Stand Up To the Enemy

The District Women in Ministry retreat was off the charts!  Kudos to all those incredible women who made the weekend an outstanding success.  God's power, presence and blessings were all over that place.  It was truly amazing! I will post photos soon.

Now......... back to planning and sorting 1,000 details for the upcoming Potomac District Council. Ok... maybe not 1,000...... but many!! I pulled this post from the archives. Forgive me for not posting something new today but the message in this post is still real!

Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

God tells us in His Word that we are to put on His whole armor. He commands each of us to stand up against ALL the strategies and the deceitfulness of the enemy. That is about as forthright as you can get wouldn't you agree? Then why are so many of us struggling daily with things in our lives that continually entangle us and hinder our walk with Christ?

There is something in each of our lives that definitely needs to take a hike! It could be habitual shopping, overeating, overspending, intimidation, lack of self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy and the list goes on. These may not always seem like huge obstacles but they can isolate us from God. When we permit that to happen it allows the enemy to take continuous jabs at our minds in an attempt to destroy us spiritually. We sometimes become so beaten down and discouraged that we are totally ineffective for the Kingdom of God.

God's Word promises if we put on the WHOLE armor (in it's entirety), we can stand up to the enemy and ALL the challenges he chooses to bring into our lives. That means we must read and study God's Word daily permitting God to penetrate our hearts and our minds. Cultivating a relationship with Christ requires getting to know Him on a personal level. It requires spending daily uninterrupted quality time in prayer listening intently for that still small voice. It means showing others the fruit in our lives that comes from serving Him.

Don't be a wimpy Christian partially dressed in God's armor. Dressing ourselves is an important part of our daily regime and we are careful not to miss any articles of clothing needed to cover our bodies. We certainly would not intentionally go out of the house missing our blouse and one of our shoes! Why are we so careless with God's armor? The enemy knows God's Word is our source of power. He has majored in creativity and will present all sorts of distractions to deter us from spending time with the Lord.

Identify one thing you know is a hindrance to your relationship with Christ. Record that on a piece of paper along with the scripture reference from Eph. 6:11 and tuck it in your Bible. Each time the enemy brings that particular thing to your mind I encourage you to read and meditate on Eph. 6:11. Clothe yourself in God's WHOLE armor and proceed to do something fantastic for Him!

Blessings!