The Full Armor of God

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.” - 2 Corinthians 10:3

Have you ever wished you could smack the enemy in his head?  Or, maybe even kill him?  When horrible things happen to us, it's only natural to want to put a 'hurting' on the one who has caused it.  As a child of God, you have weapons that you can fight with, although they are not natural weapons.  Rather, they are supernatural.

We have to dig deep to fight an enemy that we cannot see and most times that means implementing several things.  One, it means knowing what God's Word says about our enemy and the powers that we've been given.  We will not know how to fight if we do not read the instructions.

The Bible gives us all the instruction we need but it needs to be wielded.  

We have to get dirty and fight.  We have to use the armor God gives us, because when we do, we will experience victory.  Period.  End of story.

Take a few minutes every day to prepare yourself, saturating yourself in His Words and comfort.  God wants you to succeed in every good thing and He loved us enough to give us the blueprint to do it.

"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. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:14-18 (NIV)

~God Bless, Melanie

Count It ALL Joy!

I have quite a few writings from my dear friend, Heather Wilson-Smith, that I will be sharing with you.  Please click on her name to find her on Google+...

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4

In the midst of your struggles, and in the midst of your worry, rejoicing doesn't always come easy. But, this is precisely the time to keep on keeping on!
It's feels good to rejoice in the Lord. Maybe you've tried this and it just didn't seem to work...that's okay, just keep on rejoicing. When you cannot feel ANY joy whatsoever, when your hurts overtake your soul, when there seems to be no comfort or encouragement around you, still rejoice.
I have a new favorite song. It's by Shannon Wexelberg and it's called, "Count it all joy". The chorus goes something like this:
"Count it all joy when we face many trials, when we suffer for righteousness sake.
Count it all joy for like gold in the fire, every test is refining our faith."
We can count on God to deliver us from our sufferings, and He will make good of the bad. You don't think that our Father would let us carry His banner of victory to the front of the battle and then stand back to see us captured or beaten by the enemy, do you?
The Holy Spirit will sustain us in our boldness and fill our heart with gladness and praise.

As my Mother always says, "This is STILL the day the Lord has made"!

~God Bless, Melanie

Devotion - Why Am I Here?

Why Am I Here?

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

—    John 15:8

Contrary to popular belief, God did not put us on earth for our own personal happiness.  Now, that is not to say that He doesn’t want you to be happy, just that He has a much greater plan for you than that!

Why am I here?  First, you are here to have a relationship with God and to worship and glorify Him.  This means that we are to put Him first and give Him honor and glory in everything that we do.  He didn’t just put us here without the things we need to do this either.  He gives us the ability and strength to accomplish the works He has for us while we’re here.  They are FREE gifts.  Use them!

He also calls us to bear fruit in our lives.  Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit" (John 15:16). If you are a child of God, in a relationship with your Creator, then spiritual fruit will be evident in your life. Don’t think that this spiritual fruit is going to spring up as soon as you give over your life to God.  These things take time; just like real fruit starts from a seed and sprouts and eventually grows into a beautiful tree, then bears fruit.  This tree must also be taken care of and watered or it will wither and die.  Continue seeking Him by staying in His Word daily and developing a relationship with Him that you may know His purpose for your life.  As you see spiritual fruit springing forth in your life, your relationship with Him will grow and bring much honor and glory to the One who created you.

~God Bless, Melanie