If you’ve given your life to Jesus and are committed to live for him, you are in a war.  There’s no two ways about it—good versus evil, light versus darkness, Jesus versus Satan.

Because spiritual warfare is real, it’s crucial for us to protect God’s house.  We do this by putting on the Armor of God.  Notice all of the equipment mentioned is defensive, except for the last piece: “…and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

In order to overcome temptation, we’ve got to put on the armor AND go on the offensive through the supernatural power of Scripture.  It worked for Jesus, and it will work for us too.

Don’t give in to evil temptations!  Protect God’s house by putting on his armor, and then go on the offensive through the power of his Word!

I’ve noticed something recently that I believe is cause for concern.  In fact, I’ve found myself caught in the thick of what I’m about to describe without paying attention to the dangers associated with it.

Maybe I’m late to the game, but I’ve noticed the obsession, sometimes bordering on addiction, that people have with social media.  Everything from Facebook, to Twitter, to blogs seem to dominate our time and attention.

I’m not saying any of these are wrong.  In fact, I utilize all of the things I just mentioned, and I believe they are great tools for connecting with and encouraging people.  However, when they replace, or even reduce, the time we would normally spend with God, they become idols.

In the past, I’ve found myself looking forward to reading the blogs of my favorite church leaders, or listening to the podcasts of their sermons or leadership talks, more than I looked forward to spending time with God through prayer and reading his Word.  That’s a dangerous place to be.

God’s Word is the only source of truth and wisdom that is alive and has the power to change lives!  I truly believe God has raised up some incredibly anointed leaders who have been used by him to accomplish amazing things for God’s kingdom.  But many times the issue isn’t with them, but rather, with who we make them out to be.

What if we began to hang on every word we read in Scripture like we often do with every tweet our mentors in ministry send out?  What if we spent as much time and energy getting near to God as we do trying to get near to those we admire through @Replies and ReTweets?

I think about the fact that Job treasured God’s words more than the food he ate.  The prophet Jeremiah said that when he discovered God’s words, he devoured them.  They were the source of his heart’s joy.  In order to treasure God’s words, we have to know them, and in order to know them, we have to spend time discovering them.

Imagine what our lives would look like if we took Job and Jeremiah’s approach to time with God.  I’m not suggesting we should give up social media, but maybe this is a good opportunity for us to re-evaluate our priorities to determine if they’ve gotten out of whack.

I recently had a conversation with a good friend and mentor, and during our talk, he encouraged me to write down what God is doing in the life of our family as we journey through this church planting process.

God has already answered so many specific prayers related to his plan for us—more than I can list in any single blog post.  I spend time reflecting on what he’s done, but if I don’t become disciplined enough to record the details now, chances are, I’ll have a difficult time remembering them as time passes.

My friend’s point to me was that I have a responsibility to share what God is doing with others as a way of encouraging them and strengthening their faith.  That makes a lot of sense to me.  I think too often we spend time praying for specific needs (as we should), and we ask others to pray for those needs (as we should), but we don’t spend enough time sharing with others how God has met those needs.  It’s okay to brag on God!

So, I’m learning to journal my thoughts, as well as the specific details of what God is doing in my life, and I encourage you to do the same.  God deserves all of the credit for what he allows to take place in, and through, us for his glory!  Remember this, “If you think it, ink it!”

No matter where Joseph found himself, or what he experienced as a result, he continually had the favor of God on his life because he remained faithful to God.  Joseph positioned himself to receive God’s blessings through obedience.

However, Joseph’s loyalty didn’t always yield the desired outcome he would have preferred.  In fact, there were many times when his life’s circumstances absolutely sucked.  But, he stayed faithful, and as a result, he experienced God’s favor.

The Bible also makes it clear that there were times in Joseph’s life when he prospered financially, relationally, positionally, etc., but the favor I’m referring to is the power of God’s presence.  God doesn’t promise us that if we give our lives to him, our problems will cease to exist.  In fact, Jesus promised quite the opposite.

Here’s the good news though, God does promise the power of his presence to those who follow him.  When we’re faithful to follow God, not only do we experience the favor of his presence in our lives, but we also place ourselves in a position to receive his blessings, should he allow us to experience them.

And don’t get me wrong, the blessings of God are good, but I would much rather experience the power of his presence.

Yesterday my mind was focused on this particular thought in relation to Abraham’s story, Former trials don’t exclude us from future trials. The fact that Abraham’s faith had already been tested by God didn’t mean it wouldn’t be tested again, and in an even greater way than before.

Today my thoughts are centered on the fact that Abraham proved, through his actions, that God was better.  In Genesis 22, God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable.

He had already left his hometown, which proved that he loved God better than his father, but now he was being asked to prove that he loved God better than his miracle son by placing him on an altar as a human sacrifice.  This story sounds familiar.

Abraham was picturing for us how God would sacrifice his Son, Jesus.  Only instead of being spared the agony of watching his Son die, God allowed Jesus to be crucified, so that through his blood, our sins can be forgiven.

So, like Abraham, my desire is to live like I believe Jesus is better.  He’s better than my father; he’s better than my wife; and he’s better than my children.  He’s better than anything this world has to offer because he’s redeemed me, and through him I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father!  Jesus is better!

I’m currently reading through the book of Genesis, and God’s Spirit is teaching me so much about faith, specifically related to what it looked like in the life of Abram turned Abraham, and how those truths should impact the way I live.

As I was reading chapter 22 this morning, I came to the conclusion that, in addition to continuing with the reading plan I’m following this year, I need to just hang out in Genesis for awhile as I digest everything God is teaching me about faith through Abraham’s story.

The thought that’s impacting me today is this: Former trials don’t exclude us from future trials. The fact that Abraham had already displayed great faith by leaving everything familiar to go only God knew where, and that he ultimately believed God would give him a son, even though he and Sarah were by human standards too old, still did not keep his faith from being tested again, in an even greater way than ever before.

Those of us who have dedicated our lives to following Jesus should expect that our faith will be tested in the future, not for the purpose of tempting us to sin, but rather to allow us to experience God’s grace through trials, which will ultimately bring him glory and make his name famous.

I’ve been thinking about the sovereignty of God a lot lately, and then this disaster occurred in Haiti, and it’s consumed even more of my thoughts over the last couple of days.

When things like what’s happened in Haiti take place, people begin to ask themselves questions like, “Where is God in all of this?  Doesn’t he care about the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives?  Can I really trust him when adversity hits?”

It’s not easy to trust God when times are tough.  In fact, in most cases, it’s easier to obey God than to trust him because obedience often comes as a result of clearly defined principles outlined in Scripture, while trusting God is mostly related to unexplainable and undefined circumstances.

But we will never be able to trust God completely when we try to make sense of life from a human perspective.  We have to trust God through the lens of what we believe and not what we see.  We have to believe that God is sovereign, and that he allows everything (even the things we don’t understand) to happen for his glory.

When I’m tempted to question whether or not God knows what he’s doing, Job chapters 38 and 39 provide perspective.  So, the best answer I can offer to the question, “Where is God in all of this?” is he’s where he was before it all began.  He hasn’t gone anywhere.  He’s still God, and he’s still worthy of all glory.

I choose to believe this, no matter what I can or cannot see.

Wednesday afternoon we got a knock on our door from a man who was selling magazines and books.  After he made his sales pitch, Messiah (which was his actual name) began to talk about how nice our home is and how, through his hard work and dedication, he would some day own something like it.

It was the perfect opportunity for us to share with him what God is doing in our lives, and how we are selling our home and moving to Winston-Salem, NC to plant a church.  One thing led to another, and I was able to share with Messiah how Jesus Messiah left heaven and came to earth, lived a sinless and perfect life, shed his blood on a cross as payment for our sins, and was resurrected, conquering sin, death, and hell, so that we can have a relationship with God the Father.

As a result, on Wednesday, January 6, 2010, at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, Messiah placed his faith and trust in Jesus Messiah for salvation on the front porch of our home!  My wife, Wendy, then gave him her new Bible, so that he would have a copy of Scripture that he can understand.

Please pray with me that God will continue to work in Messiah’s life as Scripture reveals to him the way God intends for his children to live.

The Bible tells the story of a man named Job, who lost everything that was important to him in one day.  Within a matter of moments he received the news that his livestock, his employees, much of his wealth, and even his sons and daughters were gone.  Everything had been stolen or destroyed.

How would you handle that kind of news?  What Job did next serves as the ultimate example of the belief that God is sovereign and worthy of our praise, no matter what kind of difficulties we experience.

Verse 20 of Job chapter 1 says, “Job stood up and tore his robe in grief.  Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.” When everything fell apart, Job worshipped God.  Even when he didn’t understand why, he still worshipped.

Job’s actions declared that worshipping God shouldn’t be conditional, based on what he does or does not do for us.  He deserves our worship at all times because of who he is.

So, the next time you experience difficult circumstances, whether you feel like it or not, worship God.  It will help bring things into the proper perspective.  It will remind you of the fact that he is God, and you are not.

In Genesis 6, God tells Noah his plan to destroy every living creature on the earth because of the corruption that was so prevalent in the human race at that time.  God even goes as far as to say that he’s sorry he ever made man.

Then in verse 8, the Bible says, “But Noah found favor with the Lord.” God distinguishes Noah from the rest of the entire world.  It seems as though God thoroughly examined the character of every person on earth, and the only person who showed integrity through his lifestyle was Noah.

This is confirmed in verse 9, when Scripture says, “…Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on the earth at that time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” Do you think there might be a correlation between Noah’s righteousness and the fact that he walked in close fellowship with God?  Without a doubt, I’d say, yes.

I also believe the favor Noah found with the Lord was a result of his righteousness, which was a result of him walking with God.  It’s pretty simple.  The more time we spend with God, the more we get to know his character.  The more we get to know his character, the more we become like him.  The more we become like him, the more we experience his favor.