6th Devotional:
Ephesians 6: 11-20 "Put on your full armor of God so that you can take
your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God,
So that when the day of evil comes, you may have be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate
of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith , with which you can extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be
alert and always keep on
praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my
mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the
mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that
I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." What Paul is saying here is that as Christians we must be firm in our
faith, so that when the devil tries to tempt us we won't be tempted.
Also, through prayer we can keep the devil away from us. Are you armed? Do you stand firm in your faith? We as Christians need
to have total faith in the Lord. Then on those days when we are tempted
to do something wrong, we can just turn and walk away from the
situation. Here is an excerpt from a Christian magazine on this subject.
Most winning teams seem to have a balance between the two. Paul
mentioned, in this passage, the armor that all Christians needed to use
in order to be in battle with the enemy, Satan. most of the armor he
pointed out was defensive such as the shield, helmet, and breastplate.
We do spend much of our time defending against the temptations and
attacks of Satan. But we must spend an equal amount of time on the
offensive. One of the greatest offensive weapons we have is prayer. It
can make a tremendous difference in out own lives and in affecting
others' lives. Paul encouraged the Ephesians to pray that he might be able to share
the gospel without fear. There are a few things we can learn about being
an offensive player. We must first understand the needs of those for
whom we are praying. Ask others about their needs and how you can pray
for them. After hearing their needs, we become offensive players in out
praying. So, are you ready? God is calling you to take the offense in
praying for others. Prayer: This week pray that you may be an offensive player and that you
can make an impact on someone's life.
Your friend in Christ,
Brian Greer
Are You Armed?
The team is seated in the locker room before the final game of the
World Series and the coach is talking to them. He repeats the words over
and over, "We need more runs!" The team had done a good job on defense
but they needed to score more runs to strengthen the offense. What is
the key to a successful baseball team? Is it defense or offense?
