Archives for July 2015

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The fifth piece of armor is The Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17a) 

We need the helmet of salvation because Satan wants to stop the spread of the gospel. God’s goal is that everyone hears and accepts the good news that there is peace with him through the forgiveness of sins that Jesus alone can offer. Satan’s goal is that no one will hear the good news and that if they happen to hear it, they reject it. This being the case, Satan is going to work overtime to keep you confused concerning what it means to be saved. If he can keep you confused about what it means to be saved, you will doubt your own salvation and be much less likely to share the good news with others.

Someone once taught me a great preaching tip. They said “If there’s a mist in the pulpit, there’s a fog in the pew.” What they meant was that if I’m confused even a little about what I’m talking about, then everyone I’m trying to teach will be doubly confused! I think there’s some application for all of us in that quote.

Before you can go effectively sharing the good news with others, you’ve got to make sure you first have a solid grasp of the message yourself. So let me help you by sharing the gospel in a nutshell. It’s actually very easy. THERE’S PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH JESUS. That’s it. Before our sins are forgiven the Bible says we are God’s enemies. Our sin separates us from Him. Prior to our sins being forgiven we are both alienated from God and enemies of God. But when we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, God no longer treats us as enemies, wanting to punish us for our sins. He lets the punishment that Jesus took on the cross be our punishment for our sins. Because of what Jesus did on the cross we are good with God and we go from foe to friend. So if you ever have an opportunity to share the good news – the good news is that THERE IS PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH JESUS. That’s it. Depending on how much time you have with the person you’re speaking with will determine how much you elaborate on what this means. But if time is short, you can share the good news in only seven words: THERE IS PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH JESUS. It’s that simple. When you have a clear understanding of the good news you are wearing the helmet of salvation.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The sixth piece of armor God gave us is The Sword of the Spirit & Prayer  (Ephesians 6:17b-18) 

E: We need the sword of the Spirit and prayer to cut off Satan’s attacks. When Satan attacks with an enticement to sin – are we left defenseless? The answer is a resounding “No!” We have two very powerful weapons: the word of God and prayer.

Don’t know if you heard about this or not, but back in May 2015 a rabid fox attacked some children who were playing in the back yard in Canton MA. The pregnant mother screamed for her husband who was inside. He came out with a gun and shot the fox three times, killing it. I share this story because it illustrates the importance of having a weapon for protection. Spiritually, God has given us two powerful weapons: the sword of the Spirit – which is the word of God – AND prayer.

Owning a Bible but not reading it is like owning a gun but having no ammunition loaded in the gun. An unloaded gun has no protective value. In the same way, an unread Bible has no spiritual protective value. In the same way that you need to load your gun, you have to load your mind with the word of God by actually reading it. Then, and only then, will you have some ammunition to shoot at the devil with when he attacks. Friends  – the word of God is a powerful form of ammunition. So powerful in fact, it was the weapon of choice for Jesus when Satan tempted him in the wilderness (you can read about that in more detail in Matthew 4).

And if the word of God is the ammunition, then prayer (your other spiritual weapon) is a grenade launcher. Jesus taught us to pray “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” If you’re falling into lots of temptation, I’m willing to bet you don’t pray that prayer very often. Its a powerful prayer, but only if you pray it!

Some might say: I’m not really comfortable talking about bible reading and prayer as weapons. Isn’t there some other analogy you could use? Well, no. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Paul was saying in essence: You want to know how to win the war against Satan. You want to know how to blow away your spiritual nemesis so he calls a retreat? You got to use the powerful weapons God has given you. When you read your Bible and pray, you’ve strapped on the spiritual weapons God has given you that compliment the armor. You don’t just have armor, you also have weapons: the word of God and prayer.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The fifth piece of armor is The Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16)

We need the shield of faith because Satan wants to entice us to sin. When Satan attacks us with his fiery arrows of temptation, we defend ourselves with the shield of faith. Satan’s goal when he entices us to sin is to get us so focused on the immediate pleasure of sin (which is very gratifying) that we ignore the long-term consequences of sin (which are devastating).

I love these new Direct TV commercials. In a humorous way, they encourage you to think through all the bad things that could happen to you if you don’t get rid of cable (i.e. When you wait forever for the cable guy, you get bored. When you get bored you start staring out windows. When you start staring out windows you see things you shouldn’t see. When you see things you should see you need to vanish. When you need to vanish you need to fake your own death. When you fake your own death you dye your eye brows. And when you die your eyes browns you attend your own funeral as a guy named Phil Shiffly. Don’t attend your own funeral as a guy named Phil Shiffly. Get rid of cable and upgrade to Direct TV!).

When Satan entices us to sin, one of the ways we can resist is to list all the bad things that could possibly happen if we yield to that temptation. If Direct TV were encouraging us to avoid temptation (instead of cable) it might sound something like this: When you drink too much, you get drunk. When you get drunk you get in fights. When you get in fights, you injure people. When you injure people you get arrested. When you get arrested you go to jail. When you go to jail there are now certain jobs that are no longer an option for you to pursue. When the career path you wanted to take is no longer an option, you settle for something less. Don’t settle for something less. Take up the shield of faith, resist temptation and trust that God’s way is best. Every time we (by faith) trust that God’s way is best, and as a result say “no” to temptation, we put on the shield of faith. 

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The third piece of armor is The Cleats of Peace (Ephesians 6:15) 

We need the cleats of peace because Satan wants to steal our peace. John 10:10 says that Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy. And one of the things he loves to steal is our peace. Satan loves to get our minds focused on all that is wrong in the world (terrorist attacks, Isis, church shootings, the country in general moving further and further away from biblical values as evidence in the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning gay marriage, etc). Why does he want our minds consumed with things like these? Because when we fret over all that’s wrong we lose our peace.

A Roman soldier had a great advantage in battle because he had cleats on his sandals. After hours of warfare the battlefields were drenched in blood and someone could easily slip and fall. But a Roman soldier had sure footing, even when standing on a slippery surface.

Well, how can we be sure we don’t slip into the depths of despair in light of all the evil going on around us? By putting on the cleats of peace! That is, when we trust in God we maintain our peace. When we fret over all the evil going on around us, we lose our peace. Take a look at Psalm 37:1-3, “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.  Trust in the Lord and do good…” The Bible is clear: God wants us to trust in Him, not fret over those who are evil. And the reason we’re not to fret is because all that is evil is temporary – like grass that soon withers, evil people will one day be gone. What happens to an ice cream cone in direct sunlight? It melts away right? God says “Don’t fret! Evil people will one day melt away!” Here’s what we’re trusting in as followers of Jesus: That though things are crazy in this world now, in the end God wins. When we trust him in the middle of the temporary mess the world’s in, we’ve put on the cleats of peace. 

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The second piece of armor is The Breastplate of Righteousness (Ephesians 6:14b) 

We need the breastplate of righteousness because Satan wants to condemn us. Satan puts thoughts in our minds that we are such terrible sinners that God would never want to use us for the work of his kingdom.

I have a friend that a couple years ago applied for a certain job. Because this person had a criminal record, she was ineligible for employment. There are certain jobs that you simply cannot get if you have a criminal record. And this was the case for my friend.

Satan loves to make the case against us “You have a record. You are ineligible to work for God.” But friends – this is another one of Satan’s lies. First off, we have no record because Christ has wiped it clean! When Jesus died on the cross, our record (our sin) was placed on him, and then his righteousness was placed on us (who have trusted him to forgive our sins). So the truth is – we have no record thanks to Jesus! We are 100% eligible to be used by God to advance his kingdom on this earth. Second, God knew that Satan would try and get us to believe this lie, which is why he put so many examples of sinful people that did great things for God in the Bible. Moses murdered an Egyptian but then God used him to be the spiritual leader over the nation of Israel. David committed adultery, but then God used him to make preparations for the Temple. Paul violently persecuted the church, but then God used him to write almost half of the New Testament. God gave us these examples so that when we’re feeling condemned by Satan, we’d be reminded that we are eligible for work in God’s kingdom, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

So the next time Satan puts in your mind “You’re not worthy!” go ahead and agree with him. Say “You’re right. I’m not worthy. But because of what Jesus has done for me on the cross I am righteous in God’s sight. My record has been wiped clean and I’m fit for service in his kingdom!” Satan will always throw your past in your face in an attempt to discourage you. Well, someone once told me that when Satan reminds you of your past, go ahead and remind him of his future! 🙂 When you keep in mind that you are righteousness in God’s sight, you have put on the breastplate of righteousness.