The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ephesians 6:13,
"Therefore 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."
I note in this verse that Paul says his readers are to make an effort, expend energy, pursue a direction here in order to accomplish something: spiritual warfare. In that Paul tells us to do it, being the simple man I am, I assume God is not going to do it for me. Not that he won't help me in it, provide the tools, the weapons, for me, and be a collaborator and counselor in it, but that as God does his part, I will have to do my own. He isn't going to do it for me. I do know the outcome for all of us, however. All of us believers will share in the victory through Jesus Christ. Paul says elsewhere, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Because of God's great love for us, we all will share in a successful outcome in this warfare.
I also see in this verse that I need to prepare myself for "when" the day of evil comes, not "if". Spiritual forces are going to come at us, they are relentlessly headed our way. Peter tells his readers, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." 1 Peter 5:8-9. It is not a question of whether we will have evil come our way, but when. I realize there are many churches that teach something different, that when we become God's children he will do it all for us, we won't get sick anymore, we won't have financial troubles, he will save our marriages and insure our children all turn out right. In short, many are told God will prevent evil from coming our way altogether. Sometimes we get confused thinking what is ours only in the resurrection is somehow ours in this life.
What I worship our God for today is that in this hostile environment, living in this lost and fallen world that exists in sin and rebellion against God, in this spiritual combat zone where the devil is a very active adversary with many who would seek our harm simply because we are identified with Jesus Christ, God is with us. He provides all we need in this world. He takes care of us as his very own children, providing us spiritual armor and strength. God does his part and he asks us to do ours as he provides for us.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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