Fitted For Battle, Dressed For The Wedding

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the Christian Car Guy radio show.

I say this calls for action and now. Fitted for battle, dressed for the wedding. Today on the Christian Car Guy show, I got to tell you there's some amazing stuff that has to do with the full armor of God, the wedding supper, the lamb. And you'll find it interestingly in David's battle with Goliath and what happened before that.

And we're going to talk about that as how have you proved your armor, right? You may remember that in the story of King David, he was there with Saul when he was telling him he could take on Goliath. And he had the whole heart and he had a king sized heart, but he didn't fit that king sized armor. But in a way, his king sized armor was bigger than Saul's, right? And when you think about it, he had everything he needed.

His armor fit him perfectly. But he proved it and he said, I can't wear this stuff to King Saul because I haven't proved it. And so it would appear that when we are getting dressed for the wedding to the lamb, that God is continually weaving our armor that it fits us perfectly. And when you've proved it, you know, it's interesting when you read the whole armor in Ephesians 6, and we'll do that in a minute, that it comes together in all prayer. I don't know if you've ever seen that, my friend James Banks who does encouraging prayer with me.

And so, you know, when you get in alignment with God, you've got all that armor, you're standing against the, you know, the schemes of powers and high places. Then all of a sudden, all prayer just comes through. And when it's proved to you, it's almost shocking to me, like, oh, it worked.

Of course it worked. I imagine David was a little surprised. You know, when David, when Goliath fell over, like, oh, it worked.

You know, I don't know, but we'll find out when we see instant replay. But this is the Jesus' labor of love Saturday. And talk about a place where God has armored us up at the Christian Car Guys show where we've had a chance to prove his armor. Time and time and time again, I have my good friend Scott Barton with me. And that's exactly what God does every single time somebody calls us, right, Scott?

Absolutely. And it comes together in all prayer with the Jesus' labor of love, doesn't it? Prayer is essential and one of the joys. We have Lily Ritchie, and she's one of the recipients of the Jesus' labor love calling in for us today.

Lily, you're on the Christian Car Guys show. Good morning. Good morning. How are you today? I am really excited to hear your story.

I've not heard it. Good morning, Lily. Good morning, Scott.

How are you? I am blessed. Thank you for calling in. Yes, sir. So tell us your interaction with the Jesus' labor of love. What happened? Well, I am in a wheelchair, and I have an 08 Toyota van.

It's been wonderful. But the seals are out of it, and it has many problems. It needs tires. It's like me. It's broke down. I understand.

I could buy it before because I worked two full-time jobs my whole life, but I had to retire because my body started breaking down, and it's been hard. But because of that, I have to have a van that has the automatic door that opens because I have to sit down and then pull my – it's a transport chair. It collapses, and then I can lift it in there.

It weighs 26 pounds. And it's been hard, but God has given me the strength. I want to say that because I want to give God glory for everything in my life. He's been good to me many, many years. But I helped raise my grandchildren.

I was a single mom my whole life. And now that they're gone, they have their own lives. And I'm just – I have a broke-down 1977 log cabin, and I have a broke-down car and a broke-down body, but God. Right.

And that takes a lot. It gives me hope every day that I know him. But I heard about your radio station that I could possibly get this one fixed.

I don't know. I'm just not what I used to be. So I still love the Lord with all of my heart. And with his grace and mercy, I will until I leave here.

But I was just wanting to ask for mercy to possibly get a vehicle. I can't stand missing church, but I do live in the rural area. And it takes me about 25 minutes to get to my church. And the church functions. I go to a real small country church.

And some of them are just like me. Yeah, I understand. I'm the pastor of a real small country church.

So I get that completely. And I love my little country church. I love all my sisters. I love my brothers, too. Me and my sisters, we have a close connection.

We meet sometimes once a week, sometimes once every other week. And it gives me strength. It gives me strength.

And as my car breaks down, I get there less and less. So, Scott, what am I understanding is we need to get a van? Absolutely. So she's been on the list for quite some time.

It's been over six months, hasn't it? I believe right at it, yes. So it sounds like we need God to put it on somebody's heart that has a van with electric doors. And most of them, most of the Chrysler ones in later model years have electric doors.

Or in some of the Hondas and Toyotas, they all do. And so if you know of somebody, or you know that, obviously, even if you're not... Where are you located, Lily? I live in Kentucky. All right.

So even if you're not in Kentucky, all right, if you happen to be somewhere here in North Carolina or South Carolina or Virginia, we have friends in very high places. And so, you know, you've figured out, we'll figure it out somehow. Wherever that may be, we're so grateful for your courage, Lily, to call in and share that today. And I think this would be a great time to use that armor of ours and pray. Let's do.

Let's do that. Lord, thank you for Lily. And I thank you for the joy that I hear down deep of the way you've met her needs over the years, both in housing and with this wonderful church that she has, which meets such a huge need in our lives. I thank you for the van that she has.

I pray that you'd keep it running until you can provide something new or something new-er as you provide. Lord, I pray that you would ignite something for her, whether it's on somebody's heart that has a van or somebody that knows somebody that has a van or whatever that may be in this broadcast today, Lord, that you would meet this need and that we would see, once again, how you work through these things. It amazes us always, but, Lord, we know you love Lily. We know you love the situation, and you're going to work through it in your time and your way. And we thank you for your will, and we look forward to it. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Robby, Lily had a question about listening to this show live. It's not aired in her market. Is she able to do the podcast? So do you have internet access, Lily? Yes.

Okay. How do I do that? Okay, the Truth Radio Network is where we're broadcasting from. So there's a Truth Network app, or there's a Truth Network website. If you're using a desktop, you can just go to the Truth Network website. If you have a phone, you can get the Truth Network. Yeah, I just have a phone.

Yeah, the phone will have, you can get a Truth Network app, either Apple or Android. And on that app, once you have it, it looks like a little globe, the Truth Network does our logo. And once you have that, it streams on your phone live 24-7.

So you can hear all the programming. Of course, Christian Car Guy's show comes on every Saturday at 10. And so what you do is just simply, you know, since we're on all the Truth Network stations, you just, at 10 o'clock, you just tune into whichever station you want.

We were here in Winston-Salem. And you go to that one, and you can stream it live any time it plays. Okay, thank you.

And all our other programming. So thank you so much for calling in, Lily. Thank you for your call. Thank you, guys. I appreciate you so much.

God bless you, and we've got so much more. Bid it for battle, dress for wedding. Fitted for battle, dressed for the wedding today on the Christian Car Guy show.

You know, when have you proved your armor as we get into that here in a minute? This is Jesus' Labor of Love Saturday. I've got my friend Scott Barton, and you know, we just had Lily on from Kentucky. And we are also on four different radio stations in the wonderful state of Kentucky. And I want to mention those, because those people in Kentucky, we're certainly grateful for all of them, and we're very, very, very grateful the radio stations that carry us. So we're on in Cannonsburg, Kentucky on AM 1080. We're on in Lexington, Kentucky on FM 91.1, WJMM. We are on AM 900 in Louisville, WFIA. That's a great radio station. We've been on there for years. We are on FM 104 in Monticello, Kentucky, WXYR.

And by the way, in Cannonsburg, it's WONS. And so we're so grateful for all the radio stations that carry this show, that help us out with the Jesus' Labor of Love. And again, we're grateful for, you know, the listeners and the applicants, and it all comes together. So I'm going to read this Ephesians 6 and maybe look at it in a way you haven't perhaps before, or I sure have enjoyed looking at it this week. It says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God. Now, you're going to interestingly, he says put on, and in a minute he's going to say take it up.

So you get two opportunities to make it happen. So put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of this dark age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, here comes the second one, take up the whole armor of God.

So you put it on, and then you take it up. It's kind of interesting that you'll be able to withstand, and again, there's the word stand again in the evil day, all to stand. And so there's the word stand again, and then it says stand therefore. You get the picture that if you stand, and I don't know if you've ever heard this, but the theory is, and you would know this kind of thing, Scott, because you love wildlife, that if a bear comes after you, if you turn and run, you're essentially in deep trouble. But if you stand, and as erect as you possibly can, pause up, they see a different thing.

But I certainly have seen it many times with dogs or wolves, that if you run, however, if you turn and stand, it's just a different world. And so stand therefore, girded with your waist with truth. And so truth is coming at you throughout the armor of God, which is the word of God, no matter how you look at it. And the belt that you're supposed to have around your waist, you're girded up, it's interesting, the person that wore that belt that's very famous is Elijah. And this was a belt of skin. And all that speaks back to the idea of truth.

And so many different ways. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, there's a sermon in every one of these. But above all, taking the shield of faith, which you'll be able to quench all the firing darts of the wicked one, and take up the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

So it's interesting, you take all these things, and you're taking, and you're putting them on, but then you're taking them up. And when you think about David in that famous scene where he's talking to Saul, and he's putting on this helmet that don't fit, and this, you know, big coat of mail that don't fit, and all this stuff, and David's like, I haven't proved this armor. That word that David used, or that God used in describing through Samuel what this armor was, that word in Hebrew, I think this is marvelous to think about, that word in Hebrew is the same word that God said the Levites were supposed to put on fine linen. And so those garments that were seamless, by the way, that were fine linen, that were not unlike the one that Jesus had removed from him right before he was crucified, that same fine linen garment is the word that is used in Samuel for this armor, which is, by the way, just a two-letter Hebrew word, which is a mem and a dalet. And it's an amazing concept when you think about it that this linen is kind of woven for you. And so with some help, I put together this sort of poem slash saying that just think about, and this is a great devotional.

It's at my website if you want to see it. It's called Fitted for Battle, but Dressed for a Wedding. It says, Oh Lord, clothe me not first for battle, but for covenant. Let me put on the garment you measured for me before you taught my hands to war. Before a sword, you wore a robe. This linen, this stitched with mercy and truth, fits my frame, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit's hand. It is my wedding garment, woven from the waters of the word, threaded through with faith, fastened with love, fringed with fire. I lift it now, not as heavy armor, weighed by fear, but as a mantle of belonging.

I take it up, not to earn my place, but to remember my name. Before the stones fly, before the giants fall, before the trumpet sounds, I stand clothed, I stand loved, I stand ready. The fiercest battle I fight today is not to slay an enemy, but to remain clothed in the beauty you gave me when you called me yours. I am dressed, I am guarded, I am yours. Isn't that awesome? It is. I just, and there's a picture too, by the way, at my website that is a picture of this, that underneath our armor are these wedding clothes, are these fine linen garments, that of the priesthood, right?

And it's a beautiful thing, it's an amazingly beautiful thing, that he gives us the dignity of both the priesthood, but of being able to do battle against such a significant enemy, much bigger than the giant that David faced, if you faced this one with cancer or you faced it with heartbreak, you know what I'm talking about. So how have you proved yours? 866-348-7884, 86634 truths. We'll be right back. Excellent metaphor. I love that. You know, I'd like to highlight it more, but the darkness that surrounds me shows the shadow of your wings. In other words, he's got you. And it's fascinating, Scott and I were talking about it.

The end of Ephesians 6, it's the last part of Ephesians. I mean, here's this unbelievable letter. I mean, unbelievable.

I mean, it's just a masterpiece like all the books for. And here he comes, and he's going to give you such a place of rest here. And the idea of that armor is, I may feel like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. He completely covers you, especially in your faith.

As you believe it, there's a place of rest there that's unbelievable. He's won the thing, and through prayer, and that all prayer. I hear a lot of people say, well, the only piece of offensive armor is the sword of the Spirit. Well, wrong. I hate to disagree with you, but all prayer is like, that's where I, you know, apart from him, we can do what, Scott?

Nothing. And so that sword of the Spirit is wielded wonderfully in prayer. I think the most vital part of armor is the Word. And then prayer is number two.

And then the physical actual armor. Well, the challenge of what you just said, and I don't mean to argue with you. I'm just going to challenge you, okay? There's a lot of people, in fact, Satan knows the Word amazingly. That's true. But if it's not connected to God, in other words, if you're not in prayer, you're studying it for whatever reason, it can be the tree of knowledge, okay? That's right.

Or it can be, right, the tree of life. And nobody loves the Word of God. I mean, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. But I love it in prayer. In other words, when I'm connected to him and studying with him and through him. In other words, he doesn't want me to do that for him.

He wants me to do it with him. And so I'm not going to say prayer is over the Word. I'm going to say it's got to be a combination, almost like the oneness of God, right? And I heard this beautifully this week, and I had never heard it before, on the Trinity, that it's not unlike a flame, that when you see a flame, you have heat and light and flame, all three aspects of a flame, a fire, right? You've got heat, light, and a flame.

And they're distinguishable between the three of them, but they're inseparable. And so it's kind of like, I think the armor is to be combined to create this, I'm surrounded by you, right? That you've got this. So anyway, we want to highlight, of course, that this is the Jesus Labor Love Week. And if you're calling in to share something that Jesus Labor Love has got going on in your life, either a need or a need that's been met, we would love to hear from you.

Call us at 866-348-7884. Or if you've got a way that you have felt, God proved his armor. Like David, you know, he'd killed a bear, and he'd killed a lion with his sling and his staff. And I bet he was bad with that staff.

I mean, you can imagine. And so he had proved that armor. The verse in 2 Kings, excuse me, what am I saying? It's in Samuel, and it says, David girded his sword upon his armor, and he is said to go, but he had not proved it. And David said to Saul, I can't go with these, for I have not proved them. And David took them off. And when you try to put on somebody else's stuff, which, by the way, unfortunately, we do that all too often. Or I know I do, in the way of posing to be somebody I'm not.

But, you know, you got stuff you go to because you've got faith in it. It wasn't comfortable. I mean, the sling was what he knew. Right? And it was a king-sized weapon. Yeah, heavy. A lot more powerful than that sword of Saul's, right?

Absolutely. In the hands of David. And that staff was more powerful than that, you know, chest of mail or whatever you want to call it, in the hands of David, with that big old heart that he had, which, again, shows you that that idea of the covenant that he had with God, of the understanding and the faith that he had in God, right? In order to step onto that field that day, the faith was way exceeded that of his brothers, or Saul, or anybody else standing there. Interestingly, this giant had all sorts of faith, too. But it was in his own strength. And, you know, I'm sure you've had that happen to you, you know, where you thought you had this, you were certainly big enough to take it on, and oh my gosh, you know, you came down like Goliath, and it cut your head off. Arrogance.

Yeah, absolutely. 866-348-7884. When have you had a chance to prove that armor? So what have you been working on this week that you've seen God at work in the Jesus labor love? It has been probably the busiest start of the year.

The last four months have been incredibly busy, and although we get most of our callers and most of our applicants have been from North Carolina, we've been getting some from Utah and New Mexico and Kentucky, all kinds of places. There was a lady that I was hoping she would call in today that is having some health issues, and that's really been on my heart the last few days. So I was hoping she'd call in.

I didn't want to reveal her identity without her permission to say too much. And she's still working and everything, and now her car. So tell me about her car. What kind of car?

I'm thinking it's a little Nissan. What's the problem with it, I guess? Does she want another car or she wanted to get this one fixed? Well, this one's still fixable, and she's worried about her insurance, her job, her health, and it's just all hitting her at once. She's up against it.

And so do you know what's wrong with it? Have we got it lined up to get somewhere? Not presently. She was going to call in today, and we were going to pray with her about some stuff, but I plan on talking to her in the next couple days. Yeah, well, you can continue that prayer. Obviously, we would love to support her in any way we possibly can as far as getting the car fixed. Again, this is the Jesus Labor Love. It's car repair labor for single moms, widows, and families in crisis. If you go to christiancarguy.com, it's all one word, christiancarguy.com, you're going to see there on the side panel, right, donate if you've got a car or you want to donate, but also it's apply for assistance is number one on the list because it takes humility, which is a wonderful aspect, a way to get closer to God is to humble ourselves. And so if you need help or you know somebody that needs help, we're just simply the middlemen of God provides us with the applicants, but he also provides us with the needs to meet the needs of the applicants, and of course that requires just people being aware of the Christian Car Guys, Jesus Labor Love Ministry, which is all there.

It's a 501c3. It's absolutely tax deductible whether you donate a car or money or whatever the situation may be, but we also have the prayer needs that go on constantly, and we're excited to help in every situation that we possibly can. And it's been amazing, like you say, how busy it has been this year, but it's been just as busy on the donation side, and it seems like every time, it is. It's amazing to me. I just watch it and I go, it's amazing, God, that all of a sudden we have this big tick up in needs, and then all of a sudden there's a big tick up in donations and in prayers, and again, we've seen some miraculous stuff. How about cars we fixed lately?

Well, it's been a banner the last couple months. We recently had a really, really nice Toyota that was donated, and it's a local lady, and she actually has, I'm going to say six or seven kids, but most of them are grown, and she actually works at a local ministry, and I'm not sure exactly the name of it, and I was hoping she would call in today. We had another lady that works two jobs, and she received a Buick back in March, and then we have another car that's in the shop right now, and hopefully we'll be able to donate it this week.

Right, that's plus all the different cars we fixed, which we'll find out about those. Looks like we may have a caller, and we would love to hear from you. 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. We'll be right back.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. This is how I fight my problems. Fitted for battle, dressed for the wedding today on the Christian Car Guys show.

When did you prove your armor? Like you had a situation that you came up against, and like, oh, my goodness, God helped you through that, and you went, oh, wow, this shield of faith really comes in pretty handy, or maybe it was the feet fitted with the gospel piece, whatever that may be. How wonderful we are. This is the Jesus Labor Love Weekend, and so I have Scott Barton here with the Jesus Labor Love.

Car repair, labor for single moms, widows, and families in crisis. Again, that's at christiancarguy.com, and during the break, we had a caller call in wanting to know about the poem that I read earlier. It, too, is at christiancarguy.com. So when you look at christiancarguy.com, my post for this week will always come up first, and that's where that poem is.

It's got a picture of a soldier that's dressed for a battle, but he's got wedding clothes on, so that's where the poem is. But then if you look over to the left, you'll see apply for assistance or donate a car and all that stuff. That's all there at christiancarguy.com. We've got Vicki is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Vicki, you're on the Christian Car Guy show. Good morning. Good morning, Vicki. Good morning.

Good morning. Thanks for having me. Oh, we're so grateful. I understand that that white Camry, that you were the recipient of that car.

I am, and it's such a beautiful car. I'm just in awe of what that has done, and I'm so grateful for it. Yeah, and I also understand, Vicki, you have a lot of friends at Pinedale Christian Church here in Winston-Salem that they connected us to you, and they have been just like, you have delighted them, and they have delighted you. I guess your kids are a big part of their lives at this point in time, right? They are, yes, they are. They have kind of like took us under their wing and have been guiding us, and it's just been an amazing experience. It's cool to see God to the rescue, isn't it?

Yeah, most definitely. So I'm very curious. Scott says you are in a ministry as well.

I am. I actually work at a ministry. It's called City Lights Ministry, and I actually help mom with new babies, not with cars, but I help them with baby materials and baby items, and also prayer, of course, and resources in the community. That is so cool. You know, we were talking about it, that God fits your armor for you, right? My wife happens to be absolutely amazing with babies too.

That happens to be how hers fits. I happen to be the Christian car guy, so he gave me car armor. What can I say? So God bless you. Vicki, I appreciate you calling in so much today, and what God's doing in your life.

Have an amazing weekend, okay? God bless. Thank you. Thank you for all you do in the community.

Yeah. Bye-bye. Thank you all. Thank you.

Bye. God bless you. And then we have John is in Massachusetts, so I'm very interested. John, you're on the Christian car guy show. Good morning.

Good morning. I want to bless you with this. Years ago, I was in Christian radio in the Boston market, and I'm actually trying to acquire a Boston radio station, another one of those handling the deal, you know, and bringing these things together. But I'm actually in the middle, with a front end to the middle of a divorce. My wife's been married three times.

Sorry to hear that. This is my first, but I am really, really, I'm asking for prayer, but I'm also going along with a podcast I recently listened to a part of about, you know, God, the song there with Jesus, Take the Wheel. He's been, you know, back in 85, I was an engineer, a radio engineer, about seven stations, and under a lot of pressure, and yet I was seeking the Lord, and I saw a great guy, Ernie, a contractor with three trunk legs that could move. You know, he was like Noah.

Each leg was a parting of the Seamaker and great guy, but drank a lot of beer. And I saw him searching, and I was searching one of the Bible studies, and he was transformed like overnight. And I prayed back in 85. I said, Lord, I've seen what you did in Ernie's life.

I've been looking for you, and I just ask that you come into my life and make yourself real. And that next morning, I knew the prayer was heard that night. That next morning, the sun rose, and I can't remember what time of year it was.

It wasn't winter, I think it was early spring. And I felt the warmth. I had my hands like, you know, in a coffin.

You see people, they're lying there in their hands, all the time, and they're at rest, you know, and kind of like three days in the tomb. I had been three days on a binge doing some cocaine because that was, back in the 80s, a very available thing in the broadcast scene, television and radio, and I was out of guts then for sure. Because that was my end of the road thing.

In fact, I had a transmitter building working late at night doing some testing. I had done some, and I thought, oh, my God, I'm going to die now. I'm by myself, you know, and that was like the warning sign. And I was like, Lord, please, and he carried me. And then that led me to that night where I prayed. The next morning, I heard his small, still sweet voice say to me, I love you.

And I knew, I knew he was real, and I still know he's real. But now I'm praying for my marriage. I've got folks that are demon-possessed that are influencing my wife. My wife has demons because of things going on in her back of unforgiveness background. And, you know, her pastor is kind of like a double-minded guy, kind of a Napoleon complex guy, you know, a lot of ego, a lot of knowledge.

Know the word. But initially he says, you know, you have nothing left. The marriage is ending in divorce. I said, John, you don't even know us. He didn't marry us. And when he finally dug into it and realized I was telling him the truth, he said, you don't live with us.

You don't have any rights. So she rescinded the divorce order, and now she turned it back on because of a thing that is totally misunderstood. She had the keys to the house.

I didn't lock her out. The sheriff said, you know, man, you're going to lose everything. Now we're getting into some criminal attorneys.

I mean, this is getting to be the fragment deal. What is her – John, what's her name? Elizabeth with an S. Elizabeth?

Yeah, Elizabeth and Peter are like, you know, the two folks there or maybe it's that. I feel like – and she can't have children. And she's 70. I'm 66. And I feel like, you know, I'm a car guy.

I mean, we can talk shop about stuff that I do and NASCAR nuts and some motorsport. Because I'm running kind of short on time, I'm going to pray with you real quick if that's okay. Absolutely. Please.

Please. So, Lord, thank you. Thank you so much for John. I thank you for that testimony.

Like, oh my goodness. You come to the rescue in so many different ways, and you meet us where we are, sometimes in radio stations, sometimes in car dealerships. Lord, we pray that you would meet Elizabeth where she is. Lord, her heart is, I'm sure, hurting, and I certainly know John's is.

And, Lord, we know that you hate divorce. And we know that Satan is in the midst of this. And so we asked – we call your angels, Lord, to protect John's wedding, to protect his marriage, that you would continue to intercede for them, and that you would bring something that would be glorious, another testimony that we can hear, and help them both to have more of you.

Lord, if you're in the middle of that marriage, it's going to work. And so I pray that they both will take up their cross, die to themselves, and find that place in you. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, John.

I hate we got to go. Thank you for sharing, John. Wendy, if you'll hang on for us, we'll take you in Kingdom Pursuits here in a minute. And for those that are listening to the next show, we'll be on that one. But thank you all today for listening. And think about, you know, how God fitted you for battle. And remember, slow down. Jesus walked everywhere he went and got it all done in 33 years. Thank you for listening to The Christian Car Guy, ChristianCargi.com.