Why We Must All Dress in Our Full Suit of Armor Daily!

Once there was a young girl who was blessed to walk with God. She loved to dream about ways that she would grow up and help His people. Some might say she often talked more than she listened. However, these things are certain where this child of God was concerned:

(1) She knew about God’s laws for she was taught in those things by the Spirit.

(2) She knew that a lot of people did not talk or seek to know God.

(3) She understood that many of them seemed to be trapped in misery and that included                                her very own mother.

This young girl wanted nothing more than for everyone to come to know the God that she walked and talked with. She truly believed that money would somehow help the masses and she longed to be someone who could bless others financially. She often thought of ways that God could bless her later in life financially so that she could bless countless others. She was lost as to the larger picture of God’s plan and often came to Him with her ideas of how to fix the world.

She never truly knew God as a father in her youth. She saw Him as her best friend. Mistakenly she also saw Him as someone who had some powers but who must need help from someone on earth since He had not fixed all the problems of the world himself!

It is not known for sure if this young girl had ever heard God’s advice regarding the need to read and study His word. We do know for certain though that she did not know His word for she knew nothing of her armor, nor did she understand fully the darkness that lurked in the world!

As this same young girl blossomed into a young adult, the lures of the world began to draw her away from the time she spent with God. While she knew right from wrong, she longed to be accepted by those she now counted as friends. As time drifted by, she chose wrong over right more and more often. Even though she had not committed any worldly crimes , she knew she was breaking God’s laws. That alone made her uncomfortable and she sought to hide from Him more than she sought Him out.

Without knowing about the schemes of the devil, she found herself bombarded with negative thoughts about herself and how God thought of her. It wasn’t long before she believed one of Satan’s biggest lies; “God no longer finds you worthy.”

When she thought about going to God about how she felt, she was filled with so much fear over all her wrong doings she lacked the courage she needed to even strike up a conversation with Him.

As she drifted further and further away from God’s laws, she soon found herself believing that not only did God find her not worthy; she became convinced that God was out to get her. No longer seeing Him as a friend, she believed the lie that He was now her enemy.

Through the Catholic school her mother had enrolled her in, she learned about sin, hell and confession. She went to confession every week but she left feeling empty and even more unworthy of God’s time. She was beginning to resent God for being so strict and she believed that she was doomed to die and spend eternity in hell.

As life continued this young girl who had drifted from God transitioned into a grown adult who never sought out God for anything. As life went on, she made decisions she knew were against God’s laws. So much so she was certain He may strike her dead by lightening right where she stood, but alas He seemed content to let her suffer. That just made her view Him as a cruel God for a large part of her wanted her life to end. She had come to the point where she no longer saw any hope of her ever doing anything worthwhile with her life and she often questioned how she could ever be of any real use to anyone.

One day, the world and her problems became so large; she got on her knees and called out to God crying. She told Him she was tired of living life by her will and was ready to live life by His will. She truly longed to hear Him speak again. She knew to her very core that He was her only hope out of the situation she had found herself in. As she knelt before Him weeping, He called her by name. He then gave her a full reply to her prayer and even told her of something that would take place in her future.

She was so elated by all He spoke that she immediately sought to find a bible and she began reading His word that very day. Even though she was reading His word, she did not understand much and she was flipping from book to book completely lost as to how to truly begin gaining knowledge from what she read.

She knew she was going to need help so she sought out others who were also reading God’s word. She had a friend on Face Book that shared verses all the time so she asked her if she could help her gain understanding. She was blessed by her seeking, for this very friend invited her to join her bible study group that she was a part of. She excitedly shared that they were just beginning to study the Book of Ephesians. Thankful for the invitation, she accepted it and joined the group that following day.

As she learned about Christ, grace, and salvation, she began once again trusting God. She made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior the very week she learned the truth about Him.

She wondered why and how she had become so convinced that God was her enemy when His word made it clear that He loved us all. That very next week, she learned about her full suit of armor as well as the schemes of the devil. Understanding just how Satan had tricked her into giving up on her relationship with God, she never failed to wear her full suit of armor from that day forth!

[10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. [11] Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. [14] Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, [15] and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; [16] in addition to all, taking up the shied of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17] And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [18] With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:10-18, NASB)

May you be blessed in the reading of this allegory story!

Wendy, mom of many, walks with God

© Wendy Glidden 2015

An Example of How I Pray to God, Our Heavenly Father

Father,

Another day has begun and I am so thankful that I know you are always with me. My mornings as you know are often hectic with preparing the children for school and Mike’s morning personality. I thank you for the few minutes before the chaos begins as well as the moments after the children get on the bus just to converse with you. You are my strength and my peace, my Everything and I am so very thankful that I walk with you daily for it is you alone that fully replenishes my soul. I can see clearly throughout my life how you have trained me for the position I am longing for. The evil one attempts to fill me with fear after not getting a reply to my most recent email but I turn to you to still my heart. I know the game full well and I know that in you I am the victor. I chose to keep my focus on you, so in that I know if I don’t get this position that my heart so deeply desires that you have something else better in store for me and I am okay with that. I thank you for sending me back to school and for the timing of my last two classes, but especially for this one. As you are aware I have been seeking this information and so much more. I am so humbled to see clearly where I stand with you. I am in awe at how you have grown me spiritually and I pray that I will be a vessel you use in mighty ways to light the path for others. You know my heart so you are aware of my day dreams. I can see me doing so many things to shine your glory into the world from the position I hope to gain and I earnestly pray that I accomplish all I can see and then so much more. Please calm my anxious heart and keep my focus on you LORD. As the day of my second interview approaches you and I both know full well that the enemy will try to draw me into battle. Protect me LORD as you always do. Shield my mind from negative thoughts and self images. Let my light shine so brightly the owners are dazed by your beauty and see your love so brilliantly that there is no indecision in their decision. Let me be the one they are searching for my LORD. In the next 48 hours, calm my anxious heart and keep my focus on you! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

*** He is always listening and He already knows all there is to know about you. Open up daily and I promise the lines of communication will begin to flow right back. Peace to all who try.

Wendy, walks with God, Mom of Many

© Wendy Glidden 2015

My Strength Comes From the LORD!

Simple

Sincere

Seeking

Sunday

I chose to rename each day a few years ago because the various names of the week I made up cause me to contemplate upon the LORD on a more regular basis. This week I learned that this contemplating on the LORD is a very important step in building your relationship with Him. It is VITAL to our well being that we contemplate upon the LORD daily. When we are instructed to pray without ceasing, this is one of prayers forms! How many things do you fret your head around in a given week? I make this challenge to you. When worry creeps up to your door, I challenge you to contemplate things. Ask yourself questions about your situation. Seek If you have been through something like this before. Go to God boldly and ask Him to reveal to you how you can move beyond this into something better. GIVE HIM THANKS. Reflect on all the times of trouble where you made it through. REFLECT. Contemplate. I KNOW that God was there for you were not completely destroyed. You got back up. Somewhere in the midst of that trial you caught a glimpse of an end of the battle, you got a dose of hope.

I have written blogs on the dark days of disconnect where after feeling immersed in God’s overwhelming love for me, I felt like I was by myself. I have come to learn I am never by myself. He is always with me. 

Back to my point, there truly are days of disconnect. Everyone has them. Even Mother Theresa had them. So here I am reading this required text for my current college class at Colorado Christian University and I am literally devouring this current book. I only needed to read Chapters 3-4. I almost finished reading it last night. The reason being is I am learning about the maturity of my relationship with the LORD and what I have to look forward to. I was surprised of how accurate the book was in describing my own personal walk with the LORD and I was humbled to see where I had been in what the author refers to as Mansions and Rooms. I was also thankful to read what I did regarding Spiritual Warfare. I write about it and talk about it often. I know I went through hellashish things while growing up. I know full well today what the enemy said to me and how in my rash immature emotional explosions I walked further and further away from God who truly was someone I had walked with on a regular basis. In my youth I can confidently say I met God face to face. I spent what felt like hours conversing with Him. This level of intimacy with God in a very real way set me up for a very intense level of trials and tribulations. 

I got a little choked up last night as I flashed once again on my past. I see where I am today. Free thanks to the Love of the LORD. I am blessed beyond measure and I am so grateful for the gigantic hope and faith doses I was given along the way. I just want for everyone to know God like I do. You would find peace in the midst of any given storm. I don’t want to weigh you down with the list of my worldly issues for truly they don’t matter. Today I am confident in the LORD and it truly changes things. I have friends who have gone so far as to tell me they admire my strength. Me! I laugh. I am not strong. I am just a girl. I can cry and wail with the best of them! My strength comes from the LORD. I am truly blessed to have lived the life I have. I’ve been sung to by angels, I was blessed to see and hear an angel who said something to me that I reflected on often during my darkest days, I know God knows my name because He has called me by it. I’ve seen light from heaven and I am living out some of my childhood dreams already.

So, what do I contemplate on Sundays? How simple my walk with the LORD has become. How wonderful it feels to know that He always has me; to have no fear. How grateful I am for His immense love. How blessed I am in this stage of my life. I sincerely love God. I sincerely want to share this gift with the world. I pray all my motives are sincere and I ask if there be any pride or lust for wealth and personal belongings in me that they be completely removed. I pray that in all my actions I am sincere in my heart. I seek what God has for me today. I ask Him to be bold in what He wants me to see. I remind Him that I am blind so bill board signs work best. I seek His advice concerning my relationships with others. I share with Him how I feel I may have failed in showing love in my various interactions and instead got caught up in my own feelings. I often pray that God help me in the areas I need help and that He uses me in greater ways. I pray He expands my terriortory. I pray I get to be a light in someone’s life. I ask to be one who helps a lost soul find their way back home. I pray that I am a mighty warrior who is there to help break the chains of bondage for others. I do all of this often throughout the day as I remember it is Sunday. You see, three years ago in my desire to be more focused on the LORD throughout the whole day, I renamed the days of the week so that I would contemplate upon the LORD and His various characteristics.

Here are my constant renamed days of the week. Sometimes, I add a word or change one if I feel I need to contemplate on something new.

Simple Sincere Seeking Sunday

Marvelously Magnificent Miraculous Monday

Totally Terrific Testimonial Tuesday

Wild Wonderful Wacky Wednesday

Tremendously Thankful Thoroughly Thoughtful Thursday

Fantastically Fun Filled Friends and Family Friday

Super Silly Sing-Song Saturday

Many of you know I wrote a ton of my story and republished it into a single book. Today I am confident once again that I wrote this as God called me forth to do because through my story you will learn more about the depth of spiritual warfare we all are drawn into. None are exempt.

I am going to publish another book soon that I have promised to publish for the last two years. Some stories take longer to get on paper than others. For now, I ask that you began building a foundation of faith in these things by purchasing a copy of my trilogy. Just click here to be taken to my author page on Amazon. I do offer a direct print purchase from my e-store as well. If you are going to purchase a print copy, please do so from this link.

I promise you will begin to see things you never saw before after you read this book. Keep your eyes open for my upcoming publication as well, “You are Worthy Too: In the Midst of Spiritual Warfare”.

I thank you for your support first in your reading and sharing my blog posts and second your financial support each time one of you purchases my life story. I promise it is not a boring read at all. If you love a good true life story, this is one you won’t want to miss out on. Again, click here for print and here for my author page and access to the book on kindle.

This is a picture I keep on my wall and I look at it every morning and every night. It represents Psalm 46 for me. As you can see, I am dressed in my full suit of armor for I know where my strength comes from. The LORD!

May you be blessed in reading my story, may you pass the blessing on <3. Peace, love and hope is what I pray for you. Please pray for strength, boldness and confidence for me to continue sharing the word of God with all who have an ear to hear! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!

Wendy Glidden, walks with God, Mom of many.

© Wendy Glidden 2015

Some People that Inspire Me and Why!

Conversation Topic:

Jesus invites us to follow him (Matthew 4:19). In Streams of Living Water, Foster writes about notable figures in Christian history who answered Christ’s call to follow him. Select two of these notable figures, research their lives, and then answer the following questions:

1. How did they answer Christ’s call to follow him?

2. What is it about their lives that inspires you?

The first person I am writing on is Paul. He was always a believer in God, he just doubted that Christ was indeed the son of God as the Apostles claimed. We are told he was at the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7:54 and that he approved of the mob action. I love Paul’s story. I love how God uses everything for something good. Saul loved God, studied his word and we are told he was “A brilliant student” (Foster, Streams of living water). We know that “he studied under Gamaliel, the well known leading teacher of the school of Hillel.” This foundation in the Old Testament gave Paul an incredible background and leg to stand on when he preached to the Jews. I love that he was considered a Roman citizen for that allowed him opportunities he otherwise would not have had. Imagine the bible without the Epistle to the Ephesians! This he wrote from prison. Paul followed Christ from the moment he realized the truth. He spent his entire life sharing the truth, inspiring and warning all that he could get to listen. He inspires me because of all the trials and tribulations he went through and yet he continued to proclaim the mystery of Christ. When he asked for prayers, it was for more boldness to preach come what may! I love his writing style and I often can hear him when I read his letters. I love that he shares with us how to protect ourselves in this world against Satan and the powers of darkness. My desire is to be a modern day female Paul. I blog, I write and I share my life story with anyone whose ear I can bend.

The second person I decided to write on is James. I find James most intriguing because he grew up with Christ and doubted who he was until after he was resurrected and then he followed Christ full force. (Foster, streams of living water) While James letter is short and to the point, it is truly to the point. The first time I read it, my soul leapt with joy and I was like “yea!” James truly inspires me because he calls it like it is. I also admire him for recognizing the truth when it came to the issue of circumcision in the early church and led the elders to the decision that there was no need to weigh down the gentiles with things the LORD obviously did not require them to do. I always reflect on James challenge regarding faith and works.

But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." (James 2:18, NASB)

This verse always helps me. I know that it is by my faith that I produce works. I am thankful that I no longer believe it is my works that will gain me favor with the LORD. That is a trap I never want to be in again!

3. How are you currently responding to Christ’s call to follow him?

I pray daily. I seek His will. I read the word of God every day. I boldly speak about my faith and love for the LORD and I blog. Today I received a message from a girl I met over the summer who stated my blog is helping her learn how to talk to God. I cried when I read it and believe it or not I was laughing at the same time. All my life I wanted to share the love of God with others and for a long time I believed due to my personal failures I was not of use. I thought I had to do something to earn God’s love back and when I was smacked in the head with the truth, I wept like a baby and have been grateful for discovering the truth ever since. I will proclaim the truth until I take my last breath.

 

Check out my author page on Amazon for a free sneak peak into all my books then save yourself 50% by purchasing the full collection all in one "The Proof is in the Pudding" by visiting my estore

Wendy Glidden, walks with God, Mom of many

© Wendy Glidden 2015