Category Archives: malta

When Ye Fast… In ALL Circumstances

Welcome! We are still praying and fasting through January; you can access all of our previous posts here. Tomorrow, we will discuss the Sword of the Spirit then back to more concentrated Daniel Fasts devotions. Now, on to the helmet!

I know very little about football, but can you imagine your favorite football team, all suited up and ready to hit the field, when the coach makes the announcement that they are to leave their helmets behind? Abandon the only protection they have for their heads, their brains? Football is an aggressive sport that requires serious protection and the helmet is likely the last piece of armor that a player puts on. But just because it is last doesn’t mean it isn’t important! Without a helmet, they risk serious injury that could affect them the rest of their lives.

Friend, I have given enough of an explanation above that anyone could finish this post! Ephesians 6 is the charge to the Church about the Armor of God. All it says about the helmet is “…and take the helmet of salvation…” no explanation why or what it means, etc. Paul just said to take it. Don’t forget it, don’t leave home without it! And we have seen all week long that you don’t pick up a piece of armor and then not wear it because it will do absolutely no good whatsoever.

The sentence with the instruction to take the helmet begins with “In all circumstances…” then proceeds to tell the reader to take the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

In all circumstances.

We don’t get up every morning and think, “Hmmm…wonder if it is necessary to put on all of the armor? Can I just at least leave off the helmet? It’s so bulky and it’s hot under there. Can I go without just this once?” (Unfortunately in 2021 it is the dreaded mask that we struggle with but still wear every day!)

There is one who would love for you to leave it at home and that is Satan. The Bible calls him a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Those are pretty strong words! But they ring true because he is the enemy of your soul. He knows if you put on that helmet of salvation, you are confident that the Name you have applied to your life, Jesus, is more than enough to withstand his constant attacks!

” In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”

This helmet of salvation protects our minds. Satan works to bring doubt and confusion to the mind of the child of God. He knows if he can get you to question what you believe or even doubt the power of God, he will weaken you and then cause other things to come after you, etc. On and on it goes until you don’t even have the strength to pick up the helmet.

The Roman soldiers helmet also protected the eyes! With it, he could maintain his focus on the goal that was set before him. Likewise, we, as the Body of Christ, applying the Armor of God EVERY DAY, in all circumstances, can see what lies ahead, we can fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!

When we are praying AND fasting, there isn’t a distraction, delay or detour that can trip us up. In all circumstances, He is our hope! Our goal is salvation, our goal is to see Jesus, the One who makes salvation possible. Jesus has given us the armor as protection against anything the enemy can throw at us. But if we don’t put it on, if we forget one piece, it is all useless.

Fast unto the Lord, build up your most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost and, in all circumstances, be faithful with the Armor He has provided. It will surely keep your physical body and your mind from things that would hinder or cause you to stumble. See you tomorrow and be blessed as you fast unto the Lord.

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Open doors, open hearts…

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Revelation 3:20. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Every single time I hear the verse “I stand at the door at knock” I am immediately transported back in time to my paternal grandmother’s living room. She had a copy of Warner Sallman’s painting, Christ at Heart’s Door. I am sure I didn’t understand all that the artist meant for us to grasp at such a young age. Today, I wanted to delve a little deeper and uncover some treasures, truths and even terrors about that door to the heart and the rest of the scripture in that chapter. Open doors, open hearts…
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Sallman painted Christ at Heart’s Door in the late 1940’s while working as a freelance artist and magazine illustrator in Chicago. Decades later, he was dubbed the “best known artist of the century” by the New York Times. But his initial popularity came from a painting he finished before this one, The Head of Christ.
Head-of-Christ
It was finished in 1940 and soon beloved by many. The Salvation Army and the USO distributed copies of it in pocketsize to the U.S. soldiers. That same face of a loving Savior was also used in the painting of Jesus standing at the door. Of course Sallman didn’t know what Jesus looked like and neither do we. But because of His popular painting, this is the face so many of us see in our minds when we think of Jesus, whether we want to or not.
Many things about the painting of Jesus standing at the door are intriguing. You may notice there is no handle on the door on the outside. It must be opened from the INSIDE. Jesus will knock, He will pursue but He will never force His way into your heart and life. His is an open invitation, but if you don’t open the door He cannot come in!

Doors. We can open them, close them, choose whether to walk through them, ignore them all together, slam them, lock them or keep them ajar.

While I was on the island of Malta last month I was mesmerized by the doors there. Most homes give names to their homes with the most popular being St. Mary since this is a predominantly Catholic country.  I saw names such as Hortensia, Felicia, Ave Maria, St. Genevieve, Noe Noella, Silver Lining, Santa Verginella and Cornerstone. I thought I would share some of these beautiful entryways with you.
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In this house below with the big palm tree, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie lived here while making their latest film. They have made other movies in Malta, such as Troy and Alexander and have been seen around the island many times.
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door collage 5door collage 6door collage 7That is the explanation of the scripture I have heard my entire life, that Jesus stands at the door of the heart of the sinner and knocks. We can certainly be blessed by the picture of Jesus wanting to come in to our hearts. But this verse is actually at the end of the charge to the Church in Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church. Here it is in its entirety:
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:  “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” Revelation 3:14-22 NKJV.
This Church hasn’t even noticed that Jesus has left! That is terrifying to me! These are those who think they have need of nothing, but are actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Yet He reproves, corrects and invites them to come back to Him. All they have to do is HEAR HIS VOICE, OPEN THE DOOR and He will come back in.
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Is this the story of your door, the door to your heart? Are you just overwhelmed with LIFE, busy making money, busy raising children, busy accumulating and building bigger barns that, even though you might not say it out loud, your heart is saying, “I don’t need God, I have it all together.”
Whichever one describes us, however we have interpreted this verse, we all still need Jesus. He knocks for us. He pursues us. He LOVES us over and over again. He pushes through our darkness, through our pain and whether you have never known Him, or you have pushed Him aside, if you will open that door He will come in.
The coolest thing I found while studying these verses? It’s the first two verses in the next chapter:

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and Onesat on the throne.” Revelation 4:1, 2 NKJV.

John was taken up into heaven and there he sees a DOOR. This is an OPEN DOOR in heaven. What was behind that OPEN DOOR?

ONE sat on the throne.

Friends, this is our Jesus, the One who overcame death, hell and the grave. He did it all for you, for me and for now? The DOOR is OPEN and He invites us in with forgiveness and salvation under Grace.
Someday the DOOR will be CLOSED for all eternity. Whatever you do, do not wait until it is too late.

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The-Daniel-Fast-A-DevotionalThe Daniel Fast Devotional is still going strong! This devotional is great for ANY FAST, it has 21 days of devotions and three days of preparation for a fast. Includes Daniel Fast recipes if that is your chosen fast. Get your copy of The Daniel Fast, A Devotional, today!

Sharing  with The Sunday Community, Sunday Stillness, Making your home sing, Good Morning Mondays, Living Proverbs 31, Sharing His Beauty, Amaze Me Monday. Modest Monday, Open hearts, open doors, Homemaking Linkup, A Little R & R, Wedded Wednesday, #RARA Linkup, Friendship Friday, Grace and Truth, Titus 2sday

Separated at 30,000 ft. Part 2!



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Today’s post is Part 2, the conclusion of Separated from The Sweetheart. You can read Part 1 here. Today? Separated at 30,000 ft. Part 2!
This flight actually took place first, from the Mediterranean island of Malta to Frankfurt, Germany where we were staying overnight. We had about 18 hours total to see Frankfurt…no worries we have had much less on long layovers. We once only had eight hours in Copenhagen and we sure didn’t spend it in the airport! We hopped a taxi and headed for the river, took a cruise to see as much as we could, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, saw the Tivoli and even shopped for souvenirs. It can be done!
So in Frankfurt, we had secured a room at a brand new Holiday Inn right downtown (for a steal!!) and were looking forward to seeing a little bit of the city, even though the sun wasn’t cooperating. Here are a few pictures of Römerberg, the historic heart of the city: (The church in the second picture dates back to the 13th century!)
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So we have boarded our flight and this time The Sweetheart was BEHIND me. (Yes, I know, I need to start booking these flights myself) I had the aisle again and he did too so he was continually reaching up and bugging me, flipping my hair or asking me questions.
A few minutes later, a young man gave the customary “Excuse me.” He had the window seat and as the plane filled up we were both delighted to discover the seat between us would remain empty.  Hooray for the little things.

 

I say “young” because I thought he was the age of my boys, 28-30 or so. After about an hour of conversation he told me he was 46!! Seven years younger than me! I wasn’t about to tell him that and have him gasp as I had, only for the opposite reason.
I noticed right away he was getting a lot of attention from the Lufthansa flight attendants. They came around passing out little bags of pretzels. I received one little bag but my friend received two! They were chatting in German so naturally I couldn’t understand them. When they came back a couple of minutes later with soft drinks they poured mine out of the can into the small plastic cup and handed it to me. His? He got the full cup AND the rest of the can! Laughing, joking, bantering back and forth and in the process one of the flight attendants opened another can and it spewed all over her. Being the ever-ready-and-prepared traveler, I reached into my bag for a giant wet wipe and handed it to one of the attendants who handed it to the one who had made the mess. She immediately looked at my friend and thanked HIM! I interrupted then, in English, and said, “No, no, no…” pointing to me. He was laughing hard by then and telling them in German. Right, this nice looking, single guy carries giant Wet Ones with him. Seriously.
So when they left I couldn’t resist asking, “So, do you know the flight attendants personally?”
“No.”
“You are receiving quite a bit of extra attention, extra snacks, extra drinks and tons of smiles!”
He laughed, winked and said, “Just me.”

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He asked what we had been doing in Malta and I was delighted to tell him that we had been staying with resident missionaries while doing leadership training and teaching in the church. He had been sent there by his job to brush up on his English. We talked about life, families and just general things until we were almost ready to land. We had been talking a little about the world state of affairs when he said this:
“Oh, we will never have another world war again. Never happen. We have all learned our lesson and we don’t have to worry about that any longer.”

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” Edmund Burke

Of course we all wish my newfound friend was right. As Christians, we know things are rapidly pointing to the coming of the Lord and that things in this life, as we have always known it, cannot continue forever.
Evil abounds and we are in the middle of a war against humanity. We see it every day on television and social media that ISIS is slowly, but surely, taking over city after city and eventually, country after country as they attempt to take over the world. Yes, the world! That is their goal and they have not kept it a secret.
How should we live? As my friend with his head in the sand oblivious to what is going on around him? It is easy to do that…we aren’t under imminent threat here yet, but we will be. We cannot shy away from that! ISIS is not becoming weaker but continues to take over city after city, week after week. We only see a small portion of what is actually taking place in the Middle East, it is much worse than we can possibly imagine.

So should we run through town with placards that state, “THE END IS NEAR”?

Yes. And No. We do have to sound the warning but at the same time we have the Good News! The purpose of the Church of the Living God is to reach out to the lost.
I have always thought the focus on endtime events, though very important and not to be ignored, should be more on what Jesus has done on the Cross, why He came, why He died and what He has done in our own lives. We should be praying for miracles, signs and wonders to be done in our midst again, that is what drew people in the time of the disciples and it will do the same today. People want to know that God is real and even if you don’t have a testimony of a blind eye being opened or a deaf ear unstopped you DO have a story of God’s keeping power, His deliverance, His “I will never leave you nor forsake you” promises.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. There is Hope and His name is Jesus. Even as we work to spread the Gospel, the Good News is that Jesus, not Mohammed, is the One, True God who came in the flesh and gave His very life so that we could have eternal life. We serve a LIVING GOD!
Does that mean we will not suffer? Obviously that is not a promise; the Bible says we WILL suffer persecution for His name. We have seen that down through the centuries, we know the apostles and hundreds of thousands of Christians laid down their lives for the Name of Jesus. And we see it again today as we read bulletin after bulletin of Christians being beheaded because they would not denounce their faith.
So, you might ask, what is the point? Why did they do it? Why didn’t they just SAY they denied Jesus to save their lives?
Because He first loved them. And us. Because greater love has NO MAN than this than that He would lay down His life for His friends. Because He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us and will give us eternal life in His presence, eternal paradise, if we hold steadfast to the end.
God doesn’t want anyone to be lost and that should be our heart’s cry as well. He loves the sinner no matter what they have done, what they look like or even what they smell like. Would He have shied away from PigPen and his wife? I think not. I pray I have learned a lesson from these two travel partners. Sometimes we might have to get dirty, get uncomfortable, go where no man has gone before…we might have to stretch ourselves even when we don’t feel like it.

He reached for us, may we fulfill His purpose by reaching for those around us and giving them Hope.

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The-Daniel-Fast-A-DevotionalThe Daniel Fast Devotional is still going strong! This week I was privileged to be a part of a podcast interview on the Apostolic Informer with Host Rob Barrow. He allowed me to talk about the book, how it came to be, what is a Daniel Fast, etc. and even give away a book or two. Folks, I don’t do well listening to my own voice, yikes. But Rob is doing a great job getting information on district happenings within the UPCI for Indiana and beyond. Take a listen here and get your copy of The Daniel Fast, A Devotional, today!