Longing for Simplicity

As with likely many of you, when the hustle and bustle of Christmas is past I look forward to some quiet time to seek the Lord as to what He would have for me in the New Year. This year I was drawn to a book a friend gave me, The Rewards of Simplicity by Pam and Chuck Pierce. It would seem once again I need to learn the rewards of simplicity. I long to continually "simplify" my life. Not just a cutting back on activities and busyness, although that would be good for sure, but rather living in a place of peace, with a mind at peace in the midst of our world that seems to provide all the right ingredients for anything but "simplicity."

I began to read the book. Allow me to quote Pam Pierce....... "simplicity is one of the spiritual disciplines practiced by Christians all over the world. Like prayer, meditation and fasting, simplicity holds an essential place in the life of any sincere believer who is seeking a deeper, more intimate communion with the Father." It would seem that the more I can simplify my life, the greater the opportunity for me to get to that deeper intimate place of communion with my heavenly Father."

Pam Pierce suggests that the first key to a life of simplicity is..........FAITH!!

Without FAITH surely it is impossible to please God.

Faith is a vital piece of the full armor of God we read about in Ephesians 6. I have studied the armor of God many different times over the years and have always been encouraged when I have done so. One book I read that I found very inspiring may bless you. It is Restoring your Shield of Faith by Chuck Pierce and Robert Heidler. Faith is described in Eph. 6:16 as a shield. Chuck Pierce and Robert Heidler explain that the shield Roman soldiers carried in the time of the writing of Ephesians 6 was a large rectangular defense of metal that covered the entire length of a soldier's body. Roman soldiers would line up shoulder to shoulder with their shields held in front of them and move across the battlefield like an armored tank. WOW, what a picture that presents. The Word tells us that the shield could extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemy just like Jesus destroyed the works of the enemy. He took my guilt (Is. 53:6), He took my infirmities (Is. 53:4-5), He took my poverty (2 Cor. 8:9), He became a curse for me (Gal 3:13-14). His protection is activated now when I pick up my shield of FAITH.

Today join me in simplifying your life. Stand on the Word of God and let's activate our Shield of Faith.

Patricia L. Wenzel
Women of Character Graduate

DIGGING DEEPER
Psalm 27:5
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.