TUESDAY July 16th
Ephesians 6:10
‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Now, I am going to be playing around with a word in these verses to make a point, we know the word ‘finally’ used here is included because it is the last words or final words of encouragement that Paul wants to write in this letter to the Ephesian church. He wasn’t suggesting that finally or as a last straw they put on the armour of God. I want to encourage us to ensure that the word finally will never be written about us because we may have struggled through our Christian Walk, maybe for many years and finally the penny has dropped, we had failed to put on the armour of God. In other words, rather than a final measure, let’s make it a priority. Before we do anything for the Lord, to put on the armour of God.
Now there is an obvious link here in our verse for today and the motto verse I gave to us for 2024, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’, Zechariah 4:6. Our might and our strength should come a) by the Spirit of God, b) by God’s power, c) and by standing in the resources he has given us, which here is the armour.
If we try to live our Christian lives on earth in our own strength or might, with our own natural abilities, we may get through, but it would be struggle after struggle after struggle. Notice I said we may get through, but the reality is that we would probably fall as soon as the going gets tough.
In a recent prayer meeting, we were reminded of a lady who having come to faith in the Lord had to be so careful with who she spoke to for fear of reprisal, without all the details, her husband also came to faith, and one day he went missing, and the news eventually filtered through that he had been tortured and killed for his faith. It is a very clear reminder to you and I who can openly practice our faith in the UK of the many dangers that so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing in other nations of the world, O how much they need the armour of God (and our prayers). But let us not become complacent in the UK, our Christian heritage and our Christian values are no longer wanted, which means that without any shadow of doubt we need to ensure that we are being strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We need to put on the armour of God, Paul says later that having done so that we stand, and I am going to elaborate a little, having put on the armour of God, do not under any circumstances take it off again. We need it and we are going to need it. Be dressed and ready for action. Going back to a part of a verse that we looked at recently from Ephesians 3:16 ‘. . .that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. . .’