You know that someone who died today was famous for putting down the fashions of the famous?  Yup, that guy, oh what was his name?....anyway, he was a designer but his claim to fame was the "worst dressed" list that I used to see every now and then on the tabloids.  Some of those clothes were OUTRAGEOUS!  But then again, I may have had some major fashion faux pas in my lifetime...probably still do, if the truth be known!

But should we really worry about what we shall put on each day?  After all, the Bible says that we shouldn't worry about what we eat, drink or wear...that our heavenly Father takes care of us so we don't have to worry about those temporary things. 

 But what about our eternal garments?

We have been talking about the Armor of God here at my house lately.  It is a pretty amazing study.  Oh, we've studied it before, many times.  But you know how easily we forget about it?  Oh we know there is a battle going on, we see it everyday, played out in the flesh.  But we know that the battle is really in the spiritual realm, we don't war against each other here...although at times it seems like it! 

How can we teach our children (and ourselves) how to stand firm in the midst of the present and future battles?  By making sure they have their full armor on.  One neat thing that came out in our study, was that our helmet of salvation is not just our eternal salvation, but our salvation every day!  Boy, what a shocker when something so simple just hits you like that! 

If you aren't familiar with the armor, go to Ephesians 6, 10-18.  Learn about the parts of the armor and what they represent.  Here, I'll just paste the verses in here:

The Whole Armor of God

   
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Notice that the back of the armor is well, not there.  We have to guard each other's backs!  And how can we go into battle with out all the proper equipment?  What good is your shield of faith, if you don't have a sword (the word of God.)  And if you leave your belt (of truth) at home, you might as well throw in the towel.  You must have ALL of your battle gear on, at all times.  And each part makes up the whole. 

That whole battle gear is Jesus.  What's in YOUR closet?  Get it out of your closet and put it on.  You don't want to leave home, or even BE home without Him!

So, how can you and your children be prepared?  I asked my youngest today, how can we take Jesus with us everywhere we go?  Well, when we accept His free gift of salvation, yes, he promises to be with us always.  But how can we really take Him with us?  By having His WORD in us.  By memorizing scripture.  I'm sad to say I don't have near as much memorized as I would like to have.  And I want my kids to have even more than I have ever had in my heart, so we are working on that goal.  Here is one way to help your kids memorize God's word.

There are many places online that you can sign up for a "verse a day."  Just look that up on a safe search.  It can be delivered right to your inbox.  Then just save it and make it into copy work for your kids.  One-a-day.  Kind of like a multivitamin!   Of course, you could just choose your own verses and do it that way, whatever works for you.

If you want to know more about the Armor of God, here is a great study. 

You know, I just read a quote over on Robin Sampson's blog recently that went something like this:  don't worry about teaching for the next semester, teach for eternity!  That says it all!

Read to your children missionary stories, read about Corrie Ten Boom, read and talk about the BIBLE.  It is really all we need.  We manage to get caught up in SO much information, so many books.  Some good, some not so good.  Unfortunately, one of my kids got a copy of a Worldy "record" book, and it that pretty much sums up the content.  None of those achievements will last for eternity, and they are all worthless, meanless time-wasters.  We must help our children learn what is important: eternal things like Love, Forgiveness, Prayer, and Spiritual Warfare.  Those things are real. 

Oh, well, I just realized that I have gone on a bit longer than I intended with this blog but we do live in perilous times.  Do you sometimes get overwhelmed with the immensity of it all?  I do.  Sometimes I feel like all I do is cry "Lord, help me with this, Lord help me with that," and on and on.  My husband really got on my case (in a nice way, sorta) the other day and told me that I need to be focusing on the Lord and not on my problems.  Ooh, that got me riled up!  Haha!  I thought I was focusing on Him, but was just whining, in prayer of course, but still whining and pleading.  Of course that isn't necessarily wrong...but I was forgetting to just praise Him and worship Him for who He is!

A really good way to just get some pure worship and praise in is to listen to the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. 

 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 

The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,

King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The battle truly does belong to the Lord, but we still need to do our part!  Pray to receive Christ, Put on your armor and Praise God for who He is!

Nancy