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This is our very first nugget, one of a series to follow, submitted by yours truly...Tina. Please pray that God will give inspiration and revelation to all contributors, using them to His glory and for the edifying of every reader.
Nugget #1: Background Passage: Ephesians 6:10-20 Focal Passage: Ephesians 6:10-13
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Paul ends his letter to the church at Ephesus here, instructing the church to be strong (bold, empowered, increased in strength) in the Lord! Our strength is not in ourselves, but in God, in the power (force, strength, dominion) of HIS might (ability, force, strength). It doesn’t matter how strong, muscular, pretty, successful, popular, smart, etc. that we might be when it comes to the warfare we must fight in. We are to totally rely on the power of His might and not our own. We in ourselves have no strength (Job 6:11-12-greatest man on earth, but everything was stripped from him and there was nothing he in himself could do. It was only his perpetual posture in the face of God that brought him out), and that which we think we might have (family, friends, finances, looks, popularity, influence, etc.) will fail us at any time, leaving only God on whom we can rely (Ps 18:32; 22:15; 31:10; 38:10). Ps 71:9 begins with the words, WHEN my strength faileth; it is inevitable that at some point my strength will fail! Is 30:1-3, 49:4-5, 63:6, La 1:14, 3:18, and Dan 10:8, 16-17 show us that our personal strength will fail at the sight of trouble. God IS our strength (Ex 15:2, 2 Sam 22:33, Ps 18:1-2; 19:14; 22:19; 27:1; 28:7; 31:4; 43:2; 59:9, 17; 62:7; 73:26; 118:14; 138:3; 140:7; 144:1; Is 12:2; Jer 16:19) Truly David recognized that his strength was in God! In fact, according to 2 Cor 12:19, God’s strength is perfected in my weakness! That’s because the weaker I am, the more I must yield and rely on the power and moving and direction of God. When I stop trying to do things my way in my own strength, then I give up, and THAT’s when God can have His PERFECT work in me. It’s perfect because my dirty hands aren’t all in it! In Rev 3:7-12, God’s word to the church at Philadelphia is this: I see what you’ve done, and I’ve opened a door for you that no man can shut. Why? Because in yourselves you have little strength, yet you still have kept my way. In fact, I will go as far as to say that it is BECAUSE of their personal weakness that the Philadelphian church relied so heavily on God and followed His commands; they had no choice, they couldn’t do anything on their own! They didn’t deny God….when you have no strength, you WILL follow God’s word. AS a result of their submission to God, He promised the Philadelphian church that those of the church of satan would worship at THEIR feet- he would elevate them above those who had a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof! Simply for submitting to the word of the Lord, they would be kept from the temptation to come…they would be received to God’s bosom before the great Tribulation came to the earth! It is great to know that if we submit to and obey God’s word, we, too, can escape the temptation to come!
So, now that we recognize our own weakness, and inability to be strong on our own, we must know how to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. How do we do it? By putting on His armor. We must recognize that we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood. Your war is not against the sister that talks about you, nor the brother that breaks your heart, nor the woman that cheats you nor the man that lies on you. This is a spiritual war!!!!! We’re fighting against principalities (the first place, principality, rule, magistracy- of angels and demons), powers (the leading and more powerful among created beings superior to man, spiritual potentates), rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places! We’re fighting the cream of the crop in satan’s royal court!He’s pulled out all the stops for you! He’s sent out his Goliath to intimidate and discourage and defeat and devour you! But, recognize that his highest is still under our feet. So, if we’re not fighting a natural battle, we can’t expect to win using natural weapons. 2 Cor 10:14 tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (pertaining to the flesh), but are mighty THROUGH GOD for pulling down those high places the enemy has erected in our lives, those strongholds through which the enemy is fortified that keep us bound and discouraged and defeated. Through God, by using HIS weapons,we can pull them down! Verse 13 is key in that it brings out 2 points: 1) We can’t just pick and choose and decide what part of the armor we want to put on if we expect to win. We must put on the WHOLE armor! We can’t leave anything out; we can’t try to hold on to anything in ourselves, but must submit fully to the Lord if we are to be able to successfully resist the devil (Jas 4:7). Too often we want to yield to God only far enough to where we think we can receive His blessing and covering. But we still want to hold on to “little foxes” in our lives. LET THEM GO! 2) Paul tells us that we can stand once we have the armor on. He didn’t say we would necessarily have to fight. But he said if all else fails, we could stand. We must learn to simply trust and obey the word of God, even when we don’t understand, and when it seems we have no active part in it.. Often times, we don’t have to lift a finger, other than to obey his directions. The fighting is up to Him (2 Chr 20:15)!
So, what is the armor of God that we should use? Ephesians 6: 14-18 gives us a checklist for knowing when we’re fully armored:
...to be continued in our next Bible Nugget....... |
