Protect the Mind

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  – Ephesians 6:17

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste” – The United Negro College Fund advertising slogan from the late 1970’s.  What an incredible statement created by Forest Long of the advertising agency Young and Rubicam.  I have no knowledge whether he had any thoughts or consideration of the impact of evil thoughts on the spiritual mind, but it certainly can be applied to Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:17.  I’m sure you’ll agree the human mind is vulnerable to being influenced by people and things in our surroundings on a daily basis.  I can’t begin to tell you the number of times something external has triggered contradicting thoughts in my mind.  At the beginning of the New Year when I’m trying to cut those few extra pounds I make a list of those things I know to avoid, and an advertisement will trigger a desire in my mind to have that thing.  Once planted, I now have to fight against that desire if I intend to stay on my plan, or I chose to give in to that desire and pay the consequences of not losing the weight.  I know the right thing to do, but my mind is easily influenced by external stimuli to step across that line, if I let it.

The helmet of salvation protects our mind just as the breastplate of righteousness protects our heart and organs.  God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, are a solid defense against these daily attacks from the world and Satan.  The more we have engrained it into our thinking, the more we are able to call on His word in a time of struggle.  When Satan begins putting thoughts and stimuli into your mind, targeting your areas of weakness, it is often times easy for us to convince ourselves that we are hopeless and condemned.  His intent is to cause doubt in our mind of God’s love, grace and mercy.  It is the hope and trust in Jesus Christ plan of salvation that allows us to remain focused and fend off these attacks. 

I ran into an old friend at Starbucks just last week.  He was coming in as I was going out.  I realized I had an extra 30 minutes before I needed to be at the office, so I decided to sit with him and catch up.  What a blessing it was.  We talked about our kids, we talked about softball, we talked about college football and about our careers.  He had recently taken his retirement for medical reasons and was now in the position after 30 years of looking for a new job, yet his disposition was amazingly confident and positive.  I talked about the difficulties we had been faced with, and how God had always been there to see us through it.  He looked straight at me and said, “I’ve had many of those Job 38 moments.  You know the one’s where you realize that God is God and you are not.”  In the midst of his struggles, my friend knew that God was in control and that he only needed to trust in His word.  In the chaos of this world, he trusted in the Word for his strength, and did not listen to the world saying you’re not good enough. 

Finally, we read in Paul’s writing that we should take up the sword of the Spirit.  This is by far my favorite of all of the elements of God’s armor.  I remember watching David, as a young child playing make believe with his sword.  He carried it around the house defending our family against all sorts of invisible foes, from dragons to wolves and snakes.  He would hold his plastic sword in his hands and cut through the air, lunging and slashing as if he were a swashbuckler aboard the Black Pearl.  His imagination filled with enemies to defend against and knowing that his trusty sword could protect him and our family from these onslaughts.  In the same manner we are attacked by invisible influences upon our life every day, and need to defend ourselves.

In the Word we find Jesus, as He was preparing for the His crucifixion, promising us that He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  This Spirit would continue what He had started and be with us always as our counselor, our comforter and our guide.  Upon salvation the Holy Spirit fills your heart and mind with His righteousness.  We know right from wrong, good from evil and sin becomes blatantly apparent in our life.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of our iniquities and points us to the path of repentance and forgiveness.  He does not condemn us, as Satan would have you believe.  No, the Holy Spirit is God within you, constantly reminding you of His love, grace and mercy.  These are the truths from the Spirit to be used to defend against the evil and unrighteousness of the world.  As Satan attacks you with feelings of condemnation, guilt and feelings of unworthiness; you draw upon the sword of the Spirit to fight back. 

As temptations arise and thoughts of impurity bombard your mind, call upon the Holy Spirit for strength and the Word of God for wisdom to defend against these attacks.  It’s important to continue learning from daily quiet times and reading of the scriptures.  It’s important to strengthen your trust and confidence in God’s love for you, and build that relationship with the Holy Spirit within.  Metaphorically speaking, put on your helmet each day and do not keep your sword of the Spirit in its sheath where it is useless, but rather draw upon it when you are faced with trials and the influence of the world.  When the world says, “Do this, or do that?” you have a checks and balance to compare it with to ensure that it is within God’s righteousness.  Chose to follow what the Spirit is telling you, and be assured that you are within God’s plan.

Prayer:
Almighty God,
You have provided Your Holy Scriptures, Your Word, to be our guide as we face the influences of this world.  You have provided the Holy Spirit to be our conscience, our comforter and our teacher in times of trial and temptation.  We draw upon Your Word and Spirit as our defense against the evil in the world.  To defend our thoughts and our knowledge from Satan’s attack, we look no farther than Your promise of salvation.  Despite the world’s condemnation we hold true to the promises of Your Word, Your love, mercy and grace and the promise of Christ’s return to take us home.  Help strengthen our courage and persistence in the eyes of evil, so we might hold firm and demonstrate Your love to others through our actions.  In Your name we pray - Amen

© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
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Armor of God: It’s Your Faith – Know It

 
“…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”  – Ephesians 6:16

 

The battle for the mind is so unbelievably real.  If, as a believer, you aren’t seeing it or feeling it, step outside of your box and engage with non-believers.  In my 54 years I have never seen a society so offended and set on a path of destroying the Christian church.  From the media, to education, to social media, and the entire entertainment industry.  For years we feared ISIS and foreign terrorists attacking our foundational beliefs, but in the last three years I have seen more from within our own neighborhoods, communities, and relationships than ever before. 

Militant attacks from “non-believers”, Atheists, or Agnostics have increased dramatically with the introduction of social media in the last 5 to 10 years, simply because there is a keyboard and screen to hide behind.  No-one can challenge you when you are sitting in your basement and ridicule others for their beliefs, or blaspheme God, or call for violent actions against others in your media circle.  This is the world in which we now live.  The days of respect for others opinions and beliefs have shamefully become blurry in the rearview mirror of life. 

So, what is our defense?  What is expected from the Christian in today’s battle torn world of religious discrimination?  Faith.  Faith is your choice to stand on the truth of your beliefs.  My faith has been challenged numerous times since I was a young age.  As I’ve matured though, I have come to realize that as much as I have faith in my beliefs for an unseen, unproven God, others have just as much faith in a world created by chance and complete circumstance.  We are therefore caught in a tug of war with those who refuse to accept a creator, or intelligent designer of life. 

Taking up your shield of faith though is essential to battling in this war with the world.  Your ancestors were not challenged in the same manner, but none-the-less their challenges were very real.  We must find within our relationship with God, almighty, the foundation of our faith, and be able to defend it.  To fend off the arrows from society; be it Atheists, Agnostics, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, cult or sect; one must know why they believe what they believe, and who it is that they believe in.  Faith is commonly defined as believing without seeing.  Everyone of us on this earth exercise faith for this battle.  Not one of the individuals on the other side of the argument can definitively prove their case.  Each must rely on faith of something that they believe happened. 

The atheist wasn’t here when the Big-Bang was assumed to take place.  There is no proof of life coming out of the primordial soup or a skeleton of the stages of evolution between different types of animals, as fish became land animals or vice versa.  There is no physical proof as to which came first the eyeball or the brain neurons to enable sight.  There is no physical proof as to which came first the heart to pump the blood or the veins to carry it; and so on, and so on.  You see, we all rely on faith in order to defend our position. 

Your faith in God must be centered on the belief that we are all imperfect sinners in this world.  Every single one of us, for all of time, are destined for eternal separation from God the Father.  For He is perfect and cannot allow for unrighteousness in His presence.  Therefore, there must be an atonement for our iniquities in order to enter into His eternal Kingdom.  In most other religions, this atonement is obtained through the actions of man in an attempt to appease His holiness.  Doing good works is just that good works.  It is not an atonement for our salvation.  For you see, once the good work is completed, you will wake up the next day and sin again, in thought, deed or desire.  Therefore, more good works are required.  How many, which ones, when do I know enough is enough?  

In Jesus Christ, we have a perfect Lamb of God as our sacrifice for our sinful actions.  Jesus died once, and by his bloodshed, death and resurrection, we are redeemed and washed of our sins to be seen by the Father as spotless.  Jesus took my sins upon himself, so that I could receive eternity with God, the Father.  This is the story of our salvation, this is the root of my faith.  Unless someone can come to me with another way to expunge of my sinful nature and be washed completely clean to stand before the Lord on my own, I have nothing else.  I need a Savior because I believe there is something beyond this life.  I believe there is something beyond this life because if there is not, than life is meaningless. 

If nothing happens after one dies, than why did they live?  If there is nothing after life, you could shoot someone tomorrow and it wouldn’t matter.  It’s your choice and you’re entitled to do those things that seem right to you.  It’s sad for them, but what difference does it make, they were going to die someday anyway.  You see how absurd life is, how hopeless it is if there is not something afterwards. 

My faith is rooted in knowing that the Word of God is truth.  I’ve seen the historical biblical evidence in Jerusalem, Athens, Ephesus, Capernaum, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Istanbul and many other places along the Mediterranean Basin.  I’ve seen Nehemiah’s wall, recorded in scripture around 425 B.C.   It’s there, in Jerusalem, under the old temple walls.  Does this mean the bible is 100% true?  No, of course not.  I have faith that the Bible is the word of God, sent down for man to understand His desire and plan of salvation.  Seeing Nehemiah’s wall though, helps me realize that the historical record in the scriptures (Neh 2:18) were accurately accounted for over 2500 years ago.  Show me a science book discussing primordial soup and evolution from that era.  You must base your faith on your experiences with God, and your relationship with Him.  It cannot be watered down or trivial, for the enemy’s arrows are very pointed and deadly.



Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Wash me oh Lord in your Holy Spirit.  Let Your love for mankind flow through me as I look at the world today.  Let me be an agent of strength, filled with faith, love and deeper understanding of Your ways.  Fill me with Your calling, that I might stand strong in the armor You have provided and defend the attacks from the enemy.  You are my rear guard and You have given me the tools to defend through my confidence and faith in You.  Bless me to be stronger in my quest.
– Amen


© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com

A Strong Foundation

“{Stand firm then} with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”  – Ephesians 6:15

Sunburns hurt. 

I realize we are in the middle of winter (here in the Northern Hemisphere) and sunburn is far from a topic on our mind at this time of year.  As a matter of fact here in Houston they are expecting a winter freeze this weekend with precipitation that might actually spawn a few snow flurries.  Back to the story of my Summer sunburn.  It’s bad enough to get a sunburn on your shoulders or neck or arms, but when you get a sunburn on the tops of your feet, the pain can be excruciating.  We were fortunate to visit Oahu several years ago and I cannot forget the second day there while we were hanging out on the beach, my feet became sunburned so bad I had a hard time walking the rest of the week.  Every pair of sandals I put on would scrap against the tender skin, and tennis shoes weren’t possible as they would apply pressure to the whole foot.  Needless to say it was a lesson in being prepared, which obviously I wasn’t.

In the days of Jesus the Romans would wear sandals made of leather, laced up the front as a measure of foot cover that was light weight enough, yet durable in the dirt and desert terrain of Rome and Israel.  These sandals also provided a solid foundation for the soldiers because they had small nubs on the bottom that would provide traction when fighting and /or climbing.  They never knew when a battle or skirmish might ensue but they knew that they were well equipped and confident in their footwear to stand their ground.  They were prepared should anything break out during their daily patrols.

The words of Paul draw a parallel to our ability to create a solid foundation for our battle against Satan.  We never know when a battle might ensue.  Trials and temptations come up every day in one way or another – arguments, addictions, integrity, pride are just a few examples.  The gospel of peace stems from the peace of our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ.  Throughout the New Testament He is giving us examples of peace and in one of His final meetings with His disciples as captured in John 14 (v.27) He states; “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”  The Holy Spirit that dwells within us carries the Peace of God in our hearts.  In Romans 5:1 Paul writes; “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord - Jesus Christ”  The gospel of peace is not a gospel of timidity, but a gospel of love, grace, mercy and compassion.  Reaching out to others with the love of Christ in a peaceful manner to bring the story of salvation to the world, is what we are asked to do. 

We ready ourselves for evangelism and to battle the evil in the world by putting on the sandals of the gospel of Jesus Christ – the Prince of Peace.   We are to take His peace to the world, and if they reject it, they are rejecting God’s plan of salvation.  Be prepared at all times by continuing to strengthen your understanding of Jesus Christ’s love, grace, mercy and compassion so you are on a solid foundation and prepared when the opportunity arises.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Teach me oh Lord to be strong in Your word, to be confident in Your message to the world and to build a strong foundation from Your gospel.  I seek to bring Your message to others in a way that is acceptable and filled with love and peace that they might understand and grab ahold of.  I rebuke the evil of this world through Your name and refuse to allow fear to fill my mind and heart as I see the strife and absence of peace in the world.  I call upon Your Holy Spirit to work through me to represent Your peace to those I come in contact with.  In Your name we pray - Amen



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Armor of God: Belt of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness

 
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place” – Ephesians 6:14
 
“You can’t handle the truth” – a famous quote from Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men.  And to some degree he was spot on.  We have become deaf to the truth in the world today.  Politicians tell us what we want to hear, just to get elected.  Corporations tell us all the good they are doing for the world while at the same time steal our data, sell it, and use it for their gain.  Financial Institutions loan us more and more money at exorbitant interest rates, creating an unmanageable amount of debt, crippling families everywhere; while at the same time charging penalties and fees for not having a large enough balance in the bank.  Corruptness flows from every nook and cranny of our society, and if we indeed knew the truth it would cause outrage and revolt as never seen before.

I posit that mankind doesn’t want to know the truth, for in knowing the truth one must then decide how to respond to such knowledge.  If you truly knew the truth behind decisions made on Capitol Hill, you would never vote the same again.  If you knew the truth behind the technology inside of your iPhone, Android SmartPhone or your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat account you would turn them off instantly.  Observe your daily walk, and ask yourself do you truly know the truth about everything that is going on around you.  You’ll soon admit that the answer is an unquestionable No.  But yet, you’re okay with this arrangement.  Why?

By our nature we want to avoid conflict and just live our lives peacefully, unhindered by others around us.  By expanding our view of the truth of how this world operates, we open up questions and concerns and bring direct conflict into our daily decisions.  Yet, there is a single point of truth which we are drawn to stand on, and that is the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The world will become corrupt and filled with unrighteousness.  Read Revelations and discover the wrath of God upon those who will abide in the flesh and align with the worldly influences rather than the truth He has provided through His Son Jesus.

To fight this war against the world, we must first fully embrace the truth and righteousness found in and through Jesus Christ.  Acknowledge that He alone is the Son of God and the path to righteousness and eternal salvation.  Not through Buddha, Allah, many Gods of the Krishnas, Joseph Smith or Mohammed will you find salvation.  Jesus Christ states in John 14:6 “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the light, no-one comes to the Father except through me.”  His word is the single absolute truth for mankind’s eternal soul.  The world will fall away, but you are not of this world when you are a follower of Jesus.  You are simply in this world at the present moment, while waiting for your final destination.

The world will continue to press down upon you with false claims – there is no God, man evolved from apes, life began from an extreme change effect in a primordial soup and has continued to evolve into our intelligent being over billions of years, all paths to God are the same (Buddha, Hari Krishna, Allah, Taoism, Mormon, etc.).  Why don’t they want to see the truth?  The reality is that they are afraid of the truth.  For the truth represents a narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14) and the prideful, self-centered, sinful life of mankind does not fit through the narrow gate.  By acknowledging and accepting Jesus Christ as the truth and only way, he or she must then acknowledge their transgressions and turn from those ways toward righteousness.  This is a deal breaker for many and therefore the revolt by claiming it to be untrue.  This is the foundation of the war my friend; God’s truth vs. Satan’s lies.  This is why the belt of truth must be the first piece of armor you put on every morning.  For without this foundation of truth, you cannot stand firm in your actions and decisions that day.


Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Your word is alive in our lives.  We look for Your truth within Your gospel and choose to hold onto that truth as our lifeline to You.  Help us to be loving to those who are blind to Your truth, and yet place the words upon our lips to share this truth with them.  Help us to be wise in our testimony as we share it with others.  Let us place our light on a candlestick and not hide it under a bushel, that all may see Your truth represented in our life.  In Your name we pray - Amen



© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
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We’re at War

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11
 
Perhaps you, like me, have struggled with thoughts or actions that are contrary to the walk of a Christian and you are feeling guilty.  Do any of these ring a bell?

“If God knew what I did last night, He would never let me into heaven.”

“I accept that Christ died for me, but I can’t stop thinking about . . . . “

“It’s just one drink, I’ve been sober for almost a year, I should celebrate.”

“Nobody will know if only do it this one time, what could it hurt.”

“They need to suffer, look what they did to me 10 years ago.”

These are just a few examples of everyday thoughts and justifications for actions that are not necessarily in line with God’s righteousness for your life.  Do you think you are the only one being tempted by a worldly perspective?  Think again.  There are unrighteous thoughts entering the minds of every Christian that walks or has walked upon this earth.  You are not unique in that, and Satan is alive and well – and knows exactly which buttons to push.

We are weak.  Let’s face it, our minds and heart are vulnerable to the sensuous pleasures of this life.  Be it money, fame, sex, drugs, alcohol, power and authority or food we are all in the same state and must decide how to handle it when it happens.  It’s so easy to live for today and forego dealing with the potential long term implications of the decisions we make in life.   Based on our naturally sinful heart and mind we have a propensity to act upon our thoughts and desires without fully comprehending how it might hurt others or who might be affected.  Let me ask you, if your decision made the headlines of your local news or the Wall Street Journal would it impact others opinion of you as a follower of Jesus Christ?  Every decision you make is known to someone else, based on the actions you take after making that decision.  If that person or those individuals look at your decision and action, and then make an assessment of Jesus Christ based on their perception; you have to ask yourself if you have glorified God or created separation from God.

In Ephesians 6 Paul writes about putting on the armor of God, figuratively speaking that is (v. 14 – 17). 
 - The Belt of Truth
 - The Breastplate of Righteousness
 - Ready your feet with the Gospel of Peace
 - The Shield of Faith
 - The Helmet of Salvation
 - The Sword of the Spirit

The battle of the mind and the heart is a daily battle, regardless of your age or maturity in Christ.  Satan is not going to walk away and throw up his hands in defeat.  His intent is to manipulate your mind into thinking that you do not need God, and he uses the world’s view as his weapons.  This battle between God and Satan is very real and the final outcome has been recorded in the book of Revelation.  You can’t read and believe the Bible and then throw out the book of Revelation as fantasy.  If you believe that God created the world, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, David was a shepherd boy and became King, Daniel survived the lion’s den, Noah built an ark, God flooded the earth, John baptized in the river Jordan and Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived, died and rose again; then you can’t say that the book of Revelation is not going to come to fruition.  There will be a judgment day and there will be a new heaven and a new earth, just as is recorded in the Good Book.

When the enemy attacks each day, you need to stand firm in the foundation of God’s love, His grace and His promise of eternity.  You will fail, we all do; but in that failing you must realize that God’s grace is unchanging and His redemption remains true despite our shortcomings.  Take your weakness to the Lord in prayer and ask for His help when you are weak.  He is your Lord and His word is your weapon.  Only you can decide on how you want to use it – either as a prop sitting on your bookshelf or night stand, or as a tool to take on the daily challenges you will face.  As for me, I choose the latter.  This doesn’t make me perfect or better, it just makes me prepared.





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How Will We Know?

 

“Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.”  – Matthew 24:4-5

 

When they ask, and they will, “What makes you think Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven?  That’s pretty close minded isn’t it?” what are you going to say in response?  Understanding our faith and being able to share it and explain it to others is important in strengthening your Christian walk.  I speak with so many people that say they believe in Jesus Christ in conversation with me, because they know I am of the same belief.  Yet, these same individuals will not have a discussion with someone of unknown belief for fear of their ability to defend their belief. 

Many today are lost and seeking the truth about eternity.  There are plenty of people more than willing to share their belief in this religion or that; or their belief that all religions lead to the same place, so it really doesn’t matter.  Many will be misled and be eternally lost by the deceiver of this world.  Over the last century there have been thousands, around the globe, who have come forward and claimed their own divinity and led people to believe their lies.  Two examples that are very real in the last 30 years are David Koresh (Branch Davidians) and Jim Jones (The Peoples Temple) where each had claimed to be the Messiah and drew people unto themselves.  We learn in John 10:27, that His sheep know His voice and will follow when He calls them home.  Do not be led astray by those self proclaiming their worthiness.

Rather, stay solid in your faith in the One true Messiah – Jesus Christ.  We find Jesus and His disciples discussing His return in the 24^th chapter of the book of Matthew, as well as in Mark 13 and Luke 21.  Many things mentioned in these books are obvious in our world today (wars, pestilence, nation vs nation, famines, earthquakes and persecution) and must be recognized as such.  Jesus tells us to watch out for these things, and to be discerning as we do.  Not in an attempt to predict or establish the time of His return, but rather to not be misled.  Always be prepared and ready through study, prayer, fellowship and righteousness.  When the deceiver approaches you, it is important to be prepared and grounded in your faith.  Know what you believe, why you believe and what you are going to do with this knowledge. 

Do not be afraid of the questions that may come your way.  You will never have answers to all of the questions regarding Jesus Christ and His grace.  Allow God to work and speak through you.  The right words at the right time will flow according to God’s plans, you just have to be willing.  But, just like everything in life, the more you study and prepare the more prepared you will be.  The arguments of the deceiver are very convincing, but the armor of the Lord is unwavering.   Over the next few days we will be looking at the armor of God as captured in Ephesians 6^th chapter. For to impact 2019 in a big way for God, you need to be armed and protected and understanding the armor He has provided is the first step.

Like so many years, 2019 has all the promise to be a great year to change our outlook on evangelism and take that step to tell someone about your belief in Jesus Christ.  Put on the full armor of God and take up this challenge for the Lord this year.



Prayer:
Sovereign Lord,
You have promised in Your scriptures to return and lead us home one day.  We wait patiently for that glorious day and seek Your wisdom and knowledge along the way.  Help us to be prepared when the evangelism opportunity presents itself.  Help us to speak Your truth to others and openly share Your grace, gospel and love with all that we meet.  Strengthen our spirit Lord to put on the full armor of God and stand up to the enemy in the world today, that we might be able to help others see Your truth.  In Your name we pray – Amen



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