Be ready, be on guard, stand firm in the faith

Ready...

My son is a Royal Ranger, "an activity-based, small-group church ministry for boys and young men in grades K-12 with a mission to evangelize, equip and empower the next generation of Christlike men and lifelong servant leaders" (taken straight from their website, and found by experience to be very true).  "Royal Ranger ready for anything" is the motto of the Royal Rangers ministry, which means being prepared to "work, play, serve, worship, live, and obey God's Word", ready.  Somehow, in their discipling, they accomplish this, and I say that as I have seen the boys who latch on, really grow in these ways, becoming more responsive with respect, reflecting a readiness to grow in all aspects of life—spiritually, mentally, socially, and physically—and to follow God's direction. 
I share that, because I am very impressed with how Royal Rangers has impacted my son, and infiltrated our family.  As a parent, you know it's better to be ready, then reactive, better to be prepared and teach before you release your kids to do something, better to know the rules before you start the game.  What they teach and practice is nothing new, but so important for all of us as disciples of Christ to grasp:

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. >– Ephesians 5:15-16
  • Ready for anything: The core meaning is about being prepared for any situation or challenge. They learn lots of life skills, all in a biblical context. Every day we must choose how to engage and react in a way that reflects our faith in Christ.  In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul encourages us as believers to be ready.  If we study the analogy he presents of each of the pieces of preparedness, the full armor of God, we will be able to navigate any situation in a way that brings Him Glory and protects us from slipping.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. >– Matthew 24:42
  • Ready to work, play, serve, worship, live: This covers a wide range of life activities, showing that readiness is not limited to a single context, or only dealing with offense.  Instead, our lives are not about us: we are ready in every aspect of our life because every aspect of our life can be a sacrifice to Christ of worship.  Jesus lays out a prayer for us in this context, commonly known as the Lord's prayer.  Father let your kingdom come, your will be done, as we recognize you in every area of our life.  (Matthew 6:9-13)
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. >– Ephesians 2:10
  • Ready to obey God's Word: This emphasizes the spiritual foundation of the motto, linking readiness to a commitment to faith in action.  Royal Rangers are ready to boldly follow God wherever He leads.  We too can make that commitment, and daily submit. "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 
We must realize that Satan's first attacking ground is the family.  He starts with the marriage, separating us and creating doubt as He did with Adam and Eve, then creating conflict, competition and jealousy within our children as He did with Cain and Able.  We must always be ready, realizing the battles we see before us are spiritual, and must be fought in the spirit realm.  We must know how to identify the devil's schemes, and engage in the power of prayer.  If it's not of God, doesn't reflect His character, then we need to call on Him for intervention.  If it is of God, and does reflect His character, we give Him Glory for it, praising Him for the blessings.

Satan may think he had victory in separating your adopted child's family, and that yours is next.  Beware!  Be ready!  Stand firm, and allow him no room!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. >– 1 Corinthians 16:13

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings >– 1 Peter 5:8-9


Alignment Leads to Assignment

When your time, talents, and treasure are aligned under God’s will, your life gains direction. You stop wondering, “What’s next?” and start walking in clarity.

God blesses alignment because alignment leads to assignment—and assignment brings purpose.

When you invest in what He values—people, generosity, faithfulness—He invests back into you.

Reflection & Prayer

Reflection Questions:

  1. Which area—time, talent, or treasure—feels hardest for you to surrender to God right now?

  2. How could your family use its unique gifts to serve others together?

  3. What does it look like to invest your “everyday” life in eternal things?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for trusting us with time, talents, and treasure. Help us to be faithful stewards of what You’ve placed in our hands. Show us how to use our gifts to serve others and bring You glory. Align our priorities with Your purposes so that everything we do multiplies Your Kingdom. We dedicate our work, our home, and our hearts to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Joy awaits

Image
 The most amazing thing happened yesterday.  WOW!  And yet, it is not the most amazing thing, it is purely another, another, another act of God.  He is so good.  We must believe He is who He says He is and venture into relationship with Him to truly know.  Relationship means communicating, trusting, taking what looks like risky steps to do what He says to do, go where He says to go.  There is no loss greater than the blessing of walking with Him.  I'm not saying there will be no loss, but that the blessings as we steadfastly walk with Him will come.   I'm going to divert a little from the book that I've been working on to address this thing... the dark valleys and the mountain tops.  Some would say I just hit a mountain top, so of course I'm praising.  I have learned that I must continue to praise believing for the mountains.  This reminds me of my reading of Hind's Feet- I highly recommend this to anyone.  It is an a...
Read more

Recognizing my need for Aaliyah

Image
In Hebrew,  "Aaliyah" "Aaliyah" is transliterated as "אלין" (Aliyyah). It translates to "ascent," "rising," or "going up." This word is used to describe the process of immigrating to Israel, where Jews return to their ancestral homeland. It can also refer to the calling of a member to the Torah reading during synagogue services. my understanding, and the reason I named my daughter "Aliya", is that an Aaliyah is a journey...an intentional journey to meet God. This afternoon I read "the Be-Happy Attitudes" by Robert Schuller, chapter 2.   What is my need? What have I still not laid down before him?   My Wife-ing- I'm reading "Help Mate" by Debbi Pearl. I've been trying to change my husband into what I thought a man was supposed to be. My mothering- each of my kids is unique, and fostering and now adoption has been a roller coaster- is it because I'm trying to "maintain contr...
Read more

Using your talents, sharing testimony

Image
  Talents: Using What’s in Your Hands God placed unique skills, passions, and experiences within you for a reason. None of them are wasted—not your career background, your creative interests, or even your struggles.  I hope you can take some time to think about your journey, and thank God for even the hard times that brought you here.  And I hope that you can see how He's redeemed those hard times.   I'll take this opportunity to share my story.  It is multi-faceted, and there are so many areas that I can now look back and say, "God was working there," or, "He is now using that to bless and encourage others, but I'll take just the area of preparing me to be a foster and adoptive mom: I was in middle school and grinding through some difficult geometry homework in my bedroom when I heard my parents raising their voices, the dogs begin to bark in excitement, and accusations get slung back and forth.  Another fight!  I grabbed my younger brother and s...
Read more