Armor of God

 Armor of God

June 10, 2026

Ephesians 6:10-12 (NKJV) 

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.]

When we read the daily news, we hear of wars, crooked elections, murder and riots, and we are tempted to attack the people behind these activities. It is important then, to remember the admonition in Ephesians 6, “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…”. The war against principalities, powers, and rulers is a spiritual battle and requires spiritual weapons.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (NKJV) 

3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

And our armor is not to protect against bullets drones and bombs, but against spiritual forces of wickedness. The battle is in the mind and in the spirit. Our enemies are not the people that wield these physical weapons, but the evil forces behind them. To defeat them, we need spiritual weapons and spiritual armor. Truth, righteousness and faith are our tools to take on the lies of the enemy. Going back to the daily news, you will notice that the first attack from the enemy is in the form of lies. Before the mussels fly and the bullets are shot, there is a barrage of lies to deceive and demoralize their enemies. This is the time to take a stand for truth, expose the lies, and preach the gospel of peace. The answer to the evil and riotously behavior taking over our streets is not more violence, but more truth. Pray for those poor, deceived individuals that are being used to spread the lies and cause murder and mayhem. They are not our true enemies, but are unfortunate tools of the evil one. So take up the sword of the spirit, the Word of God, and do battle for truth, righteousness and the American way.

Ephesians 6:13-20 (NKJV) 

13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-- 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

Our Help

 Our Help

December 5, 2025

Psalm 124:8 (NASB95) 

Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

Psalms 138:1-3

1 I will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the gods.

2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple

And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

3 On the day I called, You answered me;

You made me bold with strength in my soul.

John 14:13-14

13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Our help is in the name of the Lord. When we call upon His name he answers. Whatever we ask in His name, He will do it. There is power in the Name of Jesus. So pray in the name of Jesus for His help and deliverance from all you troubles, for He is mighty and His name is worthy to be praised.

The Name of God- I Am

 Name of God- I Am

December 3, 2025

Exodus 3:13-16

13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’What shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “ I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “ I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

If your going to talk about the name of God, then it seems logical to start with the name that he told Moses to call Him, “I am who I am (h1961. הָיָה hayah)”, and “The LORD (h3068. יהוה Yhvh), the God of your fathers.” Both expressions imply an eternal being or living, and the eternal present tense that was, that is, and is to come; the Alpha and Omega as expressed in Revelation 1:

Revelation 1:8

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We’ve been discussing spiritual warfare. The I Am name of God was revealed to Moses when he was called to confront Pharaoh. Invoking the I Am name of God overcame the multitude of Egyptians gods. It is the name above every name, the God above every other god. Moses overcame the Egyptian gods and the angel of death with the name of the LORD and the blood of the Passover lamb.

Jesus infuriated the Jews when He identified himself in like manner.

John 8:58-59

58Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Therefore, when we pray in the Name of Jesus, we are invoking the same one who is above every other name and the God that is above every other god. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and can vanquish whatever force of evil comes against us. The Name of Jesus is a very powerful weapon in our arsenal for spiritual warfare, so take heart, and go forth to confront and overcome the false gods that threaten us in the modern world.

A Strong Tower

 A Strong Tower

December 1, 2025

Proverbs 18:10

10The name of the LORD is a strong tower;

The righteous runs into it and is safe.

Psalms 91:1-6 - Security of the One Who Trusts in the LORD.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust!”

3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

And from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,

Or of the arrow that flies by day;

6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower.” In turbulent times, there is one safe place. This is not the “safe place” of the woke physiologist where you are sheltered from criticism and controversy, but a true refuge where you are protected from the wiles of the evil one. Call upon the Lord…

Psalms 18:1-3,

1 “I love You, O LORD, my strength.”

2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

He is your refuge and fortress, a stronghold where you can dwell in safety even as the battle rages around you. The Name of the Lord is a refuge, not to keep you isolated from all conflict, but to keep you safe through the battle. We abide in Him to receive His strength and power to overcome the enemy. So today, don’t avoid the battle but call upon the Name of the Lord and you will be saved. Don’t be afraid of the pestilence and destruction, but trust in the Lord who is worthy to be praised.

Restoring the Foundations

 Restoring the Foundations

November 11, 2025

Psalm 11:1-7 (NASB95) 1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 

Inthe LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain; 2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” 

4 The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelidstest the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.

The Psalm I read this morning seems very relevant to our current times. It’s becoming more and more apparent to people; the arrows that are being shot into the hearts of the people from the darkness. There is a concerted effort to destroy the foundations of society. Many people are beginning to wake up to the battle being waged in the heavenlies, with effects in our nation and other nations around the world. Some are fleeing the worst situations in Europe and Nigeria. Many are moving to Texas from California and New  York to try to get away from the craziness,  but if we don’t stop the madness, where do we flee from here? Even in Texas, we are seeing the foundations of family, education and church being eroded. What can we do? “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The Psalmist appeals to heaven. “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven.” Our only salvation is to humble ourselves and pray. Psalm 2 says that the Lord is not surprised by the enemies that conspire against Him, but He sits in heaven and laughs. So take heart. The situation looks dire, and there are real enemies all around us, but the Lord is in His holy temple.

4 TheLORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.

My Glory and the Lifter of My Head

 My Glory and the Lifter of my Head

 November 3,2025

Psalm 3:1-8 (NASB95) 1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 

O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. 2 Many are saying of my soul, “There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah. 

3 But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. 

4 I was crying to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. 

5 I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. 7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the LORD; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.

We have been talking about our weapons of spiritual warfare. One of them is praise. We see a good example of that in Psalm 3 where King David was being chased from Jerusalem by the rebel army of his son, Absolom. Now David was a warrior, skilled in the use of sword and shield, but in this case, he didn’t want to harm his son, but he did need to resist the spirit of rebellion, so he chose praise as his weapon. In the early days in our church in Pittsburgh, we used to sing this as a chorus (in the King James):

Psalm 3:3-4 (KJV) 

3 But thou, O LORD, [art] a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 

4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

When you cry unto the Lord with a voice of Praise, He will hear and answer! I have seen this work many times. The demons of gloom, despair and agony can’t stand the sound of praise and quickly flee. Praise opens the gates of heaven for blessings to flow. Angels love to praise the Lord and will join with you in the battle. So raise a song of triumph and praise the Lord.

Salvationbelongs to the LORD; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.

Your Testimony

 Your Testimony

October 28, 2025

Revelation 12:11

11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of theword of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

John 16:12-15

12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will notspeak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Acts 1:8

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall beMy witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 One of the weapons of spiritual warfare is the word of your testimony. In Revelation 12, we see where there are saints in heaven who triumphed by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. But exactly what is a testimony and why is it so powerful?

In John 16, we read that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate witness, and this verse defines what it means to testify. “Whatever He hears, He will speak.” In legal matters, a witness is one who saw and heard something of relevance to the case, and testifies under oath exactly what it is that he saw and heard. “The truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” So that is what the Spirit is doing in John 16. He tells us what he hears the Father and Son speaking so that we can share it with others. In the first chapter of Acts, we see that this is where the power of our testimony comes from. “You will receive power… and you shall be my witnesses…”. Therefore, when we share what we have seen and heard about what the Lord has done for us, the power of the Holy Spirit goes with that word to change hearts and minds. This is why it is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the spiritual warrior. 

Another aspect that gives your testimony power is that it is hard to argue with. If you share your opinion, others can argue that they have a contrary opinion. But when you share your personal experience through a testimony, they either have to believe that that is what happened to you or call you a liar. It’s your story, and that carries power. That is another reason that the Lord taught in parables. You can argue points of theology or philosophy but you can’t argue with a story about farming or fishing. A story may seem harmless but it can carry power. A story is easy to remember, but like a parable, may carry hidden meaning that will reveal itself to someone who has ears to hear. And that is the job of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth and disclose it to those who believe.

So what is your story? Surely the Lord has done something in your life that caused you to turn from darkness into the light, so don’t be afraid to testify. It’s your story,so tell it.

All Scripture

 All Scripture 

October 23, 2025

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

In his teaching on The Sword of the Spirit, Derek Prince, who was a tremendous Greek and biblical scholar, pointed out that the meaning of “all” in this passage, when we look deep into the original language, is…. “All”. Every last portion of scripture is inspired by God and useful. From Genesis to Revelation, every scripture has meaning and serves some purpose. Even the so called “minor prophets” are not less important, it is just that they wrote less than the “major prophets”. We all have our favorite verses, but we need to not overlook the rest. I spent some time as a member of a church that styled itself as “a New Testament Church”. This is all well and good, but they tended to not teach much, if any, out of the Old Testament. This is a problem because you need the Old Testament to understand the New. “In the old the new is concealed , and in the new the old is revealed” is how one Bible teacher put it. 

There are some “progressive” preachers today that pick and choose which verses to believe and teach. This leads to error if you allow your preconceived notions to overrule what the whole of scripture teaches. If we are going to use the word of God as a two edged sword of the Spirit, we need to use both edges, old and new, to combat the evil in this age. 

Two Edged Sword

 Two Edged Sword

October 20, 2025

Hebrews 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ableto judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

I don’t know about you, but to me, human nature is a mystery. Why do people do the crazy things that they do? What did they mean when they said that? When you wife says, “Nothing is the matter”, what does she really mean? Yes, human nature is a mystery and the intentions of the heart are hidden for the most part. That is why we need the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is sharper that any two edged sword and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Lord desires to heal the hearts of troubled souls and to bring peace to their innermost man. In order to do this, it is the Spirit of God that can discern their innermost thoughts. If we are going to minister to the wounds of a hurting people, we need the wisdom of the Spirit to know what is going on in their innermost being. Without the Word of God, we are blind and deaf to the real needs of people. So pray for people and meditate on the Word; I think Psalms and Proverbs are particularly helpful in understanding the heart. For example, look at Psalm 10:

Psalms 10:16-18

16 The LORD is King forever and ever;

Nations have perished from His land.

17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

18 To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

The Lord hears the true desires of the heart and comforts the orphan and oppressed spirit. True peace comes from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is the only one that can banish terror from the earth.

So wield the Sword of the Spirit, and let it guide you when you pray for someone who is heart sick and afraid. The Word will reveal exactly what is needed to drive the fear away and bring peace to a hurting soul.