Ephesians 6:10-18 “My brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded
your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above
all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end
with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
Continuing Michael’s message
on spiritual warfare, he states that the devil uses the Godless spirit of death
and destruction to subvert, undermine to weaken and destabilize and challenge the
hearts and minds of individuals. In the midst of the spiritual battle, we
must understand that we wrestle not
against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. Our
challenge is, having done all to stand, stand firm. How do we engage the
spiritual battle? How do we take the fight to the enemy? The offensive
weapons are the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God and prayer. When
our confidence is in the Lord, then it is God who works in you to will and to
do of His good pleasure.
Jesus said, that until you
die to yourself, you cannot live for me. If you have nothing to die for
then you have nothing to live for. As the Apostle Paul said, "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For I was crucified with Christ nevertheless
I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live, I live by
faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me.” If God must break
our heart in order that we might be conformed to His holy will, then thank Him
for breaking our hearts. He'll pick up the threads of our broken hearts and
weave them together again. You love others because you first loved God;,
you loved them with Christ's heart behind your heart. We cannot love others
without the love of God. For truly our fellowship is with God our Father, His
son Jesus Christ, and then those we love within the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you
were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God’s.”
A disciple is a disciplined
follower of their Lord. The question is, "Do you want to spend the rest of
your life learning to become just like Jesus? A man of God is God's man. A
woman of God is God's woman. Their identity is in their Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord means owner. It's not who we are but whose we
are. Our bond as a band of brothers and sister is the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He shed His innocent blood for us. Romans 5:6-8 explains to us, “for
when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a
good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He
who was without sin became the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we
may be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And as we fight the good
fight standing in His strength alone, may we ever live to the praise of the
glory of his grace! Stand firm!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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