The Shield of Righteousness

Hello Nation of Amazing Believers!

You are conquerors. Overcomers, sealed by the blood of Jesus. You are destined for GREATNESS. You are filled with the love our Sovereign God and blessed with the power of the Holy Spirit. You are people who live in a standard of truth and righteousness. You are victorious in battle. You bring holiness into your home and sanctify your spouse and children. The promises of God are for you. Our Lord is our shield and our strong tower. AND NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WILL PROSPER!!

Woo Hoo! Hallelujah! AMEN!

These are the promises of God which you claimed on Monday. Lord, open up the floodgates and teach us to walk fully in all of these truths and promises. In Jesus name. Amen

Gang,

We are going to dawn a new part of our wardrobe today. The Breastplate of Righteousness. Before we get started I want to let you know that I will have a few more words about our authority in Christ on Monday. Continue to speak scriptures over your life and words of hope and promise in Jesus. I’ve already heard from some of you via email about what God is already accomplishing in your life. It’s astonishing, liberating and FREEDOM. Dineen and I are humbled that you choose to share your victories with us. We praise God for every…. single…. one. AMEN

Okay, let’s talk trash!   *grin*

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. —Proverbs 4:23

This is what it’s all about. Our heart. The heart is a physical truth and a spiritual truth. From out of our heart pumps life-blood to nourish and sustain our physical body. Also from our soul, our spiritual heart, pumps what it contains into our spirit as well as our body. Our heart is the core of our being and thus must be protected by the shield, the breastplate of righteousness.

What is righteousness? The best way I remember the definition is to think of it as: right living. And that right living is defined by God’s truth. Last week we dawned the belt of truth. Truth is the Word, it is a person Jesus and it is our identity in Him.

Righteousness is a standard. The application of God’s truth in my life. This appears fairly simple. However, in reality many of us continue to struggle with doubt, insecurity, worry and fear.

Well that’s where the trash resides.

Each summer in hot southern California I will go to the curb to retrieve my garbage cans and return them to the backyard after they are emptied. And it never fails that as I look into the black bin which held the stinky garbage, I will spot movement. Yep, maggots. Squirming by the thousands all over the inside of the can. After a shriek loud enough to wake the dead, my heart calms down and I begin the disgusting task of washing those repulsive critters from the can with the hose. Yep, summer fun at the Donovan house!

Trash attracts the maggots, the rats and the roaches. It’s the trash in our lives/hearts that attracts the demonic. For many Christians we know this is true, yet purging ourselves of the trash is difficult and we don’t know how to go about the disposal. And that’s when we move into trash management. It’s a form of godliness, but having denied the power. —2 Timothy 3:5

We sweep our stuff into a closet so when the women’s Bible study meets so they won’t see it. We hide trash in the dark and pretend it isn’t back there calling to us. And it resides in our heart at times and continues to pollute our heart which pumps it throughout our body and into our life. Yikes.

BUT my friends, here is the remedy. We take that Belt of Truth and gird our loins. We speak it over us. We meditate on the Word of God. We memorize truths and pray them back to God in our prayer time. We rehearse the truth, the unchanging & powerful truth of God into our heart/soul….. And that practice replaces worry. Worry and sin is the trash that is replaced by truth and we become transformed.

Transformation occurs when the truth of God is meditated on and righteousness is released into our spirit, our heart.

Transformation is our release of trash and washing away the maggots. Hallelujah…

The result… FREEDOM.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. —John 8:32

Ephesians 6:14  —Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

Let’s take out the trash and shut the open doors to the demonic. Dawn the belt of truth and shield your heart with right living. And then look out world because God will use an ordinary believer who is walking in his/her Godly wardroom to do GREAT things!

Quiet Time Study: (Take these questions to the Lord in your quiet time. Then listen.)

• I want you to consider three issues in life and ask yourself is there trash here that God is asking you to dispose? If there is, pray and ask for His Holy Spirit power for transformation for victory.
• Food
• Finances
• Sex

Community Questions (answer in the comments):

My friends, this post is not intended to cast condemnation but bring freedom. And so I’m not going to post a community question. Just pray and continue to press into truth and through your journey you will find that it becomes easier and easier to pitch the trash and then finally, the day will dawn where you are forever free from it. In Jesus name. AMEN.

I do have a fun and silly question for you. What is a funny even icky trash story from your life? Now don’t get too gross on me. But a little levity in our community today seemed like a good idea. Okay, share away? Anyone have skunks in their trash? Or has your dog eaten the trash? Other surprises in your trash cans? I CAN’T wait to hear your story? Love you a ton. Lynn