The Essence of Faith

It's Fantastically Fabulous Fun Filled Friends and Family Friday! Man oh man!! It is only 10 AM and I am on top of the world. So Joyous I feel like dancing! Starting your day with God is so the way to start.

I have gotten in the habit of checking out the encouraging word from K-Love each morning before I do much of anything else. This year, the encouraging words have truly lifted me up into the clouds.

The more you walk with God, the more supernatural things you witness take place. These events strengthen your Faith and I promise you, the stronger your Faith, the more supernatural events you will witness. It truly is an awesome flywheel to spark.

This morning on Facebook, I had this to say when I shared the encouraging word from K-Love:

I just love the encouraging word via K-Love today:

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. ~ 1 John 5:14-15, NLT

I am confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. My heart soars when I read truths like this. For within various chapters of my life are testimonials regarding answered prayers, some of them in the craziest ways. It pleases God for us to pray for each other. I just realized I need to get a blog going for my heart is overflowing. I leave you with a link to a story from my past regarding a prayer I said for my mother and the answer I received.  Be blessed and be a blessing 

http://youareworthytoo.blogspot.com/2013/01/awoken-by-answer-to-prayer.html

I am truly blessed to have had my faith strengthened again and again. Faith allows you to drop to your knees and share all that is on you heart because you know He hears you. Even though the Lord already knows your every thought, He Loves to see your heart at work. Secretly I think He even gets a chuckle out of the fit prayers we throw for within those we reveal passion. God is Love in it's most unconditional form. 

Faith helps with your ability to stay in today and not fret about tomorrow for you know God has always got you. You may even have even taken the time to armor yourself with a bit of scripture to help you with anxiety regarding the future. This is my personal favorite reminder: From Matthew 6:34 NIV:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ Matthew 6:34, NIV

Anxiety is a weapon the evil one uses. If you don't believe in spiritual warfare, you should! I dress for battle every day. Even though I know my God is bigger and I have nothing to fear, I am not foolish about such things. Even Jesus tangled with the Devil. If you don't think he is a formidable foe, well, you don't truly understand how he works. 

As children, we all quickly learned what silent but deadly meant and when someone said that we quickly exited the room. I promise you that the evil one is as close to silent and deadly as a paid assassin. You don't see him right away and often you are already in a fight for your life before you even realize he has entered the picture. 

I read a lot and I listen to great teachings on Moody Radio when I get the chance so you will have to forgive me for I cannot recall where I first heard this but the truth in it is undeniable. Forgive me for this is not the exact quote either. I have a way of compiling information and consolidating it. With that being said, in a gist this is what I took away from the lesson; 'If you think the devil hasn't come across the likes of you, your ego is too big. He has been at this war for a couple thousand years. To date, Jesus is the only one that defeated him. Don't you think you ought to get to know Jesus?' 

When I first started seeking God with all my heart and joined a bible study group, one of the first books of the bible we studied was Ephesians. That is where I learned about the armor to wear and how best to protect yourself against Satan. I would like to take you right to the book of Ephesians, beginning with Chapter 6, verse 10:

verse 10: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

verse 11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

verse 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. 

verse 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.

verse 14: Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH THE TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

verse 15: and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

verse 16: in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

verse 17: And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Quite an impressive list of armor don't you think. Today I am mainly focusing on the shield of faith and how taking it up you are able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Flaming arrows, that paints quite the picture. The flaming arrows are thoughts meant to take you out. Don't fool yourself for one second. The devil is here to steal, kill and destroy. He will do that by any means possible. Including getting you to believe crazy lies. Think crazy thoughts. Do things you would not do without something, someone pushing you over the edge. These things all stem from you being bombarded with flaming arrows. Put up your shield of faith and protect yourself. Life is a completely different scene as you learn that you truly can make a difference in this battle. All you need is Faith. Don't let the Lord say of you, "Oh ye of little faith". Stand strong in the Lord, remain firm in your belief. He came so you could live this life abundantly. That my friends is some really good news in a world that longs to beat you down, you have a Savior. He is right here with you, waiting for you to call out so He can reveal more of His glory. It is never ending. It is a bright new day. Make the most of it.

Father, I come before you today with great joy in my heart. As a child entering into the age of consent, I knew nothing about armor. I have often wondered how different my life might have turned out had I known all the truths I know today. As you tell us not to worry about tomorrow or yesterday for that matter, I know in my heart that nothing that has taken place in the past was for waste. You use all events for good. You are faithful. Your love is unconditional and I am so grateful for that. I am thankful that I recognize evil for what evil is and that I am today fully aware of my armor needed. I am so blessed to have learned about it when I did. Your timing is always perfect. I know you would have protected me through all of my recent battles regardless. In that I am confident. I also know by wearing my armor, I was able to better withstand the onslaught of attacks I faced this summer. Not only did I withstand, with your strength, I persevered. Here I am, with your help, reaching back in hopes of finding others held in the chains of bondage. Help me with this task Father. Help me be a better leader, help me to be a brighter light, help me call out to the lost and lonely, as well as the overwhelmed. Help my fellow brothers and sisters find their way home. Help them to lift their heads and see the truth. You love your children no matter what! In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

Be blessed my friends and always be a blessing to others <3

Wendy Glidden, walks with God
Mom of Many

© Wendy Glidden 2014

Photo Accessed on 1/13/2017 from: https://www.google.com/search?q=Free+Picture+of+shield+of+faith&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS711US711&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=557&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYj57D4L_RAhWF2YMKHbM8AskQ7AkIKg&dpr=1.1#imgrc=PPcQRqWNRdLN7M%3A

Are You Dressed For Daily Battle?

Totally Tripping, Tremendously Thankful, Thoroughly Thoughtful Thursday! So makes sense that K-Love would have this as the encouraging word of the day:

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. ~ Psalm 100:2, NLT 

All that the Lord does for us every day why would you not willingly almost without thought come before him worshiping with gladness and singing with joy in your heart. I find myself overwhelmed by God's Love for me. I haven't always been that way though. There was a span of almost 30 years where I felt completely unworthy of God's love so it was my own self that denied myself much joy and peace of mind and in return did not sing praises or worship my Lord. I was blind. I allowed the enemy to keep me in bondage, holding me hostage for the majority of my life. Me! A girl who was told in her youth by an angel that she WAS indeed a Child of God!! This is why it is so important to understand that Satan is REAL. He is the SOURCE of ALL EVIL. BIG Evil and Almost Unrecognizable Evil. Let me see if I can break this down so that it makes undeniable sense. 

Let us pretend that you have a child whether you do or not. Now, due to a divorce, you are separated from said child. From now on you only get to see this child when they call you and ask you to come get them because this is the way your visitation was set up. They must seek you for you to have a true relationship with them. Your child spends the majority of their time with their other parent who is always 'in their ear' with negative thoughts. Every day they are being told that they are a disappointment.  They are told that they are stupid, unworthy, a failure. They are told they are not really loved by you. They are told so many negative things about themselves and you, that when they finally do pick up that phone, their trust level is incredibly low. They long to be loved by you, they just don't feel enveloped in your love. All due to NOTHING you yourself have done to this beautiful child of yours that you long to lift, for you see the pain they are carrying in their heart. 

Would you not classify that other parent as both destructive and evil? I believe all of us would. Consider yourself fully introduced to Satan because he does this exact thing to EVERY CHILD OF GOD!!! This is why you must both KNOW the ENEMY is REAL and you MUST LEARN how to ARM YOURSELF AGAINST him, the Father of Lies!!!!

So, what is the real armor against such an evil unseen entity? It can all easily be found in Ephesians. This was one of the first Books in the Bible that I fully dove into with my small group. I find it priceless. Allow me to share the attire you should put on daily with you:

Straight out of my MacArthur Study Bible, from the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 6, beginning at Verse 10. My subtitle begins as: The Armor of God

verse 10: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

verse 11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

verse 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. 

verse 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.

verse 14: Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 

verse 15: and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

verse 16: in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith which you will be be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

verse 17: And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

verse 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,

verse 19: and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in that opening of my mouth, to make known with the boldness the mystery of the gospel, 

Often when we read the bible, it is hard to make sense of what is meant to be taken from the text. This is what I get from these particular verses:

I need to read or listen to God's word EVERY day. The truth within the pages when read/heard every day, even if it is just a verse or two, will help to armor and renew your mind. You will have God's truth inside your head and it will be growing daily. As you learn more about your Lord and the Love He has for His children, your Faith will grow. It is your shield of faith that helps you when the attacks begin. I KNOW THIS FOR TRUTH because when the evil one came after me hard and strong this last summer, I KNEW, I mean with every fiber of my being I KNEW MY GOD Had me. I didn't understand the attack and the viciousness of it but I cast my own understanding to the side and I leaned on God and trusted Him with all my heart and even in the midst of one of the most brutal storms of my life, I managed to not only function, I was able to press head on! I could not have done that on my own strength for in my own strength I wanted to crumble to pieces and hide under my blankets. SERIOUSLY. It was my FAITH that allowed me to stand firm. A major part of your Armor is your Breastplate of Righteousness. This plate guards your heart. This righteousness comes from Jesus Christ. We can never become righteous through our own good works. IMPOSSIBLE to do! When Jesus died on the cross, his righteousness was credited to all who believe in him, through justification. Because of this, when you believe, God sees you as sinless. Accept your Christ-given righteousness and let it cover and protect you. This belief will keep your heart strong and pure for God. Do the Romans study if you are still unsure of who you are in Christ! Next we come to our foot ware. We must shod our feet with the Gospel of Peace. When in battle it is important to have the right type of shoes on. Any soldier knows this! So where do you find these shoes? How does one go about getting a pair to wear? First you have to discover 'True Peace'. True peace comes only by being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. That is salvation from sin and its consequences of condemnation by God. Since that reconciliation takes place because of God's initiative, God is called the God of peace. You can verify this by reading Hebrews 13:20 as well as Philippians 4:9. It is This good news that is the message of the gospel of peace. We are to stand firm in the gospel of peace and when we do, we can remain calm regardless of whatever may come our way. Regardless of any temptation we might face or any lie someone claims, even slander or any persecution Satan may bring against us. We are controlled by God's peace instead of fear. Satan operates through fear. If you are controlled by peace rather than fear, you my friend will win the battle Every time! Next we must carry the shield of faith as well as the Helmet of Salvation and the sword of the spirit. The Helmet of Salvation protects our mind. Jesus Christ said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31 - 32, NIV) The truth of salvation through Jesus Christ indeed sets us free. The shield of faith can be whipped out when you are under attack. Again, Satan's biggest weapon against you is Fear. With Faith you easily distinguish the fiery arrows he will launch at you during an attack. The sword of the Spirit is God's word. This is why it is wise to read God's word every day, even if it is only a verse at a time, within one month you will have renewed your mind with over 30 verses. There is something about picking up God's word and reading it. It becomes something you crave, even more so than food. Suddenly during times of trials and tribulations rather than pacing back and forth full of fear and anxiety, you are able to rest in peace and dive into God's word. Suddenly you will be floating through storms that you used to almost die in. This is the difference of fighting in your own strength and allowing yourself to rest and lean on God's strength. 

Just like with anything we do, don't think you are going to become well versed and full of faith in one day of reading a little bit of scripture. You must make this a practice. Kind of why it is called your DAILY armor! I promise if you truly seek God and His truth, your world will change. In all the things you do in your lifetime, getting to know your heavenly Father and building a relationship with Him is the most important thing you can do. It truly makes all the difference in the final outcome. 

Father, today I pray that your children come to know the truth. May they seek you Father and find all that you have to offer. May they suit up for battle daily and begin to turn back to help more fellow brethren as they grow strong themselves. May we feed upon your word father. May we thirst for it. The other day when as a lady heard about my circumstance she said, "Oh honey you really have it hard. Even prayer won't help you." I laughed and quickly said, "Oh prayer helps me every day." May countless of us begin to pray and believe in the power of prayer Father. I truly know faith can move mountains. May this truth become more visible to countless across the world. May we get on our knees and pray as the spirit moves us. More and more often the spirit moves me to pray for others. May I get more in tune with this Father. May I not doubt where the draw to pray for someone comes from. May I begin praying in the Spirit with Full Faith in Knowing I am being used to help heal others. Please use me more often and in greater ways Father. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Wendy, walks with God

Mom of Many

© Wendy Glidden 2013

Take up the Shield of Faith!

Wild Wacky Wonderful Wednesday! What on earth do you have in store for me today? I was so blessed yesterday to receive so many encouraging comments regarding various posts others have read. If you've read my story from the first post entitled "In the Beginning" you know my desire has always been to be a helpful servant to the Lord. I am at last the Woman that I Admire! I never, in my wildest dreams, envisioned my life as it is today. I am blessed to be a friend to God again. I promise if you seek Him with all your heart He will answer.

I have mentioned through various blogs an alphabet picture that hangs on my wall above my desk at work. I found it at a Goodwill and just had to have it. One would think in 7 months time I would be beyond letter "H" but alas, that is where I am at today! I am pleased to announce I now have a camera that is good enough to snap a picture it, so without further ado, here is my Alphabet Picture:

** I was hoping it would show up better, but this is the best I can get for now!

So today's letter is "H" and the verse for it comes from 1 John, Chapter 4, verse 4 my picture reads:

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

However this morning I heard the entire verse on either Moody or K-Love and I caught my breath. After excitedly grabbing my bible I knew I had to share not only the complete quote from verse 4 but I must also share with you more of this chapter. From my MacArthur study Bible Beginning at Chapter 4, verse 1:

verse 1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

verse 2: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

verse 3: and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

verse 4: You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

verse 5: They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 

verse 6: We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

I love knowing this truth. Satan may be in this world but I have the Holy Spirit IN me and He is so much greater than the evil one. What confidence this brings. All I have to do is remember this little nugget of truth each time I feel the evil one is coming for me. He cannot destroy me. I am firm in my faith.

I allowed Satan to trick me into believing I was no longer worthy of God's attention once. That will NOT happen again! I read my bible today. I did not read it as a child or even a young adult. I knew what I knew and that was not enough armor. Today, I fully dress for war every day. Do you know the elements of armor you need to wage war against the darkness of evil? If not, you can find it all laid out for you in Ephesians, Chapter 6. I am going to begin at verse 11 out of my MacArthur study bible:

verse 11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

verse 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.

verse 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.

verse 14: Stand firm therefore, *HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 

verse 15: and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 

verse 16: in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

verse 17: And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Quite an outfit of protection! I know that not being familiar with the word of God allowed the evil one to trick me. The best protection you can give yourself is reading God's word. This increases your Faith, it gives you understanding and so much more. I encourage you to renew your mind daily. There are many ways to begin this process. I have written a blog about renewing your mind and there is a 30 day challenge in there as well. This is the link to that blog: http://youareworthytoo.blogspot.com/2013/05/im-just-girl.html

Do not ever think your faith cannot be strengthened for I find mine strengthened each day! Picking up the bible does something nothing else can. It is why reading the word of God is such a vital part of your armor. Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture. If this was His way of defeating the devil, why would you not think it would be your way as well? 

I hope my post today has encouraged you to seek Him with all your heart. We were all created for a purpose. If you are looking for a more joyous life, God is the answer. This is not to say you will never run into trouble. When you read the bible that truth will stand out. What will happen is you will find joy in every day and getting through the trouble that comes your way will become an easier task for your strength, your true strength comes from the Lord. I know that truth beyond a shadow of doubt!

Father I come before you today with gratitude for the armor you have provided us with. How I wish someone had informed me of such things as a child! I pray the word gets out about the armor we all need for our own protection. I pray I am a vessel for such news. I pray countless begin to carry their bibles everywhere they go. I pray countless begin to read your word and share it with all they know. I pray more and more and more of my fellow bothers and sisters become bolder in their faith and join ranks encouraging one another as we are meant to do. I thank you Father for filling me with your love. I thank you for countless blessings that have been bestowed upon me. I thank you for your Grace. I thank you for calling me home. I thank you for how you are using me to reach others who are lost. I ask you to use me more. My life is yours now until my last breath. Thank you Father. In Jesus name I pray! Amen

Today I thought I'd leave you with a song I heard this morning. It is so fitting for this post:

Wendy, Mom of Many

© Wendy Glidden, 2013