2/14/2025
Morning dawned on another cold, dreary, cold day, or at least it felt terribly cold, more so than usual, in spite of the rain and sleet mixtures we have had. I glanced at the furnace thermostat, and it was reading below 60 degrees in the house. At first we wondered "What is happening this time?" but it is after all a very archaic oil furnace, the last of its kind, perhaps. My son fiddled with it, and it would fire up, turn off; then fire up, and turn off. After thinking about it, we checked the oil level and found it wanting. Parker Oil arrived on their valiant steed, and the problem was solved. Normally, we fuel up once a season, but colder than normal weather made the use of it more frequent this year, and the rest is history. Now that I am getting older, we will need to fill up twice a season, as my daddy used to do. I've always been more cold natured, so it seems about right. One more rising price, but the important thing is that this was an easy fix, expensive, but less than a new furnace, so it's fine. I wasn't too concerned with it anyway. What does it help to get all worked up about what we can't control? Isn't that what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount?!
Today's study of Numbers found Moses sending the twelve spies to spy out the land of Canaan, and as the story goes, ten were less than optimistic. Moses sent one leader from each of the twelve tribes to scout it out, checking out the number people and size of cities, if they were well fortified, the surroundings, and the type of harvest the land yielded. They brought a bunch of grapes that were so big and heavy that it required two men to carry it. When the exposition returned, they advised Moses that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, but the cities were large and fortified, the men were strong and descendants of Anak, so they were afraid to go in. Two of the ten spies, Caleb and Joshua, brought a much different report, fully confident with that they could take the land, assuring the others that God would go before them and destroy the enemy, just as He promised. But the other doomsayers convinced the crowd, who cried and complained, and wanted to return to the safety and provision of Egypt. So soon they forgot, again. This led to God's angry, the ten spies death, and 40 years of wandering so the complaining generation would die and not enter the land of promise. This, however, did not end their murmuring and complaining, but God has always been slow to anger and merciful, as my life certainly demonstrates.
It's easy to become discouraged when things seem hopeless, or when it's one crisis after another. Right now in our nation as we are waiting things to become better, there is much fear, grumbling, wagging of tongues without validity, and so on, even, or I should say, especially, among believers of Christ. Why is it so easy to take our focus off of the Author and Finisher of our faith, and listen to the lies and conspiracies of the enemy, who wants only to kill, steal and destroy?! Where is our faith? Where is our trust?
God has provided everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), so our hope, faith, and trust need to be in Him, who only seeks a relationship with us. God will go before us, and He will fight for us, and He will uphold us with His righteous right hand, as scripture repeats over and over. The Word of God is here to remind us of His faithfulness throughout all generations for those who love Him. Daily walking through it, keeps our focus steadfast and encourages us to remain strong. The book of Ephesians teaches us how to be seated in Christ, how to walk in His strength and provision, and how to stand against the enemy.
In the first and second chapters of Ephesians, Paul explains that after Jesus has ascended to heaven, He was seated at the right hand of the Father, where He makes intercession for us. He sends Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Advocate, who also makes intercession for us, to walk beside us, guiding us in all Jesus taught His disciples. Then in the second chapter, Paul explains that spiritually we are seated with Jesus in heaven, making this our seat of victory over our foes. Many people forget this, and I haven't heard many sermons in church about it, so it bears repeating, as I have shared it more than once. So, I'm going to share about the weapons of our warfare that God has provided for us to remain strong, walking in His might.
Ephesians 6:10-20 is Paul, the Apostles, instruction to the church. He begins in verse 10 by saying, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." When Paul says the word, "finally," we need to pay attention. The previous 5 chapters of Ephesians have been explaining our position in Christ, our spiritual walk, and now what our part is in standing strong. Paul continues in verse 11 by saying: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," who is out to steal, kill, and destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). This needs to be done daily, as the battle gets more evil, as we await the soon return of Jesus Christ for His Bride, the church or the remnant. Verse 12 explains, "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." Many people think this is a metaphor, but I assure you, the enemy is very real, and although there are many evil-doing people in this world, the master mind is satan and his cohorts, the fallen angels, now demonic entities, who oppress and possess. So, if you are dealing with sickness, shame, abandonment, neglect, addictions, wrongful living and lifestyles, and a whole heap of other maladies, idols (anything that takes you away from giving Christ first place in your life), or any other "junk" in your lives, then it could be from him. But, the truth is that our flesh gets in the way also, because we want to do things our way, and sin, to many, is fun. Compromise is a way of life for many professing Christians. We think God understands and He does understands our weaknesses, but He's provided a way of escape from temptation that ultimately leads to sin.
Continuing in verse 13, "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." Recently, I was struggling in prayer about a situation in my family, and as I sat up in bed that next morning, I heard the words almost audibly, "Stand!" I got the message. It's important to remember that because we wrestle with spiritual beings, the weapons of our warfare are not physical. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 provides the explanation: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete." Through our prayers, based on the word of the Lord, we are able to engage the enemy and defeat Him through perseverance, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
As I finish up with putting on the whole armor, think about how a soldier protects himself with modern equipment. Paul, naturally, was referring to the Roman soldier, but it is the same meaning today. We cover ourselves (suit up) completely with God providing our rear guard (Isaiah 52:12 and Isaiah 58:8). Remember the cloud by day and the fire by night that accompanied Israel as they journeyed for 40 years? Even when rebellious, God watched over them and protected them. He fights for us (Deuteronomy 1:30). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He watches over the generations of those who love Him and seek Him (Deuteronomy 7:9).
Ephesians 6:14-17: "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth ("Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by Me." John 14:6); having put on the breastplate of righteousness ("God made Him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21); and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace (The Gospel of Peace is the Word of God. "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." Isaiah 52:7. Also see, Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.") Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (This is where I remind the enemy of 2 Corinthians 10:5 about "casting down imaginations and every high things that exalts itself over the knowledge of God, and bringing all thoughts captive into obedience in Christ." The "thoughts" are all the lies the enemy is feeding you with day in and day out, trying to make you give up or give in. So persevere.) And take the helmet of salvation (the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16, whereas we hold the thoughts, purposes and intents of His heart. Also, we fill our mind with good stuff as you can see in Philippians 4:8); and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the sword as being the word of God, and John 1:1, 14 identifies Jesus Christ as the Living Word; Psalm 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path." Psalm 119:11-16 hiding God's word in your heart, and Psalm 19:14 and Proverbs 18:21.)"
I left some scriptures for you to look up for yourselves, and be sure to memorize them for your own defense and understanding. That leaves verses 18-20, beginning with "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints - and for me (Paul includes himself), that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." I call this the "oil of prayer" as the lubricant for the armor, kind of like tin man in the Wizard of Oz. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing and also in Philippians 4:4-7. The oil of anointing is very important, so don't leave your umbrella at home!
So, there you have it, the whole armor of God, our spiritual weapons of warfare every Christian should put on daily in our prayers. There's one more thing. In 1 Peter 3:15 Peter tells us to be ready to give the reason of hope that is within us to anyone who asks. I like to connect this with Colossians 4:2-6 "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ (the good news of the gospel), for which I am also in bonds (chains/jail); that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak (boldness, discernment). Walk in wisdom to those who are without (do not understand), redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." Wise counsel that I wish all men, especially those in public view and leadership should practice more carefully. So should we all.
With that, I will bid the reader "shalom," and ask that you please forgive the length of my discourse, as well as the punctuation.