Monday, April 18, 2011

We've Moved!

Thank you for reading our blog, “A Cord of Three”, from LVC Ministries. We have moved our blog to another blog site and hope you will follow us there.

If you’ve been getting your blogs through email, you’ll need to sign up again from our new blog site, which is at www.LVCMinistries.com. Don’t forget that Wordpress will send you a confirmation email where you must click on the link to complete the registration. Remember, this email might be sent to your bulk mail or junk email, so don’t forget to look there if you don’t see an email from Wordpress in your inbox. Please let us know if you have any problems switching over. You can send an email to ContactUs@LVCMinistries.com and we will personally get back with you.

We hope you are still enjoying our blogs and are learning more and more on your journey to living a victorious life in Christ!

We will no longer post to this blog, but we will keep it as our archive, and link to it from the new site.

Again, thanks for following us!

Lisa, Cindy and Vanessa
LVC Ministries, Inc.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Getting Dressed for Battle

The life that we live is a spiritual battle. Can you imagine if we could look into the heavens around us and actually see the battle that is taking place? We would completely understand why we need to put on our spiritual battle gear. I bet we’d never go out without it again! Instead, we walk around taking blows day by day from the enemy forces around us because we’re not dressed for the battle! We need to get spiritually dressed for battle every day, and Ephesians 6:13-17 tells us how:

“[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 firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the 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. [17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Eph 6:13-17

First, we must take a stand against the enemy. Plant your feet, face your enemy, and take a stance of readiness. The times that we get cold-cocked in the head are when we aren’t watching out for the enemy. You’ve got to know his schemes and be on the lookout for them. If you don’t believe you have an enemy then he’s already won the battle. So know your enemy and stand firm in God knowing that “…greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.” (1 Jn 4:4 KJV)

As you stand firm, put on the belt of truth. Knowing the truth means knowing God’s Word, knowing Jesus Christ, who is “the Truth” (Jn 14:6) and knowing the truth of who you are in Christ. Did you know that you are the righteousness of God in Christ if you are a believer?

Romans 3:22 says, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Did you know that you are a co-heir with Christ if you are a believer? Romans 8:16-17 says, “[16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

These are just a couple of examples of who you are in Christ. Take the promises of God and know who you are in Christ. Don’t let the enemy steal your heritage from you.

Next, put the breastplate of righteousness in place. The breastplate covers your heart, which is the seat of your emotions. Emotions can run wild if you let them, so you need to cover, or reign in your ungodly emotions. We have many emotions that aren’t godly, such as fear, worry, rage, hate, impatience, etc. We need to ask God to show us His love so we can walk in it. The more we understand the love of God, the more loving we are able to be to others.

The shoes of the gospel of peace are the next clothing for a warrior of God. Walking in God’s peace is the best way to avoid battles. As believers, Jesus tells us that He has given us His peace already. What we need to do is “walk” in it, so ask God to help you walk in the peace that Jesus has already given to us. (Jn 14:27)

Take up the shield of faith. When you hold up your faith as a shield, it will extinguish all the fiery darts of the enemy. Some days you can just feel the downpour of fiery darts from dusk to dawn. But when we hold up our shields, those darts will fall to the ground. God gives us the measure of faith we need for any given situation. (Rom 12:3) He grows our faith as we walk with Him. We need more faith the stronger we grow in Christ because the enemy will come at us in different ways and in different degrees.

The helmet of salvation is the next piece of our armor. The helmet covers your head, so this piece of armor is a spiritual cover for your mind. It is so important to think about what you’re thinking about that I can’t stress it enough. The biggest battlefield you have is in your mind. Cast down wrong thinking and make your thoughts obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)

Finally, take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. How can you use the word of God in battle? First, you’ve got to be in the word to know the word. Once you know it, you can speak it back to the enemy just like Jesus did when He was being tempted in the wilderness. (Mt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13)

All of these pieces of armor work together to give you the spiritual strength you need to stand against the enemy. Pray this armor of God over your life every day for the strength to stand. I like to pray the armor from top down to make it easier for me to remember. I hope you’ll use this prayer or a similar one to help you get dressed for battle every day. Remember, whether you’re dressed or not, you’re still in a battle every day.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I ask that You would give me the strength to stand and fight any battles that come my way today. I put on the helmet of salvation to protect my mind from any thoughts that are not of You. Help me to recognize them and cast them down. I put on the breastplate of righteousness which covers my heart and my emotions. Help me to see Your love for me so I can walk in love toward others. I put on the belt of truth knowing the truth of Your word, knowing Your Son, who is the Truth, and knowing the truth of who I am in Christ. I put on the shoes of peace. I choose to walk in the peace that You have given to me today. I take up the shield of faith which will extinguish all the fiery darts of the enemy. I ask that you grow my faith as I walk in Your ways. And I take up the sword of the Spirit. As I read Your word today, teach me, Lord. Write Your word upon my heart so I can speak it throughout the day. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thank You, Jesus! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

~Lisa

All Scripture references are from the New International Version.
@Copyright 2011, LVC Ministries, Inc.

We're Moving!

Thank you for reading our blog, “A Cord of Three”, from LVC Ministries. We are in the process of moving our blog to another blog site and hope you will follow us there.

If you’re getting your blogs through email, you’ll need to sign up again from our new blog site, which is www.LVCMinistries.com. Don’t forget that Wordpress will send you a confirmation email where you must click on the link to complete the registration. Remember, this email might be sent to your bulk mail or junk email, so don’t forget to look there if you don’t see an email from Wordpress in your inbox. Please let us know if you have any problems switching over. You can send an email to ContactUs@LVCMinistries.com and we will personally get back with you.

We hope you have been enjoying our blogs and are learning more and more on your journey to living a victorious life in Christ!

We will post to the old blog through April 14, 2011. Beginning on Monday April 18, 2011 we will only be posting to the new blog site. We will keep the old blog as our archive, and link to it from the new site.

Again, thanks for following us!

Lisa, Cindy and Vanessa
LVC Ministries, Inc.

Monday, April 11, 2011

WHAT IS FAMILY!

The other day, I saw a bumper sticker that said “We are all family/We all have value.” Immediately, I thought to myself....that’s not true. But, then I thought “yes it is true, well, partly true.” As humans we are all family. God created Adam and Eve and as their descendents we are all part of the human family.

There are two types of family, the human family and the Christian family. Christians are the children of Gods’ adopted family. An interesting thing happens when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and find a church to join. You immediately gain a family! I don’t use this term loosely, your church becomes your family. Not only is your immediate church your family, but Christians from all walks of life become your family because all members of the Christian family have the Holy Spirit within them. The Spirit recognizes the Spirit in other believers! So, in that case, all Christians are part of two families....the human family.....and God’s family.


What about the people that have not accepted Christ as their personal savior? Well, they are obviously part of the human family and they are part of the worlds’ family. What kind of family is that? A lost family, a wondering family, a searching family, a family seeking satisfaction but never finding it, a fickle family (running from one fleshly delight to another). A family that does not stand up for each other, but tears each other down (after all, it is a dog eat dog world), a greedy family, a selfish family and a very unhappy family.


Ok, now, what about the value thing you ask? We all have value, because we were all created by God! We weren’t just created by God as an after thought, He put much thought into every one of us long before the universe was ever created! You are very valuable and every person in the world has value! But, unfortunately, not every person in the world is a child of God.


I spent Friday night and most of Saturday with fifty women on our church retreat and that is where I really began to think about what it means to be a child of God, to be a part of Gods’ family. I’m not a night person, so I decided to call it a “night” around 10:15pm, however, most of the women decided to stay up and play a “very loud and noisy game” in the room next door to the sleeping area. Have you ever tried to sleep in a “hen house?” Me neither, but I imagine the noise level in both were comparable. Every time I began to doze off, the noise level got louder. But you know what? I didn’t even think about complaining, in fact, I smiled to myself, this is family and this is God’s love manifested in my sisters! These women are my sisters in God’s family having fun, enjoying fellowship with each other and building relationships!


Saturday dawned bright and early! We were all exhausted. Some of the younger women said that they only got a couple hours of sleep. I guess the rest of us were lucky because we were able to sneak in three or four hours, but we were happy, we were together and we were family!


“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
1 John 3:1-3 (NIV)


If you know that you are not part of God’s adopted family and you know that you are tired of being part of the worldly family please click on the heading “Becoming A Believer.”


Cindy


@copyright 2011 LVC Ministries, Inc

WE'RE MOVING!

Thank you for reading our blog, “A Cord of Three”, from LVC Ministries. We are in the process of moving our blog to another blog site and hope you will follow us there.

If you’re getting your blogs through email, you’ll need to sign up again from our new blog site, which is http://LVCMinistries.Wordpress.com. Don’t forget that Wordpress will send you a confirmation email where you must click on the link to complete the registration. Remember, this email might be sent to your bulk mail or junk email, so don’t forget to look there if you don’t see an email from Wordpress in your inbox. Please let us know if you have any problems switching over. You can send an email to ContactUs@LVCMinistries.com and we will personally get back with you.

We hope you have been enjoying our blogs and are learning more and more on your journey to living a victorious life in Christ!

We will post to the old blog through April 14, 2011. Beginning on Monday April 18, 2011 we will only be posting to the new blog site. We will keep the old blog as our archive, and link to it from the new site.

Again, thanks for following us!

Lisa, Cindy and Vanessa
LVC Ministries, Inc.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Godly Sorrow

“I’m sorry!” she said as she slammed the door behind her and stormed off.

Have you experienced this scene before? How easy it is to say “I’m sorry” when really, you’re not sorry at all. Oh, maybe you’re sorry you got caught, but not truly sorry for what you did. Just because someone says “I’m sorry” doesn’t mean that they’ve turned from that sin. How can we know when someone truly is sorry? God’s word tells us that godly sorrow brings us to repent, or to turn from our sin and turn to God.

[9] yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance… [10] Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Cor 7:9-10

The first thing we need to understand is that we all sin, and because of that, we need a Savior who will cover our sins and give us access to the personal relationship we need with God. When sorrow for our sin leads to repentance God forgives us and we are able to stand before Him. If we don’t ask for God’s salvation, then we will be faced with death in this life and in the eternal life to come. To understand more about accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please check out our “Becoming a Believer” page.

In the end, we really don’t know if someone has truly repented, only God knows. But you can see the fruit of true repentance through a person’s actions, given time.

[20] First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Acts 26:20

So, should you forgive them? Yes! God tells us to forgive others. We are to forgive them with a sacrificial love like Jesus gave for us on the cross. You don’t have to wait until they show repentance. Jesus didn’t wait for us to repent before He went to the cross.

[13] Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Col 3:13

Forgiveness is not only for the person who sinned, but it’s also for the person who was sinned against. Forgiveness heals your heart, and keeps bitterness from growing there.

So, what if you’re the one who messed up and sinned? How do you know you’re forgiven? God promises us, in His Word, to forgive us when we are repentant. When we’re forgiven, God doesn’t throw our sin back in our faces—He remembers them no more. He puts them out of His sight.

[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:9

[12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Ps 103:12

How far is the east from the west? Point your right hand to the east and your left hand to the west. God loves us this much! Notice how much your hand position looks like that of Jesus on the cross. He died so your sins could be removed as far as the east is from the west. What a Savior!

Once you’ve asked God for forgiveness, receive it from Him. If you find yourself asking for forgiveness over and over for something you did way back when, you probably haven’t received God’s forgiveness. You may not even feel like you’ve been forgiven, but don’t go by your feelings. Receive, in faith, that God has forgiven you because that’s what His word says. Then thank Him for his forgiveness. What greater gift could He give us than forgiveness from sin and a restored relationship with Him?

In your process of repentance, make sure you ask those you’ve hurt to forgive you as well. Think about all the people who were affected by your sin and ask each one to forgive you. It’s their decision whether to forgive you or not, but it will give you a clear conscience that you’ve done your best to make things right. God will work on their heart, you just do your part!

What’s easier to say… “I’m sorry”, or “Please forgive me”? “Sorry” could just mean that you feel bad about the situation, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve turned from your sin. Asking for forgiveness means you have accepted your responsibility in the situation. It’s a way to heal the hearts of all who are involved and goes deeper than just saying “I’m sorry.” Asking for forgiveness is not easy, and it’s definitely humbling, but isn’t the healing worth it?

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for sending your Son to die for me so that I can have forgiveness. It’s through Your loving act on the cross that I am able to forgive others with the love you have revealed to me. Show me where I need to ask for forgiveness, and also where I need to forgive, then give me the strength to follow through. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

~Lisa

All Scripture references are from the New International Version.
@Copyright 2011 LVC Ministries, Inc.

We're Moving!

Thank you for reading our blog, “A Cord of Three”, from LVC Ministries. We are in the process of moving our blog to another blog site and hope you will follow us there.

If you’re getting your blogs through email, you’ll need to sign up again from our new blog site, which is http://LVCMinistries.Wordpress.com. Don’t forget that Wordpress will send you a confirmation email where you must click on the link to complete the registration. Remember, this email might be sent to your bulk mail or junk email, so don’t forget to look there if you don’t see an email from Wordpress in your inbox. Please let us know if you have any problems switching over. You can send an email to ContactUs@LVCMinistries.com and we will personally get back with you.

We hope you have been enjoying our blogs and are learning more and more on your journey to living a victorious life in Christ!

We will post to the old blog through April 14, 2011. Beginning on Monday April 18, 2011 we will only be posting to the new blog site. We will keep the old blog as our archive, and link to it from the new site.

Again, thanks for following us!

Lisa, Cindy and Vanessa
LVC Ministries, Inc.