Meditations: Saying Good-bye

Dear Friends,

I promised yesterday that I would explain why I've fallen behind in my blog posts.  For those of you that don't know, I'm the administrative assistant to the pastor of a new church start, FaithWay.
 

 
The pastor and I have been friends for years, and three years ago I joined the launch team for FaithWay. This past week, we were officially instructed by the higher-ups to cease public worship as of December 9th. We have not met critical benchmarks in both attendance and giving. 

Please keep all of us in your prayers. Many of the parishioners are only recently baptized and very young in their faith. I hope and pray that they can find a new church home that will support them in their walk. Also, please pray for me and my family. Not only do we need to find a new church home, but I am also now unemployed.

I'm hoping to get 2012 pictures pulled together soon, so stay tuned for part 2 of this post.

Meditations: The Full Armor of God--The Belt of Truth

Ephesians 6: 10-18

Eternal Life with Jesus.  Over the years, we as Christians have been taught that this the ultimate goal.  We've also been taught, correctly, that we cannot do anything to earn that eternal life ourselves, but that we must accept the gracious gift from God in the form of the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ.

As exciting as that is, eternal life with Jesus is still a long ways off.  After all, statistically speaking, the women in my family have been known to live over 100 years.  This is where a common misconception comes in to play, the thought that God really only cares about our eternal life.  God is not only interested in our eternal lives after death, he wants to be an active part of our lives now, too.  He loves us so much that, instead of just waiting for us to survive this life and join him in the next, he actively works to help us through this life.  Now that doesn't mean that he's out to make life easy on us, but he does offer a variety of tools and supports meant to protect us and strengthen us so we can survive the battles that come our way.

The first of these that Paul discusses in Ephesians 6:14 is the belt of truth.  Before we get into the spiritual analogy here, let's look at regular old belts.  A belt is an item that a person wraps around his waist to hold his outfit together.  For some of us, it's more of a visual thing, fashionably tying the outfit together.  For others, the belt quite literally holds our pants on our bodies.  More often than not, belts are made of some material that is woven together.  In Ephesus, Paul's audience would have seen belts as a necessity given the lack of the little miracle known as elastic.

This necessary article of clothing is the first piece of spiritual armor Paul talks about.  It's referred to as the belt of truth.  Truth is a vital component in this battle with the evil one, after all, he's known as the father of lies for a reason.  The truth is what holds the rest of the armor in place.

So, what does that mean?  Where do we get this truth and how does it become a belt?  The Truth that Paul is referring to comes in several forms.  Just like a good belt is woven from several individual pieces.  (High school science flashback: Remember the discussion about rope being stronger with all the strands joined together than each of the individual pieces alone...)  You can, and should, find the truth in the predictable way by reading the Bible.  That is God's Word in black-and-white.  However, we need multiple strands for added strength.  This is why a church community is so important.  You need the Sunday sermon to explain what you're reading.  You need a small group discussion of both the sermon and your reading to gain clarification and new insights.  And, you need the fellowship of believers to simply support you in your struggles.  All of these different strands, woven together, create a strong belt that will hold together the armor that God designed to help us survive this life we're living now.

Last Week: The Full Armor of God--Why do we need it?
Next Week: The Full Armor of God--The Breastplate of Righteousness

Meditations: Full Armor of God--Why do we need it?

Ephesians 6:10-18

Over the years, many of us have heard reference to the "Full Armor of God" and the Bible as the "sword."  My favorite reference is the T-shirt that says, "Don't Fight Naked," on the front in bright pink letters.  The back says, "Put on the full armor of God," with a knobby-kneed cartoon character wearing nothing but the "armor."

Funny, but what's the point?  I don't fight battles that require big pieces of metal to protect my body EVER, let alone on a daily basis.  As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure the average person in Ephesus, when Paul wrote this letter, didn't fight battles like that either.  So, what in the world was Paul talking about, and why is it still so important that you can get a T-shirt reminding you not to fight naked?

Paul gives us a rather surprising (and sometimes difficult to swallow) answer in Ephesians 6:10-13.  He calls us to be strong in the Power of the Lord and he assures us that, at the end of the whole fight, we'll still be standing.  So far, so good.  After all, I already know that "God is God, and I am not," so recognizing that any strength I need has to come from the Lord is kind of a given.  Add on top of that, the assurance that I'm on the winning team, and I'm suiting up!  Except...What battle?

I'll admit I'm good with the goofy shirt, after all, that knobby-kneed fellow reminds me of my dad, and believe me, I have no desire to see my dad naked!  However, I'm not sure how armor is going to help me when I battle my son about doing his homework or my dear hubby about finances.

This is where goofy T-shirts drop the ball.  Looking again at Ephesians 6:10-13, Paul spells it all out.  "Our fight is not against people on earth."  Paul is not talking about a physical set of armor.  He's talking about a spiritual set designed to protect us from "the devil's evil tricks."  You see, contrary to popular opinion, we are not the only intelligent beings that God created.  There is a whole spiritual realm that influences our temporal realm.  We've seen reference to this in the form of angels and, another thing that people want to turn a blind eye to, demons (the devil's minions).

The devil and his minions are where the armor comes into play.  God has created an eternal-life saving suit for each of us.  Each piece is designed to thwart the enemy's attacks and bring us through the battle to the final victory, eternal life with Jesus Christ.

Next Week: Full Armor of God--The Belt of Truth