Faith Matters Podcast

#430 - How to Become a Warrior; Day 5 of 5

You might think of your wardrobe as a warrior outlined by Paul in Ephesians - like a travel guide that is given when you are going somewhere you’ve never been before. For example, when a person signs up to go on a safari in some remote region of the world, there is usually a place where that person can go online and find a travel guide that will give him the details about the recommended articles of clothing and items to bring with them. In the same way, Paul has given us our travel guide so that we will know what to suit up in and take with us into the battle.Each of the six pieces of armor is divided into one of two categories. The first category includes the first three pieces of armor and begins with the word “with.” This means that the first three pieces of armor are pieces that you should wear all the time. You should never take them off. They are like a uniform a baseball player puts on when he goes out to play ball.The last three pieces of the armor are given to you to pick up as the situation demands. We are told to “take” them up. This is like that same baseball player grabbing his glove or his bat, depending on what is going on in the game.Regardless of the armor, though, notice this: God is not going to dress you. He provides what you need, but the responsibility for putting it on is left to you.It’s time to suit up. A warrior would never head into battle without the appropriate armor. Neither should you face what the devil throws at you without the weapons and armor God has provided you, and outlined for us in Ephesians 6. Remember, you are not fighting for victory, You are fighting from victory. The victory is yours. It's time to walk confidently as the warrior God has gifted you to be.

#429 - How to Become a Warrior; Day 4 of 5

As a Warrior, you are fighting the spiritual battle not for victory but from victory. God has already won the war in Christ. He’s given you everything you need in Christ to see His victory lived out in every battle you enter into. But that begs the question:If the war is already won and we have all we need for the individual battles, why don’t more Christians experience spiritual victory?The enemy is victorious in our lives because we are yielding the power to him by not standing firm in our identity in Jesus Christ. We are failing to firmly remain in the union we were designed to have with Christ, under His headship.As we see in today's passage, Jesus Christ holds all things together. Therefore, if you find yourself falling apart, it is a result of you not standing firm with Jesus in union with Him. Our union with Christ is essential to our victory over Satan’s rule in our lives. We are in Him and with Him.When Jesus Christ died, we died with Him. When Christ arose, we arose with Him. When Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father, we were seated with Him (Eph. 2:6). In other words, we were made to function in union with Christ. Jesus has already beaten Satan. And you are in union with Him.God has given you everything you need to see His victory manifested in your own life. The means by which we see that victory is through the armor of God. And just like you wouldn’t get partially dressed when you wake up in the morning before you head out the door, God doesn’t want you to be partially dressed either.In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul gives clear instructions about a specific wardrobe that is necessary for us to not only wear, but to also have packed and ready for us to pick up and put on if we are going to have spiritual warfare as a victorious warrior.

#428 - How to Become a Warrior; Day 3 of 5

It’s easier to do battle in the physical realm, isn't it? It's easier to fight what we can see.We feel wronged in some way and we want someone or something physical at which to lash out. But doing that is like a police officer in his living room trying to shoot at a criminal he sees pulling a gun on him on a reality TV show. If the officer shoots at the television, he will have merely added more mess to the mess that is already going on. It might make him feel better for a moment that he did something, but in the end nothing has been solved. In fact, things have only gotten worse.Whatever has gone on, is going on, or will go on in your visible, physical world is rooted in the invisible, spiritual realm. If you do not know how to navigate in the spiritual realm, then you cannot hope to truly fix anything in this one.Let that last paragraph sink in. Does that mean there is no place for action in the physical world? No, it just means the action in the physical world needs to be action that seeks to address the spiritual root. When you’re active in the spiritual battle, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to have tough conversations with coworkers and family. Nor does it mean you spend all your time hiding in your closet praying. Far from it. When you are actively engaged in the spiritual realm, you can move with confidence and power in the physical one because you’re waging warfare correctly.You are no longer content to settle for easy fixes and minor wins. You’ve tapped into the secret to abundant life and spiritual victory. You’re living—and fighting—at a deeper level than most people.But you’ve also come to realize that the opponents you are facing are more dangerous, treacherous and numerous than you ever thought possible, so you must arm yourself appropriately.

#427 - How to Become a Warrior; Day 2 of 5

We are in a war. You are a warrior.In fact, the war we are in is like no other war that any of us have ever known, heard about, or could even conceive. Its implications are further reaching and its casualties are more devastating than any conflict in the history of mankind. Strangely, though, most people walk around completely unaware that it’s taking place. Most people don't realize they are a warrior. What about you? A major difference between this war and other wars, above and beyond its sheer magnitude and scope, is that this war is fought in a place we have never seen. Spiritual warfare can be defined as the cosmic conflict waged in the invisible, spiritual realm which is simultaneously fleshed out in the context of the visible, physical realm. To put it another way, you can’t see the root of the war. But you can certainly see—and feel—the effects.In fact, there is a spiritual root behind every physical disturbance, setback, ailment, or issue we face.Too often we restrict our battles to the physical realm. We battle the physical temptation to sin, the physical occurrence of relational drama, and the physical challenges at work or home, to name a few. But if we restrict our focus to the physical realm, victory will only be temporary and shallow. It’s a little like putting a Band-Aid on a wound when there is internal hemorrhaging. If we really want to get in the fight, we need to engage a kind of spiritual sense that allows us to fight not just the effects of the war but the root of the conflict. In order to do that, we’ve got to understand more about the location of the battle.As we see from today's passage, our battle is not against our neighbor, spouse, coworker, child, or even our own propensities or weaknesses in our flesh. People are simply a conduit for the spiritual battle taking place in another realm—the heavens. The “heavens” simply means in the spiritual realm.You are a warrior in a spiritual battle taking place in the spiritual realm. To wage this warfare well, you must fight with spiritual weapons.

#426 - How to Become A Warrior; Day 1 of 5

WarriorWarriorDay 1 • 1 of 3DevotionalListen to this audio devotional now in the Bible App.In the blockbuster film Inception, the main characters discovered a way to enter into another realm—the realm of dreams. While the dreams appeared to be as vivid and as authentic as the real world where they were currently sleeping, the dream realm was not their reality.Since the dream appeared to be real to all of their five senses, each character had to create an item they would use to let them know if they were in a dream or in reality. Without the item, the person in the dream might begin to believe that the dream was reality, and they might stay there—operating by the laws of reality within the realm of the dream.The main character’s item was a spinning top. If his top kept spinning endlessly, that meant he was in a dream. If it fell, he had woken up. The knowledge that he was in a dream enabled him to take more risks and live differently because he knew at any time, he could simply wake back up into reality.Is it possible that right now, our ultimate reality isn’t happening in the physical world as we see it? Could it be that right now, there is a battle waging all around us in the unseen realms and that spiritual battle has physical effects in this world? If that’s true, then most of us are walking around in this world with no idea of what’s happening in that one. The top keeps on spinning.The spiritual world is real. Conversations, decisions, battles, and the like that occur in the spiritual realm unilaterally impact what takes place in our physical lives. Unless we realize that truth and wake up to the battle, we will continue to look for physical solutions to solve spiritual problems manifesting themselves in our physical lives.Time to wake up and get in the real fight.

#425 - The Little Things; Potential Day 7 of 7

Prepare for Your Purpose It’s easy to dream big, but it’s hard to start small. Pop stars and musicians took music lessons and vocal lessons. Actors took acting classes and often started with small roles. People who live out their big dreams all started small.In order to live out your purpose, you need to prepare for it.Now is the time to start doing what it takes to live out the purpose God intended for you.Start now with the small things that will help lead to your big dreams.' Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. 'Proverbs 24:27https://my.bible.com/bible/59/PRO.24.27'Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.'1 Corinthians 9:24-27https://my.bible.com/bible/59/1CO.9.24-27