It’s Time to Put on the Armor of God

¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Now more than ever we need to be aware of the importance of putting on the Armor of God. It is true that we live in a dangerous time, even our own nations foundations are being threatened, with a president who does not seem to care so much about the Christian values this nation was founded on. I do not believe that we should have our Christian values taken from us, if you don't want to worship Christ, fine, but why take away our national day of prayer?

It is also important that we put on the Armor of God, of course, but it is also important that we don't become so wrapped up in our lives that we forget to take the time to spend with the Creator of our Lives. Why is it that so often we either wait until a time of crisis to realize the importance of putting on the Armor of God, or we forget to do it all together, trying to fight battles that were never ours to fight alone. We are so much stronger when we have Christ on our side, and the truth is he does not leave us, we leave him.

We get this idea that we can handle things on our own, that we need to prove just how strong we are, and yet without Christ a big part of us dies, and without Christ we are not ever going to be as strong as we could be with Christ. Yet here we go through life, trying to carry the burdens on our own, or we get so busy living, we forget to look to the Creator.

Ever find yourself saying I am just too busy, too busy, to pray, to worship, to do what the Lord would have you do, yet we will sit down and watch a two hour movie, but we are too busy to listen to a forty five minute sermon, or spend a few minutes in prayer.

Something is wrong with this picture, so let's get back to putting on the Armor of God…

Copyright Michelle R Kidwell

Apr.16.2010

Cast Your Cares

1 Peter 5:7-9 (New International Version)

⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 ⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Ever feel anxious? Of course you have, if you tell me you haven't I am going to wonder if you are being truthful, after all we are only human, humans with human emotions, and human patience with worries, but we do have hope, when we are feeling overwhelmed with the worries and the cares, we can give them to the Lord. We are not supposed to spend our lives worrying, full of fear, because the good Lord wants us to cast our burdens on him.

I am reminded so often of God's Grace, when I truly give my cares to the Lord.

If I let myself be anxious, or worry about every little thing in my life, then the fact is I would be so overcome with worry that I would not have room for faith, and I want my relationship with the Lord, to be the first thing that.

In the book of Matthew it is made clear that the Lord does not want us worrying about the things that he takes care of, even in this day and age, when we seem so overwhelmed by worried, the Lord is still providing, when we truly believe:

Matthew 6:25-31 (New International Version)

Do Not Worry

 ²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

 ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

Worrying does not add a moment to our lives, in fact it only serves to make us sick, to pull our hair out, to bite our nails, perhaps literally, perhaps figuratively, but if we worry about tomorrow before it comes what point is that?

I admit I am a worrier, but I am focusing more on worrying about other things like whether or not those I care about have given their hearts to Christ.

Copyright Michelle R Kidwell

April.15.2010

 

 

Book Review: From a Distance Tamera Alexander

Book Title From A Distance

Author Tamera Alexander

Copyright 2008

Elizabeth Westbrook travelled from Washington D.C to the Colorado Territory, to take photographs for a Washington Paper, she wanted to secure her place as a photographer for the paper, and she hoped the cool dry air would cure her mysterious lung ailment.

Elizabeth hires an assistant when she gets to Timber Ridge a former slave named Josiah, an unlikely paring perhaps but Josiah is a quick learner and quickly becomes a person Elizabeth can trust despite the things being said about him.

She also meets a former Confedorate sharpshooter who acts as a guide to help her on some of her trips to photograph, bur when her equiptment is vandalized, she begins to wonder if this entire trip was a waste of time and effort. In the 1870's women were still having trouble finding any place in a professional sense, and women photographers were rare, but Elizabeth was determined to show the world just what she saw in her lenses.

From a Distance will take you on a fun and educational journey, and it will show you that some things are not always as they seem. If you are in the mood to travel back in time, with a woman ahead of her time, you will enjoy From A Distance.

It Taught Me to Embrace the Moment

I've lived with aspects of my condition all of my life, but for most of my life, the condition was unnamed, I was told over and over again that it was in my head, that I was faking it, by doctors, by teachers, by many of the people who should have been listening. I knew it was not in my head though, that bladder issues, that weakness, that falling, were just not some psychosomatic thing, that I was not just imagining it all. I had one teacher who always thought I was faking it no matter what I did, that teacher to this day is one of the teachers that stand out in a negative way, not positive, yet strangely I do not remember her name, maybe that's my way of dealing with the way she made me feel. I was a sophomore, fifteen or sixteen at the time, and I did not need her making me feel even more confused than I already was, but as vividly as some of the things this teacher said, the ones who offered me support, who actually taught me things, beyond the school learning, beyond the books as important as they are to me especially as a writer, the gifts that they gave me that I carry with me are great, and I cherish those gifts, those were the teachers who made a difference in me.

In a strange way my disability itself has been a teacher, or perhaps it is not so strange, the fact is the condition has taught me things I might not otherwise learn.

I am certainly more empathetic to others, I have learned to be more understanding, to be more patient, and it has taught me to slow down and enjoy life a little, because tomorrow is not a promise, but if we do have tomorrow it is a gift, a gift from God, a gift that we should not take for granted.

Living with a disability has also made me realize that there are others a lot worse off than I am. I have a neuromuscular condition, but I can still walk, and do many of the things I did before, I just have to give myself more time, than before, and have to prepare myself before. Granted there are times when I need the aide of cane, or I use my AFO's probably a lot less often than I should, but to me those things do not confine me, nor do they define me they allow me the freedom I need, they are the tools that have allowed me to be independent, that have allowed me to do the things I want to do, and I thank God for that. Whether its playing with my nieces and nephews or my friends children, taking care of my thirteen year old niece Amber, or taking care of my dog and cat.

I've learned through this that I have to be patient with myself, and that I have to be patient with others, it has taught me to listen better and understand better. I am not saying that I am perfect, that I don't make mistakes that I don't grow frustrated, and ask myself why me, because the fact is I do, but I have learned to be more understanding, and I have learned to accept what this condition entails. What my life entails, and I try my best, to live my life to its fullest, and live for the Lord. This condition and the faith I have in the Lord has taught me to embrace the moment, not take it for granted.

God’s Grace Was There

I am often reminded of Christ's love in the everyday things I do, and it is an amazing love, even when I am feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulder, I know I can lean on Jesus.

As a Christian I know I am not perfect, but Jesus' blood bought me forgiveness of my sins, does that mean I just go around sinning, because I know I am forgiven, no of course, not because that is not the way it works, we learn from our mistakes, and when we know we've done wrong we ask for forgiveness.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."- Romans 3:23-24

No one but Christ himself was free of sin, but that does not mean as Christians we go around intentionally sinning, and it does not mean we go around judging everyone, because that is certainly not our place, like everyone else, I weigh the facts, and I look at the different sides of things then I state what I am feeling, my feelings are often based on the facts or the things I have experienced, but my faith is so much stronger than even my emotions, because even when I am an emotional wreck, I know somewhere deep down that the Lord is there, that no matter how emotional I am feeling the Lord is there for me.

The fact is the Lord has seen me through things I would not have gotten through on my own.

The lost of loved ones, including my best friend, who died when she was only thirty six, and other looses that weighed heavy on my heart, but I rest comforted in the fact that they are resting in the arms of Jesus.

I am reminded of the ways he has touched my life, and the ways he has brought gifts into my life. Gifts that perhaps in the end were simply there to teach me to lean on him, even when I have lost people, even when people ultimately ended up hurting me, I knew that the Lord's hand was still evident, despite the pain I was feeling, I knew somewhere God's Grace was there.

Through rejection, and hurt, through illness, and disability, through struggles I can still see his grace.

In the laughter of a child I can still see his grace.

I look at things differently now than I did before I came to Christ, and the fact is I believe I am a better person, not the shy timid, scared girl I once was, not the one looking for answers where no answers lay, but I see Christ, in the simple things, and I embrace the small gifts in life. And the fact is because of God's Grace I have better been able to deal with my weakened muscles, in a way it has taught me to lean stronger on the Lord.

This Writers Dreams

As a writer I am also an observer.

Often writers are told they have their heads in the clouds and sometimes that is true. Which one of us have not been guilty of putting our head in the clouds? I mean who can honestly tell me they have not day dreamed. Truth is there is nothing wrong with day dreaming, but there are times when we have to be acutely aware that is not true for only writers but everyone, but as writers, we learn to study people. A certain mannerism, a certain figure of speech anything can be an inspiration for a story idea a character.

Some of my greatest ideas have actually come from dreams, dreams that the Lord blessed me with, and let me remember.

It was a dream that gave birth to A Sister's Justice, Followed By Deception Beneath, and Buried Truths. A dream was what created Marishka Tanya Alexei Character.

Anna was dead, just like that, she had taken her own life. I thought she was getting better, that she was going to start a new life, I never imagined that she would end her life. I was the oldest sister, I should have known something like this. I should have seen it, made her get help.

I prayed that I would wake up and this would all be a nightmare. Anna really couldn't have killed herself, yet deep down I knew it was real.

" We need you to come down and identify the body, we are sure it's her, but it's part of the procedure."

The body, my sister was more than a body! A Sisters Justice Page.40-41 Published 2009 PublishAmerica.

Books of course are another great source for ideas, as are pictures, a single image can spark a myriad of ideas. Different authors will see different stories in that same photograph that same image.

As a writer and a Christian I find myself praying that I am able to touch others for Christ with my words, and to educate others. We as writers are learning from the past in more ways than we realize, and we live in a day and age where that knowledge is right at our fingertips, the internet can be a tool for evil if we allow it, but I choose to use it for good. I am by no means perfect, but that is not the point I do serve a perfect Lord, who has blessed me with the gift of words.

And I never know what dreams the Lord might bless me with and how they may turn into stories, stories that show just what others are capable of, stories that look beyond a person's disabilities or differences, and show the love of Christ shining through them.

From Deception Beneath Book Two In The Marishka Tanya Alexei Series Published October 2009

As I watched my children though, I had faith that they would not

follow the path Anna followed, and I had faith that they would learn from

my mistakes as well. I wanted them to understand that it was okay to talk

about things that were bothering them. I did not want them thinking they

had to bottle everything up. Something Sophia, Anna and I had believed

growing up. It was Ana who first broke the silence about what happened

to us as children. Page.13

Dreams can carry us to places that we may never see otherwise, and I truly believe that the Lord gives us certain dreams, for certain reasons, and I believed he wanted me to tell Marishka's story, something I am still telling to day. Book three has been submitted for publication and I am currently mapping out book four. All for the glory of the Lord.

In Christ's Love

Michelle~

He Could Not Silence Her Even In Death

Sunday April.11 is Holocaust Memorial Day, and I for one believe it is important that we take a time to remember what Hitler put so many through during his reign of terror, that we stop and reflect on just how blessed we are to not be living through what was lived through in the Holocaust, but the sad fact is even today, ignorance and Hatred exist, and I am sure it always will, but in third world companies it is so bad, that children are forced to fight in war. The LRA reared its ugly head and Uganda taking the lives of many children, and forcing them to kill.

As a Christian, I believe in showing others the love of Christ, and the power of forgiveness, but I also believe that the Lord will have his time with others, and men like Hitler have found their punishment in the fiery pits of Hell. There is no way to sugar coat that man's evil, and there is nothing to admire about a man who thought he could wipe out an entire people, sadly he nearly did, but there were those who at the risk of their own lives fought for those that were persecuted.

Miep Gies, who died earlier this year, is perhaps the best known of the "Helpers." To the Frank family and a woman who saw wrong and was not going to sit idly by.

Every day she risked her life, as she went into the Secret Annex to bring the Frank Family food and news, she knew the dangers, and she knew that if she was caught she would face the same punishment that those who were Jewish or imperfect in any way did. Hatred consumed Hitler at every end, but women and men with a bravery like Miep Gies, gave a glimmer of hope.

Unfortunately two and a half years into hiding, someone told the Gestapo about the Franks and everyone living in the Secret Annex was taken to Concentration Camps, Anne Frank and her Sister Margo were taken to Bergen Belsen where they both died of typhus Anne Frank died only three weeks before they were liberated.

Otto Frank was the only survivor out of the secret Annex and he committed his life to getting his youngest daughters diary's published, because it had been her dream to one day be a rider.

Her dream was released after her death, and to this day the Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most read books in the world. Hitler's evil, and his evil empire could not silence a young girl even in death, and other stories were told, because of the bravery of a young girl who confided everything in her Diary Kitty, and because of Miep Gies who picked up the diary after it had been thrown on the floor of the Annex when the Gestapo men took them away.

It is stories like this, true stories, that remind us, that evil exists, but there is greater power in love, and courage…