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Shelburne Free Press https://shelburnefreepress.ca/?p=4910 Export date: Thu Nov 21 10:53:06 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Crossroads Community ChurchCrossroads joyfully prepared treat bags to handout at the upcoming Shelburne Christmas Parade on Saturday November 30th at 5 p.m. The Lord blessed us with glorious sunshine this morning, and our hearts were eager to hear God's word. Pastor Don shared announcements and prayed over the service; we pray for hope and strength to persevere for those struggling with their health and praise God for sending help to the devastated Philippines. Worship was exuberant and powerful, Bob read Psalm 69:30-34, 1 Kings 19:10-13 and Matthew 4:10. Pastor Don resumed his teaching of “Putting on the Full Armor of God.” To be strong in our spiritual lives it is good to get to know the full armor of God described in scripture Ephesians 6:10-18. Every part of us needs protection, we learned so far that we need to repent from our old ways so we can protect our hearts, be stable in our walk and be prepared for everyday struggles. Today we are learning to protect our minds by putting on the helmet of salvation. In warfare we know a sturdy helmet is essential for a soldier to protect his head, if he injures a leg or arm he can carry on, but if he loses his head what would happen? In our spiritual warfare it is our mind that needs protection. This helmet of salvation is provided by the grace of God through faith, it is an undeserved gift. Salvation is a process, the initial salvation is when we come to God and made right before Him through Jesus. The second phase is a daily process of being perfected away from sin becoming more and more like Jesus. The third is when we meet Jesus face to face and are made perfect and holy. The enemy the devil does not want us to become like Jesus so he battles against our salvation with all sorts of temptations. Good News; we can defeat him by taking up the helmet, the Bible says that as believers we have received the mind of Christ, this means that his spirit gives us guidance and understanding,(1 Corinthians 2:16 We also are instructed to guard our thoughts and bring them in obedience to Jesus because the devil tries to capture our minds and side track us away from God, ,(2 Corinthians 10:5). When we put the helmet Jesus provides it destroys doubt and gives us assurance of our salvation to defeat evil in this world and walk victoriously in faith, (1 John 5:4). The ability to think is crucial for any soldier to follow tactical direction that will protect him and his troop ensuring survival, this also applies to Christian soldiers to protect our minds and understand God's direction. The best way to train our mind is by reading and meditating on God's word, ”17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” Ephesians 6:17. A Roman soldier carried two different swords that were equally powerful, offense and defense; so it is with God's word,(Hebrews 4:12). God's word is alive and able to defeat and to defend, that is how Jesus counter attacked the devil when he was tested in the wilderness by the devil,(Matthew 4:1-11). If the devil tempted Jesus we can be certain he will tempt us, our best defense and offense tactic is God's word hidden in our hearts and minds. The devil tempts us with sinful desires and doubt and another attack is worry, but God has the answer to that too, (Philippians 4:6,7). God wants us to trust Him and come to Him in prayer with every worry or struggle and He brings us peace; and when we face overwhelming temptations He shows us the way out of it, that is the first step to victory it is turning away from whatever it is that is tempting us,(1Corinthians 10:13). Prayer completes the armor of God for we need communication with our commander and like any good soldier we ought to obey Him, it is our ultimate assurance. The best time for prayer is anytime, anywhere, and in all things, scripture instructs us to pray without ceasing, to sincerely devote ourselves to it, (Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2). Beloved if we want tactical advantage over the devil we need to “Put on the Full Armor of God” and the devil's attempts to divide, debilitate and destroy us will fail, we will remain undefeated by the grace of God. This week may we be reminded that with God's armor we can withstand the hardships that rage against us and with Jesus we will overcome, Have a victorious week with the Lord, Asherey Shalom! To learn more visit http://www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca/ |
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Post date: 2013-11-27 16:55:57 Post date GMT: 2013-11-27 21:55:57 Post modified date: 2013-12-04 11:40:25 Post modified date GMT: 2013-12-04 16:40:25 |
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