Gearing Up For War

I feel like I left you hanging last week with the war thing (read We Are At War Whether You Like it or Not blog). It's almost like I told you "we are in big trouble" and left you with no solution. Well the rest of Ephesians 6 explains how we should gear up for this war. 

Of course I am going to put a twist in it so that we can have a little fun and learn something at the same time. Now this book of Ephesians was written back in the day so they used visuals that were common then - war gear. I'm going to try to bring it to something more up-to-date and since it's football season, I will use that.

I also believe that these different war gear suggested by Paul is talking about different characteristics of the Word of God (don't try to sue me....it's my opinion & my blog). Hopefully by the end of this blog you will understand where I'm coming from.

 
Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14) 
The last thing you want to happen in a war is have your pants fall down! Talk about AWKWARD!! The Bible is also considered the Truth. We should use the Bible as a comparison tool in life - "what does the Bible say about that?" 

Breastplate  or shoulder pads of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14)

One way to kill someone in a war is to stab them in the heart. This breastplate protected that. In football, the shoulder pads protect the heart and give you confidence. The only way to be righteous before a Holy God is by His son, Jesus, who died for us for that same reason, among other things. The Bible is a love story about just that. John 1 explains more. 

Shoes or cleats of the Good News (Ephesians 6:15)

The right shoes are important for anything you do. War and football is not different. So we are to share the Good News a.k.a  Jesus' sacrifice for us with everyone we can. It's what Jesus left for us to do. 

Shield or stiff-arm of faith (Ephesians 6:16)

In football there is no "shield" but you can stiff-arm a defender if they try to tackle you! Faith helps you protect yourself when your opponent tries to come against you. Faith come by hearing and hearing the, you guessed it, Word of God. 

Helmet of Salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

Obviously protecting your head is important at war or in a football game -but this also includes your mind. We are continuously thinking (well some of us) and this is the perfect place to begin the attack for our opponent. This is why we should protect our minds daily! Salvation is part of that love story the Bible keeps referring to time and time again. 

Sword or Football of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)

The sword is how we attach the enemy and in football you can't score without the ball! Most of us would agree that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. My thought is that Paul was doing one of his run-on sentences and when it says ", which is the Word of God" he was referring to all of the previous gear he mentioned. Once again, this is just my opinion. This is no theological conclusion (that I'm aware of). 

In a nutshell, prepare for this war daily guarding your mind & heart by reading the Word of God then share the Good News to others. Memorize some verses so you can defend yourself against your opponent and ATTACK him with the Word of God!!

LET'S GO!! 
GEAR UP!! 

Cabrera Legacy Part I: The Bible Verse

Let me set the scene:

My mom, dad, brothers and sisters are all sitting in a circle in our living room. We just finished reading Romans 8 and now it's time to recite our Bible verse. My oldest brother has just finished saying his 10-sentence memory verse from one of Paul's letters (SHOW-OFF) and now all eyes are on me! My hands are sweaty, heart beating a million miles-per-second and my face is red. With a big gulp and thinking "here goes nothing", I let it out:

(En Español of course) "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! Proverbs 6:6" Before I could even finish, everyone questioned in unison, "AGAIN?!?!" I responded with "that's all I got" and we all begin to laugh. You see this was my favorite Bible verse when I was a kid mainly because during our family devotional time, we had to recite a Bible verse and John 3:16 was not an option. So I went to the book of Proverbs (not for wisdom but for easy verses). I found this "ant" verse... read it... memorized and made it my own!

Now we all know that nothing just happens by coincidence, right? So what was God trying to tell me about an "ant" that was so important? After all, to me ants were merely victims of The Giant Man (me) who loved to squish little villagers (them) - or an occasional science experiment that involved a magnifying glass and the sun. Well this little ant is worth taking a look at (according to this Proverb). They are admired for their hard work-ethics and wise planning. Could it be that God was trying to prepare my work-ethics for what would become a difficult road ahead for me? You see every job I have ever had I have had to work hard to be successful - I didn't get anything handed down to me based on "who I know". I believe this verse was rooted in my heart and would rise-up during these difficult times in different jobs that I had. Coincident? I think NOT!

"So faith come by hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ". Romans 10:17 (NLT)

I had a chance to interview my daughter and asked her what her favorite Bible verse was since she memorized a bunch of them. Here answer - Deuteronomy 31:6 "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (SHOW-OFF)!

What was your favorite Bible verse growing up?

I'd love to hear from you!

Don't Believe The Hype!

Till this day, I love hearing my mom tell this story: 

(En español of course) Once upon a time there was this little boy who was born with a heart murmur and spent a week in an incubator due to a respiratory illness during birth.  When he was six months old, this little boy was sick with a throat ache/infection. His mom gave him penicillin to cure the throat ache/infection not knowing the little boy was allergic to this drug. The little boy stopped breathing, eyes turned in his eyelids and his skin turned blue – not a good thing. In a panic, the little boy’s mom grab the boy and called (more like screamed) at her husband who was in the shower. With a towel around his waist, the husband comes out of the shower, snatches the boy from his wife’s hands and orders her and the rest of the kids to begin to pray. He carried his baby boy into his room and kneels down at his bedside praying to God to revive his little boy. With the mom and the rest of the kids crying and praying in the background, he prayed for what seemed to be an eternity. Eventually, this man of faith brings out his handsome baby boy back to the rest of the family. His color was back to normal and he was healthier than before this incident.

That little boy was me. And while this story should serve as an encouragement to me, for a long time I struggled with lies of the enemy insisting that I should have remain dead. Every failure, every time I felt weak, and every opportunity he could use, I would hear “you shouldn’t be alive right now” “God wanted you dead” “What was your dad thinking praying for you?” “That’s why you are going through so much stuff”. I even heard a few “you should end it now” thoughts!

One night while I was struggling with these lies, I got down on my knees and prayed to God. He gave me a “glimpse” of my father kneeling down on his bed praying for me. Then God reminded me:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

You see I had heard that verse before but that night it made complete sense! I hope it does for you, too!

What lies is the enemy telling you? “You don’t fit in” “you don’t belong” “you should end your life”? Whatever it is…Don’t believe the hype! God has “greater” plans for you!