Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

TUESDAY August 6^th

 

Ephesians 6:19-20

‘. . . and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.’

 

I looked at these verses briefly, recently, Paul is a prisoner for the gospel, and he needs to have a daily dose of boldness! And don’t we all? I do, and I want us to just take the first four words ‘and also for me’. Paul is asking that the church pray for him.

 

We should never be afraid to ask the local church to pray for ourselves as individuals, we are a body of believers that have been joined together as family who congregate together for the purpose of fellowship. And we are a praying church, we meet every Wednesday at 7pm (although for the month of August we are joining prayer with ministry on a Friday evening) and as we pray, we do pray for one another. But can I encourage you to never be afraid to say those four words regarding prayer, ‘and also for me’. It isn’t always necessary to have to give the details of a need, God knows, but to ask for prayer is a step of faith that says that we believe in the power of prayer and that prayer works.

 

Of course, we must underscore our requests by accepting that we need also to pray that the answer will always be that which is according to his will. Prayer is not an action that can be likened to making a wish, and trusting it will be granted, God is not a genie with a bottle, he is the Almighty omniscient God who knows exactly what we need and will always answer accordingly to that need and accordingly to that which is his will for us.

 

I love the words of this hymn that is found in the Redemption Hymnal, it is taken from a poem that has fourteen verses! I looked it up in my old hymnal and discovered that I had underlined this verse as a youngster

 

I worship thee, sweet will of God!

And all thy ways adore;

And every day I live, I seem (I long)

To love thee more and more.

 

But the verse from the hymn / poem which is by F. W. Faber that I had recalled is this one

 

Ill that he blesses is our good,

And unblessed good is ill;

And all is right that seems most wrong.

If it be his sweet will.

 

When we align our hearts to the will of God, as and when we pray, we will always leave the answer in his hands, understanding that he is the one who has made us, therefore we trust that he is doing that which will in the final analysis bring the greatest glory to himself.

 

Whatever your cares, anxieties, worries, struggles etc. leave it at the throne of grace, hand it over to the safest hands of all, the hands of God. I add a couple more of the verses to close.

 

I have no cares, O blessed will!

For all my cares are thine:

I live in triumph, Lord! for thou

Hast made thy triumphs mine.

 

He always wins who sides with God,

To him no chance is lost;

God’s will is sweetest to him, when

It triumphs at his cost.

 

The day will arrive when all will be revealed, when we stand in his eternal presence, we will understand fully what we cannot fully understand now. Just trust God.

MONDAY August ^5th

 

Ephesians 6:18

‘. . .praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.’

 

If we wanted to make a list of the various themes that crop up in this letter of Paul to the Ephesian church, we would most definitely have the theme of prayer, for as we have covered in the devotions recently, he wanted them to know that he prayed for them and what he had prayed for them. As we come to the closing verses, we see that prayer is the theme again. He uses the words prayer, praying and supplication.

 

He has told them that he prays for them, he tells them that they need to pray for themselves, and he asks that they in turn would pray for him.

 

As we have gone through the various items or aspects of the armour, it is very clear that Paul would say that there is very little point in us putting the armour on, if at the same time we are not going to be a people of prayer. The two must go together.

 

He also says in the following verse, that we are to keep alert with all perseverance. We need as believers to be prayerful and watchful; we always need to be in such a spiritual condition that we can be sensitive to what is going on all around us in the spiritual battle. Ready to react, ready to respond, ready to fight the good fight of the faith, whether it requires an offensive or a defensive response.

 

Sometimes, we will need to defend, and therefore we must speak up and speak out. Sometimes we will just need to stand firm and in our own strength we will fail, but as we pray at all times in the Spirit while at the same time being clothed in the armour, we will be able to persevere against every onslaught that will come against us from ‘the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’, Ephesians 6:11–12.

 

It is a very real battle, and again I remind us that it is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’, Zechariah 4:6.

FRIDAY August 2^nd

 

Ephesians 6:17

‘. . . and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. . .’

 

We come to the final item listed in this incredible armour that God has given us to wear, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

In Hebrews 4:12 we read ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’

 

The sword of the word of God is sharper than any other weapon, now we could picture ourselves as holding the word of God in our hands (something that is increasingly becoming an uncommon sight now, in the age of modern technology, when many just use an app on their phone) but we could also picture ourselves speaking out through our mouths the word of God. (Perhaps I could add in here, how much better it would look if we all still brought physical bibles with us to the house of God).

 

In Luke 4 we see Jesus yielding the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, and he didn’t have a scroll  under his arm which he had to suddenly open and find what he wanted to read, he spoke it out verbally, you will recall the occasion, we call it the time when he was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. On three occasions Jesus quoted the Old Testament scripture, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone”’; ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’; ‘It is said “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”’.

 

And in the wilderness the devil was no match for the two-edged sword!

 

Incidentally, the next time we see Jesus quoting the word of God he did so by reading from a scroll, a physical copy, it is found in the same chapter.

 

We have a powerful weapon at our disposal, the word of God. It is living and it is powerful. We need to read it, mediate upon it, believe it and speak it out.

 

In Jeremiah 23:29 we read ‘Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’

 

When the enemy comes up against you, give him a good hammering with the word of God, send him packing with his pants on fire.

 

I will end with a quote from Charles Spurgeon ‘The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and it will defend itself.’

THURSDAY August 1^st

 

Ephesians 6:17

‘. . .and take the helmet of salvation.’

 

The next item on our checklist is the helmet of salvation. The first thought that came to me is this, we have the breastplate to protect the heart and the helmet to protect the mind.

 

The helmet of salvation also appears in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 along with the breastplate ‘But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.’

 

We are to do all that we can with the provision or help of God to protect our minds. Someone as once said that the mind is the devil’s playground. If he can get into our minds (as well as into our hearts) he can cause all kinds of trouble, but we have been saved and because of salvation we receive many benefits, of which one is the peace of God which passes all understanding.

 

In the final week that Jesus spent with his disciples, he said to them ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.’ (John 14:27) This peace that calms the heart will also steady our minds. In Philippians 4:7 Paul reminds us ‘And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’ Even in the Old Testament, God promised the nation of Israel his supernatural peace, how much more we who have come by faith into a living and powerful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We can call God our heavenly Father and he would say to us ‘You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.’ (Isaiah 26:3)

 

We need to put the helmet of salvation on and keep it on, so that as we face the many difficulties, sorrows, traumas, troubles and conflicts that will beset us, we will experience the peace of God, peace that is only available to those who through salvation have come to confidently trust him.

 

Why could a man such as H. G. Spafford write the words of the hymn ‘When peace like a river attendeth my way . . . it is well, with my soul’, after having lost a son aged four from Scarlett fever and then a few years later losing his four daughters in a shipping accident in the Atlantic Ocean. It could only be possible because he had learned to put on the helmet of salvation, allowing him to know the undeniable peace of God during his painful circumstances.

 

I do not know what each one who reads these devotions (or listens to) is going through at this moment, but one thing is sure that we also can know the incredible peace that comes through having a confident trust in our heavenly Father and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Today Jesus would say to each one of us ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you’. Remember that one of his names is ’The Prince of Peace’!

WEDNESDAY July 31^st

 

Ephesians 6:16

‘In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.’

 

We come today to the next item, and Paul uses the words ‘In all circumstances’, which obviously means ‘all’, that is in absolutely, every circumstance or situation with which we find ourselves, make sure you have taken up the shield of faith.

 

We are saved by faith, we live by faith, we walk by faith, and it is by faith we see the hand of God in and over every circumstance in our lives. Even when the way seems dark, or we cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel, it is by faith we put our hand into God’s hand and trust him to make a way or to take us through.

 

We need to always exercise faith, and in the picture we have here of the whole or the full armour of God it is portrayed as the shield of faith. When the enemy fires something at us, we lift the shield of faith to protect ourselves, it is a declaration that we have absolute full and confident trust in God. In 1 John 5:4 we read ‘For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.’

 

In a previous devotion I quoted the words from Psalm 91:4 (KJV) ‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.’ Why is truth represented as a shield here yet as faith in the armour? Well, can I suggest when we come to understand the trustworthiness of God, that he himself is true and his word is truth, we will have the faith required to believe that he will be faithful towards us through every battle that we face. So, our faith is based and built upon his truthfulness.

 

Now what is a buckler as we see here in Psalm 91 (KJV) alongside the word shield? Well, it is another form of shield, and in the Old Testament, it is represented by the faith, trust and the courage that individuals had in God to be with them to protect them. It was a symbol of power and of strength. In 2 Samuel 22:31(KJV) we read ‘As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.’

 

This is another opportunity to remind us that in our own strength and with our own ability we would fail miserably, but as we lift the shield of faith, we are boldly declaring that our faith and trust is in the Lord God. (Does it not remind you of David when he faced Goliath). It is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD of hosts’.

TUESDAY July 30^th

 

 Ephesians 6:15

‘. . . as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace’

 

Back in Exodus 12:11 when the children of Israel were about to partake of the first Passover, this is what God said to them ‘In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand.’

 

Notice the need to have the belt fastened and sandals on their feet. They needed to be ready to get going as soon as the instruction was given for the exodus from Egypt to begin. The belt tightened and the shoes on the feet would enable them to act with speed.

 

In our text we are to have as shoes for our feet, the readiness of the gospel. The KJV makes for easier reading or understanding it says, ‘And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’ As we have the armour on, one of the ways and perhaps the most important ways in which we can battle against the forces of darkness is by our willingness to speak out, to preach, to declare the good news of the gospel of Jesus. For as we do so, and souls are saved, we will have plundered the kingdom of darkness and played our part in bringing them into the Kingdom of light, the Kingdom of God.

 

There is an obvious verse in the book of Romans, which Paul himself had taken from Isaiah, which says ‘And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”’ (Romans 10:15 cited from Isaiah 52:7)

 

I wonder how often we look down at someone’s feet to observe what they are wearing, maybe trainers, brogues, high heel, crocs, slip on, tied up with laces, we could go on, if at home maybe slippers or in the garden, boots, wellies. But I wonder which we would say we feel most comfortable in, what do we prefer to wear. But more importantly how often have we (using the KJV) shod our feet with the gospel of peace. For we can be so keen to ensure we have the best the shop can offer be it a shoe or a trainer etc. and give little thought to being shod with the gospel of peace. My shoes etc. will all be left behind when I am gone, but the good news is as we are shod with the gospel of peace, as we share the good news of the gospel, those we bring to faith in Christ will be there in eternity with us. May God help us to be well shod, and to ensure that we keep our lives unspotted so that as we share the gospel, those we share it with will be able to see the evidence of the change it has made in our lives so they too will want to know Jesus.

 

Going back to the account from Exodus, as the children of Israel would have to be ready to get going with speed, so we need to be ready to go with speed to share the gospel, to warn others more importantly as the day of Christs return nears.

 

MONDAY July 29^th

 

We ended the devotions last week by considering the first two items that make up the armour of God, the belt and the breastplate, together they represented truth and righteousness.

 

For today’s devotion I want us to consider the two together, and we will read some scriptures that will remind us again of their importance in relation to what we are as the children of God.

 

The first is from John 17, ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.’ These are some of the words of the prayer that Jesus made concerning those who would believe on him, and he asks that we would be sanctified, which means be made holy, and it would come about not only by our being washed or cleansed in his precious blood, but by continuing to be made holy through his word, which is truth. We can look at it this way, we have been made holy and righteous at salvation, but as we continue our daily walk, we need to daily apply the word of truth to enable us to continue to live holy lives, to live righteously in this ungodly world. Truth and righteousness working together, we could say they go hand in hand.

 

Now in light of the request that Jesus made in his prayer, Jesus prayed it because he knew that God’s word is truth, and we also need to fully accept it as being true and in the Old Testament we have these words, found in Proverbs 30:5 ‘Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him’, and in Psalm 119:142 ‘Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.’

 

See the link again with truth and righteousness, highlighting how important they are in our lives. To adhere to and to live by truth and to desire to live righteously in the ungodly world in which we live. When we do there is this real sense of protection, refuge, security that is available to all those who love God, love truth and love righteousness. In Proverbs 21:21 we read ‘Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour.’

 

What we spend our time pursuing impacts what we are as God’s children, again from Proverbs, this time 15:9 ‘The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.’ One more scripture, this time from the KJV, for the modern translations replace the word truth with faithfulness, ‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.’ Psalm 91:4.

FRIDAY July 26^th

 

Ephesians 6:14

‘. . . and having put on the breastplate of righteousness’

 

The breastplate would have protected the soldier’s chest from the arrows, spears or anything else that was used to attack the soldier, and along with truth we need to have the breastplate of righteousness to help protect us from all that is unrighteous and unholy in this world today.

 

When it comes to righteousness, first, we know that Christ Jesus has become our righteousness, for in and of ourselves we could never be righteous. 1 Corinthians 1:30 ‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’ Christ has made his righteousness available to us as we come to accept him by faith as our Saviour and Lord. We sing in the song, ‘He is all my righteousness, I stand complete in him’. This is what is called imputed righteousness.

 

But secondly, and in the context of the armour, we need to live in such a way that the righteousness of Christ is reflected in our lives. We should desire to live righteously; it speaks of our desiring to live and display to those around us lives that are holy and pure. We won’t reach sinless perfection in this life, because we are still living in a fallen world, but as we desire to be holy, just as God is holy, it is symbolic of our putting on the breast plate of righteousness, we seek to live in such a way that the finger of accusation cannot be pointed at us.

 

If the finger of accusation was pointed at us, and the accusation was correct, especially in areas of morality or integrity then it would be like a spear, or an arrow penetrating our Christian testimony, it would be marred. That is why we should desire to live holy and separate lives so that we can be found to be pure and holy, not only for when Christ returns, but when the enemy seeks to bring anything up against us.

 

Back in chapter four of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he says this ‘to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.’ (verses 22–24) He could so easily have said this; ‘Put off the old self, corrupt, deceitful desires and instead put on the breastplate of righteousness, make sure your lives reflect something of the holiness of God.’

THURSDAY July 25^th

 

Ephesians 6:14

‘Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.’

 

The words ‘Stand therefore’ infer that we cannot ‘withstand’ (v13) or ‘stand firm’ (again verse 13) until we have put on the armour of God, and the first item is the belt of truth, and it is essential to fasten it up, to tighten it up well. The words mean to gird/prepare oneself. I like to think that this means we must be ready for action, because there will be no last-minute opportunity to check the belt is fastened.

 

As I thought of this it brought to my mind the parable that Jesus gave of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, and although I know this parable is speaking about a different context of being ready, on this occasion it is for the Lords return, it helps us to establish that just like we need to be ready for his return,  so also we need to be ready for combat, and ready to defend ourselves against the attack of the principalities and powers. In both instances, we don’t want to be unprepared. In the context of the wearing of the armour, how awful it would be to be unprepared for any surprise attacks that the enemy might try to bring against us.

 

The belt would have ensured that any of the outer garments the soldier was wearing would be pulled up in such a manner that he wouldn’t get tangled in them or trip over them. And we also need to ensure that we have the belt of truth fastened tightly, so that we will not get entangled and tripped over as we do battle spiritually.

 

The belt of truth is symbolic of our being equipped or prepared with truth, the truth of God. God is a trustworthy God which I have been speaking about recently, and we can be assured of his trustworthiness because he is the God of truth and truthfulness. Truth matters today, we are living in an era of deceitfulness, and the truth that is buckled or fastened around our waist is truth that leads to us being a people of integrity and honesty.

 

Not only is God a God of truth, but his word is a word of truth, which we will cover in the sword of the Spirit, and the gospel is truth. It is the gospel of God, it is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself declared that he is the way, the TRUTH, and the life. Therefore, by fastening up the belt of truth we are holding fast to the truthfulness of who God is, who the Lord Jesus is, what God’s word is and what the gospel is all about.

 

We seek in the moment of every ounce of opposition that may be brought against us to uphold truth and to stand fast in truth. It means also that as we see liberalism and ideology coming into the church that seeks to water down the truth, we need to be ready and willing to speak up and speak out for the truth of God in a world where truth doesn’t seem to matter.

 

Our very lives, the way we live should reflect the truth of God in a truthless society.

WEDNESDAY July 24^th

 

Ephesians 6:13–17

‘Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. . .’

 

We come now to consider the armour, and as I have looked over the verses, and an illustration that I have of the armour, I noticed first that there are six items or parts to this armour, four of which we must put on and two of which we need to take up and hold. The four to put on, starting from the head down to the feet are the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth and the gospel of peace on our feet. Then the two we take up and hold are the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. And of course, as we have seen already, the need to be ‘praying at all times’ (v18) in the Spirit. (see also ‘. . . pray without ceasing’ 1 Thessalonians 5:17)

 

Is it not incredible to see that God who has called us to salvation has also made so much in the way of provision for us. I have already touched on this briefly, but I want to touch on it further. He has given first and foremost the very best for us in giving his one and only Son. And by coming to a saving knowledge, and I am quoting these things in no particular order, he has given to us the wonderful and powerful name of Jesus, the covering of his powerful and precious blood, there is also the power of our testimony, he has given to us his Spirit, he has given us his precious and powerful word, he has given us each other as brothers and sisters, adopting us into his family, he has given us the gift of fellowship, not only with the Father and the Son, but with each other as the body of Christ, he has given to us all that we need to live victoriously in our Christian life, and he has given us the armour to wear as we fight the good fight of the faith, to enable us to stand firm and to extinguish or bring to nothing all that the enemy will seek to throw at us.

 

In heavenly armour we’ll enter the land –

the battle belongs to the Lord;

no weapon that’s fashioned

Against us will stand –

The battle belongs to the Lord.

 

We sing glory, honour,

Power and strength to the Lord;

We sing glory, honour,

Power and strength to the Lord!