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Every piece of armor that we are given in the spiritual battle of the ages in which we are engaged, points to the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds all things together and in Him, we have all that is needed to face the forces of evil and spiritual wickedness in life on earth. It is by maintaining a simple trust in Him that we are able to thwart all the earthly thorns and thistles in life that seek to trip and to trap, to ensnare, undermine, and destroy our faith. The Sword Of The Spirit Is The Word Of God. The weapon that we are to use to defeat all our foes in this earthly walk is the Bible, provided for us by our Heavenly Father. The Lord gives us many precious promises and proclamations about His Word. With such a weapon as The Sword Of The Spirit, the many examples of Jesus Himself wielding that weapon so effectively, and the promises pertaining to the Word, to let us all buckle on the armor that God has provided, and firmly grasp hold of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, in both our heart and our hands so that we too may be able to stand firm in the in the days we live against the devil's wicked schemes. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the many provisions You have made for our protection against the evil enemy that seeks to defeat and destroy our trust in You. Thank You for our salvation, through faith in Jesus. Teach us Your Word so that we may be effective in our walk with You and our witness to others. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN.
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In our Christian walk, we are not fighting a physical battle but a spiritual one, and God in His grace, has equipped us with a wide range of spiritual armor which when used correctly, will be able to extinguish all the fiery darts that come our way, be a protection to ourselves and others, and give glory to the Lord. Temptations and fiery trials, tribulation and stormy seas, irritation and deep disappointment, persecution and various people, will be used by many to burn our soul and shipwreck our testimony. Discouragement and unholy anger, doctrinal error and spiritual confusion, together with false teachings, moral failure, and self-recrimination, will flood our hearts if we step outside the protection of an unwavering faith in God and Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent. The enemy knows our weakest points and aims every one of his fiery darts at the bullseye of our human frailty. He will use fractured relationships, money concerns, health issues, the state of the nation, and anything else that may cause us to take our eyes off Jesus, and focus on the problem at hand. We will stand fast and Take Up The Shield-Of-Faith moment by moment, knowing that with it, we are able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and stand victorious - by the power of His Spirit, which is given by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. There are many pieces of spiritual armor which God has prepared for our protection during our time on earth, and those that know their God and trust His Word will continuously carry that Shield-of-Faith - by taking every thought captive to Christ and Standing Firm On The Word Of Faith. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that You have fully equipped us to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, with such wonderful pieces of spiritual armour. Thank You for the Shield-of-Faith, with which we are enabled to extinguish all the flaming arrows and fiery darts of the evil one. Help us to stand fast on the promises of God and to keep our eyes looking to Jesus. Thank You that we have not only been saved by grace through faith in Him, but that in the power of the Holy Spirit we may live by grace through faith. Father, we pray that we will live by faith and not by sight, to Your eternal praise and glory. This we ask in Jesus' name, AMEN. The very first piece of our protective covering is truth. Without the gospel of truth which comes from above, we believe a lie. Without the truth of the gospel of Christ, we are dead in our sins and condemned to an eternity without God. We are to bind the truth to our heart and meditate upon it day and night. We are to test all things by the Word of Truth and allow it to foster integrity in our hearts and faithfulness to our calling. We are to know the truth that comes from God and the truth will set us free. We are to speak the truth to others, in love, our strength is found in Christ and is bound up with the truth of God. Christ is our living Head and we are clothed in His own perfect righteousness and declared to be holy before God, by faith in Him. We are to maintain the pure covering of Christ's own purity, it is only as we perform practical righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit that we become impregnable to the fiery darts of the lost. Let Us All Hold Fast To The Truth of the gospel of grace that was once delivered to the saints and Let Us All Stand Firm under the covering of Christ's own purity, wherewith we are clothed by faith. Therefore, let us take up the full armor of God so that we will be able to resist in the evil, and having done everything, we will be able to stand strong against the evil. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life and that we have been clothed in His own righteousness by grace through faith. As we live out our lives, we pray that we will walk in integrity, speak the truth in love, and be continuously clothed in Christ's own righteousness, so that we may stand up to the evil, and having done all to hear You say, "well done, good and faithful soldier," to Your praise and glory, AMEN. Paul had to address many concerning issues in the church at Corinth for there was much confusion there. There were divisions and immorality within the Body of Christ which led to internal law-suits and moral laxity, and he had to give some stern warnings against being squeezed into the world's mould. He had to remind them that their bodies were a temple of the Holy Spirit. Having exposed their worldly ways which did not honor the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul wanted to remind these born-again saints that their disorderly behavior and incessant bickering was dishonoring to the Lord and contradictory to His ways. They reflected the ungodly conduct of the unsaved who are still members of a fallen creation. Too often, we see that there is Disorder Among The People Of God and pandemonium can too readily become the norm within a local church fellowship, or the wider, the Body of Christ. Too often, ungodly actions are accepted or ignored, while spiritual gifts are abused when certain groups or individuals use their God-given gifts and talents for self-glorification or self-centered motives. Instead of exercising themselves circumspectly in order to glorify the Lord and build up the Body of Christ, they dishonor His name through their worldly ways. Too often we see the character or attitude of many Church leaders and their congregants becoming self-indulgent, while at other times we observe Christians being EITHER 1) overly critical of their fellow believers for insignificant things OR 2) prepared to compromise their Christian faith by refusing to address issues of spiritual importance which should not be ignored! There Should Be Unity In The Essentials Of Our Faith, liberty and Christian courtesy surrounding any non-essential doctrinal issues, and godly love and graciousness should be demonstrated in the actions and attitudes we show towards our brothers and sisters in Christ - knowing that: God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the words of instruction that are in our bibles. We pray that any ungodly or carnal attitude that we have developed in our Christian walk, would be identified and dealt with. Thank You that You are not a God of confusion. We pray that You would give us wisdom when we come across disunity within the Body of Christ so that we may know how to behave and what to do in a way that honors Your name and character. Help us to walk, day by day, in humility and godly righteousness to Your honor and glory. This we ask in Jesus' name, AMEN. How important it is to be immersed in the Word of God and to search out the truths that are contained within its pages. There are, however, serious consequences of perverting the truth of the gospel of Christ with a false, legalistic gospel, and in this verse, Paul is fiercely criticizing and Condemning Those Who Do Not Teach The Truth. Many people today are seeking after signs and wonders. Many have been lured into believing a false gospel through dreams and visions, some of which come from 'angels', spirit messengers, or extra-dimensional beings. But anything and everything that distorts the clear gospel of Christ recorded in holy Scripture, must be strongly denounced and utterly rejected. There is only one message of salvation from our Father in heaven and that is: Salvation is a free gift of God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. A man or woman is saved entirely apart from works of the Law, without money or price, and without any legalistic requirements imposed by man or denomination, by apostle or prophet, by oneself, or even by an angel from heaven. God commissioned the teaching of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, to the apostle Paul, and we do well to Take Note Of His Sober Warning. May we never be tempted away from the glorious gospel of Christ which is clearly written in the unchanging Word of God. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the God-breathed Scriptures and the truth that they contain within their pages. Thank You that we are no longer under the Law, but we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Help us never to be enticed from this truth by another gospel. Give us discernment to recognize when the gospel of Christ is being compromised in any way. This we ask in Jesus' name, AMEN. Christ is the Head of the Body, which is The Church, and His headship over the Church is one of our Savior's many beautiful and glorious roles; a role which means so much to all who have been saved by grace through faith in Him. For ages and generations, this glorious mystery of the Church (which is the Body of Christ), was kept hidden from both human and angelic understanding. But through the teachings of Paul, we understand that every believer in Christ is a member of His spiritual Body (which is called the Church), and Jesus Christ is the Head of that Body. Every Believer In Christ Is A Member Of His Church. Christ is the Source of the Church, the Leader of the Church, the Head of the Church, and the Originator of the Church. Christ has promised to build His Church: "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." As the Head of the new creation and the Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ is also: "The Firstborn from the dead." Oh, there were others that had been brought back to life through the power of Almighty God, in both the Old and the New Testaments, but their lives on earth would ultimately end in death. But the Resurrection of Christ to eternal life, is unique in the history of mankind and magnifies His distinctive position in the human race as the second Man, the last Adam, the Head of the new creation, His Body, the Church. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, what a glorious truth that in Christ alone our hope is found, and by His death and Resurrection, we have an assurance that we will be raised incorruptible from the dead. Thank You that by grace through faith in Him, we have been imputed with His righteousness and have been made new creations in Christ. Thank You that we are members of His Body and that through His Resurrection, we too will be raised. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. Although we are strangers in a foreign land, we have an eternal hope set before us and an incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in heaven. Indeed, we who have trusted Christ and who have been saved by grace through faith in Him, have much about which to rejoice, despite the sobering truth that in this world all who live godly in Christ Jesus will face various trials and tribulations and may even have to face persecution and death. But praise God, for we have an assurance that we will be kept by the power of God, through faith for salvation. There were certain things that were not revealed to some faithful men of God, but were kept secret from before the foundation of the world. These were things concerning the Church (which is the Body of Christ), and God's great, eternal plan of redemption. It was concerning this salvation of which the Old Testament prophets desired to know and about which they longed to look into, but it was kept hidden from their understanding. But God in His wisdom gave them as much revelation as was meant for them to know, and raised up the apostle Paul to open up the mysteries of the Body of Christ, which is the Church: "Christ in you the hope of glory." Today, we have the full and final revelation of God contained within the holy Scriptures. Today, we have received all that God has chosen to reveal to the Church, just as He did with His faithful prophets of old. We may desire to look into certain things that remain a mystery to us, but we must never forget that in these last days God has spoken to us by His Son Whom He appointed Heir of all things and through Whom also He made the universe. We are called by the Father: "Listen to HIM." Let us, (The Church), Look To Jesus. Let us depend on Him and let His the holy Scriptures be our plumb-line for truth. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that You have seen fit to reveal to us all that we need for life and godliness in Christ Jesus, our Savior. Give us wisdom and understanding in this increasingly evil world. May we be content with all that You have revealed in Your Word and not seek to find out any secret knowledge that You, in Your wisdom, have chosen to be kept hidden. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. Union with the Lord Jesus can never be broken but fellowship with the Father can be broken when we allow sin to snatch control of our lives or when we choose to live in carnality, which reflects the values of the world and not the truth of God. Close communion with God is severed and fellowship with our Father is fractured when sin infects our heart, and we are not walking in spirit and in truth. Today there are many who claim to be 'spiritual' beings, but their claim is rooted in a worldly view of spirituality that is opposite of biblical spirituality and can never be reconciled with true spirituality. Such claims are in opposition to the truth and are incompatible with the character of a holy sinless God. While some unbelievers falsely claim to have fellowship with God, which is only possible through faith in Christ, Christians may also falsely claim to have fellowship with the Father. But God, Who dwells in sinless light can never commune with a soul who walks in the darkness of unconfessed sin. Similarly, when a Christian claims to have fellowship with our sinless God when walking in the darkness of unconfessed sin is equally a lie, it is not practicing the truth. Such claims from believers deny the absolute perfection of our sinless God Who can have no fellowship with sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, thus restoring us back into communion with the Father. But if we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. Let us from this day forward, We Must Walk In Spirit And In Truth, to His honor and glory. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  Our United Prayer:
Loving Father we desire to keep in communion with You and not to flirt with the agents of darkness. There are times that our hearts have been divided and we know that darkness and light cannot walk together. Keep us close to You and help us to fly to You and confess our sins the moment we start to stray, so that our fellowship with You is quickly restored. Father, we want to learn to practice the truth today, so that we may grow in grace and in fellowship with You, in Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. God hates sin, and God cannot look on sin. God cannot have fellowship with sinners, nor can God ever endorse anything that emanates from our old sin nature, good or bad. Anything that is produced through our 'Old Man' is tainted with sin and is produced from our former, fallen, fleshly nature and has 'Me, Myself, and I' at the core of its nature. Though all our sins are forgiven and removed far from us, and though God remembers our sin no more, while we live in a fallen body of flesh and blood, we have not become sinless. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." The power to live godly in Christ Jesus comes from Christ Himself, we received His life in us. We do not become Christ, nor do we attain to sinless perfection. Never: " If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." But in Christ, the power of sin has been broken and The Truth Will Set Us Free. Let us choose to live our lives as unto Him, quickly confessing any sinful acts or attitudes so that we may quickly be restored into fellowship with the Father. May we grow in grace, day by day, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that when Christ died, He paid the price for our sins and broke the power of sin in our lives. In Him, we have fellowship with You and free access to the throne of grace. We confess that we have not always walked in spirit and truth but have given in to the temptations to follow the desires and cravings of our own hearts. We are sorry for doing things that were displeasing to You and omitting to do those things that were pleasing to You but thank You that You are faithful and just to forgive all our sins and to keep on cleansing us from unrighteousness. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. In these times in which we live, God in His grace sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins so that all who believe in Him might be made new creatures in Christ and become part of a new creation. With each passing day, we are being conformed into His image and likeness, until that wonderful day when we see Him as He is. In the beginning, God spoke the first creation into being and God saw that it was very good, until sin entered therein. God cannot look upon sin and so God sent His Son to pay the price for our sins. Jesus came into the world to be the Head of that new Man, and as believers we are all part of that one new Man in Christ, and members of His Body. We who are the Body of Christ are God's first-fruit, we have trusted the Lord, and at the Rapture, we will be the next 'first-fruit from the dead'. We will all be changed into immortal beings in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. Praise God that by the exercise of His will He brought us forth By The Word Of Truth so that we would be a kind of first fruit among His creatures. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus, the living Word of God. Thank You for the Bible, the Word of truth. Thank You for choosing to send the Lord Jesus to be our Redeemer and that by trusting in Him we have been saved. Thank You for all the generations of believers who, by faith alone in Christ alone, are saved for eternity. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN This section in Scripture is addressing the attitude and behaviour which should epitomize the godly man or virtuous woman, irrespective of their status in life or their position in society. God's children will be rewarded for the good work they carry out in spirit and truth, but will suffer loss for those times when they were walking in the flesh or living for their own selfish reasons. Only works which are carried out in the power of the Spirit will be rewarded, while those undertaken through one's own power will suffer loss. Those Who Live By Biblical Standards through the power of the Holy Spirit, will receive the reward of their inheritance, while believers who do not, will suffer the loss of heavenly reward that could have been theirs. He who does wrong (whether a wife, husband, child or parent) will receive the consequences of the wrong they have done, and that without partiality. God is no respecter of persons. Salvation is offered as a free gift to ALL, by faith, and born-again believers are to live by faith. When believers live by faith, according to His purpose, and fit into His plan, then they will receive their promised reward - while those who do not live as outlined in the Word, will receive the consequences of the wrong which they have done. Saved, but without reward. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for this truth, that You are no respecter of persons. Thank You that our salvation does not rely on what we do to please You, but on what Christ has done on our account. Thank You that we have received eternal life as a free gift of Your grace through faith, and we pray that we will live worthy of our calling and in a way that honors You. Help us to walk in humility of heart and in spirit and truth, irrespective of our circumstances, and enable us to carry out the works that You have given us to do, to Your honor and glory. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. What a difference it would be if the Church of Christ and all people, were to follow Peter's directives in our day and age. He calls us to be of one mind, to have unity of spirit in the bond of peace, to hold fast together our faith in Christ Jesus and the gospel of grace, and to live in harmony with one another. He calls us to sympathize with each other, to have compassion one for another, and to empathize in the trials and difficulties that our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through, to be there to help and to comfort, to support and encourage, to be One Nation Under God. He even condenses this into the simplicity of- Love One Another As I Love You. At a time when the love of many is growing ever colder and darker, we are called upon to love our brothers and sisters, to care and to pray for them to love one another in the same way that Christ loved us. He also calls us to be tender-hearted and to have a humble attitude. In a selfish world that is becoming increasingly hostile towards the things of God, is this not what our Lord Jesus Christ expects from each one of us; to show pity to those who are lost and hurting, to render Christian courtesy and compassion on all with whom we come in contact, to be tender-hearted and to be full of grace and truth, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ? If we were to apply this call of the apostle, to be like-minded and sympathetic, to love our fellow brother and sisters, and to be compassionate in humility of heart, we would be following our Lord's command to: "Love as I have loved you! Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.  Our United Prayer:
Loving Lord, how we desire to apply this gentle spirit of compassion, humility, and love into our lives so that we may be an example of a godly believers and give glory to Your holy name. Heavenly Father, you have given us a new leader in the free world today, we Pray for him and thank you Lord for our country, the United States Of America, may we become a Nation that leads the world by your example as we all look to others in time of need and bless them with your word, comfort and support in any way possible. Help us to apply this in our lives. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. Truth is neither relative nor comparative. Truth is not changeable or changing. Truth is not a movable point on a fluctuating line of man's reasoning, nor is it discovered on a relative sequence which changes with society's attitudes or actions. Truth cannot be moderated to fit into one's own perceived notion of truth, nor can it be changed to line-up with a pet philosophy or unbiblical ideology. Sadly, the truth of God's Word is being aggressively distorted by many false teachers today. John calls these people "deceivers" and "antichrists" who have infiltrated much of Gods church today and who are contaminating the Word of truth with satanic lies and the deceit of this world. The words of John to the elect lady and her children are as meaningful to lovers of truth today as when he wrote his epistle: "I love ALL of you in the truth-and not only I, but also all who have come to know the truth." Let us seek to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth of God's Word and Align Ourselves With Lovers Of TRUTH who are submitted to the Spirit of truth and Who binds us together in a bond of peace and love. Let us remember the words of Jesus: "If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Word of truth and for the unalterable promises it contains. Thank You for the Spirit of truth Who has promised to guide us into all truth as we abide in Him and He in us. Help us to walk in spirit and truth, and protect us from any teaching that distorts Your Word of truth. Give us the spirit of discernment and wisdom so that we may recognize the one and only truth, which is found in Christ alone. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. Each day of creation added more color and beauty into God's perfect design, until our almighty Creator finally took some dust of the earth, and made man. He formed and fashioned it into the image and likeness of Himself. No surprise that God was satisfied with the work of His hand, and declared everything He had made was very good. Man was created innocent, faultless, and without a sin-nature to prompt him towards evil, and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. He was placed in the most lavish of surroundings, and provided with all that he could desire with one simple call to obedience, you shall not eat of that tree. But Adam failed! Adam disobeyed the Lord, plunging the human race into eternal condemnation instead of enjoying eternal rest. Adam's transgression put up a barrier between himself and the Lord. Just as all who are born into this world are Adam's sinful progeny, and identified with Adam's sin so all who are born-again, by faith in Christ, become part of God's New Creation Of Humanity and are identified with Christ's, perfect righteousness. All who are saved by grace through faith in Him, receive His life and are given rest for their soul, Christ is our Tree of Life, and that life is eternal. The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, what amazing grace that Jesus would choose to come to earth to die on our account, so that we no longer remain under condemnation as sinners, but are identified with Him and clothed in His righteousness. Thank You that You did not leave us in eternal condemnation, through Adam's sin, but purposed to redeem us with Christ's precious blood. We pray that we may live in willing obedience and thankful submission to Your leading and guidance, and thank You that in Christ we have eternal life, and will one day eat of the Tree of Life. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN. The important message that Paul is sharing here is that We Are Justified By Faith And Not By Works. We are saved by believing the Word of God and not by the keeping of the works of the Law. Paul wants to make a clear distinction between salvation as a gift of God's grace and salvation as a work of man's flesh. Throughout Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, we see that salvation is not a reward for good works but is always given by believing the Word of God. We are not justified because we merit God's favor through keeping the Law, but through faith. Justification by grace through faith is not a new way to be saved. A reward for something we do is not the same as a free gift of God's grace. What we believe and Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6 to emphasis that salvation ALWAYS has and always will be by grace through faith in God. Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.  Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that our salvation does not depend on what we have done but on what we believe. Thank You that we are not saved by what we do, but by what Christ has done on our account. Thank You that we are saved by grace through faith in the death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ. May we also live every day of our lives by grace through faith and may our prideful self remain nailed to the Cross, as the life of Christ works through us, to Your praise and glory. This we ask in Jesus' name, AMEN. |
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We are a growing group of people praying daily for and with others. We were led to start an online ministry to deliver what is needed more now than ever, a place where you can go to easily to submit a prayer request or requests involving others to pray for your needs. The Power of Prayer. Matthew 18:20- For where two or more come together in my name, there I am among them. You are never alone in prayer. The Power Of Numbers Praying.
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