Strengthening Your Core

The Armor of God

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to 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. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," (Ephesians 6:10-18)

As some are falling away from the New Year’s plans to exercise more, I am reminded how important it is to strengthen your core. Before Christmas, I hurt my lower back and had to lay flat for a few days. The doctor’s advice, after the healing, was to strengthen my core to prevent further injuries. My back has been tested and has proven to be strong because I heeded my doctor’s advice.

I have recently been studying “The Armor of God” with Priscilla Shirer and studying the Belt of Truth. She compares that to strengthening our core. If my foundation is based on the truth of God’s word it will be strong and not be shaken. If I am studying His Word, I will know when Satan is trying to deceive me. All other pieces of the armor are tied to the Belt of Truth, so I need to make sure that it is solid. As with my core, strengthening the Belt of Truth takes daily commitment to be in His Word, not just when I feel like it or have time for it. I need to make that a priority in my day. I know with my back, I can quickly feel it if I haven’t been doing my exercises. In that same way, I start stumbling when I am not diligent in His Word.

My back has been a great reminder at how important the Belt of Truth is when I am putting on the full Armor of God.

PRAISE:

• Lincoln High School Students had their Easter Outreach with inflatables, food, a huge Easter egg hunt, the gospel and snow! Despite the weather, it was a great event and good turnout.

• Student leaders at Lincoln High School have been having success in getting to know new people and inviting them to the weekly outreaches.

• The Whittier Nepali girls soccer team had a good time reuniting with former staff over the break at our office and were very interested in listening to the story of Easter through the Resurrection Egg Story method.

Prayer requests:

• Please keep praying for more volunteers as we still have lots of opportunities with the students in all the schools across Sioux Falls. We have our next Volunteer Training Night on April 4, 2016.

• Continue to pray for preparations for the ithinkbig school assemblies coming to Sioux Falls in April (from California) and for open doors for them in Sioux City and the reservations. If you or someone/a group you know would like to prepare/donate food for 15 people, we in need of meals for lunch and dinner for the team for the week of April 17-22.

• Continue to pray for the Annual Celebration Dinner and all the details that go into it. Pray that God is glorified and that students’ testimonies will have a big impact on those attending, even spurring on more student leaders, volunteers, and new donors.

• Continue to lift up baby Emsley and the Schmaus family. Emsley has been progressing well in the NICU.

#JeriAbraham