Many of us have heard sermons on Spiritual warfare, and honestly, most of us forget the reality of this truth too quickly. When we choose to forget, we become a potential casualty of war in our daily lives.
The word clearly defines who and what we battle against in our daily lives and how we must clothe ourselves in order to guard ourselves:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. [...]

I was recently browsing through Living Magazine and stumbled across an article written by Laurie Novick. One of the highlights of the article was a marriage study done with 700 couples, and the discovery found relating to trust.
Dr. Terri Orbuch’s landmark marriage study, which observed more than 700 married individuals for more than a quarter century, has found that trust is the most important glue in marriage. In the study, when the happiest couples were asked to rank 16 common marriage expectations from most to least important-ranging from sharing household chores to meeting each other’s sexual needs – a whopping 92 percent of men and 96 percent of women ranked the following expectation as number one: “You should feel that your spouse would never hurt or deceive you.”
Building trust with anyone, let alone your spouse, is hard work. It requires both quantity and quality of time. [...]

God’s love for us has been talked about since the beginning of mankind. It’s difficult to grasp just how deep this love really is for us.
One of the definitions for the word ‘intimacy’ is: something of a personal or private nature. How perfectly this applies to the relationship and love God has offered to us who believe. The Godhead, three in one, expressed something deeply personal and classified, when They decided to unveil the sacrifice of love to our world in the Son of God.
All of heaven and earth longed to know how God would quench the chasm that man/woman had regrettably created in the fall. Let me paint a mental picture for you in the natural realm. Imagine standing at the Grand Canyon and being given the job of filling in that great gap, no bridges or short cuts, it must be [...]

We use the word love to describe things we are passionate about: ice cream, baseball, shopping, hunting, fishing, golfing, you fill in the blank. Likewise, we find the world’s view of what love is supposed to look like in every genre of our lives. Movies try to show us through the big screen what love looks like, as the camera shows a close up of two lovers gazing into each other’s eyes. Song writers sing about love with catchy tunes and lyrics. Poets pen their best prose painting a mental picture of what love should look like.
Unfortunately, the world’s view of love has been skewed with Satan’s images and lies of what love really is. Because we live in a world filled with confusing definitions of love, our view can be skewed too. One of the best examples of just how skewed our [...]

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:5-7 (NIV)
I love this particular portion of this scripture: “the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.” Remember, Jesus is the word that dwelled among us. That means he is responsible for all of the scripture, New and Old Testament. His attitude was to give all that he had to bring abundant life to our lives. He walked with disciples, loved the little children, healed the sick, had compassion on the hurting, and endured the cross for the joy set before him! All of [...]

World War I was a war known for its use of the most advanced military weapons in its time: automatic weapons, aircraft support and multiple transportation options for moving supplies, troops and information. One of the greatest advances in the art of war was displayed in the ability to launch airborne attacks against the enemy. For the first time in the history of wars, missiles, and bombs were released and dropped through the air at devastating speeds with astounding accuracy. Because of the speed, altitude and power of these kinds of attacks, World War I sounded like no war had ever sounded.
In the heat of battle, one word was used to bring troops to full alert of the life and death reality of an imminent attack: “INCOMING!!!!” When someone shouted that warning, troops immediately passed it along with great shouts of desperation. All who heard [...]

In the story concerning Jonah, we discover that hearing God sometimes brings out the worst in a person. Many times, hearing God’s voice brings to light hidden mindsets concerning others receiving God’s mercy.
When God tells Jonah to head to Nineveh and warn the Ninevites of the judgment coming their way, Jonah throws a temper tantrum. He asks, “Why? Why should I go and warn the enemies of God of the well deserved wrath headed their way? They deserve it, God, and we should just let them get what’s coming to them.”
So instead of heading northeasterly, Jonah buys a boat ticket and heads due west away from the city of Nineveh. Needless to say, his cruise didn’t turn out the way he intended and hoped it would. God wasn’t about to let His rebellious prophet off the hook that easy.
It took a violent [...]

Your fingertips hold the key to your identity, specifically the pattern of arches and swirls called friction ridges. Forensic experts trained in fingerprint identification, also known as dactyloscopy (toss that one out around the water cooler) compare the tiny friction skin ridge impressions from fingers when identification is needed. The unlimited combination of friction ridge skin patterns means that no two finger prints or palm prints are ever exactly alike. We have them when we are born and sometimes they are the determining factor in identifying us at death.
There are over six billion people on the earth today and every one of us will leave a unique fingerprint on the world in which we live. God loves uniqueness – making each snowflake one of a kind…and you as well.
But, for those who are following Christ, there is another identity – an identity more real than [...]

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b
I love the inclusiveness of the word “ALL” in this particular verse of scripture from the Apostle Peter. Please keep in the backdrop of your mind who had written this passage with his own hand… Peter, the man that drew his sword and cut off the ear of one man who tried to lay hands on Jesus because he thought he could protect God! This is the same Peter who spoke without thinking on too many occasions to count. This is the same man that refused the first request of Jesus to wash his feet. This is the same Peter who said that he would die for Jesus, but ended up denying him three times.
When Jesus spoke, “Behind me satan,” Peter felt [...]

I’m praising Jesus this AM for all the breakthroughs we had the opportunity to witness and be a part of during the February Ladies’ Fully Alive Retreat!!
When Debbie, a ministry leader on our retreat, explained to the girls that received Christ in their hearts that morning, “…Once salvation takes place they are now DEAD in their old sinful bodies. Now that they have Jesus in their hearts, they are truly surrendering their past and the OLD nature.” I immediately went to Romans 8:9-13 in the Message version, and I read it probably 10 times that day at the retreat!
I had really forgotten just how amazing and supernatural the power of the Word can be. As always, God opened the eyes of my heart again and renewed me in such a beautiful way. I’m so grateful for His fresh insight into the truth found in the Word [...]