In the instructions given to Moses, blue prevails as the favored color of YHWH for the Old Covenant tabernacle where His presence resided, in its curtain and priest, coverings for the Ark of the Covenant and altars, and garment tassels for the people.
If the Savior's words are recorded in the red of blood, I choose to record the Father's words in the blue of ocean, sky, and tabernacle. It's not my favorite color—the color in which I am well pleased when I see or wear or use it—but I'd like to think it's all those things for Him.
And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
~ Mark 1:10-11 (NKJV)
Jesus is the firstborn Son of the Father, but not the last. In being born again, we gain a new identity and inheritance, in becoming children of the same Father (Romans 8:29). But we also become the tabernacle of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 6:16), the place for God to reside on earth.
Though we may quench His Spirit or yield to being filled with His Spirit, (and we may disciplined by Him), we are also His beloved sons and daughters, in whom He is well pleased.
And perhaps, when He sees us through the blood of His firstborn Son, we are cast in a new and blue light.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
~ 1 John 3:2 (NKJV)
I love You, Abba. Please help us see ourselves as You do, beloved and not condemned, bearing the color of Your light.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sleepwalking
"Mommy, does sleeping feel the way it was before we were born?"
Such questions are not uncommon from my seven-year-old Daniel, who ponders mysteries of science and soul in an often startling manner. Why did this question give me particular pause?
Since newborns can distinguish the voice of their own mothers, it stands to reason that we have cognitive abilities before birth. Then memories from the dark side of the womb elude us after birth, suggesting that fetal consciousness may indeed parallel the quasi-consciousness of sleep.
It has been asserted that dreams are real while we experience them. But the land of dreams offers more confusion than clarity, and journeys into egocentric subconscious more often than into divine revelation from another realm. If we are awakened by a dream, we are likely to find ourselves as initially bewildered as the infant who draws a first unfamiliar breath.
Perhaps the world of sleep and the world before birth are as much alike as they are similar to our life before Christ. We sleepwalk through that dark world as if we are its center, our souls clouded with the vague unease that another realm beckons us to awaken.
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:13-14 (NKJV)
Like natural birth, being born again in Jesus is The Great Awakening of our lives. Yet until the day we emerge from the womb of this world into The Other Side, we should anticipate smaller spiritual awakenings with as much expectation as we anticipate morning light when our head sinks into pillow.
The imperative to "arise from the dead" is the invitation both to made alive in Christ, and to continually emerge from darkness. Unless we actively search out the light of Christ on a daily basis, we are likely to travel through the Christian life as if sleepwalking.
"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping."
~ Jesus, Mark 13:35-36 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply. You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Such questions are not uncommon from my seven-year-old Daniel, who ponders mysteries of science and soul in an often startling manner. Why did this question give me particular pause?
Since newborns can distinguish the voice of their own mothers, it stands to reason that we have cognitive abilities before birth. Then memories from the dark side of the womb elude us after birth, suggesting that fetal consciousness may indeed parallel the quasi-consciousness of sleep.
It has been asserted that dreams are real while we experience them. But the land of dreams offers more confusion than clarity, and journeys into egocentric subconscious more often than into divine revelation from another realm. If we are awakened by a dream, we are likely to find ourselves as initially bewildered as the infant who draws a first unfamiliar breath.
Perhaps the world of sleep and the world before birth are as much alike as they are similar to our life before Christ. We sleepwalk through that dark world as if we are its center, our souls clouded with the vague unease that another realm beckons us to awaken.
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:13-14 (NKJV)
Like natural birth, being born again in Jesus is The Great Awakening of our lives. Yet until the day we emerge from the womb of this world into The Other Side, we should anticipate smaller spiritual awakenings with as much expectation as we anticipate morning light when our head sinks into pillow.
The imperative to "arise from the dead" is the invitation both to made alive in Christ, and to continually emerge from darkness. Unless we actively search out the light of Christ on a daily basis, we are likely to travel through the Christian life as if sleepwalking.
"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping."
~ Jesus, Mark 13:35-36 (NKJV)
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply. You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Disclaimer
Last Wednesday, Sarah Bessey published a list of some two dozen "Wise Women Over 50." Being included on the list was a most unexpected and deeply appreciated honor for me.
My jubilee year isn't actually complete until this December, but I'll allow credit for more age than I've earned. More difficult to wear is the label "wise." Although I pray for God to use me as a vessel of His wisdom (and rejoice in answered prayer), I also know that being a vessel of wisdom doesn't necessarily make a person wise. Solomon evidently carried more wisdom than anyone else, but he didn't allow wisdom to carry him.
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding …
~ Proverbs 10:13 (NKJV)
The invisible Creator has hidden Himself only so that He will be sought and found. (See "God of Hide-and-Seek.") Not once have I earnestly sought the Lord without discovering another precious nugget of knowledge or understanding or wisdom. I've not nearly enough time or words to share more than what amounts to gold dust from my mining the richest vein of gold in the universe. The offerings of this blog are woefully inadequate to the mercies of God.
The problem is that so much of me gets mixed into what I write. On a good day, I manage to share mostly Him and veil most of me. On my lesser days, far too much of me comes through. My prayer is that either way, His Spirit will overcome and use the words printed here in each reader's life.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
~ John 3:30 (NKJV)
It's been said that my blogging voice is authoritative. God forbid that I speak with authority! (I was happy to do Bible Q&A, when it was hosted on the now inactive blog "Bullets & Butterflies," only because a respected Christian of authority endorsed me.)
But God permit that I speak with assurance. In myself, I have less assurance with every passing year. In my Lord, assurance deepens with every blessing and every passing trial. What gets shared here is confident testimony on behalf of Him.
Jesus affirmed that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." As I say to my children, I hope you'll listen to me, but please don't believe what I say simply because I said it. I am fallible. I am weak. I am still learning.
Go back to the Bible for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you Himself. Measure the words of whomever you hear in accordance with the spiritual fruit of their lives.
Thank you for reading this far, and for allowing me to turn off comments today.
My jubilee year isn't actually complete until this December, but I'll allow credit for more age than I've earned. More difficult to wear is the label "wise." Although I pray for God to use me as a vessel of His wisdom (and rejoice in answered prayer), I also know that being a vessel of wisdom doesn't necessarily make a person wise. Solomon evidently carried more wisdom than anyone else, but he didn't allow wisdom to carry him.
Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding …
~ Proverbs 10:13 (NKJV)
The invisible Creator has hidden Himself only so that He will be sought and found. (See "God of Hide-and-Seek.") Not once have I earnestly sought the Lord without discovering another precious nugget of knowledge or understanding or wisdom. I've not nearly enough time or words to share more than what amounts to gold dust from my mining the richest vein of gold in the universe. The offerings of this blog are woefully inadequate to the mercies of God.
The problem is that so much of me gets mixed into what I write. On a good day, I manage to share mostly Him and veil most of me. On my lesser days, far too much of me comes through. My prayer is that either way, His Spirit will overcome and use the words printed here in each reader's life.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
~ John 3:30 (NKJV)
It's been said that my blogging voice is authoritative. God forbid that I speak with authority! (I was happy to do Bible Q&A, when it was hosted on the now inactive blog "Bullets & Butterflies," only because a respected Christian of authority endorsed me.)
But God permit that I speak with assurance. In myself, I have less assurance with every passing year. In my Lord, assurance deepens with every blessing and every passing trial. What gets shared here is confident testimony on behalf of Him.
Jesus affirmed that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." As I say to my children, I hope you'll listen to me, but please don't believe what I say simply because I said it. I am fallible. I am weak. I am still learning.
Go back to the Bible for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you Himself. Measure the words of whomever you hear in accordance with the spiritual fruit of their lives.
Thank you for reading this far, and for allowing me to turn off comments today.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Formula for Healing Relationship
NOTE: This will be the only post here this week, while I am out of town for the Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
: : :
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
~ Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
Five children in our home multiplies exponentially the way relationship conflicts occur. Frequent breaches require regular exercise of repentance and forgiveness.
It's said that the hardest words are, "I was wrong and I'm sorry." While the right consequences can compel a child to say that, getting the right heart into them has been an arduous process. The "formula" I've tried to teach and exemplify is A-B-C.
ADMIT your wrongdoing, and it helps to acknowledge why you were wrong, the effects of your behavior, and the message you communicated.
BE SORRY, and not simply because your wrongdoing was brought to attention, or you hope to mitigate consequences, or someone is upset with you. Realize that you do love, or at least are supposed to love, a fellow human being who is hurt or offended by you.
COMMIT TO CHANGE, and understand that even if you follow through long enough and take steps to change what the world sees on the outside, only a life lived through God will enable you to change on the inside, where all sin, thoughtlessness, and selfishness begin in the heart.
However long they take, however much diligence they require, forgiveness and repentance are necessary steps for healing both a relationship breach as well as one's own soul. Forgiveness needs to follow an offense, whether or not your offender repents. Your own heartfelt repentance makes a request for forgiveness more easily received and granted, toward true reconciliation and relationship.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."
~ 1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV)
Love isn't happiness experienced because someone has done something to make us feel good. Love is the joy experienced in our care for another fragile soul as an expression of God's love for us. When such love goes both ways, conditions are perfect for a flourishing relationship.
Lord, please enable us to love one another as You have loved us by drawing us to bask in Your love.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
: : :
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
~ Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
Five children in our home multiplies exponentially the way relationship conflicts occur. Frequent breaches require regular exercise of repentance and forgiveness.
It's said that the hardest words are, "I was wrong and I'm sorry." While the right consequences can compel a child to say that, getting the right heart into them has been an arduous process. The "formula" I've tried to teach and exemplify is A-B-C.
ADMIT your wrongdoing, and it helps to acknowledge why you were wrong, the effects of your behavior, and the message you communicated.
BE SORRY, and not simply because your wrongdoing was brought to attention, or you hope to mitigate consequences, or someone is upset with you. Realize that you do love, or at least are supposed to love, a fellow human being who is hurt or offended by you.
COMMIT TO CHANGE, and understand that even if you follow through long enough and take steps to change what the world sees on the outside, only a life lived through God will enable you to change on the inside, where all sin, thoughtlessness, and selfishness begin in the heart.
However long they take, however much diligence they require, forgiveness and repentance are necessary steps for healing both a relationship breach as well as one's own soul. Forgiveness needs to follow an offense, whether or not your offender repents. Your own heartfelt repentance makes a request for forgiveness more easily received and granted, toward true reconciliation and relationship.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."
~ 1 Peter 4:8 (NKJV)
Love isn't happiness experienced because someone has done something to make us feel good. Love is the joy experienced in our care for another fragile soul as an expression of God's love for us. When such love goes both ways, conditions are perfect for a flourishing relationship.
Lord, please enable us to love one another as You have loved us by drawing us to bask in Your love.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
God of Hide-and-Seek
Now that blog posts on the Gospel of John have been completed, the time comes to contemplate what to do next. Work through another book of the Bible? Write biblical study through a topical series?
I've been distracted enough that I forgot to look ahead and pray for direction, and now find myself asking these questions of the Lord. He's never yet failed to lead the way.
I love that about Him.
I've asked Him a great many questions over the years. "Why …" has be a frequent one. It's also been the one most rarely answered. One can't help but suspect that God loves playing Hide and Seek. The fact that God is invisible is the first clue. The fact that He leaves evidence of His presence everywhere is the second.
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you," says the LORD …
~ Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NKJV)
The key to winning this game with God is the "all your heart" thing. That phrase appears 21 times in the NKJV. The first time is when God tells His people what to do when they are in trouble:
"But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
~ Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV)
God wants to be found. But He also wants to be sought. He doesn't give Himself away casually.
Disasters occur. Injustice and cruelty run rampant. People suffer miserably. And the question is frequently posed: "Where was God?"
The great I AM is always present. But until such things happen, a great many people don't think to look for Him.
The saddest aspect of suffering is if people only then think to look for God, but fail to put their hearts into finding Him.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
I've been distracted enough that I forgot to look ahead and pray for direction, and now find myself asking these questions of the Lord. He's never yet failed to lead the way.
I love that about Him.
I've asked Him a great many questions over the years. "Why …" has be a frequent one. It's also been the one most rarely answered. One can't help but suspect that God loves playing Hide and Seek. The fact that God is invisible is the first clue. The fact that He leaves evidence of His presence everywhere is the second.
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you," says the LORD …
~ Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NKJV)
The key to winning this game with God is the "all your heart" thing. That phrase appears 21 times in the NKJV. The first time is when God tells His people what to do when they are in trouble:
"But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
~ Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV)
God wants to be found. But He also wants to be sought. He doesn't give Himself away casually.
Disasters occur. Injustice and cruelty run rampant. People suffer miserably. And the question is frequently posed: "Where was God?"
The great I AM is always present. But until such things happen, a great many people don't think to look for Him.
The saddest aspect of suffering is if people only then think to look for God, but fail to put their hearts into finding Him.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Spiritual Warfare Postscript: Forgiveness
This series on Spiritual Warfare and its Armor has been difficult to write, perhaps as much as trying to sum up World War II in a single chapter of a textbook. And while Paul describes spiritual armor in a progressive manner, I could not pinpoint only one place for forgiveness.
The Truth is that my Redeemer asks me to forgive debts of others which are far smaller than my forgiven debt to Him. Righteousness disallows the anger which rots into bitterness. The Gospel of Peace directs forgiveness, and Faith deflects any reminder arrows from the accuser. Salvation's Ownership means all debts owed me actually belong to my Master, and who can effectively wield the sword of God's Word if burdened by the weight of past offenses?
As for Perseverance and Prayer, fellowship with God will be severely hampered if I refuse to forgive and open a way for reconciliation with the one who hurts me.
Peter was grieved because [Jesus] said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
~ John 21:17 (NKJV)
Can you empathize with Peter's grief over his failure and Jesus questioning his love? How severely would Peter have been handicapped in ministry if Jesus had not made plain the depth of His forgiveness for Peter's denials?
If you consider the person and circumstances that have hurt you most in your life, it no doubt seems worse than being thrice denied. It's quite likely that you were hurt a great many times by the same person, and it lasted longer than a single night. Practically speaking, it may simply be impossible to forgive what you have suffered.
But.
We are empowered by a God Who specializes in the impossible, in mercy, and—most certainly!—in forgiveness. Jesus died so that we might live free of spiritual debt, both owing it and owning it.
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
~ Psalms 66:18 (NKJV)
Lack of forgiveness will result in my heart regarding iniquity, whether dwelling on the sins against me, nursing a desire for revenge, or committing murder-in-the-heart via hatred.
Take any element of spiritual armor, and it boils down to some form of fellowship with God. Unforgiveness will undermine the fellowship with God that I absolutely must have to be successful in fighting evil.
Lord, thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for enabling impossible forgiveness. Please keep us willing to forgive, as well as repentant and ready to seek forgiveness.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
The Truth is that my Redeemer asks me to forgive debts of others which are far smaller than my forgiven debt to Him. Righteousness disallows the anger which rots into bitterness. The Gospel of Peace directs forgiveness, and Faith deflects any reminder arrows from the accuser. Salvation's Ownership means all debts owed me actually belong to my Master, and who can effectively wield the sword of God's Word if burdened by the weight of past offenses?
As for Perseverance and Prayer, fellowship with God will be severely hampered if I refuse to forgive and open a way for reconciliation with the one who hurts me.
Peter was grieved because [Jesus] said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
~ John 21:17 (NKJV)
Can you empathize with Peter's grief over his failure and Jesus questioning his love? How severely would Peter have been handicapped in ministry if Jesus had not made plain the depth of His forgiveness for Peter's denials?
If you consider the person and circumstances that have hurt you most in your life, it no doubt seems worse than being thrice denied. It's quite likely that you were hurt a great many times by the same person, and it lasted longer than a single night. Practically speaking, it may simply be impossible to forgive what you have suffered.
But.
We are empowered by a God Who specializes in the impossible, in mercy, and—most certainly!—in forgiveness. Jesus died so that we might live free of spiritual debt, both owing it and owning it.
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
~ Psalms 66:18 (NKJV)
Lack of forgiveness will result in my heart regarding iniquity, whether dwelling on the sins against me, nursing a desire for revenge, or committing murder-in-the-heart via hatred.
Take any element of spiritual armor, and it boils down to some form of fellowship with God. Unforgiveness will undermine the fellowship with God that I absolutely must have to be successful in fighting evil.
Lord, thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for enabling impossible forgiveness. Please keep us willing to forgive, as well as repentant and ready to seek forgiveness.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Prayer and Perseverance
Though a warrior is often asked to perform an assignment or fight in a place that takes him out of sight of his commander, they remain in contact. Contact provides direction, support, supplies, and perhaps even the ability to return from the field. But if contact is lost because the all the commanders are dead, then any war is all for naught.
The Captain of our salvation is very much alive, more than able to sustain us as we remain in contact with Him.
Jesus said to [Mary], "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' "
~ John 20:17 (NKJV)
It is possible that Jesus' disciples rejoiced in a risen Lord with a newfound view of Him as invincible King, Who would remain to establish His kingdom with power. While Jesus allowed them to touch Him and thereby believe His bodily resurrection (Matthew 28:9, John 20:27), He bid them not cling to Him, for He would soon depart again.
He nonetheless remains very much in contact with us, even as He institutes a new kingdom with power, establishing His spiritual rule in the hearts of men and women. Jesus has secured the penultimate victory over the penalty of sin, and we now jointly fight spiritual battles over the power of sin, until the final victory defeats all presence of sin—and death itself:
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! … If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead … He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
~ from 1 Corinthians 15:17-26
Paul concludes his depiction of our spiritual armor with the admonishment to be "praying always … being watchful to this end with all perseverance" (Ephesians 6:18). He knows flesh and blood cannot win spiritual battles such as the combat with temper / lust / pride, or the war against fear, or the struggle when evil words pierce, or the conquering of outrageous offenses with forgiveness.
But if we are willing to fight, these opportunities to advance our Lord's spiritual kingdom can be won with spiritual perseverance—and all else available through constant communication with the Living God in prayer.
As Your kingdom is established in Heaven, Your kingdom come, Lord, through us, by Your power. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, reign in us!
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
The Captain of our salvation is very much alive, more than able to sustain us as we remain in contact with Him.
Jesus said to [Mary], "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' "
~ John 20:17 (NKJV)
It is possible that Jesus' disciples rejoiced in a risen Lord with a newfound view of Him as invincible King, Who would remain to establish His kingdom with power. While Jesus allowed them to touch Him and thereby believe His bodily resurrection (Matthew 28:9, John 20:27), He bid them not cling to Him, for He would soon depart again.
He nonetheless remains very much in contact with us, even as He institutes a new kingdom with power, establishing His spiritual rule in the hearts of men and women. Jesus has secured the penultimate victory over the penalty of sin, and we now jointly fight spiritual battles over the power of sin, until the final victory defeats all presence of sin—and death itself:
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! … If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead … He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
~ from 1 Corinthians 15:17-26
Paul concludes his depiction of our spiritual armor with the admonishment to be "praying always … being watchful to this end with all perseverance" (Ephesians 6:18). He knows flesh and blood cannot win spiritual battles such as the combat with temper / lust / pride, or the war against fear, or the struggle when evil words pierce, or the conquering of outrageous offenses with forgiveness.
But if we are willing to fight, these opportunities to advance our Lord's spiritual kingdom can be won with spiritual perseverance—and all else available through constant communication with the Living God in prayer.
As Your kingdom is established in Heaven, Your kingdom come, Lord, through us, by Your power. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, reign in us!
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Spiritual Armor: The Word
My friend's testimony goes something like this.
He visited church as a child with a friend. The Sunday School teacher told them that when the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus defeated him with The Word, so when the devil comes after us, we can also defeat him with the power of The Word. My friend ran home and excitedly reported this discovery to his mother, who asked what word should be used. My friend said, with some disappointment, that he didn't know, because the teacher never did say which word it is that defeats the devil.
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified … so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled …
~ John 19:34-36 (NKJV)
Which Scripture is fulfilled by Jesus' birth and ministry, death and resurrection?
The entirety of it.
Which Word defeats the devil?
The entirety of it.
"The reason some of us are not healthy spiritually is because we don't use the Bible as the Word of God, but only as a textbook."
~ Oswald Chambers
I defy any person to read through the Bible in a year and not discover new power in the process, no matter how many times it is done. Scripture is not static, but dynamic. Though recorded with ink and paper, or on hard drives, or in human memory, the Word of God is "living and powerful" (NKJV), "quick and powerful" (KJV), "alive and active" (NIV), because the Word of God is personified in the Son of God (John 1:1,14).
We have opportunity to know The Word and build our lives on Him (Wednesday's post). If we will train daily with The Word, applying it in to everyday situations, we will be ready to wield The Word as the sword of the Spirit in the hour of attack.
All other pieces of armor are defensive. A sword may be either defensive or offensive, useful to not only repel an attack, but also to strike at the heart of the enemy.
But if we take up the sword and are not well practiced with its use, it is a weapon which may turned back upon us.
"To speak of 'mere words' is much like speaking of 'mere dynamite.' "
~ C.J. Ducasse
Lord, You are beautiful and glorious, as our Father, as Jesus the Savior and Living Word, as the Spirit of Truth. Please draw us to know You, and to practice applying Your Word daily, so we are well trained in its use against the enemy.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
He visited church as a child with a friend. The Sunday School teacher told them that when the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus defeated him with The Word, so when the devil comes after us, we can also defeat him with the power of The Word. My friend ran home and excitedly reported this discovery to his mother, who asked what word should be used. My friend said, with some disappointment, that he didn't know, because the teacher never did say which word it is that defeats the devil.
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified … so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled …
~ John 19:34-36 (NKJV)
Which Scripture is fulfilled by Jesus' birth and ministry, death and resurrection?
The entirety of it.
Which Word defeats the devil?
The entirety of it.
"The reason some of us are not healthy spiritually is because we don't use the Bible as the Word of God, but only as a textbook."
~ Oswald Chambers
I defy any person to read through the Bible in a year and not discover new power in the process, no matter how many times it is done. Scripture is not static, but dynamic. Though recorded with ink and paper, or on hard drives, or in human memory, the Word of God is "living and powerful" (NKJV), "quick and powerful" (KJV), "alive and active" (NIV), because the Word of God is personified in the Son of God (John 1:1,14).
We have opportunity to know The Word and build our lives on Him (Wednesday's post). If we will train daily with The Word, applying it in to everyday situations, we will be ready to wield The Word as the sword of the Spirit in the hour of attack.
All other pieces of armor are defensive. A sword may be either defensive or offensive, useful to not only repel an attack, but also to strike at the heart of the enemy.
But if we take up the sword and are not well practiced with its use, it is a weapon which may turned back upon us.
"To speak of 'mere words' is much like speaking of 'mere dynamite.' "
~ C.J. Ducasse
Lord, You are beautiful and glorious, as our Father, as Jesus the Savior and Living Word, as the Spirit of Truth. Please draw us to know You, and to practice applying Your Word daily, so we are well trained in its use against the enemy.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Ownership
If Jesus died for our salvation, how do we obtain that salvation?
I respectfully part company with those who say salvation is a simple matter of "accepting" Jesus as Savior. I believe salvation is a gift of God to those who 1) believe from the heart that Jesus is Living God, raised from the dead, and 2) truthfully testify that Jesus is LORD (Romans 10:9-10).
Salvation, I would argue, is a matter of ownership. Jesus died on the cross not that we might merely be delivered from Hell and thereby live as freed men, but that we might be delivered from the stain of sin and live in fellowship with God as His adopted sons and daughters, fellow heirs in the kingdom of Jesus, because we make Him our Lord.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother … When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
~ John 19:25-27 (NKJV)
The beloved disciple needed no further directions from his Lord. John did not simply set Mary up in an apartment and periodically check in on her, but took her into "his own home" as his own mother. He served from the heart, as a true disciple, doing His Lord's will to the fullest.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' "
~ Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
Paul calls the fifth component of spiritual armor "the helmet of salvation." As a helmet, salvation declares that we are property of the Lord God Almighty. Our minds are protected from fatal attack when we wear obedience to our Lord as our covering. In submission to the King's authority, we are ambassadors of it—with access to all power of Heaven and Earth.
All this is available to us when the enemy attacks.
All this is ours because our beloved Lord died as a ransom to make us His Own.
Thank You, precious Savior, our Lord and our God, our King and our Friend.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
I respectfully part company with those who say salvation is a simple matter of "accepting" Jesus as Savior. I believe salvation is a gift of God to those who 1) believe from the heart that Jesus is Living God, raised from the dead, and 2) truthfully testify that Jesus is LORD (Romans 10:9-10).
Salvation, I would argue, is a matter of ownership. Jesus died on the cross not that we might merely be delivered from Hell and thereby live as freed men, but that we might be delivered from the stain of sin and live in fellowship with God as His adopted sons and daughters, fellow heirs in the kingdom of Jesus, because we make Him our Lord.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother … When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
~ John 19:25-27 (NKJV)
The beloved disciple needed no further directions from his Lord. John did not simply set Mary up in an apartment and periodically check in on her, but took her into "his own home" as his own mother. He served from the heart, as a true disciple, doing His Lord's will to the fullest.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' "
~ Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
Paul calls the fifth component of spiritual armor "the helmet of salvation." As a helmet, salvation declares that we are property of the Lord God Almighty. Our minds are protected from fatal attack when we wear obedience to our Lord as our covering. In submission to the King's authority, we are ambassadors of it—with access to all power of Heaven and Earth.
All this is available to us when the enemy attacks.
All this is ours because our beloved Lord died as a ransom to make us His Own.
Thank You, precious Savior, our Lord and our God, our King and our Friend.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Faith
When things go south, how much latitude does God get before the human heart forgets to sing, "Lord, You are good and Your favor / mercy / love endures forever"?
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands.
~ John 19:1-3 (NKJV)
If we attach God's goodness to human ease and comfort, then this world gives satan—"accuser"—ample opportunity to cast doubt upon either God's love and wisdom, or His ability to work good from all things.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to ... where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
~ John 19:17-18 (NKJV)
Jesus, the perfect God-Man, was further perfected by His suffering. By cooperating with His Father's faultless plan, Jesus could only increase in favor as "Beloved Son." Yet the devil would have God's adopted sons and daughters believe that difficulty and suffering testify to loss of favor with the Father.
The primary spiritual weapon used against us is lies. The ability to whole-heartedly engage in spiritual warfare is contingent upon faith that one battles in cooperation with the God who achieves victories exceeding their cost.
"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings to greet the dawn while it is still dark."
~ James S. Hewett
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands.
~ John 19:1-3 (NKJV)
If we attach God's goodness to human ease and comfort, then this world gives satan—"accuser"—ample opportunity to cast doubt upon either God's love and wisdom, or His ability to work good from all things.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to ... where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
~ John 19:17-18 (NKJV)
Jesus, the perfect God-Man, was further perfected by His suffering. By cooperating with His Father's faultless plan, Jesus could only increase in favor as "Beloved Son." Yet the devil would have God's adopted sons and daughters believe that difficulty and suffering testify to loss of favor with the Father.
The primary spiritual weapon used against us is lies. The ability to whole-heartedly engage in spiritual warfare is contingent upon faith that one battles in cooperation with the God who achieves victories exceeding their cost.
"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings to greet the dawn while it is still dark."
~ James S. Hewett
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Gospel of Peace
As any soldier knows, proper footwear is vital to traction, stamina, and strength for fighting. In spiritual warfare, the Gospel of Peace is the source of our solid standing.
Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
~ John 18:37-38 (NKJV)
How do we discern the truth? Satan is known to masquerade as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and to distort truth for his own purposes (Matthew 4:5-6). We must not only be able to distinguish between the voice of our King and the voice of the enemy, but also be able to recognize whether truth is rightly applied or misappropriated.
Such knowledge begins with familiarity. There is a time to wield God's Word as a sword (the post planned for Thursday). Until then, we build a firm standing on the Gospel as the foundation for our lives.
"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."
~ Matthew 7:24-25 (NKJV)
A spiritual attack may storm in on various battlegrounds. Vicious words may rain down upon us, troubles may flood us, the ways of the world may blow against us, anti-Christian contempt may beat upon us. When we have adequately prepared, we are ready to withstand the storm in peace.
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
~ George Washington
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
~ John 18:37-38 (NKJV)
How do we discern the truth? Satan is known to masquerade as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and to distort truth for his own purposes (Matthew 4:5-6). We must not only be able to distinguish between the voice of our King and the voice of the enemy, but also be able to recognize whether truth is rightly applied or misappropriated.
Such knowledge begins with familiarity. There is a time to wield God's Word as a sword (the post planned for Thursday). Until then, we build a firm standing on the Gospel as the foundation for our lives.
"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."
~ Matthew 7:24-25 (NKJV)
A spiritual attack may storm in on various battlegrounds. Vicious words may rain down upon us, troubles may flood us, the ways of the world may blow against us, anti-Christian contempt may beat upon us. When we have adequately prepared, we are ready to withstand the storm in peace.
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
~ George Washington
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Righteousness
"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
~ John 17:22-23 (NKJV)
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible describes our sin as shameful nakedness, exposing us as we truly are.
Naked is no way to enter the heat of battle.
The second component of spiritual armor is a covering of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14 and Isaiah 59:17 call righteousness a breastplate. Elsewhere righteousness is called beautiful clothing (Job 29:14; Psalms 132:9; Isaiah 61:10) and fine linen (Revelation 19:8).
Regardless of how many or how notable our good works are, they clothe us with no more than filthy rags. True righteousness is not a put on, but comes only by wearing Jesus Christ. As we increasingly yield our hearts to His Spirit, we exude His character in our thoughts and feelings, words and actions. When Jesus is at work through us, His glorious righteousness covers us as a garment of light.
Shall Darkness overcome such Light?
"O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
~ John 17:25-26 (NKJV)
If marks of righteousness can be identified, surely they are love and unity.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ John 17:22-23 (NKJV)
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible describes our sin as shameful nakedness, exposing us as we truly are.
Naked is no way to enter the heat of battle.
The second component of spiritual armor is a covering of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14 and Isaiah 59:17 call righteousness a breastplate. Elsewhere righteousness is called beautiful clothing (Job 29:14; Psalms 132:9; Isaiah 61:10) and fine linen (Revelation 19:8).
Regardless of how many or how notable our good works are, they clothe us with no more than filthy rags. True righteousness is not a put on, but comes only by wearing Jesus Christ. As we increasingly yield our hearts to His Spirit, we exude His character in our thoughts and feelings, words and actions. When Jesus is at work through us, His glorious righteousness covers us as a garment of light.
Shall Darkness overcome such Light?
"O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
~ John 17:25-26 (NKJV)
If marks of righteousness can be identified, surely they are love and unity.
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Spiritual Armor: Truth
"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."
~ John 17:17 (NKJV)
The first component of spiritual armor is to gird the loins with truth. The proof of truth is found in the ability of words to impart life (see 1 Kings 17:21-24 and Psalms 119:159-160), even as the loins are both the seat of desire and the place from which physical life springs.
To gird the loins is to hold everything together, to cover what is most sensitive, to encompass the desires with reality, to be ready to run or fight. To give truth a place where it may take hold is to invite life.
"You are of your father the devil … He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
~ John 8:44 (NKJV)
To speak falsehood, to contrive deceit, and to give a hearing to lies is to open the door to the enemy and invite death. There is no such thing as "the kind of lie you don't go to Hell for." To entertain lies is to entertain Hell itself.
"Truth is not a system, not a constitution, nor even a creed; the Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself … Our tendency is to make truth a logical statement, to make it a principle in stead of a Person."
~ Oswald Chambers
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ John 17:17 (NKJV)
The first component of spiritual armor is to gird the loins with truth. The proof of truth is found in the ability of words to impart life (see 1 Kings 17:21-24 and Psalms 119:159-160), even as the loins are both the seat of desire and the place from which physical life springs.
To gird the loins is to hold everything together, to cover what is most sensitive, to encompass the desires with reality, to be ready to run or fight. To give truth a place where it may take hold is to invite life.
"You are of your father the devil … He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
~ John 8:44 (NKJV)
To speak falsehood, to contrive deceit, and to give a hearing to lies is to open the door to the enemy and invite death. There is no such thing as "the kind of lie you don't go to Hell for." To entertain lies is to entertain Hell itself.
"Truth is not a system, not a constitution, nor even a creed; the Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself … Our tendency is to make truth a logical statement, to make it a principle in stead of a Person."
~ Oswald Chambers
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Spiritual Warfare
"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."
~ John 17:9-15 (NKJV)
A warrior who has trained hard and then experiences a few victorious skirmishes might develop a taste for warfare. The seasoned veteran who knows the worst horrors of war may maintain his love of duty, but any appetite for fighting diminishes with his respect for its cost.
At one time, victorious skirmishes made me intrepid enough to think spiritual warfare provided new and welcome challenges. Though I wish to never shrink back from spiritual battle, never again would I welcome it, having now faced its terrors. And I hope I never again take spiritual armor for granted.
Our enemy is real, ruthless, and relentless.
Recent posts have been on the final words of Jesus, and today we enter Holy Week, commemorating the final days of Jesus and the spiritual victories He attained for us. The time is fitting for a series on the seven components of spiritual armor, and it is scheduled to appear for the next seven days.
Lord Jesus, we welcome You into our lives as King. Go before us in battle. Lead us into victory. Please guide me in my testimony and protect me from the enemy as I share this week. Please draw people here who are in need of armor from You. Hosanna!
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
~ John 17:9-15 (NKJV)
A warrior who has trained hard and then experiences a few victorious skirmishes might develop a taste for warfare. The seasoned veteran who knows the worst horrors of war may maintain his love of duty, but any appetite for fighting diminishes with his respect for its cost.
At one time, victorious skirmishes made me intrepid enough to think spiritual warfare provided new and welcome challenges. Though I wish to never shrink back from spiritual battle, never again would I welcome it, having now faced its terrors. And I hope I never again take spiritual armor for granted.
Our enemy is real, ruthless, and relentless.
Recent posts have been on the final words of Jesus, and today we enter Holy Week, commemorating the final days of Jesus and the spiritual victories He attained for us. The time is fitting for a series on the seven components of spiritual armor, and it is scheduled to appear for the next seven days.
Lord Jesus, we welcome You into our lives as King. Go before us in battle. Lead us into victory. Please guide me in my testimony and protect me from the enemy as I share this week. Please draw people here who are in need of armor from You. Hosanna!
Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
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