Copyright © 1999-2006 Emergency Ministries. All Rights Reserved.
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STRESS RELIEF |
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March 2006 - (4) Four Articles |
The "Standard Operating Guideline For Life" is the Holy Bible.
"Water Shield"
March 27, 2006
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 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."
- Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)
We are in the sixth week of our study from the book of Ephesians and learning about GOD's personal protective gear. The SOG for Life, the Bible, calls this PPE 'the whole armor of GOD.' This week, we will talk about another piece of the armor of GOD - the "shield of faith."
We need the protection in our line of work, don't we? That's why we wear all the gear that we do. We also can use water as a shield. We use water to protect nearby structures... thus establishing a 'shield' from the flames of the original fire structure. And, I want you to notice something from our verse for this week; our shield extinguishes the flames!
The particular piece of armor we are talking about this week is the 'shield of faith.' So what is this? Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) defines it well; "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Faith, then, is "knowing," not just 'believing.' Does that make sense? In other words, I don't just believe that GOD loves me... I KNOW that HE loves me. It is that faith, therefore, that protects us from the 'flaming arrows' that Satan 'shoots' at us. And, what are those 'flaming arrows?'
Satan's arrows could be things like - doubt, lies, wasted time, greed, excuses and hate.
This should tell us a couple of things. First, the enemy is "always on the prowl." Satan is looking to destroy you anyway he can. He wants you back. So, he uses all the 'flaming arrows' in his quiver of deceit to fire at you. But, the good news is that we have a powerful piece of armor to protect us.. our shield of faith.
So, fellow warriors... KNOW that our REAL CHIEF is more powerful than our enemy. KNOW that HE loves you. KNOW that HE protects you. Take up your shield of faith as we serve together...
...On HIS Shift,
"GOD's Bunker Boots"
March 19, 2006
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 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."
- Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)
We are continuing our study from the book of Ephesians and learning about GOD's personal protective gear. The SOG for Life, the Bible, calls this PPE 'the whole armor of GOD.' We began the series by talking about putting on 'the whole armor.' We have talked about "taking a stand" and we have examined the "belt of truth." Last week, we talked about "the breastplate of righteousness." This week, we will talk about another piece of the armor of GOD - HIS "footwear."
Let me ask you something - When you are on shift and you actually get time to sleep, do you get your gear ready to go before the tones drop? For instance, do you pull the legs of your bunker pants down over your boots, so that all you have to do is stick your feet in, stand up and pull the pants up? You can easily slip your suspenders on. And, just that quick you are down the pole and headed to the apparatus.
Well, in the verses known as "The Great Commission," JESUS says this,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 - NIV).The Apostle Paul instructs a young preacher by the name of Timothy, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." (2Timothy 4:2 - NIV).
All of these verses teach us this... we are to be ready at all times (our feet 'fitted with readiness') to tell others the good news ('the Gospel of peace') about our REAL CHIEF. That doesn't mean you talk religion. That doesn't mean you have to be an ordained preacher. What it very simply means is this: tell them about a relationship - tell someone how you came to know CHRIST... tell them how HE died for you and for them... tell them how you have accepted HIM as your REAL CHIEF, that you have turned your life over to HIM and HE, in turn, has given you eternal life!
Slip on "GOD's bunker boots" of peace and go and "rescue others from the flames" as you serve....
...On HIS Shift,
"Keeping Your Heart Healthy"
March 12, 2006
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 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."
- Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)
We have been studying several verses from the book of Ephesians and learning about GOD's personal protective gear. The SOG for Life, the Bible, calls this PPE 'the whole armor of GOD.' We began the series by talking about putting on 'the whole armor.' We have talked about "taking a stand." Last week, we examined the "belt of truth." And, today, we will talk about another piece of the armor of GOD - "the breastplate of righteousness."
According to the National
Institute of Justice (NIJ),
The following statistics illustrate the importance of wearing body armor to
the entire law enforcement community and beyond. Since 1973 and as of
January 1, 2001, a total of 2,500 “saves” have been attributed to the use of
body armor. Fifty-eight percent of these saves were connected with felonious
assaults and 42 percent with accidents, such as car crashes. Forty percent
of the felonious assaults involved firearms, 12 percent represented cutting
or slashing assaults, and 6 percent involved other types of assaults.***
Body armor saves lives. Our REAL CHIEF knows it. That is why HE includes it in HIS list of available armor. But, just what is the 'breastplate of righteousness?'
The breastplate of those days was a metal and/or leather piece of armor held in place by leather straps. It only covered the front of a soldier. When attacked, soldiers would often form a circle, facing out, so as to protect each other's backs. Novel concept, huh?
We know that the breastplate is designed to protect the chest of the wearer. But what about the 'righteousness?' There are 230 uses of the word in the NIV Bible. We can find some definition of the word in those verses. For instance, Genesis 15:6 says, "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." So, believing the Word of GOD is righteousness. Deuteronomy 6:25 says "And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness." Therefore, believing the Bible and obeying GOD's commandments are our righteousness.
So, what our REAL CHIEF is telling us is this; when we believe every word of Scripture... when we believe and obey all the commandments of GOD, we are putting on the breastplate of righteousness. And what does that piece of armor protect? Our heart! Who would be wanting to attack the heart of a believer? The enemy, Satan, of course.
So, protect your heart, fellow soldiers. Strap on that breastplate. I've got your back... and you've got mine as we serve...
...On HIS Shift,
***U.S.
Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
Selection and Application Guide to
Personal Body Armor
NIJ Guide 100–01
(Replaces Selection and Application Guide to Police
Body Armor, NIJ Guide 100–98)
November 2001
"Nothing But The Truth"
March 5, 2006
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 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."
- Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)
Did you miss me last week? hehehehe. Last Saturday was Cindy and mine's tenth anniversary. We celebrated by getting away for an extra long weekend together... it was great. I love my wife. Have I mentioned that before?
Anyway, we have been studying the above verses and learning about GOD's personal protective gear. The SOG for Life, The Bible, calls this PPE 'the whole armor of GOD.' We began the series by talking about putting on 'the whole armor.' Two weeks ago we talked about "taking a stand." Today, we will look at the "belt of truth" - a piece of the armor of GOD.
Have you ever tried pulling up your bunker pants without suspenders on? They don't stay up very well, do they? So, if you were to say, try to walk into a fire without your suspenders on, you could very well trip over your own fallen bunker pants. The results could be pretty disastrous, couldn't they?
In some versions of the Bible, the "belt of truth" is called "girding up your loins with truth." I liked what an author, Steve Hall, wrote about this particular piece of GOD's armor for us...
"While Satan, his demons, and
men are liars and deceivers, God speaks only truth. When we gird up our
loins with truth, we are protected from one of Satan’s most effective
weapons: discouragement through lies. He attempts to deceive us, confuse us,
blind us, keep us in a state of ignorance, and persuade us to trust
“experience” or “emotion” or “common sense” or “human philosophy” or
“logical reasoning”, etc. instead of God’s Word. He specializes in creating
misunderstanding, faulty perceptions, misconceptions, and misleading
circumstances in order to keep us defeated and discouraged. The Belt of
Truth enables us to overcome all this.
Of course, there are many ways that the enemy attempts to deceive us. But
there are a few areas which seem to be especially critical. If he can
deceive us into having a faulty understanding of our sin, of God, of our
identity as believers, of the power available to us, or of the value of
prayer, we’re in trouble.
When I put on the belt of truth, I take some time in prayer to speak these
truths back to God. I think He is pleased when I sort of “remind myself” of
these truths in His presence. As I do this, the enemy’s attempts to deceive
me in these areas tends to wither away.
In order to put on the belt of truth, you may want to start by praying
something like this: Father, thank You that Your Word is Truth (John
17:7); that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17 and 15:26);
and that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and the Life (John 14:6)." -
© 2000 Steve Hall (steve@aboundingjoy.com).
Quoted by Permission
The belt of truth, then is a defensive piece of armor that is very important
in defending ourselves from the attacks of the enemy.
Buckle up, fellow soldiers, as we strive to serve together...
...On HIS Shift,
It is my prayer that the verses we discuss help each of you as it has helped me deal with the amount of stress we are all faced to deal with.
If you are not yet saved, I have Good News for you. Jesus loves you very much and His Holy Spirit is drawing you to Him. To learn more, click here.
The folks at the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation can also help if you have been involved in a Critical Incident.
Chaplain Skip writes STRESS RELIEF every week, usually on Sunday afternoon
