Take Up and Put On

Take UP and Put On

Luke 9:23
And Jesus said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Ephesians 6:13
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.

Have you ever noticed that the Bible gives us a daily Spiritual exercise to do? We are to take up and put on as one might dress for battle.

If we are to take up in the morning then we are to lay down the night before. Too many of us try to sleep on our cross. It is the last thing we think about before falling to sleep. While we should not sleep on the cross we are to take it up in the morning.

Never run from any cross God gives you to carry. A cross is not an illness or pain but something that is heavy on our hearts. The song writer originally wrote “Must Simon bare the cross alone and all the world go free?” We cannot bare Christ’s cross but we can bare one another’s burdens. So close your eyes and rest tonight you can take it up in the morning.

Put on the armor must mean that we need not walk around all of the time in the armor but we are not to go into battle without it. We could each morning (to face the day) put on each piece of equipment to protect us in battle. Oh, yes, don’t forget the sword in order to do battle.

Isn’t that a good thing to do each morning?

Isn’t that a good thing to do each night? Don’t wait to die before you learn to “Rest In Peace”.

            Now I lay me down to sleep

                        I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep

            When I awake and open my eyes

                        Help me to Take up Put on and win the prize

The Armor of God

 ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:10-17 – Dr. Van is a friend of the ministry of America’s Keswick and is available for pulpit supply

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Numbers 5-6; Psalm 52; Proverbs 25

Compass Pointers: Think like a man of action and act like a man of thought. Henri Bergson

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 8:13; Level 2: Proverbs 8:32-36

Anchored to the Rock: Most Christians expect little from God, ask little and therefore receive little and are content with little. A. W. Pink