NCarolinian

                    Just as a soldier of old pulls his sword from his sheath or scabbard, so does the Christian pull the revealed or quickened Word of God from the Written Word of God.            This imagery of the Armor of God on the Christian soldier is fully described in Ephesians 6:11-17 . However, the specific verses of fourteen and the end of seventeen are the point of emphasis here.           Jesus is the way, truth and life. He is the Word of God who created all things and holds all things together. This "holding all things together" image can be easily seen as the Belt of Truth in the Christian's armor. The Belt of truth is the Logos or written Word of God.           The  Sword of the Spirit noted as the word of God at the end of verse seventeen is translated in the original Greek as the Rhema Word of ...

  James 1:13-14 "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."          Humans are very fast to place blame. We shift our responsibility off on something or someone else easily. Long before pointing any fingers are due, a mirror should be consulted. God, the devil and others are always on the top of the list as possible scape goats for failing to rebuke our temptations.            While temptation certainly has a source with the devil and others, this verse makes clear who not to blame for temptations of evil and who is responsible - God is not and cannot be blamed for evil temptations, while humanity and their nature is the culprit.           Temptation is the courting or dating mechanism used by whatever is the source of the tempti...

                    When Christ Jesus returns with His bride, The Church, and all the angelic host of Heaven, there will be woven into His robe and tattooed on His thigh this truth, "King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:16)           I think of a king as a ruler of a grand swath of territory and population of many people. The king is responsible for the set up and smooth running of his administration that cares for all the different aspects of his kingdom or nation.            I think of a lord as a governor of people, laws, culture and society within a smaller community, such as a state, province, district, county and so forth. The lords ultimately report to the king or president of a kingdom or nation and deal with the local issues, elevating them to the king's attention when necessary.            The sobering thoug...