Hear My Words

Well, here I am....awake again after midnight. What woke me up? Another migraine! (I need a NEW BRAIN....not just because of my migraines....but for ALOT of reasons!! LOL!!)

I am going to tell you several things that I ALREADY KNOW, but God has shown me that I need to "connect the dots" on these things and apply them to my life. He showed me this literally MINUTES AGO!! Or, better yet, He has probably been trying to show me this for a long time (YEARS) and tonight...literally MINUTES AGO...what He has been trying to tell me in so many different ways, I finally saw the big, pink, blinking sign, reading, "HELLO!!! PAIGE!!!! It's ME, GOD!!! I HAVE SOMETHING TO TEACH YOU, SO READ THIS GIANT BLINKING SIGN....HEAR MY WORDS AND APPLY THEM TO YOUR LIFE!!!"

Before I tell you what God pointed out to me, I need to lay a little groundwork...(people who know me are rolling their eyes right now, sighing & saying, "PAIGE, JUST GET TO THE POINT!!" (LOL!!) I hope you keep reading...

First of all, I am a Christian. And I would stand on the top of the tallest building and yell, "I AM A CHRISTIAN AND I THANK GOD FOR SENDING HIS SON, JESUS, TO PAY FOR MY SINS!!" If someone shot me down and I fell to my death, so be it....I WOULD BE IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, BECAUSE I HAVE ACCEPTED HIM AS MY LORD & SAVIOR. PERIOD.

In so many ways, I am still such a "babe in Christ." There is SO MUCH I have to learn about JESUS and living out my Christianity. More importantly, I need to DO what He has ALREADY TAUGHT ME....You know...."WALK THE WALK" not just "TALK THE TALK" and I have NO IDEA how God is SO PATIENT with me! I feel like I let Him down EVERYDAY. As Jesus, Himself said:

"Stay alert and pray! Otherwise, temptation will overpower you! For, THE SPIRIT IS WILLING, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK!" (Matthew 26:41)

Oh, how willing my spirit is to "walk the walk!!" Yet, my flesh is SO WEAK, I just "talk the talk!" I am not using this passage of Scripture as justification to just "talk the talk" but not "walk the walk." MY PROBLEM is, that I DON'T DO what Jesus said to DO in this passage:

"STAY ALERT AND PRAY!!!!" ..... My prayer life is NOT where it needs to be. Now, I TALK to God all of the time.... I think my problem is that I don't LISTEN to God like I should!! And, when I do LISTEN, I don't always OBEY!!

Another thing about me, is that I am a HUGE BELIEVER in SPIRITUAL WARFARE!!

Ephesians 6:12 says: "For 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."

I also like the way that passage is worded in another one of my Bibles (THE LIVING BIBLE)

Ephesians 6:12 ~ "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies - the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world."

Pretty scary stuff, if you ask me!! We cannot even see our enemy!! So, we have to "SUIT UP!" (A line that Barney constantly says in the new sitcom, "How I met Your Mother." That show is hilarious!!) Anyway, we have to "suit up" in the Armor Of God DAILY as we fight this battle...What is "The Armor of God?" hmmmm.....glad you asked!! Hang on, let me find that passage in The Bible.....I'm glad to do it....I should already know it by heart...after all, it says in The Bible:

PSALM 119:11 ~ "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

Hmmm...this is an interesting way that my other Bible ~ THE LIVING BIBLE ~ words that:

PSALM 119:11 ~ "I have thought much about Your Words, and stored them in my heart, so that they would hold me back from sin."

I have never heard it put that way, but the meaning is the same..."I need to meditate on God's Word DAILY & memorize God's Word, so that I will KNOW where God stands on ANY ISSUE and I can pray that God's Holy Spirit keeps me from disobeying God." (my interpretation)

Okay, for those of you who want to know, here is the passage about putting on THE ARMOR OF GOD:

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 your feet with FITTED SHOES that are able to speed you on as you spread 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.

Why do I not do this DAILY? I mean, really...WHY? What is wrong with me??? God has told me how to fight back in spiritual warfare...but I DON'T DO IT!!

I had a friend, Tammy, ask me an EXCELLENT question recently. She is also a Christian, by the way. Anyway, this question has NOT LEFT MY MIND and when I told my husband, my mother, my daddy, my best friend in Alabama, Lorie and my best friend in Georgia, Pamela, about Tammy asking me this very insightful question, they ALL said the same thing...

Tammy & I were talking one day (about my battle with depression) and she said, "Paige, you are the type of person who does not take any crap from people, right?" And I VERY PROUDLY SAID, "You've got that right!! I don't take crap off of anybody!! I am not afraid of confrontation at all & if someone tries to start something with me, I'll get right in their face and say, 'BRING IT!!' I don't "start things," but if somebody starts something with me, I WILL NOT BACK DOWN!!"

Then she asked, "Then WHY do you take crap off the devil? It's like, when it comes to human beings, you won't take stuff off of them. But, when Satan starts attacking you, YOU JUST LAY DOWN & TAKE IT!! It's like you instantly fall down in the fetal position & you just let him beat the tar out of you & take whatever crap he dishes out to you and YOU DON'T FIGHT BACK!! You will believe his lies, mainly the lie he tells you so frequently... that YOU, PAIGE are worthless. You make it SO EASY for Satan to just lead you down the road of depression, anger or whatever!! Why don't you FIGHT BACK when you are being attacked spiritually and tap in to the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT & call on The Lord to fight these battles for you? God is SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL than Satan, but YOU HAVE GOT TO CALL ON HIM!!"

WOW...........these things that Tammy asked me FORCED me to ask myself these questions.....She was right. God is SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL than Satan and when I am being attacked spiritually, I need to put on the ARMOR OF GOD, stand firmly on God's TRUTHS and QUIT BELIEVING THE ENEMY!!

This is ALOT to ponder...

Stay tuned for my next post.....it is like part 2 of this post....I hope you tune in!!

I hope we all seek HIM daily ~
Paige