Tag: armor of God

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Ephesians Devotionals

Put all of your armor on

armor of God
David Padfield/FreeBibleimages.org

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil…

For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. (Ephesians 6:11, 13)

“The full armor.”

Those are the words God impressed on me this morning.

Put on the full armor. Take up the full armor. Not just part of it. All of it.

Satan schemes against us and uses different strategies to get at us, not just one. And if we don’t put on the full armor every day, we’re vulnerable.

Rephrasing Paul’s words, if you don’t put on the full armor, you can’t stand against the devil’s schemes.

If you don’t take up the full armor, you won’t be able to resist, you won’t be able to take your stand.

So put on truth. The truth of God’s word. Make it foundation of your thinking. Let truthfulness also mark your speech. And put away the masks. Don’t be two-faced, one person at church, another person outside the church.

Put righteousness over your heart. Deal rightly with the people around with you. And when Satan accuses you for your failings, put on Christ’s righteousness which is ours by faith in him.

Put on the gospel of grace on your feet, so that you don’t slip into constant self-condemnation, nor legalism, nor willful sin.

Take up the shield of faith. But don’t just stand alone. Stand together with other Christians.

Make fellowship with them a priority so that your shield becomes part of a mighty turtle shell that protects not only you, but the Christians around you from Satan’s attack.

Receive the helmet of salvation. Welcome it with thanksgiving, knowing that you received it freely by God’s grace.

And swing the sword of God’s word whenever the enemy comes against you with his lies.

How about you? Are you putting it all on every day? Or are you leaving some of it on the floor?

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Isaiah Devotionals

Our hope in a darkened world

darkened world

As I read Isaiah’s words, it reminded me of how little this world has changed.

Just looking at the news this week, I see all the violence and bloodshed, all the injustice that’s in this world.

We live in a world where truth has stumbled in the public square, where people have rejected God’s truth and are trying to create their own.

But again, these are not new problems. Isaiah was talking about this kind of thing thousands of years ago. And sometimes it’s easy to feel like Isaiah.

We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night. (Isaiah 59:9)

But I love Isaiah’s words in verses 15-16.

The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and he was offended.

He saw that there was no man—
he was amazed that there was no one interceding;
so his own arm brought salvation,
and his own righteousness supported him. (15-16)

Of course, Isaiah is talking about Jesus. And by going to the cross, he paid the price for our sin which had separated us from God, and brought us salvation.

But more, we see in this passage that Jesus will come again and he will bring justice. And this world will be made whole. (17-20)

That’s our hope.

So as we face this darkened world, let us put on the armor of God, his helmet of salvation and his breastplate of righteousness, guarding our hearts and minds from discouragement and any spiritual attack Satan would bring against us.

And let’s go out wearing the shoes of the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), bringing the hope of our salvation to those around us who are without hope.

As Isaiah said,

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)

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Ephesians

The armor we fight in

Ephesians

I said yesterday that we do not fight our battles with human weapons, whether it’s literal ones, political ones, or weapons of mere human rhetoric.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is room for the latter two. We do need to make our voices heard in the political realm, and part of that means using human rhetoric to communicate.

Paul himself did that, dealing with the politicians and philosophers of his day.

But if we are expecting to successfully fight this spiritual war through human weapons alone, we are doomed to failure.

If we are to truly take our stand as we face attack, we need to have God’s armor on us. What is that armor?

Paul starts with the belt of truth. (Ephesians 6:14a)

Truth should mark our speech. Truth should mark our lives. And when lies are being spread all around us, the lies of Satan and the lies of men, we are to counter it with the truth of God.

When hypocrisy and compromise is all around us, we should be known for our integrity. See Daniel and his friends for multiple examples of this. (Daniel 1-6)

Righteousness should be protecting our hearts. (Ephesians 6:14b)

Our hearts are stained and weakened when we sin. But when we are under attack and accused of wrongdoing, we should never give in to compromise.

Daniel and his friends were often accused of wrongdoing, but they never compromised their faith.

We should also never give in to thoughts of revenge against those who attack us. As Peter said,

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. (1 Peter 4:19)

Our feet should be fitted with the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)

Wherever we go, we should rest in God’s peace, knowing that whatever happens to us, our salvation is assured.

And we should take that gospel with us and share it with everyone we meet that they too may have peace with God.

We are to take up the shield of faith, so that when Satan assails us with his fiery darts of doubt, our faith may extinguish them (Ephesians 6:16).

Doubts can especially creep up in times of trouble and persecution. We start to question God, “Are you really here? Why are you letting this happen to us?”

But we are to rest in the confidence that God is in control, and that our faith in him will not go unrewarded.

We are to take up the helmet of salvation to protect our minds from the evil thoughts that rise up within us or that the enemy tries to plant within us. (Ephesians 6:17a)

Each day, we are to be renewed in our thinking by the Spirit of God within us, allowing him to transform us from the inside out.

And finally, we are to take up the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, the sole weapon we are equipped with. (Ephesians 6:17b)

When Jesus was in the desert under attack from Satan, each time he countered Satan’s lies with God’s word.

It is the Word of God that shows us what truth is.

It is the Word of God that transforms our minds and our lives through the power of the Spirit.

And it is the Word of God that penetrates people’s hearts that they may see the light of the gospel.

So it’s absolutely vital that we know his Word. Do you?

And are you putting on the rest of the armor of God daily? Or are you leaving yourself wide open to spiritual attack?

Are you ready to take your stand in this present darkness we live in?

Categories
Jeremiah

Running out of steam

Jeremiah

Nobody ever said following the Lord would be easy. (At least I never have). And the life of a prophet is much tougher.

Jeremiah found that out when he learned that the people of his own hometown of Anathoth were plotting to kill him.

But despite God’s reassurance that their time of judgment was coming near, Jeremiah complained to God saying,

You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice:

Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.

Yet you know me, O Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you. (Jeremiah 12:1–3)

In other words, “Why are these evil people around me prospering? Look at me! I’m doing my best to follow you, and see what it’s getting me? Everyone hates me and they even want to kill me!”

One might think that God would give him a consoling pat on the shoulder and say, “Oh don’t worry Jeremiah. It’ll all be okay.”

But instead, God gives him a word of rebuke. A slap in the face, so to speak.

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5)

In short, “You’re tired already? This is only the beginning. Things are about to get much tougher. If you’re wilting now, how are you going to stand when the pressure really comes.”

God never promised us that the Christian life would be easy. And he warned Jeremiah, “Don’t even trust the members of your family, because they will betray you behind your back, while speaking pleasantly to your face.”

What am I saying? That we should be paranoid of everyone around us? Of course not. But on the other hand, don’t be surprised if you suffer for the sake of Christ.

Jesus himself said,

Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. (John 15:20)

Jeremiah was running out of steam because of the opposition he was facing.

And essentially God was telling him, “Welcome to the big leagues. This is but a taste of what it means to follow me. And if you’re going to not just survive but thrive, you need to get a lot stronger.”

How do we get stronger? Know what you’re facing and prepare. Know that there are forces around us that are out to get us, and I’m not talking about the people that make trouble for us in our lives.

Paul wrote,

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. (Ephesians 6:12)

How do we prepare in this spiritual fight? Paul tells us,

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:10–11)

In other words, don’t rely on your own strength to fight. If you rely on your own strength, like Jeremiah, you will start to falter.

Root yourself in your relationship with God. That’s what Jesus did daily, spending much time in prayer with the Father, drawing his strength for the day from him.

Honestly, that’s something I need to do more of.

But not only that, put on the armor of God. Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of faith, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Too many Christians run around naked and in their own strength, not even knowing there’s an enemy out there. That’s a good way to get killed.

How about you? Are you rooted in your relationship with God? Are you daily putting on his armor?

If not, you’ll find yourself running out of steam very quickly, and getting shot down by the enemy.

Let us not be that way. Rather, as Paul said, let us,

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. (Ephesians 6:13)