ARMOR UP!

I will never forget being a brand new Mama spending the afternoon with my 5 month old baby Lucas when my soap opera (General Hospital) was interrupted with the breaking news of the assassination attempt on President Reagan. I can remember the horror and fear that flooded my heart and the insecurity I felt about the crazy world into which I had brought my son.

Fast-forward 40 years and I'm really grateful that I could not have imagined just how much more crazy and evil our world would become. It feels closer, now. I mean, ever since God placed the serpent in That Garden and the apple on That Tree – sin and evil have always been within an arm's reach. But the darkness is ubiquitous; it's as though a curtain is being pulled back to unabashedly reveal what was once hidden. Evil on parade. In high-definition.

A few days ago, I was having a discussion with a young Mom who was concerned about the future of her babies, anxious to find a way to instill strength into their young souls – to teach them how to be unafraid when she sends them out into the world.

Even though I have six precious G-babes... I don't think I can truly imagine the overwhelming struggle of young parents who are raising kids in today's dark and destructive climate. But I do have 40 years of faith and God-given wisdom to share...

And this is the three-fold message God put on my heart for that sweet Mama:

1.  Satan is the enemy.
2. The battle is spiritual.
3. We have the Armor of God.

■SATAN IS THE ENEMY. We wrestle NOT against flesh and blood. The enemy is not your spouse or your ex-spouse or your uncle or your congressman or even the used car salesman who sold you a clunker. If that were true, we could go toe-to-toe with our enemy and end the fight with a mean right hook. But satan fights dirty. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

■THE BATTLE IS SPIRITUAL. The darkness and evil that is happening on our earthly stage is being cunningly and skillfully produced in a spiritual realm directed by satan. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.” (1 Corinthians 10:3)

This 👏Is 👏 Why 👏 We 👏 Need 👏 God 👏. He is the Only One who can defeat our spiritual enemies.

■WE HAVE WEAPONS!! These are difficult days, but God hasn't left us defenseless... far from it. He's given us His Very Own Armor, the same Armor He wore in Isaiah 59:17. There were no Roman soldiers when Isaiah wrote these words. But about 700 years later, the Apostle Paul remembered them as he sat in captivity surrounded by Roman soldiers and gave us this message:

“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. STAND firm then, with the BELT OF TRUTH buckled around your waist, with the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the GOSPEL OF PEACE. In addition to all this, take up the SHIELD OF FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the HELMET OF SALVATION and the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17)

[Notice that the SWORD – the WORD OF GOD – is the only defensive AND offensive weapon in our arsenal. What a weapon! “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and DISCERNING the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)]

Sweet Mamas... you're not just raising helpless mortals. You are raising SPIRITUAL SUPERHEROES. Empower them. Teach them how to ARMOR UP. In a world that seems to be falling apart, teach them to STAND.

And know this: There are armies of us “seasoned” women who have been where you are and are willing to stand in the gap whenever and wherever you need a mentor or prayer warrior.

We've got this, Mamas. ⚔

CHOOSE LIFE

As I was finishing up paperwork at my Octogerian patient's house today, I offhandedly asked him what his profession had been. He told me he was a preacher. Preached for over half a century... still preaching. We chatted a minute about the Bible and I asked him if he believed we were truly in the 'Last Days'. He nodded his head emphatically and said, “Most certainly!” He explained that America today is just like Israel in the OT... filled with lost people in search of an earthly king who will give us what we think we WANT, instead of a Heavenly King who gives us exactly what we NEED. He quoted Deuteronomy 30, where Moses – in his final speech – told the Israelites to “Choose Life” so that they would receive all the promised blessings from God.

Coincidentally (?) I had just finished Deuteronomy. It's a tough, book for me – it swamps me to read about the death of Moses. I can't deal with all the feels when God takes Moses up to Mt. Nebo to view the promised land. I cry every time, imagining the profound sense of accomplishment Moses felt after 80 years of service finally culminating in the deliverance of God's people; joy that the Israelites would finally be “home”; sadness in the prophetic knowledge that his "stiff-necked" people would eventually lose their homeland and be dispersed all over the world because they chose the curse instead of the blessing.

Today is my Daddy's birthday. He would be 87. To me, he is perpetually 64 – the age he left this earth. Several years ago I wrote this birthday tribute to him which popped up on my FB memories:

“It's been 15 years since my Daddy held me safe against his big ol' chest while I snuggled in, getting high on the scent of Old Spice. There was magic in that Old Spice. One whiff and a hug from my Daddy was all it took to make everything okay. I'm missing him more than usual. Maybe it's because the world seems to be going crazy and Tina Turner was completely wrong: we DO need another hero. He was mine.”

Undoubtedly, the world has become even uglier and crazier in the decades since my Dad found his way to heaven. We are surrounded by chaos, still searching for a 'king' to make everything better.

Life is hard and uncertain. Our hearts are troubled. There's not much I wouldn't give for one of my Dad's magical hugs...

But while he was my hero, God is my salvation. He reminded me of that today. His messenger was a tired, old preacher who believes without a doubt that he is still here for a purpose: to encourage others to Choose Life.

I'm thankful for men like him... beyond grateful for the modern-day Moseses who continue to lead lost wanderers into the Promised Land.

(Also, I'm pretty sure the Promised Land smells like Old Spice... 😉

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