Good
Morning All,
Ephesians
6:11; “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the
schemes of the devil”.
Do you
remember this one?
Oh, I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry,
shoot the artillery,
I may never fly o’er the enemy.
But I’m in the Lord’s army!
We used to sing that in
Sunday School and loved it. It had the
mandatory actions that you performed for each section. We sang it fairly well; we knew the words,
and, like most kids, we liked the actions.
I do not know if we listened to the words that closely or not, but we
sang them.
The words are absolutely true;
we are in the Lord’s army. Maybe not so
much because of the actions we take but more because of the actions the devil
takes. Often, people like to think that
by being a Christian we are immune to the devil’s assaults. Some like to believe that nothing bad will
happen in our lives because we are Christians.
Sometimes, when a person begins to come to worship and to faith, they
stop soon afterwards because life did not get any easier.
The truth is that your life
may get harder. The attacks by the devil
will actually increase. At first you may
question this but realize that the saints who are in heaven are safe. The devil can never touch them there. Those in the world who are lost or are
unbelievers, the devil already has; he does not need to engage them. That leaves the true believer, you, and me,
as the place where the battle rages; we are the front-line battlefield where
the shelling (or scheming) is fierce.
This is why Paul tells us to
put on the whole armor of God. You are
in the battle zone; you are the target.
The devil will taunt you and attempt to beguile you with his lies. So, we must be ready to go into battle each
day. This is where our daily repentance
as we remember the blessings of our Baptism fit in. This is where our daily devotional and prayer
life come in. This is putting on the
armor in order to do battle with the devil.
Without God’s armor, we are
helpless. Without God’s protection, we
will fall early and easily. Yet God has
promised to guard and protect us. God
has promised to give us the tools and the strength to withstand the devil’s
onslaught. We only need to trust in
God’s Word and hold fast to his promise.
Through this, we will ultimately be victorious. It is by God’s grace and his benevolence that
we will always come out the victor.
Gracious Father, we stand up
to the devil because of your mercy and grace.
Guard us by your holy hand and strengthen us as the devil attacks. Be with those who are especially vulnerable
and in tremendous need of your protection.
Hide them in the shadow of your wings.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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