Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. — Ephesians 6:11
My dad has often shared a story about my sister that is funny. Once, she was baking some cookies. He said they came out of the oven, and they looked good! As he tells the story, he said the cookies smelled great, and he was excited to eat one of the cookies after it came out of the oven.
He said that he took a bite of that cookie, and while it looked like a cookie, it didn’t taste like a cookie. My sister had left out a key ingredient from the recipe. He bit into the cookie, expecting the taste of a great cookie, but instead, he was met with something that ended up being thrown in the trash.
Having all the key ingredients in place when you are making cookies is important. Each one plays an important part. It can have the appearance of a cookie and even smell like a cookie. But leave out a key ingredient, and it will not taste like a cookie.
The same goes for our lives. We go through our lives and fill them with dozens of things. On the outside, our lives may look ok. We may talk the Christian talk, act like we are above sin and the challenges of this world. Yet, we often leave out a key ingredient in our lives. As Paul describes it, to make it in this life we must put on the whole armor of God!
Our lives may look put together on the outside, but on the inside, we are struggling. Maybe you find yourself missing a key ingredient. Maybe it’s giving your life to Christ and accepting Him as Savior. Maybe we lack faith, truth, the Bible, prayer, or any of the ingredients that are described here. Today would be a great day to add the missing ingredients to your life. The adversary we face in life is too strong and powerful for us to battle when we are missing key ingredients.
Jared Dyson
I think it’s more of a challenge if your life doesn’t look well put together! Others who doubt or question - judge/disbelieve your personal walk with God. That can be painful as my many want shared experiences!
I had a bad day at work once, were someone said I didn’t act like a member of my church. That kind of stunk, but at that moment -I didn’t have time to delve into the characteristics of members of our church. I let it go.
On the other end of the spectrum, I was lined up with other faculty staff in the hallway, when a patient walking down the hall, stopped in the middle, pointed at me and said “that one has the spirit.”
She was right. My personal goal is to have the gift of the Holy Spirit with me so that I might be receptive to the promptings.
Even if I don’t look properly put together on a particularly bad day, and I question if there’s any good out there.
I have a strong testimony of personal experiences and witness to blessings at some of my darkest times. Answers to prayers, prayers- not uttered, but spiritual interventions on my behalf during desperate moments, It reminds me that God is real, and if I denied it, I’d probably be shocked by lightning. Lol
I do a double take when people say that they don’t believe. I can’t imagine life without the Savior, or the insights and knowledge which comes from faith in our Heavenly Father.
...wonderful testimony....
...your remark about not looking well put together reminded me of something my Grandma Dog would say....
"Show me a person whose Bible is falling apart and I will show you someone who is well put together".
Thanks -Grandma is usually right!
...after I watched her "fetch" chickens for dinner, I never disagreed with anything she said,,,,
...howls....
. . . out of the house at a run to the chicken coop; over to the stump to cut its head off; into the house to clean, pluck, and cook it on a wood stove fueled by corn cobs.
...howls...
...that was the process except Grandma Dog was a "wringer" and not a "chopper"....
Lol