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Author
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Topic: Girded for War
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
Great topic Copper!
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you--Ye dare not trust your own;
Put on the gospel armor, Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there.
(Third verse of "Stand Up For Jesus")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTai9oFxszc&feature=related
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Copper25
Advanced Member
Member # 7464
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posted
Nehemiah 4:11) And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
Nehemiah 4:12) And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.
Nehemiah 4:13) Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
Context - The Jews that had returned to Judah from captivity were rebuilding the city of Judah, specifically at this time, the walls around Judah. This process was happening with their enemies around them, like Sanballat and Tobiah; who became angry when the Jews were actually making progress on the wall, specifically when the two halves were joined together.
As we can see in verse 11, the adversaries were not going to just let the Jews work in peace, but rather choose to take counsel to hinder the work of the people of Judah on Jerusalem. The enemies of the Jews specifically said (Nehemiah 4:11) “They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.” This means that they were purposely going launch a massive offense and movement of their forces upon the city of Jerusalem to kill the Jews, to completely hinder their work. This was specifically a seek attack that could have been quite devastating to their progress. But What was Nehemiah’s action? When Nehemiah heard about this massive plot, did he just take this information and sit on? No! Instead Nehemiah commanded the people to take up everyone their weapons; their swords, spears and bows. In the Latter part of the chapter after God had brought the counsel of the Jew’s enemies to naught, we read
Nehemiah 4:17-18 They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
What are some things that this chapter is saying to us?
Are we awake! Or have we fallen asleep? Are we on our guard, and are setting the watch, being alert in these days? This is a very important question because in America, as we can see, that the society itself is growing against Christianity.
no using Jesus' name in courts
possible jail time for prayer
Escalating advancement of the new world order
Considering what the world will advance to, which is this
Revelations 13:15-17) And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Jesus said (Matthew 24:12) "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
Truly, the world will increase in its hatred toward us, for with the abounding of iniquity comes increasing hatred toward the truth, the gospel, and those that follow Christ. If we were to look over these last 2000 years, we can see this plainly. Look at the Nations outside of the US; North Korea, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan..etc; and it is evident that there is Christian persecution.
In America, the shift against Christians has not reached that level YET; but sadly it will.
It is easy to loose sight of the fact that the warfare in this world is (whether we acknowledge it or not) of great degree and all round us; when we have TV's, luxuries, and a "Peace, Peace when there is no peace" type society. Why in our society(I speak of America) is our society built like this?
Simple, Satan at this point wants us to fall into a spiritual sleep, to ez up, to slack on our guard; and then like a viper from the hole or lion in the bushes, he will launch a big strike.
Amos 6:1) "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion"
This is the trap of the enemy. Satan knew that if there was from the start massive persecution, like in nero's reign; then Christians would certainly stay prayerful and put on the whole armor of God.
This exactly why we do not see much (if any at all) about Christians being persecuted in other countries. You don't hear about in Orissa, India,the Rajni, a 20 years old, who was burned alive while the crowds around cheered at is burning; that there are Christians who have been beaten and literally cut in pieces; the "convert to Hinduism or die" circumstance, under which some have even turned away from Christ. No, we don't see these sort of things at all in the main stream media.
But it is the seeing of these type of events and circumstances that remind us of this, "that war is alive and well"
Right now the teeth are starting to loom, piece by piece. If we really think what is happening across the world to our fellow brothers and sisters is not going to reach (I speak magnitude); we are deceiving ourselves or have been deceived by someone else.
So then the question is, what should we do?
1) Depend on God
Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
There is a great reason why in scripture we are given scriptures like 1 Peter 5:6-8, which says
1 Peter 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1 Peter 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Notice what the bold print is sandwiched between. In verse 6, God is saying to us, "Don't be proud", "Don't choose pride" and in verse 7 we see God saying to us "I care for you and I want you to cast your concerns, your worries, your burdens, your problems upon me".
(it is important to note the reason for us casting all our care upon God: God can help us with our problems no matter what height, depth, intensity, or frequency they come in. God's grace is sufficient for us in all situations)
Do you see the connection between verse 6 and 7? Those that are humble will be seeing their own weakness, their own insufficiency, and in light of that, they will look toward God for help, direction, guidance; but the proud in heart will say "I can do this", "I can handle this on my own and I am just fine"; and thus, he will not be casting his burden upon God, even at most only using God as a last resort rather then seeking his face in the first place for help.
If a child tries to lift something that is too heavy for them, they may strain themselves, and truly that would be to the child's hurt. It would be much more wiser for the child to call their father who is a lot stronger than they are, to lift that object.
In the same way, if we try to handle our burdens or life difficulties (especially spiritual difficulties), we will inevitably wear out our spirit, our emotions, and/or our physic bodies. This is why it is in a sense important to see our weakness and God's strength; Keeping humility and poorness in spirit.
The proud, those that are prideful in their heart will never cast their cares upon God, but are puffed up to try and carry themselves in the midst of a struggle and will fall inevitably because of it.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Now let us notice the connection between verses 1 Peter 5:7 and 1 Peter 5:8. We have "Casting all your care upon him" and in the next verse "because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour". It seems to indicate this, that we are far better off casting every care, need, and problem upon God, then we ever are, walking in the counsel of our own; for these reasons:
1) Our own counsel is susceptible to error
2) When we error and goof up, Satan is ready and willing to use our mistake against us to systematically destroy us.
3) God will always give us perfect counsel, a way that is sure.
2) Put on the whole armour of God
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
We MUST put on the entire armor of God; not just one piece, two or three; but the ENTIRE armor. This is a mandatory thing and this is one of GREAT dangers of slacking off or taking ez. Too many calling themselves Christians have chosen to plug their ears at God's warning concerning the armore of God. In Ephesians 6:13, we read "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. The word "that" means ONLY by putting on the whole armor of God; not half, not a quarter; will we be able to stand in the times of Fierce and Ferocious trial and persecution. note that the word "evil" has the root meaning hurtful.
Those that have taken upon themselves the full armor will withstand the fury of Satan to endure the trying times ahead.
If a Roman solider in those days were to have any part of the armor missing, wouldn't the enemy take advantage with all his might to hit that unprotected area, which would cause a fatal wound to him? Like wise, How much more will Satan take a stab at our weak spots when we let our guard down? Remember, the enemy does not play fair or nice; but is like beast on the prowl?
In Jesus name,
love Daniel
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Isaiah 40:6) The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field
Posts: 262 | From: Rochester, NY | Registered: Nov 2008
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