Are you prepared today? I am. Do you know what you need to do to be prepared? Do you prepare yourself every morning? Do you prepare yourself for particular situations? How do you think being prepared brings hope? Let me share with you what I have learned about preparation.
I have found that in part I need to be prepared every day. I need to equip myself for the daily battle that is going to happen. I face temptations, trials, successes, failures, and everything else that goes on in my day. To this end the Apostle Paul has helped me to prepare, In Ephesians 6 he tells me “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Verse 10) (ESV) He then I believe instructs exactly how to do it “put on the whole armor of God” (Verse 11)
The first step is to prepare myself with the truth, which I believe is found in God’s Word. “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” (Verse 14) (ESV) I find this by reading and studying the Bible regularly and praying for His help.
The next step is to “put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Verse 14) (ESV) I find that I am able to do this only with the guidance of the Holy Spirit because I am unable to be righteous on my own. However, I believe that I can assist the Holy Spirit by doing step 1.
The next step is to “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” (Verse 15) (ESV) I believe this means I must be prepared to tell people about the Gospel.
The next step is to “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith” (Verse 16) (ESV) I have found that I need protection from the Evil One. I have found that the world is filled with temptations which are meant to take me away from my relationship with God and I need my faith to get me through them.
The next step is to “and take the helmet of salvation”. (Verse 17) (ESV) I have found that my mind must be protected and when I continually trust in God’s promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, I have a greater ability to protect against distraction.
The next and final step is to “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Verse 17) (ESV) In my life I have memorized a lot of Bible verse which I have found that the Holy Spirit has reminded me of in times of need.
As I prepare myself in the morning, I have found that I can walk out with hope that my day will go well. When I fail to prepare myself, which does happen more times than I want to confess I frequently loose hope. I have therefore found that when I am prepared, I am also hopeful. When I do not prepare myself there is definitely a lack of confidence and hope.
I pray you will join me in preparing every day for whatever God has instore for you. Remembering that He loves us so much He sent His Son Jesus Christ to restore our relationship with Him. Finally, know that God has something new every morning for us. It is these things that give us hope. Remember from past blogs that it is by knowing God that we have hope. The relationship with God through Jesus brings us hope in the present and the future. I would also encourage you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy during our everyday lives. Understanding that Jesus Christ allows us to access eternal life, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) This will allow us to have hope. At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ and this will bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for sins. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can watch book trailer about my book.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
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