your own life. Paul gave us a great gift when he outlined the weapons of our warfare. Though I have distant memories of a flannel-graph (remember those?) soldier in Sunday School, there is nothing childish about the depth of this passage.

armor of God,faith,works,God's Kingdom,Kingdom of God,mercy,grace,love,Ephesians 6:10-18,Ephesians 2:8-10,by grace you are saved by faith,Matthew 4:1-11,temptation of Christ,Jesus in the wilderness

image © Luis Louro via Fotolia

Within these words are the strategic plans to counteract the attacks of the devil.  To best make use of the armor and weapons, we should know what they look like in our own lives.

[Read more…] about The Armor of God

Spiritual Warfare

by

The early Church recognized the reality of the spiritual warfare raging around them. They understood everything in life was affected by battles being waged in their midst. While unseen, these battles often manifested themselves into the realities of the day to day lives of early believers.

spiritual warfare,Ephesians 6:12,we battle not against flesh and blood,mission,disciple,discipleship,Kingdom of God,God's Kingdom,discipleship,commitment,purpose,God's will

image © Bits and Splits via Fotolia

They were so keenly aware of what was going on they focused on fighting spiritual battles as long as they lived, looking forward to the day they would lay down their swords and join Jesus in Heaven. Here’s a news flash: nothing has changed. The same spiritual warfare encountered by the early Church still surrounds us today.

[Read more…] about Spiritual Warfare

Stress

by

In the beginning, we were created for and lived in perfect peace and harmony with God. Then we gave it all away for a stupid grab for an inconceivable “more”, something better than community with God. It was of course something which did not exist because dwelling in the presence of our Creator is the greatest form of happiness, fulfillment, and joy we can ever know.

stress,commitment,mission,Jesus,love,discipleship,Ephesians 2:10,created for good works,stresses,stressed out,anxiety,fear of the unknown,circumstances

image © jayfish via Fotolia

Still, we reached for something else. We were deceived to believe there was more we could desire than God Himself. From this one horrible mistake, stress was born. From that moment, stress has become a favorite tool of Satan to continue to keep us from God.

[Read more…] about Stress

Obedience to God

by

At its core, this blog is about discipleship. It’s about living your life wholly devoted to Christ so you can live out the life He created you to live. What this looks like in practice will vary from person to person, but the one thing all disciples have in common is obedience to God.  By definition, obedience to God implies you have to do something in order to be His disciple. This isn’t a works based salvation; it’s works because of salvation.

Obedience to God,obedience,A.W. Tozer, tozer,discipleship,Disciple of Christ,Disciple of Jesus,grace vs. works,grace only,grace based salvation,works based salvation,Ephesians 2:8 and 9,for by grace are you saved,Ephesians 2:10,works created for you to do,Revelation 3:16,lukewarm Christian,Bible lukewarm,vomit you out of my mouth,spew you out of my mouth,James 1:21-25,double minded man,looks in a mirror and forgets what he looks like

image © duncanandison via Fotolia

As A.W. Tozer once said, “Salvation without obedience is a self-contradicting impossibility!” Many people have bought into the teaching of salvation through grace alone to the exclusion of any responsibility for works of obedience. That’s a cheap and easy salvation never put forth by Jesus.

[Read more…] about Obedience to God

How Will You Love Today?

by

We are called to demonstrate the love and character of Jesus in every moment of our lives. We know this because it is what Jesus did. The problem is, if we aren’t intentional about this mission, it won’t happen. How many days have slipped through our fingers without showing more than a cursory amount of love to anyone but ourselves? As I was thinking about this, it occurred to me it would be a good idea to answer four questions each day.

how will you love today,daily planning,prayer,commitment,love,discipline,1 Timothy 5:8,Isaiah 58:6-7,Ephesians 5:22-28,love your family,love your friends,love your spouse,love strangers,marriage

image © mickyso via Fotolia

You can incorporate these into your daily planning. The questions are: How will I show love to my spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend today? How will I show love for a family member today? How will I show love for a friend today? How will I show love for a stranger today?
[Read more…] about How Will You Love Today?