Be Strong in the Strength of His Might Today

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

 “I do not cease [to pray] for the eyes of your hearts to be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of your calling and what is the wealth of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:16-18).   “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)

 Hey Gang:  As you traverse through the day, do you look for those wonderful object lessons that God provides for us?  Several days ago I was cutting and splitting some wood in preparation for the coming fuzzy-white-stuff season.  There were several types of wood in the pile, some easy and some more difficult.   I had forgotten about an old elm tree that came down in a recent storm; it was hard as flint.

   I learned very rapidly that if I tried to go at the strength of those pieces, the eight-horse splitter did not have the power to penetrate and split the log.  But, if I studied the piece and looked for the fault line in the log and zeroed in on that weakness, I was able to split the log and. Once it was split, the rest of the splitting process became much easier. 

  Throughout the day, each time I ran into a piece of that tough elm tree, God reminded me of Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10:  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might".   I have mentioned, in morning messages before, that I am a very weird person for I love to cut the grass.  I get great joy in getting on that noisy machine and making a ‘skillion’ revolutions around the yard.  Why? Because I can sing at the top of my lungs and no one can hear me. I have found that singing brings joy to my heart.  Nehemiah tells me, "The joy of the Lord is my Strength".  

 Paul continued, in his letter to the Ephesians, giving us the formula for living a life of victory and joy. First, and foremost, "put on the full armor or God".  Why?  "So that you can "stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  Matthew tell us that when our house is built on the sand, we are like the foolish builder whose house could not stand against the storms. 

  Paul does not leave it there.  He always states the principle he is trying to teach us and then hangs the ‘whys and wherefores’ on the knobs that follow:  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  (Eph. 6:11-17). 

  Do you agree with me that we are in an evil age when everything that can be shaken is being shaken?   Paul closes his teaching on the importance of having every piece of the armor of God in place with this challenge "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, so stand firm" (vs, 18) 

  An old salt country preacher, after reading these words, "Stand firm having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the veil one and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God' (Eph. 6:14-17) said, when all the parts are in place, Satan cannot tell you from Jesus Himself!  

 Sooooo, time for me to close this and for you to do a quick inventory - make sure you have all the pieces of the armor in place.  Why don't you drop what you are doing for a moment or two and join me in prayer.  Your eternal life may depend on it.

 Blessings, 

Gramps