Armor
Greetings and a Merry Christmas
wish to you
all as we celebrate the birth
of our Lord!
We pray that all is well with
you and yours
in your house. So, if you are
living in the
northern areas, are you ready
for the winter
yet? I know, I know, you barely
seem to have
lost your tan and we are talking
winter gear
already! So take that inventory.
Shovel ready
- check! $10 bucks to pay the
kid down the
block to do it instead - check!
Winter coat
and gloves - check! Waterproof
boots - check!
Knit cap - check! Extra warm
socks - check!
We’ve got our winter armor all
set! Looks
like we’re ready to go! Which
brings us to
our newsletter topic - armor.
Do you have
yours on?
You will find out that as you
get older,
some things start to hurt a bit.
You don’t
have to admit it. You can deny
it all you
want, and if you are denying
it, there is
only one reason for doing so
- you are still
young! It is part of life. Most
of us have
been athletically inclined since
we were
younger and those injuries that
we accumulated
over the years take their toll.
The years
of weight training can bring
it on as well.
When I was eighteen, young and
full of myself,
I swore I could curl 225 lbs.
I did and it
hurt - a lot. Caused a nice case
of tendonitis
in my arm that still jumps up
and bites me
anytime I do arm or back work
to this day.
This is where the armor comes
in. I was getting
ready for some arm training the
other day
and my pre-set routine consists
of putting
on a pair of elastic wrist raps,
neoprene
elbow braces and some elbow wraps.
I chuckled
to myself as I prepared for battle
thinking
about how a gladiator would probably
go through
a similar routine as he prepared
himself
for the fight. The armor is different,
elastic
wraps compared metal, but you
get the idea.
These things are weight warrior’s
armor.
The knees wraps for leg work,
the wrist wraps
and straps, any neoprene item
that fits over
a joint, a pair of Power Grips
come in handy
for those with tender hands.
Think of it
this way: When warriors of old
would go into
battle, they would cover all
of their vulnerable
spots, those areas that meant
instant death
or mortal wounds. No, we won’t
die if we
don’t wrap and strap, but we
might strike
a deathblow to our lifting life
if we don’t.
("For we do not wrestle
against flesh
and blood, but against powers,
against, principalities
against the rulers of the darkness
of this
age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness
in the heavenly places."
Ephesians 6:12)
For me, this is a pretty strong
Scripture
and one I must study over and
over again
because it never seems to sink
in and stay
there. I am after all, a faulted
human being.
Thank you God for your mercy
and grace! Calamity
and strife often show up in human
form, the
person who always seems to try
and antagonize
you, draw you into an argument
or fight.
Or perhaps you can never get
out from under
your bills, even if you scrimp
and save.
Being plagued with one injury
or illness
after another also drags you
down, the list
can go on and on. You can fill
in your own
blank here. The one thing we
often overlook
is just what Ephesians 6:12 states;
it is
not against things of this earth,
which with
we fight, things we can see.
It is against
the devil and his demons - the
spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places.
True, Joe at the office gets
your goat every
time. Why? Perhaps he isn’t a
Christian and
you are. It irks him. Hmm. Is
it that Joe
is just a jerk or is it the devil
and his
minions trying to draw you away
from your
walk with God? If you think about
it, you’ll
know the answer. This is where
our Spiritual
Armor comes in into play. We
cannot do battle
without it. Just like the wraps
and straps
we use to wage war with the weights,
we need
our Spiritual Armor to wage war
with the
devil. You see you have no choice.
Well actually
you do. Sit by the wayside and
let the devil
have his way with you or armor
up! When you
chose to accept Jesus as your
personal Lord
and Savior, you joined the game.
You came
off of the sidelines and decided
to play
for the winning team. You put
the bull’s
eye on your back! Praise God
that you did!
The devil however, didn’t like
it one bit!
Too bad, so sad, bye-bye! We
need our armor
to do battle. What is our armor?
Glad you
asked! (" Therefore take
up the whole
armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done
all, to
stand. Stand therefore, having
girded your
waist with truth, having put
on the breastplate
of righteousness, and having
shod your feet
with the preparation of the gospel
of peace;
above all taking the shield of
faith with
which you will be able to quench
all the
fiery darts of the wicked one.
And take the
helmet of salvation, and the
Sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of
God; praying
always with all prayer and supplication
in
the Spirit, being watchful to
this end with
all perseverance and supplication
for all
the saints." Ephesians 6:
13-18) Again
I ask, what is our armor? One
word: Jesus!
That’s right, Jesus. You know,
waisted with,
The Way, The Truth, and The Light;
Righteousness
and Salvation won by His sacrifice;
peace,
the kind that passes all understanding;
faith
that comes by hearing and hearing
by the
Word of God; The Word that became
flesh and
dwelt among us. When He gave
His life for
us, He defeated the devil. He
is our protection!
We are God’s children my friends!
Do we dare
let the devil try to steal our
inheritance?
Certainly not! You see people
kicking and
screaming over a will left by
a relative
for a few thousand dollars. How
much more
should we fight for our right
to eternal
life? Get ready to rumble my
brothers and
sisters in Christ! We are in
a battle! Sound
the Shofar! Armor up!
And now for our prayer. Father,
in times
of trouble open our Spiritual
eyes and help
us see the real enemy that hinders
us. Holy
Spirit, strengthen us in our
prayer knowing
that we "avail much"
for our own
homes, families, friends and
those who you
bring into our lives. In Jesus
name we pray.
Amen! Now, go with God and lift
that iron!
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