On The Other Side of 50: A Weeping Warrior

11/18/201611/16/2016Leave a comment

The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil. ~CS Lewis

He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. ~from Jeremiah, in Lamentations 3

Oh beloved, it is true.

It is for us, those who have given up, and given into the Great Love that pursued us across the millenia, a conundrum. Oh, it is not that we are alone. It is that we are in such great company. We, in our youth, thought that life was to be only about joy. And in this, we were right.

It was just that we had no idea about what joy really was.

And we, those closer to 100 than to the day of our birth, have only begun to understand.

Pain

Sorrow

Loss

Defeat

Slings

Arrows

Gall

And all of the things like this…

They, the things that hurt in life, are the grit and gristle He is using to shine us into His likeness. And hopefully, in the pain of the moment, we can see beyond the haze and slurry. In our better moments, we are beginning to see that this life really does go by quickly.

We are not, in our better moments, worn out by life. We find that we are actually beginning to see that life is going by too quickly. We are far from ready for Home. We know that He is doing everything that is necessary for us to reach that Place, but we are really desirous that we do not arrive there in some sort of grinding of eternal gears.

We would rather arrive, and see Him with relief, and not with regret. And, we see so much in ourselves, even after decades of His polishing, that give us a godly sorrow. So, it is now that we welcome the abrasions of life. We welcome them. Though we have been put into a right relationship with Him, we are still so blind to what all this means.

Can we see it?

As our eyes are opened, we realize that pain, sorrow, and suffering really are a quicker path to our desire to be free from ourselves, and to be fully His. G_d is not sending junk our way to give us a hard time. G_d is sending the stuff our direction that give us the most direct path to knowing Him personally, radically, and freely.

Would you allow this fool of a writer to preach for a moment? Beloved, the warfare in this life is not meant to wear you down. It is meant to make you shine. The suffering of this life is not meant to punish you. It is meant to bring you to joy in Him. The losses of this life are not meant to impoverish you. They are meant to pry your hands open, so that He might fill them with true riches.

So, are you feeling the drag of age on your life? Has the battle brought you to tears? Good. You might be on just the right track. Tonight is your night, beloved. Embrace the pain. See it for what it really is.

Written by Makala Doulos: Makala Doulos is a child of G_d, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, G_d’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 18; Proverbs 18

Daily Quote:

Peace does not mean the end of all our striving,

Joy does not mean the drying of our tears;

Peace is the power that comes to souls arriving

Up to the light where God himself appears.

Joy is the wine that God is ever pouring

Into the hearts of those who strive with him,

Light’ning their eyes to vision and adoring,

Strength’ning their arms to warfare glad and grim.

~Geoffrey Anketell Studdert-Kennedy (1883-1929)

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁰that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.– Philippians 3:10-11

Past Performances

11/17/201611/16/2016Leave a comment

Moment of rest

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. ~Psalm 23:3

Not many of us learn from our mistakes, if we’re honest the truth is we usually are creatures of habit. A habit is defined – as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Our reputation is based on our past performance as well as how we may react or conduct ourselves given the current circumstances. What we need is our souls restored. There are times when we can surely say “my soul is satisfied”. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

The transformational healing message of the Gospel is that we no longer have to react according to our past performances. Our next move or reaction will be determined by whether we are walking in the Spirit or the flesh. I am someone who can be overwhelmed by anxieties usually brought on by fear, so when I find myself in a situation where I’m about to react, there’s an uncomfortable knot in my stomach that is ready to explode. It’s then I have a choice, a pure antidote for putting the deeds of the flesh to death is scripture. I can recite certain verses such as

“The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul”

To be able to allow God to “Restore my soul” is a sure fire way to step out of your typical “Past Performance” and walk according to the Spirit. I love when I am out of character especially when the character displayed resembles Jesus. I have often walked away from a situation thinking to myself, “that wasn’t me.” No, I would have not handled that well apart from the help from God.

I was in church recently and one of the songs during our worship time we sang “God with us, God for us, nothing can come against, no one can stand between us”. I was reminded of the passage in Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

There is a truth that we need to be reminded of and that is we belong to God. When I commit myself to God’s word it allows the Holy Spirit to restore my soul. I then respond to things according to the Spirit.

What are your anxieties today? What are you fearing? I believe God is waiting for you to come to Him so He can do what only He can do.

Our poor past performances no longer define us, we can walk in a newness of life when we commit ourselves to Jesus. Amen

Written by Rob Russomano: Rob is married to Terri, he is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full time staff member. He is also available as a speaker of the grace of God with a message of Hope for church events. You can contact him at rrussomano@americaskeswick.org.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 17; Proverbs 17

Daily Quote: The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. ~F.B. Meyer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Self-Sufficiently

11/16/20161 Comment

Satisfied with work done

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Roman 5:12)

Paul reminds us that humanity wasn’t originally sinful, however as a result of the fall we are now born in sin. And here we are with our fleshly nature and the ripple affects from the fall. The flesh is conditioned very contrary to our new identity in Christ; it rears its roaring head around us. I see this in my 3 year old.

For instance, Olivia comes down the steps with her hands behind her back and I ask her what are you doing? With makeup smeared on her face, She responds nothing and continues walk passed me. Reminded me of Adam, in the garden, trying hide from God, as His Creator ask ‘where are you.’ Adam and and Eve both try to fix the problem on their own.

Like Olivia and Adam, we are all in some type situation and our nature tendency is manage through the circumstances with own logic and or reasoning. Instead of instantaneously going to God, we slide and hide. However, when we were dead in our addictions, problems, uncontrollable situations, in state total depravity we cried, and God saved us.

Has self-sufficiency lead your back in a corner? Have you been managing through life fixing things with your own resources?

He is the same source to all of our resources. Let’s go back to trusting in One that holds the world in place, the Savior, the Redeemer; ‘the rock that is higher than I’

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 16 ; Proverbs 16

Daily Quote: When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don’t, they don’t. ~William Temple

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

He Pursued Jesus With His Voice

11/15/201611/14/2016Leave a comment

Man with megaphone in hand on the white background

“When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ~Mark 10:47-48 (NLT)

In Matthew’s account of this story he tells of two blind men alongside the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. They cry out “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David”, but the crowd that is hanging with Jesus tells them to be quiet. It’s a multitude of people you see and they are on a mission with Jesus so you two “undesirables” need to know your role, sit there and beg in the quiet of your misery. Yeah right, like that was gonna fly with them. So, they yell out (just a wee louder) a second time, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David”, and with that Jesus stops and asks them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

In Mark’s account of this story it’s focused on one of these two and when Bartimaeus cried out the second time, Jesus acknowledges him. “When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” (Mark 10:49) But the question doesn’t change, “What do you want Me to do for you?” In both accounts the restoration of sight is given to the blind from Jesus Christ Himself. Matthews account say’s He was moved with compassion and Marks says it was shown by faith, I believe it was both or it wouldn’t be in the Bible as such.

Funny how this comes right after two of Jesus’ disciples and their mother have this little discussion about who gets to sit with Jesus in the Kingdom. The NASB put it this way, “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want you to do us whatever we ask of You.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Now notice the difference here. We don’t have these two brothers addressing Jesus with reverence, oh no, we got two brothers who might as well went up to Jesus and said, “Yo Dude hook us up” before they asked this question, “Grant that we may sit in your glory, one to right, and one to your left.”

Now these were two guys that Jesus picked to follow Him. They see what Jesus does as far as miracles go, they hear His teaching straight from Him, He warns them about His death and rising and yet they wanna sit with Him in glory. Bartimaeus and his buddy aren’t privileged like this. They sit on the side of a road putting their hope in the generosity of others for provision. They probably struggle to get to synagogue to hear the writings of Isaiah, “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.” (Isaiah 11:1)

All Bartimaeus wants to do is run into Jesus and when he does all he has is his voice to pursue Jesus with…and what was in his heart. Now I could easily go into a deep discussion on how the High Priests, like Annas and Caiaphas, couldn’t see Jesus as that new branch as they recited Isaiah to those in synagogue or the implications that involved John and James as they thought themselves worthy of the seats to the right and the left of The Son, but both pairs of men thought themselves above guys like Bartimaeus so why bother giving it further mention.

Because I see myself like Bartimaeus, sitting on the side of the road at one time in my life, waiting for life to throw its scraps at me so I could exist. When I came to that point where I yelled out, JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME, He was just and true and removed those spiritual scaled from my eyes. When they were opened, I could finally see the grace and mercy that is Jesus Christ. The cool part of the blind man’s story is this, “Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.” (Mark 10:52)

Ya know, I think Jesus was gonna be cool with healing Bartimaeus and getting on down the road to Jerusalem. But He left the blind man with a choice and what did he choose? He chose to follow Jesus. Sometimes in the complexity of reading the Gospel we miss this simple thing…when the heart desires the things of Jesus, then we are to follow Jesus. Even if it means that we are following Him on the road to The Cross. I think, maybe Bartimaeus saw that for himself. Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 15; Proverbs 15

Daily Quote: “We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts” — A.W. Tozer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Preparing for Temptation – What is Your Battle Plan? (Part 4)

11/14/201611/12/2016Leave a comment

Good morning, brothers. I am thankful that you are joining us for a brand new week of Freedom Fighter blogs. I appreciate you taking time to read our blogs, and if they are a blessing to you, would you prayerfully forward them to a friend and encourage him to sign up to receive them.

Today is Part 4 in our discussion about PREPARING FOR TEMPTATION. We have talked about:

Identifying your area of temptation/weakness
Searching the Scriptures to see what the Bible says about your area of temptation/weakness
The importance of using the weaponry that has been provided for you in Scripture

Today I want to add to our plan #4 Watch and Pray.

Prayer is one of the weapons given to us in the Ephesians 6 passage combined with using the “Sword of the Spirit.”

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 6:18

Do you remember after the Last Supper when Jesus led the Disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and instructed them to pray with him while He went further to pray with His Father. The disciples fell asleep twice!!! Jesus admonished them with these words: “Watch (keep watching) and (keep praying) pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

One of the bloggers that I follow is Pastor Tim Challies. I don’t agree with everything he posts, but he recently posted on what it means to keep a watch on your life:

Think of someone you know who committed one of those grave sins, the kind of sin that disqualified him from ministry or wrecked her home and marriage. Think, perhaps, about the person who was caught in an illicit affair. It’s not like this person just woke up one morning and said, “I think I’ll commit adultery today.” No, that sin was the result of a long relaxing of vigilance. He first allowed his eyes to wander, then allowed lustful thoughts to linger. She began to strike up conversations she knew she shouldn’t have,

to go where she shouldn’t have gone, and to linger in the presence of someone she should have stayed away from. Over time these small actions prepared them for that big sin, primed them for that major fall. The sin was so unnecessary, so avoidable. But it became possible, it became inevitable, when they failed to keep a close watch on their behavior, on their life, on themselves.

God calls us to keep a close watch on our behavior and this requires both inner and outer vigilance, knowing ourselves and being known by others.

Inner vigilance is seeing ourselves through the lens of the Bible and believing what we see there. It is reading the Bible in such a way that the Bible reads us. The Bible exposes our hearts, lays bare our motives, calls us to believe and obey. We are to mine the darkest depths of our hearts through the brilliant light of scripture, to know our specific weaknesses and favorite temptations, and to do the difficult work of putting sin to death while coming alive to righteousness.

Outer vigilance is allowing others to see and know us. It is joining in community with others, exposing our hearts before trusted friends, allowing them to have a voice, and believing what they see and say. It is humility expressed in transparency. We keep a close watch on our lives by allowing others to keep a close watch on our lives.

A business principle that was written many years ago is true in the spiritual realm: If you fail to plan, you will plan to fail.

Part of our plan means keeping a watch on our lives and praying. How are you doing with this step? Here is the link to the full Challies article Keep a Close Watch on Yourself.

Have a great day, friend. I am praying for you to walk in victory. Trust you will do the same for me.

Written by Dr. Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: He has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years, and has three married kids, one that is engaged, and 10 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 14; Proverbs 14

Daily Quote: There is not an issue you’re facing that prayer cannot address because nothing is to difficult or impossible for God to handle. Living The Battle Plan

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Who do You Sleep with at Night?

11/11/201611/07/2016Leave a comment

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Hebrews 13:4

If someone where to ask you” Who do you sleep with at night?” The answer should be your wife….Right? But are you 100% sleeping with your wife? Or are your thoughts elsewhere?Sexual sin comes in many forms, cheating on your spouse isn’t limited to just having an affair with another woman. Jesus said “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

The world we live in inundates us with sexual images everyday. Newspapers , magazines, Commercials, TV. Shows and lets not forget our biggest threat…THE INTERNET!!! We are just one click away from going into depths of pornography that never ends. And when we put those images in our heads and hearts, how can we keep our marriage pure? Once any form of adultery enters into our lives and comes into the “marriage bed,” we have not made our wives our all and all. It can be a struggle everyday as our world uses “sex sells” at any level to get our attention. We need to protect our hearts and minds as to make sure that anything that is not pure stays out of our minds and we can concentrate on the two most important things in our lives….Jesus and whoever you said “ I DO” to!!

Written by Robert Breault: Robert is a full time staff member in our Food Service department.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 11, Proverbs 11

Daily Quote: “Hold not conference, debate, or reasoning with any lust; ’tis but a preparatory for thy admission of it. The way is at the very first flatly to deny it.” – Thomas Fuller

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

“…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” – Philippians 3:9

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Product of Your Environment

11/10/201611/07/2016Leave a comment

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13

There’s a saying “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” The issue is the substance in which your proclamation is made of. The question then becomes, do your claims hold water? What is the attitude of your deliverance of the message?

As a kid I remember my Mom and Dad being able to know who I was hanging around with by my attitude and actions. It’s true what is said “Bad company corrupts good character” – 1 Corinthians 15:33

Acts chapter 4 is a testimony of the power of God displayed in common men who were in good company with Jesus. The boldness we display should be recognized as something that is not of ourselves, if it is self-promoting or grounded in falsehood it will be unfruitful. Our actions, if directed by God, are done in power as a message that will pierce the heart and soul of a person. The results of our stance depend on our time spent with Jesus.

The encounter in Acts 4 is the result of a healing miracle done in the sight of all men. I believe when our message is not from ourselves, people will see the healing power of God in our lives and there is no refuting the claim.

Our boldness, if from God, should follow the pattern seen in the end of the chapter.

Testimony, verses 23, “And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.”

Praise, verse 24, “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them”.

Oneness with Believers, verse 32, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common”

So spend time with Jesus today and be impacted by His word. God is willing to speak through you. Be a “product of your environment,” people will know Who you’ve been hanging around with… Amen!

Written by Rob Russomano. Rob Russomano is married to Terri, he is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full time staff member. He is also available as a speaker of the grace of God with a message of Hope for church events. You can contact him at rrussomano@americaskeswick.org.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 10; Proverbs 10

Daily Quote: “The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us faithfully to proclaim God’s message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God’s church God’s way.” – Jim Cymbala

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

“…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” – Philippians 3:9

CLICK HERE to sign-up to receive this devotional via email each morning!

Now… If They Were Late

11/09/201611/07/2016Leave a comment

“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.” – Matthew 20:1-2 (NLT)

While they were growing up, my two kids were very different about doing things we parent’s label as “CHORES”. My son, Kevin, was always diligent about getting them done. When it came to mowing the lawn, this dude was right on top of it. So much so that he kept on me about the upkeep of our lawn mower and making sure the gas mix was at the ready. If his mom asked to take out the trash and recyclables he did it without complaining…or at least out of our hearing range. My daughter, Karen, was the complete opposite of this. The dishwasher would be getting emptied right about the time dinner would be done and the wet laundry was making it to the dryer just before her mother pulled up from work. As time went by Kevin started to vocalize his dislike of Karen’s disregard of work ethic and felt that she should be dealt with if not withheld from in terms of reward. Then they both moved out, now I have to do those chores… C’est la vie

When we look into Matthew 20:1-16 we can see something along the same lines. Those guys that were already at the landowner’s house early made an arrangement for a day’s pay, then the landowner went out into the marketplace and recruited more workers along the way. By the end of the work day EVERYONE was getting the same pay and that didn’t sit too well with those guys who showed up at the crack of dawn. I am one of those guys who does show up at the crack of dawn to get to work so I can kinda feel for these early go-getters but we aren’t talking man’s economy here. The kind of economy that says you are worth more than everybody, oh no, on the contrary, we’re talking about God’s economy here and that economy is solely based on God’s grace…and the cost of discipleship.

If we were to look at the landowner as being God the Father and those early go-getters as folks who’ve been a Christian all their lives, we could see that they consider themselves qualified to be worthy of working the vineyard and therefore all the more-worthier to receive God’s grace. But the landowner goes out into the marketplace and gets workers up to the last possible hour of a working day. To me, that means everyone was worthy enough to work the landowner’s vineyard. “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.” (Matthew 20:8) After this it gets messy… “Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.” – (Matthew 20:12)

Even though those early go-getters agreed to work the day for the same pay that those who worked the hour got they forgot who owns the vineyard. The way I see this story is Jesus is telling us that everyone is welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven. If you take a moment and consider the ones who the landowner encounters during the day we could say this illustrates how God the Father seeks us out to bring us into the Kingdom. Even down to the last-minute people can consider themselves worthy of God’s grace. With Jesus as His “foreman” grace is dispensed for all who follow Christ’s direction while working in the vineyard. “And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.” – (Romans 11:6)

I kinda gotta giggle at Simon Peter. In Matthew 19:27 he boldly makes this statement, “We’ve given up everything to follow You. What will we get?” Isn’t that what we think when we leave our sinful selves behind to follow Jesus? When I left all that I once behind I was glad to be rid of it but as my walk with Christ went along I kinda wanted more than what God was giving me because I thought it was about performance and duration. But as God continues to deal with me I have come to better realize the cost of discipleship and work on finding contentment in that realization. Oh, I will still show up at the crack of dawn to get the work done but I will be all the more-happier to see others showing up as the day goes along. How about you?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 9; Proverbs 9

Daily Quote: “Peter was not promoting or predicting a cold and lifeless and formal spirituality in the Christian church when he advised believers to gird up the loins of their minds and be sober. He was saying to the early Christians as he hopes to say to us now: “Brethren, if ever there was an hour when we needed to be serious about our Christian faith, this is the hour! We need to be sober men—and spiritual men.” —A.W. Tozer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

“…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which isfrom the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” – Philippians 3:9

CLICK HERE to sign-up to receive this devotional via email each morning!

Life Is Full of Questions!

11/08/201611/07/2016Leave a comment

“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” -Job 38: 2-3

What does it mean to try be justified by the Law? How can a sinful person have a right standing with a just God? What was Paul dead to, what was he free to do, and what was he freed from? How did his freedom affect the way he lived his life? Likewise how has this newfound freedom affected your life? In Christ, we all free, but what makes you different?

These type of questions seem to resurface within my circle consistently and the answers tend to change depending on who I’m speaking to and when. I realize this level of truth is greater than the human brain, deeper than human intellect, and beyond the scope of the nature of man.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?”

We are never going understanding completely the Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ or how it entirely relates to mankind. The Holy Spirit will provide the answer you need in due season, but until then continue to ask these healthy questions. Until then, be thankful that God has put a new song in my heart a new desire in my path.

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.'” -Matthew 11:25

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 8, Proverbs 8

Daily Quote: “In any matter where we have questions, we have a right to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us and to expect His gentle guiding.” – Curtis Hutson

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. – Philippians 3:8

CLICK HERE to sign-up to receive this devotional via email each morning!

Preparing For Temptation – What is Your Battle Plan? (Part 3)

11/07/201611/04/2016Leave a comment

Good morning brothers (and sisters who have joined the Freedom Fighter blog). We have been working together on developing a plan for dealing with the temptation that comes into our lives.

The first two steps are 1) Identify your area of temptation/weakness, and 2) What does the Bible have to say about your area of temptation/weakness?

Today I want to encourage you with strategy #3 – Use the Weaponry that has been provided for you in Scripture to resist and battle temptation.

No one ever said that it was going to be easy. I think we are seeing that the battle lines have been drawn in the world context we are living. Satan and his minions seem to be attacking Christians around the globe. What I am not suggesting is to give credit to the enemy for every trial and struggle you are facing. This is not about giving him more credit than he deserves. BUT WE ARE ALSO NOT TO BE IGNORANT of his devices.

Please consider these two passages of Scripture:

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c]against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6:10-19

³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

There is so much that I could say about these two passages. But I want to encourage you to dig a little deeper yourself. Can I be bold enough to suggest that we together should memorize these two passages?

The Lord has provided these weapons for us. They are not just to sit on the shelf. I noted that He asks us to put on the whole armor of God, but I don’t see any place where he says after we put it on, it’s okay to take it off?

If you’d like to do further study on this, I suggest you grab a copy of William Gurnall’s work on The Complete Christian Armor. It’s a great study. You can get it from Amazon and there is even a devotional based on his study.

Now I’d love to hear from you. Share with me what the Holy Spirit teaches you from this passage. You can email me at bwelte@americaskeswick.org.

Put on the whole armor today. Use the weaponry God has already provided as we battle temptation. Live in Victory, brothers.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 7; Proverbs 7

Daily Quote: “O the naughty heart of man that love the wages of unrighteousness that the devil promises, but fears not the wrath of God.” – William Gurnall

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which isfrom the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. – Philippians 3:9

Freedom Fighters

A Daily Email Encouragement for Men!

Author: America's Keswick

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