Snapshot: Applying the Ephod

Yesterday the Lord led me to enter the number 642 into Eliyah's Greek lexicon.  Hmm, exciting stuff.  That website is such a good way to hone hearing.  And I found out what that meant, below:

--a girding on (of the ephod)

And I knew that it was time to put on my spiritual armor--that the Lord was encouraging me in that. In the Old testament, the Levites had the ephod, and today, every believer has the breastplate of righteousness.

"Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"                                                       Ephesians 6:14

These are things that we ourselves are responsible to put on or apply to ourselves.  God doesn't necessarily do it for us.  We can apply to ourselves the Words of Truth and allow God to protect our body.  How are we protected?  Because we take on markings that set us apart.

And then today, I was reading 1 Samuel 30 (verses 6 through 8 below).  In it, David had just experienced a huge loss and was very much out of control.  But then a shift happened.  David found strength in the Lord.  He girded up and sought out God--to use some KJV terms.

Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. "

And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

Interesting, huh?  David applied the Urim and Thummim--a way of discerning God's will--to His problems so that He could overcome them.  That's how David mounted up.  That's how David recovered from such a tragedy.

We need to know that God is on our side.  We can't blame Him for problems or bad events.  We can't think He has made loss our only option.  Within the heart of God, there is a solution,  There is a way out.  David could seek God through inquiring of the Urim and Thummim, and we can seek God through inquiring of the Holy Spirit.  And He'll give us the right answer and the right plan.  Even the disciples in the book of Acts cast lots (Acts 1:26)!  So we can expect God to speak to us through whatever means the Spirit prompts us to use.

We can gird on the ephod today.  We can put on that breastplate of righteousness and know that God is good--that He's for us and not against us!  That's when we have confidence to inquire of Him. If you ask Him what to do, He'll give you the best solution.  He'll make your path perfect (Psalm 18:32)!  He'll provide a window of grace that enter in through and overcome.

Snapshot: Putting on The Armor

A few months ago, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for my spiritual armor everyday.  To my regret, I haven't been completely faithful in this.  I've since came to a heart change, and now pray into this and put on my armor everyday.  To quote a commercialized catchphrase, the origin of which currently escapes me,  "Oh, what a relief it is!"

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."  

Ephesians 6:13-16

The truth is that God has equipped us with our spiritual armor since the time we first believed--and perhaps before then, too.  Heaven's reality says that our armor has been, is, and always will be in place.  Why, then, do we need to constantly apply and reapply it?  Why do we need to continually pray for something that has already been given to us?

The answer lies in renewing our minds.  We need to come into agreement with God and the Light.  Spiritually, we need to identify with Him.  We need to clothe ourselves with His protective covering so that the enemy knows exactly who we belong to.

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land."  Job 1:10

God has done this.  He has put our spiritual armor on for us.  In today's terms, He has placed around us a forcefield of spiritual safety.  If we forget these things, though, then we are at risk.  There is power in our thoughts, and there is even more power in our words.  We need both of these to agree with God.  We need both of these to know what God has given us.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32

Jesus said that hearing the truth is not enough.  We need to know it!  We need to know it and agree with God.  Once we come into His knowledge with renewed minds, that's when the truth is activated in this world.  That's when we are able to be made free.  Once we confess with our words and know in our hearts (Romans 10:9), that's when our spiritual armor becomes more of a reality than this present life.

So, we agree with God that we have on His Armor.  We take up the shield of faith, and use it to deflect and deny every message that satan tries to send us.  And we surround our heads--our minds-- with the helmet of salvation, which is the Word of God.   We meditate on the Word and think about God and His faithfulness.

This is how we resist the enemy.  This is how we never lose the joy of our salvation.  This is how we  position ourselves for going from Glory to Glory!  He wants to keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and with this armor He's made a way.  God never gives any promise that we are unable to fulfill.

Confirmed:  Last Sunday a church friend was led to share with Vanessa and I the importance of putting on our spiritual armor every single day.  That was God's reminder to me!

Confirmed:  Another reminder came through Rick Warren's daily devotional.  I'm no longer subscribed via email, but these devotionals still manage slip through to my inbox occasionally.  God's timing is so perfect!  I received one called, "Fighting the Enemies of Good Intentions".  The pieces were put together for me.  The enemies here are the devil and his spiritual forces.  We fight them with God's armor!  It is our spiritual armor that allows us to retain good intentions.  It is God's protection that allows us to seek Him and stay covered.  It is His Armor that equips us to fight the enemy's evil with good.

Snapshot: Fear Brings an Atmosphere Shift

In a previous post, Repentance Brings an Atmosphere Shift, I described at the end of the post how our mental state can influence the spiritual atmosphere around us.  Those things that please God, whether repentance, or humility, or whatever else, allow God to work for us and shift our spiritual atmosphere into a good place.  This place is the Kingdom of Heaven, and if are doing His, then the atmosphere of the Kingdom will surround us wherever we go.

So, "good" mindsets bring in the "good and perfect" things from Heaven.  The reverse is also true--"bad" mindsets bring in darkness and lies from the enemy.  These bad mindsets can be brought about by our physical circumstances, our spiritual circumstances, or both.  When we encounter bad circumstances and lose faith, we risk entering into a vicious cycle where our foundation in God falls away.

I've found that the main reason we fall out of the Kingdom, out of that atmosphere where everything points to Jesus, is because of our own sin.  Unrepentant sin blocks out our living in God's presence.  One of the things that most quickly shifts our spiritual atmosphere downwards is the sin of FEAR.

"For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."  Romans 14:23

Fear is definitely not of faith.  Fear represents a lack of trust in God.  Fear cannot receive the perfect Love of God (1 John 4:18).  Fear is sin, and left unchecked it will very quickly draw us out of His rest into a place where we are an easy target for Satan.

In a previous posts I've mentioned that the enemy can give messages in a similar way that God can.  He too has a voice, an agenda, and a message to spread.  When we fall into fear, we fall into his territory.  And we may become convinced of his lies.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..."  John 10:10

This is satan's agenda.  He is also a liar and the father of lies.  He is deceitful and never gives the truth, and when we become fearful it is so easy for us him to plant seeds of doubt and unbelief into our minds.  When you fall deeply into fear, the promises that God's given you can become quickly forgotten.  Worse yet, they can become transformed into a web of lies where every confirmation God has shown becomes a sign of condemnation from the enemy.  The Truth is that God has turned our darkness into light (Psalms 18:28)...but the enemy can get take you to a mentality where you fear God's Light is actually a place of evil and darkness.  Satan is the first one to call evil good, and to call good evil (Isaiah 5:20)!

This may be hard to imagine without a practical example.  A few days ago, I began hearing about the Freemason society.  For the purposes of this blog, let's just say they are not of the Light.   Since then I've been seeing the word "mason" more frequently.  I've been hearing things in the news about satanic cults.  I've even been getting mason's jars as gifts!

In addition, I see the number 33 all the time, especially on digital clocks.  This number is something that God uses to remind me of good things (Jeremiah 33, for example), but that same number is very important to free masons.  Oh no!  It seems like the enemy would have me believe I'm destined to work for forces of darkness in the future.  That shouldn't be a surprise; all satan does is pervert the truth.  And as ridiculous as that lie may seem to me right now, if I happen to fall into fear I will very quickly become enslaved to it.  I may even begin to forget God's promises and actually wonder if I'm supposed to be a freemason.

And that is exactly what the enemy wants.  The more fearful we are, the more the true things of God become shrouded in the appearance of darkness by satan.  And the true things of evil begin to masquerade as if they were from the Light (2 Corinthians 11:4).  Not only does satan want us to think that God's Truth is in fact a lie, he wants us to accept lies as the truth.  Lies that may seem ridiculous now can become paralyzingly real if we stay in fear for long.

Things get worse if we acknowledge these false realities as if they were true.  Just as faith can allow God and His army to move, I believe fear and unbelief allow satan and his darkness to activate in our lives.  Slowly but surely, living life in a fearful state can gradually bring us into a dark version of our previous reality, where there is no Love from God nor any hope.  It is in this state that satan can actually actively influence us.  This is when we may be tempted to lose hope, or to betray our faith in God for good.

Look at how often Jesus talked about fear.  Both He and the many angels who appeared in the OT always warned the people not to be afraid.  Why?  Perhaps the presence of fear could actually manifest an increase in the powers of darkness.  I believe that fear shifts the atmosphere into a place where we fall out of God's army and satan gains the upper hand.  Fear can even hinder God's will from playing out as soon as it otherwise would.  So let's counteract this by hanging on to the promises of God.  Let's be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9).  And let's not be afraid, or dismayed (Deuteronomy 31:8).  Take heart because Jesus is still on the throne.  He is still in control, and He is for us.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."  Matthew 14:27

Snapshot: Repentance brings an Atmosphere Shift

A few days ago, I was really having a rough time with thankfulness.  All I could do was get angry at things, and honestly, I surprised myself.  I knew what God was pleased by, but I just refused to do it.  I was definitely not walking in the Love of God.

The next morning I was in the Word and kept coming to rebuking messages.  I read about Saul's downfall and His being tormented by an evil spirit.  I read about the harsh actions of wicked men in the psalms.  And I kept coming to more 'negative'  verses, some of which were obviously condemning, some of which were not.

After a little while, I realized that there was a hole in my spiritual armor.  Thankfully, there is no condemnation for us, as we belong to Jesus (Romans 8:1).  But if we are not abiding like He'd want, we are vulnerable to condemning thoughts or signs.  It is satan, the accuser of the brethren, who places these mindsets in.  And the only reliable way to overcome him is to be cleansed by God (see Zechariah Chapter 3).

So, by Grace I realized something had went wrong.  I realized--the Lord laid it on my heart-- that I needed to repent for my sins, namely anger and disobedience, the day before.  I thought I'd already done this, but He revealed to me it wasn't quite heartfelt.  I didn't fully tell Him, "sorry".  Nor did I commit to future change.

At that point, I repented.  I humbled myself and apologized.  And just like that, I knew I was forgiven!  Our Lord is so quick to do that.  I felt Him tangibly take that burden of my shoulders.  My vision opened up, and I felt remade as new.  With great faith--it comes from a great God--I opened up my Bible to another place and began reading what I saw first (for more on reading the Word, click here).

"...that He may lift you up in due time"  1 Peter 5:6

And that's exactly what He does.  If you humble yourself, He will lift you up.  If you repent, He will forgive.  These are His promises!  And when you repent, you enter freely into the Kingdom.  Just like that, the power of our Lord and His angels is at hand.  Just like that, we know what it means to have a yoke that is easy, and a burden that is light.  We can be sure that He has forgiven us.  We can be sure He has claimed us as His own and silenced the accuser.  We can see and take great joy in the reality that He has turned our darkness into light (Psalms 18:28).  His life becomes our light.  Glory to God!

Elevated Foundations

Today the Lord spoke to me in the morning, saying,

"I am dismantling the old creations and bringing in new, elevated foundations."

He gave me a vision of a wooden ladder being cut down, and a newer and larger metal ladder being set up in its place.  Both ladders were placed on a rock slab, like something out of a quarry.  This, to me, symbolizes my foundation in Christ, and the birthplace of my faith.  A few days ago I read Isaiah 51:1...

"Listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the LORD: look to the rock from where you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you are dig." (AKJV)

I believe the Lord wants to show us how to be constantly uplifted, a place where we can fully obey Jesus when he says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled".  Rather, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  This is something that I know I can struggle with.  

There are spiritual tools, spiritual weapons, that He's been prompting me to use recently.  Of course, The Bible tells us to put on the full armor of God.  But a recurring warfare theme for me personally in the past few months has been to continually praise Him.  The farther along you get with the Lord, the more at risk you become to opposing forces...but praise Him that He provides weaponry that truly allows us to be more than conquerors!  

So, how to stay uplifted, how to best dwell in the shelter of the Most High? Here are a few strategies that have helped me out:

-Above all, praise Him!  Make time for this...as you progress, you'll find that even raising your hands and thanking Jesus for a few seconds takes your right into the Spirit!  It's a wonderful place to be.

-Sing and verbally worship.  Surround yourself with worshipful music, and sing along.  Pray in the Spirit, sing in the Spirit.

-Intentional discussion with other believers.  Confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed...

-Prayer, dependent prayer.  Lean on Him, and intentionally ask Him to allow you to stay in His presence.  I remember a while ago, the Lord told me quite clearly, "If you can't feel me, something's up."  It takes time, but with humility, you can come to a place where all you want to do is clings to His presence.  It takes a pure heart and pure actions to stay in this place, but praise God that His grace enables us to remain there!

That's it for today.  I'm committing to a post each day, on whatever theme the Lord directs me to.  My goal is to provide fellow Christians inspiration to go deeper into the Glory of God.  Stay tuned for more posts, if you feel compelled!