"Is Your Courtyard Safe?"

You may be thinking,"But I don't have a courtyard!"

The courtyard is a place that is specifically built and prepared for entertaining special guests and a place where privacy can be maintained while relaxing in the company of those friends and family. In ancient times the courtyard was guarded well when in use because it was a time when those present were not on alert and watching for an attack by the enemy or someone who wanted to do mischief. It was in the courtyard that games were played and the laughing and music was frequently heard. People would share secrets and humor without any inhibition as they were gathered among friends who they trusted. Then there was something else that the courtyard was well known for, as it was privately located within the walls of the yard and secluded from the view of neighbors. The courtyard has been a place where people bathed and where the owners of the residence felt safe to lavish their true love with affection and romance. I'm sure you recall this scenario played out in the movies of the past and how the first kiss was stolen or the proposal was made; where else but in the courtyard. I also remember scenes from movies where there would be a party and someone would slip away from their date to the courtyard. It usually was to meet another man or woman.
Our first response may have been, "How could he?" or "What were they thinking?". It is true that they had broken the trust of their date but they couldn't seem to control themselves when they got into the privacy of the courtyard.

It just makes sense that this place is called the "courtyard". It provided a safe place for people to court each other in the privacy of their own residence. As I think about the courtyard, I also think about a passage I read once in Luke that referred to protecting the courtyard. Let's take a look at this passage,

Luke 11:21-22
21 When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace:
22 But when a stronger man than he attacks him, and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armour that he trusted in, and divides whatever he takes from him.

In this passage, the word palace in the Greek actually means a yard (open to the wind); implying a mansion:-court. It is clear that a courtyard would be the more modern way of describing this word palace used in verse twenty-one. This passage was where Jesus was actually talking to the disciples and those who were gathered was written to warn us all of the vulnerability of our courtyard. The courtyard is open to the elements, yet contains enough privacy to disclose the secrets of the palace! Isn't that how our imaginations work? We are always being told to open our minds to new ideas and new beliefs in today's society. Be careful! Be on guard against the deceit of the world that comes to steal and destroy. If satan can get you tripped up and away from the Word of God, he will take your armor and whatever means the most to you and will divide them among his people. In verse twenty-two where it says a strong man armed, the Greek for the word armed is "fully equipped with armor". How will we be fully equipped with armor that protects our courtyard; our mind and our imagination?

How does anyone know if something is right, wrong, safe or dangerous? It is through knowledge and that is received through either experience or by understanding what we have been taught.

This even holds true for the rodeo clown that makes everyone laugh! I have heard that this job is one of the most dangerous jobs there is on earth! Yet it is by their knowledge and understanding that they are able to survive each show!

How will you and I survive when the world comes in through the recesses of our minds; slipping in through the imagination of our minds; taking us by surprise with a memory of a time when we lived for the flesh and we loved the things of this world? What will we do to be prepared? We can prepare first by covering our heads with the helmet of "belief" in Christ. Secondly by putting on the breastplate of righteousness that protects our hearts and vital organs. This plate only protects us when we receive it in humility from our leader, Jesus Christ. Thirdly we need the truth fastened to our belt as we move forward into action and just as important as the rest of the armor; we must wrap our feet with the gospel of peace. With the gospel of peace we cannot go where the flesh would take us. Our fleshly imaginations and revenge would lead us to ruin or defeat in our battles against satan. We need to always be aware of our steps.

There is the shield of faith that keeps us free of doubt. With this shield, our minds will not be overcome by doubt that we will receive what our Lord has promised us! The Word says that this is the most important piece of our armor in Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:16-17 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

This armor would protect us from the attacks, but we are not able to defeat the attacker without a weapon! How will we ever stop the enemy from trying to defeat us if all we have is armor? That is why we are told in the last part of verse seventeen that we are to take the sword of the Spirit and then it even tells us where to find this sword. The Spirit is of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we will find this sword in the word of God.

Have you ever been under attack without a weapon?

I remember when I was a young man at a camp retreat and I had heard that some of the boys were going to sneak up on me and my friend Tommy on the way back to the cabins after the evening gathering. So Tommy and I got the idea of going back through the field where everyone had eaten watermelons earlier. Why did we do that? Well, we needed a weapon of some type to fight off these guys when they jumped on us and that was all Tommy and I could think of to use for a weapon! We had gathered about twenty pieces of watermelon rhine all together and we hid in the woods outside of our cabins. When the guys began to look for us, we yelled so they would come into the woods and since it was dark they couldn't see us.

Well, needless to say, we really let them have it with those watermelon rhines and they were totally caught off guard! The thing we hadn't thought about, was what would happen when our weapons were gone and we were highly outnumbered. The next thing we knew, we were surrounded by those guys and they all had watermelon rhines too! Boy did we learn our lesson that night! We were not afraid and we fought our hardest but without a weapon, we lost the fight!

I can promise you this my friend! The Spirit of our Lord will never run low on protection when we keep the word of God in our hearts and our minds. Jesus said to guard your courtyard (stay in the Word) and all that you have(your mind and body) will be at peace.

That's a promise!

Contact Rob Bailes by email at: robbailesministries@yahoo.com or call (919)745-1210