Keep your clothes on

Very seldom do I give titles to the sermons that I preach, but I feel that it's something that I'm going to start doing because it seems to give character to what I've studied and to what the Lord is telling me. This past Sunday morning I preached a message titled "Keep your guard up and don't take off your clothes!" The Lord prompted me to preach from the book of Nehemiah chapters 2 & 4 and I derived the title from the very last scripture in chapter 4, vs 23 "Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water."

As Nehemiah was called from the position of serving the king as his cupbearer into the position of leading a charge to rebuild the ruins of Judah, he gathered around him a few choice men to help him survey the wall and it's gates to see how much of it succumbed to the devastation. The Spirit spoke to me and told me that in these days He is gathering men and women together to take a survey of the Spiritual condition of His people in our congregations around the world. There are many people that have been destroyed by the many schemes of the enemy in their lives that they seem helpless and hopeless because of the weakness that surpasses their faith. Their spiritual lives are in ruin because of a false foundation in their walk with Christ. They've tried to make it on their own and tried to live by the coattail of the preacher or their mamma and that just isn't gonna work anymore! I've heard for years that God is raising a generation that will not stand by and let the enemy win. I believe it's time that we start gathering around us Godly people that are not afraid to tell the devil where to go!

God used Nehemiah to win the trust and passion back for God that the people had fallen out of because of the ruin, hurt, misguiding and difficulty in their lives. Nehemiah gathered the people of God and was able to show them they could build the walls of Judah back, but in the building process there was going to be a fight. He told them they had to hold their building tools in one hand and in the other hand they had to have their fighting tools ready to sever the head of the enemy. In the process there had to be a mindset that they couldn't drop their guard or take off their clothes. The bible gives us some Spiritual armor to put on in our battle with the enemy that we must not ever take off no matter what the circumstance. Ephesians 6: 10-18, "Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take 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 dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert..."
We must never take off our Spiritual clothes and never let our guard down. Be blessed today is my prayer!