Thur. 2/14/13 Getting Dressed 4

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and Happy Saint Valentine's Day.  Since I am talking about getting dressed, I guess you are to dress in red today.  So I got up and laid out my clothes for today, for when done with the message I will get my shower and get dressed putting on my undies with those little red hearts on them.  (Before that gets out, I made that up.)  Look, little Santas on my socks is about as far as I go that way.  I do, however, have a beautiful tie that works so well for Saint Valentine's Day where we show love.  Yes, my tie shows Jesus on the cross, and brothers and sisters, that was and still is the best, the very best of all the love we will ever receive.  No flowers, no candy, nothing in red, not even those beloved long-stemmed red roses, can come near to the red blood of our Lord Jesus.  No diamonds, nor rubies, not even the band of gold as in a wedding band can get near to that band of thorns that have been placed on the head of our Lord Jesus.  Nothing in love can replace or come near to the Love of Jesus as shown to us when He died for us on the cross.  So dare I say it this way ...

Happy Saint Valentine's Day, my Dear Jesus, I love You very much.  To the rest of you, my dear family and my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Happy Saint Valentine's Day.  You are all number two on my list.  I love you also.

Please pray on this day that people do remember that real meaning of love that is the very, very best gift one can have and it comes from our Lord Jesus.  Pray that they will always keep Jesus above all else.  Try this today, give your spouse a big hug and say, I love you, you are second in my life.  And please do not be afraid to hug others and tell them also you love them, just remember who is number one ... JESUS FIRST ... Now let me get to my message ... Getting Dressed.

Getting Dressed 2/14/2013 Day Four.

Ephesians 6:10 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  12 For our struggles are 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.  13 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.  14 Stand then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.  With your breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace.  16 In addition to all this, take up the Shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  (NIV)

In this series I have been repeating the scripture as we go so that you can review the steps in this armor of God.  Today we are going to take a look at ...

Ephesians 6:16 - In addition to all this, take up the Shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  (NIV)

The large Roman shields were covered with leather.  This could be soaked in water and when flaming arrow would come at them, the wet leather would put out the fire.  As I think of the Lord's Armor and of course as we think of it, we must remember as we put it on, we are really not going to carry that big shield as we go into battle each day.  We pray each day and then with God we place this armor in our minds and hearts.  Now as we place this shield again it is like the breastplate protection from the devil and his crew.  We know that Satan does not work alone, there are forces of evil all around us daily.  The shield locked in your arm can be moved around, it can protect many parts of your body.  Of course those who want to attack us are those who do not want us to get out that good, good news.  That Love of Jesus that we want to share to all the corners of the world.

Again I want to go back to the mouth, and in today's world, the words that come out of a mouth can be sharper than any arrow being shot at us ... so we can take this shield and just move it around and block those words and not let them hurt us.

My mamma told me once, sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never harm us.  Mamma taught us this, but my dear late mamma in some ways was wrong on this.  The truth is, those names, the sharp cutting things others say did harm us some.  Kids are cruel to each other, calling some fat or ugly, or pimple faced did cause harm and still does.  But my mamma taught me about Jesus and that He was called many more names than us.  So we take up Jesus, and with His help, with that Shield that He gives us, we can block these things out and keep moving for Him.  As we do this we need to remember how our Lord Jesus was called names and spat upon and He stood and took these things and He took them for us.  So, brothers and sisters, today if someone calls you a name or something nasty because you follow Jesus, remember, He took many names for us.  And remember this also, those names we get called today as an adult, if we truly take our Shield of Armor which is our Lord Jesus, we can fend these things of ... Amen.

Dear Father in Heaven.  Thanks for another day, thanks for this line, that for a day where love is featured, and I pray that people remember where love comes from.  Lord, I love You so much and love how You share Your love to all of Your children, even for those who say they hate You, or that You never were.  You are wonderful, and thanks for loving all of us, even when some of us took a walk-about.  Your Love never ends, so help us to get the word of Love out, and today is just a great day to do just that.  Be with those on our prayer list, and please be with Vicki, as she has a full plate.  Lord, may we walk with You this day and always.  In Jesus' name, I pray.  Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings, and brothers and sisters, the greatest gift that God gives us is Love, it is the gift above all gifts, please work at sharing it, not just today but each day.

Love ya, Pastor Dan.