In this final episode of Grit, Grace, & Coffee Grinds I close out with a message to motivate my listeners to employ all they have gained the last three years and encourage them to be salt and light.

Listen up! One soldier who is enlisted, and fully invested in the Army of God, and prayerfully, faithfully, and staunchly protecting their divinely assigned post has the indisputable potential to change the world. Find out how....keep listening

He prays for unity and oneness and 17:11. He prays for protection from evil in John 17:15. Lastly, he prays sanctity and holiness in John 17:17. Harmony is important because it makes the church a positive example to the world and helps draw others to the Lord, it renews and revitalizes his ministry, because there is less tension to sap our energy.  Living in harmony does not mean we will agree on everything; but we must agree on our purpose in life which is to work together for God. Our outward expression of unity will reflect our inward unity of purpose. So, from the outside looking in, would you say that the church is in perfect harmony and unified by a sole purpose? That purpose, of course, being to glorify Jesus with our lives?  Well, if you don’t see much of it, pause for reflection. Since Jesus is praying this for us, it just seems rather negligent on his soldiers part to not remedy the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.  God has a lot to say about unity in the Bible because it’s like super important.

I truly belive God wants us to be honest with ourselves, with him, and in our prayer closet. Every prayer that Jesus prayed is deliberate and intentional. If only every soldier had the confidence and courage to talk to the Father the way Jesus did. Remember, we all share the same father.

We find our next prayer that Jesus prayed in John 12:27. It says, Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ This reminds me of a quote that John piper said in 2012.  "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." When our every motive and desire moves with a fervent zeal to ensure the glory of God in our every day walk, that is what God desires most. Jesus relays to us that his soul was troubled. It was stirred up. It was agitated. It is hard for us to think of Jesus as having a troubled soul or an agitated soul but let’s not forget he was 100% human as well as 100% deity.  He felt all human emotions and all human pain, mental, emotional and physical.  He was tempted in all the ways that we are tempted every day. 

It wasn’t hard to see my destiny laid out in front of me.  It would most likely show itself in the form of a youth pastor‘s wife or an evangelist’s wife traveling the country, encouraging women and teen girls to live their lives every day for the glory of God and to hold the line for Jesus. That’s what I will be doing. I’ll be visiting church after church, being a blessing to my husband and my future children. I would teach women’s Sunday school classes and be asked to speak at women’s conferences and my husband will be asked to preach at Bible camp throughout the summer. I would meet lots of friends and have favorite churches that we went to every year. Looking back at that version of me, it’s a little comical and a little too tidy.  Dreams are not the problem. The problem occurs when we don’t give the dreams to Jesus. The dilemma happens when we don’t hold them loosely enough.

Due to popular vote, we will be kicking off a series today called prayers Jesus prayed. We will be exploring each time Jesus prayed throughout his ministry, the significance of the prayer, and, of course, how we can apply it as we grow in grace and be more effective in the army of God. The prayer of Jesus we are going to dissect today is found in Matthew 11:25 and Luke 10:21. It is said to be His prayer of thanksgiving. 

R.C. Sproul said it best, You dont have to give up your intellect to trust the Bible. You have to give up your pride. Our greatest weapon against the enemy is truth. Only by the truth can we truly see heavens perspective, listen with a humble heart, and actively participate in battle.  We participate by yielding in submission to become a channel of God’s truth, mercy, and justice. Spiritual warfare is all around us.  The fight between good and evil. Spiritual beings are fighting for us or against us; fighting for the souls of men. ‘And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God., Eph 7:17 says. I think it’s a good idea to take the Bible literally as often as possible. After we have put on the armor of God; every single piece of it, and we pick up our shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked - Matrix style- Jesus commands us that we take the sword of the spirit.  And he also tells us what the Sword of the Spirit is. It is the very Word of God. So, in a literal practice, either take your Bible with you wherever you go or put verses to memory so that you can speak the sword of the spirit, the light of truth, into a dark world. Jesus is for protecting ourselves and arming ourselves against attack. He warns us in I Peter of a roaring lion called the Devil seeking who he will devour next. It’s when we’re attacked, foks, not if. 

Faith reveals that God is doing more for his people then we can ever realize through sight alone. When you face difficulties that seem insurmountable, remember that spiritual resources are there even if you can’t see them. Look with eyes of faith and let God show you his resources. If you don’t see God working in your life, the problem may be your spiritual eyesight, not God’s power.

We all long for peace, but sometimes it's hard to find. This podcast episode explores how to bring peace in the most difficult of situations. We dive into the Armour of God, and discuss gospel shoes as a way to walk in peace. Disruptive peace is a powerful tool to help restore relationships, and the world needs peace more than ever. We discuss practical steps to bring peace and resolution in our areas of conflict, so we can create a better world. Listen now and find out how you can bring peace into your life.