Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of images and lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman singing … His Strength Is Perfect … poignantly singing of the strength (that of God’s) our Lord will provide to cover our weaknesses.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Ephesians 6:12-13 [NLT] … 12 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. 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.
… Paul describes the strength we can put on to stand against Satan, the world, and our own weakened flesh.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Ephesians 6:10-17 [NLT]… USE THIS LINK …
… When we wear God’s armament, we become stronger to stand against our spiritual enemies.
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Reference Passage : … John 14:21 [NLT] … 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
… When we obey Jesus’ commands (i.e., God’s word), we have His strength to stand against His enemies.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] … 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
… Jesus shows Paul (and us) that He will provide His strength to cover our weakness.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Bill Crowder, used an historical example of courage from the days of WW2. The ODB author writes … Teresa Prekerowa was just a teenager when the Nazis invaded her native Poland at the dawn of World War II. This was in the beginnings of the Holocaust when her Jewish neighbors began to disappear—arrested by the Nazis. So Teresa and other Polish countrymen risked their lives to rescue those neighbors from the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi purge. Teresa would become one of the premier historians of the war and the Holocaust, but it was her courage to stand against the tide of evil that would list her with the Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
I’ve always been drawn to identify with the Apostle Paul’s use of the word picture of Roman armament and swordsmanship in today’s highlight passage; because years ago I learned how to wear God’s full armor (see photo) to do battle against my own spiritual/emotional weaknesses and to utilize His Spirit-imparted strength to cover my weaknesses in doing battle against our spiritual foes, … the Devil, the world, and my (our) flesh.
Really I’m on the front lines of spiritual warfare every day (see my ministry calling using THIS LINK). But actually we’re all in those battles, aren’t we, … required to do battle against our spiritual enemies every moment of every day. And God, thru Paul’s description of his full armor, in Eph. 6:10-17, shows us that we have God’s strength to cover our human weaknesses in our everyday battles. But we’ve got to choose to put on the armament and use His sword of the Spirit to do battle.
I pray today that we’ve all learned [or are learning] to stand in the gap, with courage, and to use God’s strength, as Steven Curtis Chapman sings (linked above) to cover our weaknesses. Because when we do, we can - AND WILL - be victorious.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for providing me (us) with Your armament and giving me Your Spirit-Sword to do battle against Your enemies.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that any of us will wear Your full armor in our daily battles. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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