John 29:7-10 (NKJV):Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV): Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
I write this while I am on missions in Mexico. Many of you know that recently we adopted a teen boy’s home that is ran by a ministry here called Rescue Ministries of Mexico. They are one of several ministries that provides refuge to unwanted or abused children as well as a men’s rehab and an elderly home.
The teen home allows teen boys to get off the streets for as long as they want. There are up to 7000 teens that are in the streets in Juarez that are subject to sex trafficking, business espionage and even drug trafficking.
Even though I have come down on and off for the last 17 years with 2 other ministries, this is my second trip to visit with this ministry. I always see something different and learn more about the struggles they deal with in Juarez and other places in Mexico. This is probably one of the reasons why I feel the need to do what I can here.
When I visited the last time, August of 2017, I saw a lot of the destruction caused by the cartel. We were not exposed to a lot of the carnage with the other ministries, because they did not travel the areas we did. It was sad to see the destruction and to hear how these homes, which once used to be beautiful, were destroyed because families were run off and theives came in and took everything including windows, doors, wiring, etc. It is evident that Spiritual Warfare is rampant here.
When we came down last time, we meet the couple that over saw the teen home. They seemed to have things in order and the teens respected them. However, something happened in their personal lives that caused them to have to leave.
I know this sounds like a ministry report to some but, I write all of this for this reason, it should stand as a reminder that we need to stand guard in our lives, family, work, ministry. We need to remember that we deal with a spiritual battle. Although we may think the problems we deal with are right in front of us and are on a physical nature, that in reality, there are Spiritual forces behind them.
Jesus talked about the theif that seeks to kill, steal and destroy. He was telling us not to be complacent in our walks. We need to be aware that there are things that will distract us from what we are supposed to be doing. It can even affect our walks with The Lord.
Paul exhorts is to put on The Armor of God. This reminder from him tells us that we need to be focused on Our Lord to carry us through our daily walks. The best way to do this is through prayer, study/reading The Word, fellowship, service, but most of all having faith/trust in Our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us Strength, Courage, and Direction.
Do you know Him? If you do, are you focused on growing with Him? If you are, are you following His Lead no matter where it goes?
It starts with Our Relationship with Jesus. If you don’t have a Relationship with Him or you need to rekindle that Relationship, do it now. Call out to Him and seek his Love and Forgiveness. It really is as hard or easy as you make it.
We should look to Him daily to seek a relationship with Him. I want to encourage you to seek Him today, if you haven’t already. If you need help, have questions or need direction in this regard, please, feel free to let me know.
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Any scripture referenced here is taken from New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted
