John Chicoine published a note.
July 14, 2009 ·
Ready, Ready for anything. (River trip lesson 2009)
Ephesians 6: 13 – 17 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground… Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”_
We’ve been hearing so many messages these days about individual Christians standing up and taking personal responsibility for doing the work of God. We are being called into action; One by one, to form God’s mighty army. But this action is not going to happen without a fight.
• Sometimes the fight will be an obvious attack from the enemy of God …
(Removing prayer from schools, Symbols of Christianity from public, the ten commandments from courthouses, and even God from our money. Accepting Abortion, & Gay marriage)
• Sometimes the fight will come disguised as well meaning intentions of friends and even family …
(Pear pressure, Bad council from friends, people with self-serving motives, Imbalance in ministry.)
• And all too often, it will come from the internal struggles of our human nature …
(Doubt, immaturity, selfishness, lust, quilt, lack of confidence, loss of faith, apathy, laziness.)
– Today it’s my job to help each of us, (At our own station!) to respond to the call to action. To prepare every one of us to stand our ground.
I’m calling this message; I’m Ready! Ready for Anything!
As we prepare for today’s specific battle, (Running the River), we need to understand that the River is a raging torrent that does have the potential to destroy you. When we first arrive on the riverside it will look like a meek and easy enemy. But you can never get too comfortable and careless with it. As we prepare ourselves for the run, things on the river will begin to change; The banks will swell, the water will get deeper, tension will build as the current gets faster and stronger! Even the sound of the flowing water will change.
Lets take a look at the equipment we need today.
* The safety belts on your life vest, buckled tightly around your waist, are like the belt of truth buckled around your waist. You can have the best life jacket money can buy, but if you haven’t bothered to strap it onto yourself it won’t help you in turbulent waters. And so it is with God’s truth… No matter how great our actions may seem to the outside world, they are nothing but filthy rags to God if they are not founded in God’s Truth. Our motivation must be pure. God says we are not saved by works alone, but by Grace & by the Truth of God. Jesus Says, I am the Way the Truth & the Light.
* Our life jacket… is like the breastplate of righteousness: If we attempt to go down this river without Life jackets we are taking foolish risks with our lives that sooner or later are going to end up in tragedy. And so it is with The Righteousness of God. God calls us to live Righteous and Sanctified lives. If we fool ourselves into believing our own “Goodness” / Righteousness is good enough for God, when the turbulent times come we will eventually drown. The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But it also says, In Jesus, I am Justified through His Righteousness. God Knows we can never be Holy and sinless, but God searches our heart, and His mercy endures forever.
* Our sneakers/Water socks, are our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace: Of all the very real dangers we face today, none will be more likely to happen than to slip on a slippery rock and get seriously hurt. Later on we will be teaching you what to do if you fall out of your boat, You need to listen to and apply these instructions from your commanders on how to react in case of a problem… And so it is with the Gospel of peace. If we attempt to live our lives without knowing God’s Gospel, (Bible) without knowing God’s Character (Forgiveness, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control) we will slip and fall away from God, and we won’t know what to do.
* The raft itself… Is like the shield of faith: If we attempt to run this river without a raft or a tube, we would surely be beaten, bruised, cut up and bloody, if we even survived the run. When we step into these rafts we are literally putting our safety and our lives in the hands of these rafts and we have faith that they will carry us down the river. And so it is with Faith in God. When you have true Faith in Jesus, you have more than just hope that everything will turn out good. I want you to KNOW that you have someone special on your side. You have someone real helping you in times of trouble. You have a friend that is “The Son Of God”. You have a Healer, A Comforter, A Savior. You have Everlasting Life! You can trust your life to Him. You put your self and your family in His hands, and let Him carry you through the good times as well as the bad times.
* The Captain of your boat… Is like the helmet of salvation: No sensible man one would put a little child in a boat on a river all alone. You need experience, you need guidance, and you need someone that can see farther down the river than you can. You need someone that will know what needs to be done even before a problem arises. You need someone that can rescue you when you fall out of the raft. And so it is with Jesus. Jesus is our Salvation. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like today without Jesus, guiding me, comforting me, and helping me everyday of my life. I also know what it’s like to “Loose my faith” (fall out of my boat.) and be flailing about in the raging torrent of the river ready to swallow me up, Helpless, Hopeless, Alone, and LOST! But I can tell you that the captain of my boat reached down into the storm, grabbed me by my life vest and pulled me back into the boat.
* Your paddle… Is like the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Have your ever heard the phrase “Up the creek without a paddle” It’s not a good thing. You need your paddle! You steer the raft away from danger with it. Without it you’re helpless; the river is in control! Remember what I said about the river; It has the potential to destroy you! If you’ve got a paddle, and you know how to use it, you can guide your boat away from danger. And so it is with the Word of God. God’s Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my life. It’s a funny thing how the World call’s people that go through life without God “Enlightened”. I’ve never met an “Enlightened person that wasn’t Totally stumbling in the darkness. It all boils down to this; Either we believe the Bible is God’s Word or not. We have to make a choice. If you choose yes, then we have the only sure foundation from which to live your life.
This was a fun little analogy, but it has lots of very serious spiritual truth’s that I want to review.
First… We have to start here………
• Have we invited Jesus into our life? In a minute, I’m going to give us all an opportunity to think about our personal commitment to Jesus. Do we know Him the way we should? Does our life show it? Do we need to get serious about our personal relationship with Him?
• Are we trying to use our own Righteousness to cover for ourselves? That’s a loosing battle, we can never be good enough to stand Face to Face with Jesus and call him brother, Friend, Savior. We can never earn, through our own good work, even one drop of Jesus’s Shed blood.
• Do we really understand how much God Loves us? Are we too busy to hear His voice calling us? Do we know His voice as we go about our daily lives. Do we know what His word says, Do we take the time to let Him speak to us through His written Word (The Bible).
• Where is our Faith? What do we truly believe? Do we have the Faith to walk on water when life is good, and when are we spiritually deaf, dumb and blind, (Can’t hear Him, Can’t feel Him, Can’t see Him) when we go through trials? When trouble comes, do we spring into action…. (No time for Prayer, No time for God) Gotta fix the problem; Then cry out… Where the heck is God, why doesn’t He see I need Him now?
• Is Jesus, LORD & SAVIOR in our lives? It’s easy to sign him on as Savior; Say a simple prayer, put a bumper sticker for the car and we’re good! But it’s quite another thing to call Him LORD. Now that get’s a bit more complicated; That must just be for Pastors, and people that don’t have “normal” lives like the rest of us. If we make Him Savior and never make Him LORD, did we ever really know Him?
• And Last but not the least, Are we walking out our life by the Word of God? Is Jesus alive today through His living written word proclaimed to a dying world in the witness of our lives? Are we drinking from the river of living water, Quickened by the Holy Spirit, Inspired by the Holy Bible?