Posted on

How To Put On And Step Out With The Whole Armor Of God

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Seven

by

How To Put On And Step Out With The Whole Armor Of God

When the Bible speaks of putting on the whole armor of God, what does that mean? The second question we must ask is what is its purpose? Why do we need this armor? These are the questions that we are endeavoring to answer today. One gentleman wrote asking this second question using different words. He asked, ‘Is the Church an attacking force, or a fortress to be defended?’ He answered his own question by stating that the Bible declares that the weapons of the Christian pull down strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). The gates of the stronghold of hell cannot hold out against a properly dressed believer. Why have we developed a defensive, fortress, holy huddle mentality? How do we change this nonbiblical mindset? For certain, we must change it if the Church is going to extend the Lordship of Christ over the darkness of Satan’s stronghold. Our actions are determined by our currently dominant thoughts. If we visualize the Church as a fortress, our strategy, our vision, and our measurements of success will reflect that perception. Is the Church a haven until Heaven, a refuge until the rapture?1. Those are good questions. We are homing in today on this incredible armor that the Lord has provided for us. How To Put On and Step Out with the Whole Armor Of God. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

[Tweet “The armor of God is spiritual attitudes that you must maintain as a believer in Jesus. “]

Posted on

What Does It Mean To Be Strong In The Power Of The Lord?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Six

by

What Does It Mean To Be Strong In The Power Of The Lord?

In Ephesians 6:10, we have the much-quoted verse, ‘Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.’ On the subject of dealing from a position of strength, President Theodore Roosevelt adopted as his pet proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” He meant that if the United States had a strong military, it could work its will among the nations of the world. In 1901, Roosevelt changed the saying to “If a man continually blusters, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.” When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth,” he was not speaking of armies and foreign policy, but some principles are the same. The meek Christian does not need to bluster, as if self-confidence could win the day. Whether we’re contesting a point, responding to criticism, or speaking of the hope within, we can do so in meekness, with quiet confidence. For in “back of the softness” within us lie the strength and power of God.1 The strength and power of God are what all Jesus’ followers should excel in. That’s why our focus today is answering the question What Does it Mean to Be Strong in the Lord?

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Why People Who Are Strong in the Lord Thrive

[Tweet “You can’t work up the strength you need to stand up against devils, demons, and evil spirits. This strength comes from the Lord. “]

Posted on

More of Employers and Employees: What Is the Word of God to You?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Five

by

More of Employers and Employees: What Is the Word of God to You?

Previously, we discussed the employer-employee relationship as we are admonished by the word of God. How should Jesus followers act in the workplace? Well here’s one example of how we definitely should not act. The September 2, 1996, issue of the Wichita Business Journal carried a disturbing front-page article on employee theft that began: “Everyone is honest and trustworthy, right? That’s what some clients thought when they started their small businesses. In just a short time they were out of business because of an employee skimming from the cash register and theft of warehouse goods. “A little here and a little there… who’s going to notice? You should take notice. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, approximately a third of all business failures each year can be traced to employee theft and other employee crime. “While managers and owners would like to think their employees are all trustworthy and honest, large-scale anonymous surveys have shown almost half of the employees admitted to stealing.”1 Are these disturbing facts to you? Do they bother you? Jesus followers aren’t to represent God just in the church house. They are to represent Him to the world. That’s why we are talking about – More of Employers and Employees: What Is the Word of God to You — all on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Four Holy Spirit Secrets on Life and Living

[Tweet “People of integrity bring their lives in line with all that the scriptures say about what it means to live a pure and holy life.”]

Posted on

Employers and Employees: What Is the Word of God to You?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Four

by

Employers and Employees: What Is the Word of God to You?

In this week’s podcast, the book of Ephesians chapter six brings us to the subject of employers and employees and their conduct towards one another. Any organization worth its salt supplies a job description for its employees. A well-written job description allows the employee to know exactly what kind of work his employer is expecting from him. This crucial document of communication is a handy tool to have around when memories begin to fade from initial agreements. In the same sense, God has given each believer a job description. Believers should: grow in love, study to be quiet, do their own business, and work with their own hands – 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12. This prescription, written down by the Apostle Paul centuries ago, works for every occupation.1 What we need to do is bring this concept over into the workplace. Employers and employees, what is the Word of God to you, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

How Does the Prayer of Consecration Profit Your Life?

[Tweet “Paul was working within the system to change the system.”]

Posted on

How to Absolutely Guarantee a Long and Prosperous Life on Planet Earth

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Three

by

How to Absolutely Guarantee a Long and Prosperous Life on Planet Earth

We are asking and answering the question, how does one live a long and prosperous life? The answer is found in Ephesians six as it relates to children’s interaction with their parents. When children obey their parents, long life and prosperity are the results. And here is where some problems arise. In 2002, only 9 percent of adults said the children they saw in public were respectful toward adults. In 2004, more than one of three teachers considered leaving their profession or knew another teacher who quit. The reason? students’ “intolerable behavior.” So said Public Agenda, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research group. In 2005, 70 percent of people surveyed said, “People are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago.” Among the worst offenders were children, said an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. The reason, experts say, is because of what parents expect from kids. “The pressure to do well is up. The demand to do good is way down.” Dan Kindlon, a child psychologist at Harvard University, believes most parents want considerate, polite, well-behaved children. “But they’re too tired, worn down by work, and personally needy to take up the task of teaching them proper behavior at home,” Kindlon says. He says present-day parenting has more to do with training boys and girls to compete in school or on the soccer field, but competition doesn’t teach civility. “Parents are out of control,” says Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, a child psychiatrist. “We always want to blame the kids, but if there’s something wrong with their incivility, it’s the way their parents model for them. 1 I just didn’t get to it

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

[Tweet “Long life is not left up to genetics — it’s left up to obedience to the Word.”]

Posted on

How a Jesus-Believing Husband Should Love His Wife in God

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Two

by

How a Jesus-Believing Husband Should Love His Wife in God

How should a Jesus-believing husband love his wife? We know that the home life is under attack by the ungodly forces of unbelief. And, it’s evident why these attacks are occurring for nothing on earth is as beautiful as the home where Christ is in control. Such a home is the school of mutual unselfishness and attention to duty, where love is continually learning its true work: seeking the happiness and well-being of another. The Christian husband often seems like a vanishing creature, but as one so honored, you will find the Scriptures speaking to you explicitly, simply, and practically, giving you God’s wisdom. In Ephesians 5:28–33, the husband is directed to specialize at home in one great task: Loving his wife.” Behind the simplicity of this command lies the profound depth of the love of Christ, for in all respects the Lord Jesus Christ is the husband’s example.1 In today’s Light on Life podcast, our focus is on the husband’s responsibility to his wife. In last week’s episode, we covered the reverse — the wife’s responsibility to her man. The scripture says that husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. But, what does that mean, exactly? How a Jesus-Believing Husband Should Love His Wife in God? — that’s what we are talking about in this week’s Light on Life.’

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in PlayerFM

Connectedness: How We Are Powerfully Joined to Jesus and to One Another

[Tweet “In God, a husband and a wife are ‘one flesh.’ The term ‘one-flesh’ means an inseparable union between a man and a woman. “]

Posted on

What the Word of God Teaches about Submission and Authority

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode One

by

What the Word of God Teaches about Submission and Authority

We are in Ephesians five, talking today about the subject of submission and its connection to authority. Submission and authority are vitally essential truths God established both in heaven and on earth. Much disharmony has come because of a lack of understanding of what it means to voluntarily submit to one another in a spirit of humility and love. Jim Lamb prayed the following prayer and it’s a good lesson in this area. Jim prayed these words: I seem to have not one Master, but hundreds – an army of people streaming through my life, demanding my time, my strength, my mental attention. They all want me to do something for them. But as I listen to a song of our Savior, I begin to understand the true power that comes in submission, even when it is painful: The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame (Isaiah 50:4–7). I hear your song, Lord Jesus. Teach me how to follow your example as a humble servant of all, and yet also be a leader in confidence and strength, just as you were. You are the submissive Lamb of God, without resentment but also the Lion of Judah, courageous and powerful. Teach me these qualities. Help me always to bend willingly, but also to shamelessly take the lead with my face set like flint whenever I must. And thank you for never rebelling or drawing back-earning salvation for us, and endless glory for yourself. That’s quite a prayer. Maybe you can relate to part or all of this. Thank God that Jesus moved into the realm of submission and because He did, he now has ultimate authority. What the Word of God Teaches about Submission and Authority, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life1. Ephesians 5:21–24 (ESV): 21 — submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

How Do I Find My Place in God?

[Tweet “The Bible didn’t say, ‘Husbands, make your wives submit.’”]

Posted on

What Does It Mean to Be Filled with the Spirit of God?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Fifty-Two

by

What Does It Mean to Be Filled with the Spirit of God?

Being filled with the Holy Spirit via psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is the focus of our podcast and this post today. The Spirit of God has given utterance to many songs and hymns throughout the centuries. On the subject of hymns, Charles Spurgeon shared the following story from his life. “During one of many holidays at Salmbourne, [I looked this place up on the internet and after I did I had no more idea where it was than when ai stated – it’s somewhere in England], I had a varied experience which I am not likely to forget. My dear grandfather was very fond of Dr. Watt’s hymns, and my grandmother, wishing to get me to learn them, promised me a penny for each one that I should say to her perfectly. I found it an easy and pleasant method of earning money and learned them so fast that grandmother said she must reduce the price to a half-penny each, afterward even more, if she did not mean to be quite ruined by her extravagance [meaning she was going broke paying Charles to recite these hymns]. There is no telling how low the amount per hymn might have sunk, but grandfather [offered him a different deal]. He said that he was getting overrun with rats, and offered me a shilling [which is five pennies] a dozen for all I could kill. I found, at the time, that the occupation of rat-catching paid me better than learning hymns [5 times as much], but I know which employment has been more permanently profitable to me. No matter on what topic I am preaching, I can, even now, in the middle of my sermon, quote some verse of a hymn in harmony with the subject; the hymns have remained with me, while those old rats for years have passed away, and the shillings I earned by killing them have been spent long ago.1 Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are utterances given by the Spirit of God and they are evidence of being filled with the Spirit. What Does It Mean to Be Filled with the Spirit of God? — that’s the core of this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

The Big Scoop on Magnifying God

[Tweet “Don’t be filled with a substance — be filled with a being — a spirit — THE Spirit in fact — the Holy Spirit of God.”]

Posted on

What’s the Connection between Evil Days and Redeeming the Time?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Fifty-One

by

What’s the Connection between Evil Days and Redeeming the Time?

Today, our study in Ephesians chapter five brings us to the subject of time: redeeming time. How does one redeem time? That’s what we want to study today. This story may help you along these lines. John Erskine, the well known author, professor, and lecturer, once wrote that he learned the most valuable lesson of his life when he was fourteen. His piano teacher asked him how much he practiced and how long at a stretch. The boy replied that he practiced for an hour or more at a time. “Don’t do that,” warned the teacher. “When you grow up, time won’t come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them—five or ten minutes before school, after lunch, between chores. Spread the practice throughout the day, and music will become part of your life.” Erskine stated that the observance of this advice enabled him to live a comparatively complete life as a creative writer outside his regular duties as an instructor. He wrote most of Helen of Troy, his most famous work, on streetcars while commuting between his home and the university.1 In today’s podcast, we are talking about time: What’s the Connection between Evil Days and Redeeming the Time? – Answering that question is our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

Why Redemption Through the Blood of Jesus Is God’s Way [Podcast]

[Tweet “It’s a sobering thing to realize that during your time apart from Jesus, you may have contributed to the darkness of this age.”]

Posted on

Why Your Monumental Mission In Life Is to Expose Evil

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Fifty

by

Why Your Monumental Mission In Life Is to Expose Evil

Today, we are talking about the subject of exposing evil. Evil is not to be babysat. It’s not to be tolerated or gotten used to. The believer is strongly warned. He cannot live in the darkness of this world and expect the light of God to guide him throughout life. Here is the story of one man who tried. Aaron was a salesman with a strong personality and lots of charisma. Image was very important to him. He loved the applause of men and would feed his ego by seeking out popular places to make an appearance. Trying to become “one of the guys” was his excuse for compromising his values to sell more products. On Sunday mornings, he went to church. In public, he even talked like a Christian. But in reality, Aaron led a double life and did whatever he felt necessary to get ahead in business. When it came to his Christian life, Aaron “talked the talk” but didn’t “walk the walk.” It did not take long for his double standards and hypocrisy to affect the reputation of the business. Aaron’s employer soon took him aside and said, “Aaron, I really appreciate all the good things you do, like meeting your sales goals. But for your own good, I’m going to ask you to take a break from working outside the office. I want you to take a close look at your lifestyle. You are making choices that no longer affect just you alone. Until you can make some changes in your lifestyle, I’m taking you off the road.” Aaron hung his head in shame. His employer had seen past his smooth exterior into his dark inner self. The light of God’s Spirit had exposed Aaron’s, true heart.1 This man was caught in contradiction but did it have to go that far? What if someone had the guts to pull him aside and say to him, ‘Aaron, you’re missing it here.’ What if someone overcame the uncomfortableness of confrontation, to rescue a wayward believer and help him right his course? Would it not have been the right thing to do? That’s the question that we are proposing today. Why Your Monumental Mission in Life Is to Expose Evil — that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

How to Overcome Darkness by Following the Light of the World [Encore]

[Tweet “The Word says have no part of the unfruitful works of darkness. It did not say have no part of unfruitful people.”]

Posted on

How to Absolutely Discern the Will of God: What the Bible Says

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Forty-Nine

by

How to Absolutely Discern the Will of God: What the Bible Says

In today’s podcast, we examine one of the most well-known questions that Jesus’ followers pose — how do I discern the will of God for life? We could simply ask the question what is God’s will for my life? This is an essential question that you must walk out in your everyday life. The answer to this question doesn’t come by wondering — it comes by an active, diligent, heartfelt seeking of God. One godly man from the mid-twentieth century had this to say about this area. His name was Dr. Truett. He died in July 1944. One of his most memorable statements was about the will of God. He said, “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge; to do the will of God is the greatest achievement.” Then he added, “The will of God is not always easy, but it is always right.” One gentleman attended his funeral. He said, ‘As I viewed him in his casket, he held an open New Testament in his left hand. The index finger of his right hand pointed to Matthew 6:10: “Thy will be done.” It was the motto of his life. We should make it ours.’[Herschel H. Hobbs, My Favorite Illustrations (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1990), 124.] How to Absolutely Discern the Will of God: What the Bible Says, this is our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

The Secret to Discerning of Spirits

[Tweet “The will of God is not going to be written across the sky or be sent by text message to your cell phone.”]

Posted on

Ten People Who Will Not Inherit The Kingdom Of God: What You Should Know

Podcast: Light on Life Season Nine Episode Forty-Eight

by

Ten People Who Will Not Inherit The Kingdom Of God: What You Should Know

In this week’s episode, we are talking inheritance, that is inheriting the Kingdom of God. The Bible details for us those who will and those who won’t inherit the Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is all about righteousness. John Eckhardt wrote the following spiritual ode about God’s Kingdom written from God’s viewpoint. “My kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness, and I hold the scepter of righteousness in My hand. I will lead you in the paths of righteousness. If you will trust in Me, I will bring forth your righteousness as the light. Those who wait upon Me will inherit the earth and will delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Blessed is the woman I choose and cause to approach Me. You will dwell in My courts and be satisfied with the goodness of My house. I will answer you with awesome deeds of righteousness, and I establish the mountains by My strength. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness will be quietness and assurance forever”1 From a study in Ephesians we look at the Kingdom of God from a different point of view. We look at those who definitely will not inherit the Kingdom. Ten People Who Will Not Inherit The Kingdom Of God: What You Should Know — all on this week’s Light on Life.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

The Second Coming of Jesus: What You Need to Know

[Tweet “It’s possible to change with the help of God. He will transform you, and straighten up your desires. “]