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"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemptio

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ Over the next couple of months, we will be going through the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Paul visited Ephesus on his third missionary journey around AD 53-57. He spent nearly three years there ministering to the church

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ - “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” In his first letter to the Cor

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” - ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ I am taking a short, two-week break from the blog. I have been blessed with an opportunity to preach soon, and my mind and heart have been focused in on that responsibility. This will be my first time back in the pulpit in nearly two months, and it has been an incredibly long and difficult journey back into it. I praise God for neve

Titus 2:1 - "But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine." Many people who claim to be Christians today refuse to join a church. People point to past church hurt, a lack of time, or a lack of good local churches as a reason why they refuse to join a church. This shift away from the local church has in part been exacerbated by the growing online and megachurch movement. Many of the world's biggest churches now broadcast directly into your home via television, intern

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” - ‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ Last week, I wrote about enduring trials based on James 1. This week, we continue our look into James but this time we will be looking into the end of chapter three. Here James is discussing wisdom. This week’s blog, much like last week, is a standalone blog post. We are not necessarily doing a study on James, although ma

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” - James‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ We are finished with the Armor of God series and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This week we are not starting a new series, but instead I am reflecting on some recent life events and looking at them through a biblical lens. I pray that this may help you endure d

Ephesians 6:17 - "... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..." We are now to our final piece of armor, which is the sword of the Spirit. The previous pieces of armor leading up to this one did not all give us the exact spiritual definition of what they represent. However, this one does. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. Just as the sword is a defensive and offensive weapon, so is the word of God. In Matthew 4, we see how the word is just that, the p

Ephesians 6:17 - “and take the helmet of salvation…” The helmet is arguably the most widely recognized piece of a Roman soldier’s armor. Not only did it display confidence and power, but it also protected the solider in battle. The helmet obviously protects the head of the soldier. The helmet of salvation in this instance protects the mind of a Christian against spiritual attacks of the enemy. The Armor of God can only be worn by a Christian. Without being in Christ, this arm

Ephesians 6:16 - “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” We now come to the shield of faith. So far, you have fastened the belt of truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, and put on shoes of readiness given by the gospel of peace. Now we turn our attention to faith and the shield of protection our faith gives us. Our faith in Jesus Christ, by God’s grace, is what reconciles us with the Fa

Ephesians 6:15 - “And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” Now that we have fastened the belt of truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness, we move to our shoes. Our shoes are what we put on before we go somewhere. They are usually the last thing we put on before we leave the house. If you are like me, you have a pair for a few different occasions. You have the pair you wear to work, the pair you wear for exercise, the pa

Ephesians 6:14 - “Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Last week, we looked at the belt of truth. The truth of God, found in His word, guides us as we live in this world. The belt of truth is the first piece of armor and the one that allows the others to fulfill their purpose. This week, we take a brief look into the next piece of armor, the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate on the uniform of the Roman soldier protected all the vital organs against attacks fr

Ephesians 6:14 - “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” The very first words spoken by our enemy in Genesis 3 are, “Did God actually say…?” He is exactly who the Bible tells us he is. He is a smart, crafty deceiver who is set on stealing, killing, and destroying everything that belongs to God. He doesn’t always make it obvious as to who he is or what he is doing. He lives in deception, causing us to shift our sights ever so slightly until suddenly we are off

Ephesians 6:10-13 - “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil

Joshua 24:15 - "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Your Circle of Influence We live in a world that is extremely interconnected. With a few clicks of a button on a device that fits in our pockets, we can know just about anything we need to know. This can be useful at times, such as when things like war and natural disasters break out. We can be more prayerful for those impacted by these kinds of tragedies. Having access to the internet can also be useful when we

Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." The idea of a faith-based blog has been on my heart for awhile. The idea first occured to me as I searched for more purpose and value-added work to do for the kingdom of God. It was never meant to be a works-based feeling of accomplishment that brought attention to myself. I simply wanted to get the truth of God's Word out to more people, that they may know H