Discipleship Unveiled

The armor of God has been a topic that has been difficult to get our minds wrapped around. What it is and how we put it on, has seemed to be a bit mysterious. So maybe by looking at the effect of the armor we can get a better understanding of how to put the armor on. We previously looked at The Shield of Faith , so let's take the next piece. We're leaving in,  The Effect of Armor,  section here for continuity. The Effect of Armor The most prominent place the armor of God is listed is in  Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV .  Each piece of armor has an effect. Since it is spiritual armor, and we are physically oriented, it can be difficult to understand what is happening when we have it on. One of the things we know about armor is that once we are in the battle, we shouldn't have to think about the armor. It will passively protect us and we shouldn't have to give it another thought. We inspect, test and repair the armor on a regular basis and ensure it i...

The armor of God has been a topic that has been difficult to get our minds wrapped around. What it is and how we put it on, has seemed to be a bit mysterious. So maybe by looking at the effect of the armor we can get a better understanding of how to put the armor on. We previously looked at The Belt of Truth so let's take the next piece. We're leaving in, The Effect of Armor, section here for continuity. The Effect of Armor The most prominent place the armor of God is listed is in  Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV .  Each piece of armor has an effect. Since it is spiritual armor, and we are physically oriented, it can be difficult to understand what is happening when we have it on. One of the things we know about armor is that once we are in the battle, we shouldn't have to think about the armor. It will passively protect us and we shouldn't have to give it another thought. We inspect, test and repair the armor on a regular basis and ensure it is fitted corr...

There are plenty of studies on the armor of God that do a great job on describing what the armor is. Yet, it's still challenging to get a good grasp of what the armor actually is and how to put the armor on. Let's come at this in a little bit different way. Since the armor of God is such an important part of our walk, let's shift our thinking and look at it from a different perspective. Instead of starting with the what  and how of the armor, let's look at the effect of the armor and maybe the what and how will make more sense. The Effect of Armor The most prominent place the armor of God is listed is in  Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV . Each piece of armor has an effect. Since it is spiritual armor, and we are physically oriented, it can be difficult to understand what is happening when we have it on. One of the things we know about armor is that once we are in the battle, we shouldn't have to think about the armor. It will passively protect us and we s...

There may be a few ways to look at happiness vs. joy and maybe this will add value to their distinctions. Happiness is generally determined by what is happening to us or even an accumulation of good or bad events or circumstances. Joy is completely different. It is determined by what we choose. When you ask someone if they are happy, the happy person says something like, "I feel good, things are going well, there haven't been any emergencies, my relationships are going well." The unhappy person says, "I haven't felt good, things are not going great, I've had a few emergencies and relationships have been tough." These are all external influences. Joy, for the Christian, is internal. It is a fruit of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit, in a Christian, is always producing this fruit. It's our job to get in on it. The barrier for doing this, comes from thinking we are the source of joy and we have to go outside of ourselves to get it. The Old Man ...

Have you ever wondered why there are so many great Christian men and women that read the same scriptures and come to so many different and seemingly contradictory conclusions? Well, me too! There's actually a good way to understand this phenomenon, and understanding it can really help us in our discipling. Perspective and fluid circumstances, are things that can be difficult to get our mind wrapped around. If only we were like the Lord and had unlimited knowledge. Yet, we will find that we don't need all knowledge if we have a great thinking strategy. One reason we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our mind is because when we come to the Lord we think like the world. The challenge to transition our thinking is analogous to the question, "does a fish know he is in water?" How can we take on God's thinking process when we are not even sure where the boundaries of our worldly thinking lie? Jesus thought in ways that were foreign to everyon...

There are three basic ingredients that go into our walk with the Lord. Prayer, reading the scriptures and connecting with other Christians. As much as we are grateful to the Lord for our new life, we still find that we struggle to do even these seemingly simple things. Why is that? It's because we do not understand the process of growing in the Lord. We need to be discipled. It is a vital part of coming to know the Lord and designed to bring us together that we can be of one mind, as the scriptures instruct us to do. Without discipleship, we see growing in our walk much differently than the Lord does. In fact, the ways of the Lord are difficult to understand until we grow into them. As a new creation in Christ we grow through having our mind renewed. There is a way that God sees that we cannot. God has a thought process that our old nature, which is the only way we knew, cannot understand. We need to adopt a new way of thinking or we simply will not know God or who He is...

We continue our look at the Three Phases of Salvation , focusing in on Sanctification. When we are sanctified we are going through a process of becoming Christ-like. This is where we respond to an ongoing work of the Lord. The response on our part is obedience in faith. It's important to note, that all phases of salvation, Justification, Sanctification and Glorification, are done in faith and the growth is from the Lord. In sanctification we grow in Christ through obedience done in faith.  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit [Rob: Justification] and soul [Rob: Sanctification] and body [Rob: Glorification] be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. -  1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB Becoming Christ-like  What we see in this stage is an opportunity to grow, stumble, recover and then continue to grow. In our relationship with the Lord, even though we are separated from...

When we believed and confessed that Jesus is Lord we were saved. That is to say, we were made perfect in the eyes of God. Looking closer, we see that we repented, believed and confessed what was in our heart. Jesus is Lord! We are now a new creation in Christ. Now, what? Once we are born again and become a new creation, it doesn't take too long to realize that, although we are right in God's eyes because of the work Jesus did on the cross, we were still susceptible to sinning. It can be confusing, if not difficult, to grow in the Lord if we do not under what is happening in our salvation. The Three Phases of Salvation Since salvation is realized in three phases we want to understand each phase and understand God's part and our part. The good news is, God does it all. However, there is a corresponding effect on the believer as He molds and shapes us. Justification The larger scope of salvation involves three distinct stages in a Christian's walk. We are sa...