April 2001

[Part 142]

“Issues of the heart”

[Part Sixty]

Hope For the Fearful Heart! [RR]

“WHO CAN I TURN TO?”

               AN IMPORTANT WORD for all Kingdom sons! BE ON GUARD against all soulish distractions and detractions from God’s singular purpose for our lives! He exhorts us:

“BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT! ! PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL, SINCE WE DO NOT WRESTLE AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD; BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AND SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES! THUS YOU MUST PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD SO YOU ARE ABLE TO WITHSTAND IN THE EVIL DAY! AND HAVING DONE ALL, TO STAND!” (Eph 6:10-12)

             These are not light words, beloveds! Our heavenly Father knew from the earth’s foundation what mischief would be wrought in these last days by His “wily devil”; and He purposed to warn and empower His sons at that time- and that time is here when: “False Christs and false prophets shall arise who will show such great signs and wonders that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect !” (Mt 24:24) Many who call themselves Kingdom believers are pitifully unarmored with Kingdom Truth in this hour! It is not so much that they do not possess Godly armor, for many “Study to show themselves approved” (2 Ti 2:15); rather, they do not PUT ON THEIR ARMOR!!
                Either their love of this world, or their fear of the next world, forbids them to take this final step but the hour draws late and the forces of evil lodged against us are getting too strong for us to continue in such shortsighted folly!
                Any serious study of the Armor of God will quickly reveal that it all symbolizes CHRIST!!
                When young David took a stand against giant Goliath, he shunned the “armor of King Saul” as it represented the WEAK ARM OF FLESH! The cowardice of Saul and the whole army of Israel in the face of this blaspheming Philistine reflected a NAKED FAITH that had turned away from God! But David stood in that evil day fully clad in his ARMOR of FAITH IN GOD! 2000 years later, the SON OF DAVID withstood His Evil Day attired in that same Armor of Faith as He climbed the hill to encounter Calvary’s cruelty! Jesus is described as “naked” on the Cross but in actuality this Captain of our Salvation was fully armored in the FAITH AND GLORY OF GOD! Now today, as we, His sons, face our Evil Day of “death to self” on that same bloody Cross of Christ, we must be clothed with that same ARMOR OF ANOINTING! Let us put on the Truth of Christ which shall “GIRD THE LOINS OF OUR MINDS” (Lu 12:35); and put on the Love of Christ which is the “BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” (,right standing or standing upright before God; or standing on the Right Hand of God) and having our FEET SHOD with Christ’s Gospel of Peace (the mark of a slave in Biblical times was to be shoeless). And above all, taking the Faith of Christ as our SHIELD to “Quench the fiery darts of the wicked”; and the Mind of Christ which is our Helmet of Salvation; and the Word of Christ that is our Sword of the Spirit!” (Eph 6:10-17)
                It is to CHRIST and His TRUTH, LOVE, PEACE, FAITH, MIND and WORD that we are to turn for help in all things! We do not know what each day will hold as we awake to face it, but we do have the promise of God that “Each day will have its sufficiency of evil” for us to overcome; and it can only be overcome in and by His Christ! (Mt 6:34) So often God has said to His people,“THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD’S!” (Read: 1 Sam 17:47; 2 Chr 20:15-17; Ps 24:8) But let us understand that God ordained every trial in our lives for two purposes: 1) to expose the utter weakness and ineptness of our flesh; and 2) to reveal the greatness and power of His Christ!
                In other words, all the tribulations appointed to us are deliberately CHRIST-SIZED, not man-sized!
                We know, “The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit” (1 Co 2:14) but is not only referring to the “blessings of Christ”; but also the BATTLES OF CHRIST! Spiritual battles cannot be fought and won by the man of flesh! Christ, Alone, can fight and win them! Yet the flesh- in its soulish or “Saul-ish”(if you will) armor- tries to usurp His Glory! What folly and futility! When flesh tries to fight the Spirit’s battle, it is doomed to defeat from the onset! So as each new “goliathin challenge” is hurled at us, we must turn our hearts and faces to CHRIST and lift our voices to Him, “For all that you are about to do in this situation, we give you thanks and praise” and then, by His Grace, just “Stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord”!! (Ex 14:13)

[TO BE CONTINUED]