Spiritual Warfare The Armor of God Part 15

Welcome to episode 66.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Spending time in the word of God is the best way to spend time with God. Welcome to No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast, where we will encourage, inspire, and empower you to live your best life in Christ. Here's Greg.

Welcome to episode 66. We are still putting on the whole armor of God. In the first 2 weeks, we got ready to put on the armor, and now God has allowed us to start putting on— now that we're in the position to better prepare ourselves and we have our heart ready and we're ready to get out there in this battle. And remember, this battle is to the death. None of us are getting out of this thing alive. And I believe that's one of the weapons that the enemy is using against us. He's using all of that fear of death, you know, with all this corona or the COVID or whatever you want to call it. You are constantly, or have been constantly, been picturing and having it in front of you. Hey, you're, you know, there's death out there. There's people dying. And, and the corona and the COVID is a very serious disease. So is a lot of other diseases, but they're not highlighting those diseases because they're— I think that Satan is just trying to manipulate us into fear. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't be careful and we shouldn't do all that, and I'm not even going to start chasing that rabbit. But we can— if you can't tell there's fear out there, then you're not, you're not engaged in anything in this world. There is fear, but the only way to overcome the fear, I believe, is, is in the faith of the word of God. We need to get back into the word of God. We need to start digging in. And I know you get tired of hearing me talk about it, but I, I believe it's so important that you just dig in. Just go ahead and open up your Bible today and start reading, and that's what I'm going to do. We're going to be in Ephesians. We're on Ephesians 6:15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. So I believe you and I can agree that we've got fear running rampant in the world today, and I think the only answer is the gospel. You know, if you're fearful of dying, and again, we We talk about, you know, I talk about death, and I don't wanna be flippant, but none of us are getting out of this thing alive. We're not gonna escape death. And so if we get death right, I believe that we can truly live. Again, it goes back to dying to self, and it is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You die to self, and it's something, and I know there's probably a better word for it, but I mean, the paradox, you know, God's ways are not our ways. You must, in order to live, you must first die. In order to receive, you must give. I know there's probably a better word out there that some of you English majors might can help me with, but it is— it's not normal the way God has us. His ways, again, are not our ways. But the way he has us thinking about these things, we have to be reminded that we're in a battle. And in order to be in a battle, you've got to have shoes. The, the army and infantry that doesn't have any shoes is not going to be around long. You can't march without shoes, without good shoes on your feet. You are going to not go— you can only go as far as your shoes will take you. And I, I don't know whose that quote is, but they're, you know, you've got to have good shoes. And the Roman— and when Paul was looking at, you know, putting on the armor, he was looking at the Romans, you know, he's watching them. You know, it was an occupied territory where Paul was living in Jerusalem. The Roman Empire was there. So he's seeing all these soldiers and he's seeing all of this stuff, so he's describing it. But he's talking about the shoes, and they're— I'm told that the shoes that the Romans had, they had like cleats. It was almost like football cleats. They had real hard soles, and then they had spikes that would come out of their— the bottom of their shoes so they could grip the ground. So when they were fighting, and the Roman soldiers, you know, they would not slip and fall. And if you slip, if you're in a sword battle and you slip, well, you're— I mean, your neck is open and you're, you know, you kind of dip down. Well, the other guy is at an advantage because he's above you. If you're slipping and you're— if you bent down, if he's standing firm, he just one quick swipe with his sword and you're done. And they are anchored. One of the things with the, with the cleats is you are anchored into this ground, into this— that I don't know that we truly understand the power that God has given us. And one of the reasons I believe that we're still here is because we have this power that God has given us. Now Satan is very good at deceiving us and making us think that we're just a bunch of worms and we don't have anything and woe is me and I'm just a sinner saved by grace, just barely hanging on. I am a saint, I am a child of the King and I have more power than I know what to do with. In fact, I need to learn how to use the power that God has given me And that's part of what I'm trying to do, is I'm trying to get you churned up, get you fired up, but get me fired up as well. We have got power, and I think the power comes when we're standing here on earth. Now, Paul had all kinds of power. He had signs and wonders following him and all of that. But now that he has gone to be with Jesus, now that he's in heaven, you and I have a whole lot more power than Paul has, because Paul is up in heaven. But you and I are still here on earth, and so we still, we still can wield this power. But I think we need to be connected, and I don't understand it all, I, but I think us by being connected to this earth that we draw from the power that God has placed in the earth. And again, I'm going to go back to the power of the seed because I, I just think it's so fascinating. And, and Jesus said, you know, if you don't understand this parable, you're not going to understand any of the parables. Power of the seed And then when the word of God, as you're planting the word of God, then some of it falls on good soil, you know, 1 out of 4. But the other stuff that falls on the bad soil, if you keep reading in Mark 4 where it talks about the earth that brings forth the seed, and I'm just gonna read it 'cause I love that scripture anyway. And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night, and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how, for the earth yields the crops by itself. Now I want to stop there. That's where I wanted to go. The earth is yielding the crops by itself, and the man does not know how. We— that's the thing, we don't have to understand all this in order to use it. Again, I tell you, we— my pastor said, you know, I don't understand electricity, but I refuse to sit in the dark till I figure it out. I'm just going to flip the switch. Look, I'm not going to try to explain all the intricacies of the power that God has given us. I know that when our feet are attached to the earth, that we have power. That's our body conducts the power that is in— that God has given us. And I don't understand all of it. I think that's why we lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. But let's get back to the shoes. If you've got— if you're standing on this solid ground and your feet are not falling, you'll be able to stand again. We remember, we stand therefore. So we're standing and we're not going to slip with the gospel. And if you have the gospel of peace in this crazy world that we're living in, what is the one thing people need? And they— I think they need the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. And the only way that comes is from the gospel. It is the good news. And if you hadn't figured it out yet, the enemy, the punk I call him, hates us. He hates anything God has made. I don't care if you're a believer or a non-believer, if you've just stumbled across this podcast, Satan hates you. He's a punk. You are God's favorite. So what he's trying to do is he's coming to steal, kill, and destroy. I mean, that is his only job. That's his only thing that he's coming to do. And if he can steal something out of your life, something that you love or something that you cherish, he's going to do it. And then he's going to do his best to destroy everything that you hold dear. He is going to He comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And then, you know, after he stole everything and after he's destroyed everything, then he's just gonna go ahead and kill you. Then he's done playing with you. I don't know if you've ever seen a cat that plays with a, you know, plays with a mouse or whatever before he kills it. I, you know, that's kind of the picture that I've got with Satan, is that Satan is just this big old cat and he's got us down there and he's just, he's stealing stuff from us and he's gonna destroy. And then he's just gonna get tired of us and he's just gonna kill us. But you don't have to worry about that if you're a child of the King. And that is the point that I want to tell you. Satan is just so slimy that he just keeps us from the truth. And if he can keep us from the truth, or he can keep us fearful, then we're not gonna, you know, we're gonna be distracted. Here's the one thing I want to tell you about the gospel: it sets people free. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You have got to get the gospel out of your mouth. You have to You have to speak it to somebody. People aren't just going to get saved because you take a knee. People are going to get saved when you proclaim the word of God. Now, prayer is important, and I believe that you pray for the people, your loved ones. In fact, I've, you know, the 1211 Apparel that I've created, the clothing line, and the scripture that I use all the time is John 6:44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is impossible unless, unless Father God draws a man. It's impossible for somebody to be saved. So there's a place for prayer, and I believe prayer is important. You've got to pray and ask God, God, who are you drawing in my life? And you start calling these people's names out. If you know these people are not saved, start asking God if they would— he would start drawing these people, some of your loved ones, some of your friends. And then once we put the shoes, the gospel of peace on, then I think that the— I love the scripture in Isaiah 52:7, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns. You know, and that's the gospel of peace, the people that bring the good news. How beautiful are the feet. Isaiah was looking at the people that were you and I. Isaiah saw you and I in the future. He was prophesying how beautiful the feet. He saw the gospel of peace. He saw the shoes that we were wearing. And once you have these shoes on, now you need to proclaim the good news. You need to set the caps free. And the only way to do that is to proclaim the good news. And I believe Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. I believe that if, if you will give people in your life your testimony, that disarms Satan. You've heard me say this before, that people can argue with an opinion, but they can't argue with your testimony. And if you give someone your testimony of what God has done for you then it's gonna be hard for Satan to fight that. And I wanna end with 2 Timothy 4:1-5. This is Paul talking to Timothy. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will keep up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you, be watchful of all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Look, you are a warrior for Christ, and you need to have the shoes on every day, and you need to be ready for the battle. This battle is daily. And you never know when someone's going to ask you, why is it that you are so positive all the time? Or why is it that you fill in the blank? If someone, if someone in your world asks you that, you've got the shoes on. If you've put your whole armor on, you've got the shoes. Go ahead and give them the gospel. When people ask me, well, well, what if I say something that, that keeps them from getting saved? And my response is, because I'm in sales, you know, these people can't lose what they don't have. They do not have salvation. So if you say something that messes them up, you have not— in your mind, and I'm saying in your own mind, if you say, "Oh, I screwed that up," you can't screw it up. The word will not come back void, and faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Don't let the punk tell you you shouldn't be talking. You've got to proclaim the gospel. It has to be proclaimed. And if you will proclaim to your world, people will get saved. That is just one of the rules. And if you say something that messes them up, I just want to encourage you, you haven't hurt their position. If they're not saved when you started the conversation and they don't accept Christ, they're still not saved. That you haven't hurt them at all. I mean, they may get mad or whatever, but if you say something and it changes them and they accept Christ, well then you've changed their life for eternity. So I wanna encourage you just to get out there and put your shoes on and be ready in season and out of season. And I know this was super long, but the gospel of peace is something that we have got to get out because this world is so fearful, and this, and it's just going so negative that we need some good news and we need some peace in this world. And the only way to get it is through the word of God. Well, thank you again. I appreciate it. I know this went way long, but I appreciate you being a part of this, and I look forward to talking to you in the next episode.

Thanks for listening to the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast at www.nodoubtonlybelieve.com.