Five Minute Friday: Sustain

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Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one-word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "sustain."


“Thank you Lord for sustaining me.” That’s been my prayer lately. I have said it many times over the last few weeks. It has been a busy season with new opportunities coming my way. And I know He has been sustaining me.


In the Gospel of John, He said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” We can look at those one of two ways. Apart from Him, you can do nothing, in the sense that you are inadequate, or lacking in some way. Or we can look at it the way of His grace is the best and most powerful thing we need. We wouldn’t want to be without it. He is involved!!


I think both of those scenarios apply, but the second one brings me more comfort. In the New Covenant, which Jesus made with God, through His shed blood, He has given us His Holy Spirit. He is the power of God, and He lives in those who have received Him, who have been born again.


One of the new things I recently got to do was to facilitate a Bible study on the Gospel of John. It was so amazing! The Scriptures that I sat with are still in there. He is sustaining me with His Word. If you have never read through the Gospel of John, just focusing on it intensely, and intently, I highly recommend it. You will see things you have never seen before. It is life changing!


Many blessings to you as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him,

Beth

Psalm 92:12

The Armor of God: The Belt of Truth

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of 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. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.-Ephesians 6:10-18 (Berean Study Bible)



When we put on the armor, we need to be aware that we don’t create it. God did. He gave us the armor with which we fight.

Ephesians 6:10 says to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power."  This is not our strength. We take His power, and I believe that power comes from the verses describing the armor we put on.

We are not fighting a battle that can be seen, but one that is unseen, everyday, all around us. We are not fighting against people, but against forces we cannot see. And the armor of God is not a physical armor that we can see either. It is something that has already been paid for with the blood of Jesus.

The first piece of armor is the belt of truth. What does that piece of armor do? What is truth?

In John 1:17, and John 14:6, Jesus is called the truth. During Jesus' trial, he told Pilate that he had come to testify to the truth.

The Greek word for truth is alétheia.

Strong's Concordance defines truth as "truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness."*

Helps Word Studies says this about truth:

[In ancient Greek culture, 225 (alḗtheia) was synonymous for "reality" as the opposite of illusion, i.e. fact.]*

Jesus is reality. He is the truth.

Let’s look at some scriptures that talk about truth.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.-John 1:17

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.-John 14:6

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.-John 14:16-17

However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.- John 16:13

“You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”-John 18:37

So, Jesus is the truth. He also said that we who are Believers, who are a part of His body, would have the Spirit of truth, which is the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.

The belt of truth we find in Jesus is what holds it all together. It is the first piece of armor in the armor of God. Everything else hangs upon that piece.



*Strong’s Concordance. “225. Alétheia.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm, June 18 2020.


*HELPS Word Studies. “225. Alétheia.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/greek/225.htm, June 18 2020.


*All scripture quotations are from the Berean Study Bible, unless otherwise stated.

The Free Gift of Righteousness

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I once had a pediatrician tell me that a good doctor will make you feel like a good parent. I am now convinced that a good minister will make you feel like the righteousness of God in Christ. You are already forgiven. You still have to believe it and receive it. A good minister will tell you the truth. What is the truth? The truth is not some way to justify hardness towards people. The truth is Jesus.

It's important what you believe about yourself, because you will live out whatever you believe. If you believe you are a sinner, you will act that out, or give up. But if you believe God has made you righteous, that will come to life in you as well.

"For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation."-2 Corinthians 5:19

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."-John 14:6

"And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."-1 Corinthians 6:11

"For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ."-Romans 5:17


"You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you."-John 13:13-15

A Foundation of Grace: Grace in the New Testament Scriptures

There are 157 occurrences for the Greek word "charis" in the New Testament. This word is most often translated "grace," but when looking at scriptures, I also found that it is translated as "favor, credit, thanks, gift" and a few other words. To read more about the definition of the Greek word "charis," please read an earlier post in the series here.

I thought I would share some scriptures with you about grace today, so you could see them side by side. Sometimes when we see scriptures together, it is like a puzzle with many pieces starting to click and form a picture.

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.-Luke 2:40

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.-John 1:16

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.-Acts 4:33

Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.-Acts 14:33

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.-Acts 14:3

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.-Acts 15:11

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.-Acts 20:24

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.-John 1:17

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.-Romans 1:17

being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,-Romans 3:24

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)-Romans 5:17

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,-Romans 5:20

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.-Romans 6:14

But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.-2 Corinthians 8:7

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.-2 Corinthians 8:9

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.-2 Corinthians 13:14

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,-Galatians 1:6

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.-Galatians 2:21

There are so many other scriptures about grace in the New Testament, as well as the Old.  But I think we can see from these how important grace was to the Early Church and how it should be to us as well.

Grace and peace to you...

To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

Revealing the Character of Jesus: He Has Always Been

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.-John 1:1-5 (NKJV)

Every Gospel writer is telling us the story of Jesus.  That is their purpose, to tell us who He was and why He came, and what He did while He was here.  Each one starts at a different place in His story though.

John starts the Gospel story he wrote at the beginning of time.  

In the beginning was the Word…-John 1:1

Jesus is the Word. He has existed since the beginning of time. He has always been present. Everything that was made, came into existence through Him. Everything. Nothing was made without Him.

Later in John chapter 1, John tells us more about the Word of God. He says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.-John 1:14

So, at a time appointed by God, Jesus came in the flesh. He entered this world as a man.That is what "became flesh" means. He became a human being. And for a purpose.