Category: Devotions

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!

TUESDAY July 23^rd

 

Ephesians 6:10-12

‘Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against 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.’

 

Before we leave these verses, I want to take us to some verses in the book of Daniel, that help us to understand how the powers of darkness will seek to work against not only we who are the children of God but will also seek to do whatever they can to try to deter or to stop God’s purpose or will from being done. But before we go to those verses, I will also remind us that try as hard as they will and as hard as they can, we have the assurance in the word of God that no plan of his will be thwarted. However powerful the powers of darkness are and the other forces at work, they are not a match for the almighty power of God.

 

The verses in Daniel are found in chapter 10, Daniel had received a vision, and he was left in a state of change, he says ‘So I was left alone and saw this great vision. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength’, v8, then in verse 10 a hand touched him, and he was spoken to, it is then revealed in verse 12 that God had heard the voice of Daniel, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia had withstood against the answer that God was bringing through this messenger. It said the prince withstood him for 21 days until Michael came to help him and to reveal the answer to his prayer, the meaning of the vision.

 

God was revealing something to Daniel concerning the ends times, but the powers of darkness, the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces as we have in Ephesians chapter 6 which were represented by the prince sought to prevent the answer from coming—but God prevailed against them, God prevailed because he is all powerful, but it reminds us that these spiritual forces are real forces, they will seek to undermine the will and the purpose of God, they will seek to cause us to give up, when we need to keep on keeping on, even when at times we feel we are walking in treacle, for God will come through as we learn to be patient, to be strong, to be willing to persevere, as Jesus said in one of his parables, to ask, seek, knock, to keep asking, to keep seeking, and to keep knocking.

 

We have a powerful God, he is omnipotent, that is why we need to keep hold of the motto for this year, which is this, that it is ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord’.

 

We will end with the verse from Job. ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted’, Job 42:2.

MONDAY July 22^nd

 

Ephesians 1:10-12

‘Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against 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.’

 

The one line here is vitally important for us to understand, ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood’, for it is a reminder that our spiritual battle is not against our fellow human beings, whether saved or unsaved but against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces. When we see individuals behaving in ways that we find abhorrent, or against what we accept as followers of Jesus, when we see people of other religions who follow foreign gods, and sadly as some do acting with violence, and we could add so many more things here, what we need to remind ourselves is firstly of the fact that they act or behave that way because they are still in the kingdom of darkness and are under the control of the various forces of darkness. We need also to remind ourselves that such were we, and such could we still be if it had not been for the grace of God which came to us and brought us to salvation. We need to see them as individuals who are lost and who need to come to a knowledge of the truth. As hard as it may sound and as hard as some times it may feel to do, we must love as God loved, even to the point of loving those who we would consider as our enemies and as enemies of the gospel of God.

 

It is also important to add, after what I have already said, that we must not excuse the sin, we must speak out against sin, for all sin is rebellion against God, while at the same time we love the sinner, and although we understand the manifestation of the powers of darkness, at the end of the day God has built into humanity a moral compass, a conscience and we are all responsible as to how we behave and how we respond to the influences and schemes that come from the devil and as to we respond to the good news of the gospel. And what is more, the Bible is very clear, that one day we will have to stand before the Holy God and give an account. For we who are believers it will be as to how we have lived out as believers and as to what we have done that counts or lasts for eternity versus that which is temporal and will finally be burnt up as straw.

 

For unbelievers it will be a different matter, it will be a judgment that leads to eternal destruction, for as it says in the word of God, it is appointed for man to die and then the judgment, and the verdict given will be based upon whether a person has come to believing and trusting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

So, we do wrestle against the schemes and outworkings of the powers of darkness, we are faced with it every day, if it was going to be easy to stand and survive as Christians, why would God have provided an armour for us. He knows what life is going to be like, he knows the ways and the wiles of the devil, therefore he has given us the maximum protection available, let us put it on.

FRIDAY July 19^th

 

Ephesians 6:10-12

‘Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against 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.’

 

Now as we move on in these verses, we will see how the devil brings about his schemes, it is through those things mentioned in verse 12, the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

 

Although we rejoice in the wonderful fact that Christ defeated Satan at Calvary, bringing about our eternal redemption, we still need reminding that at present, although defeated, Satan hasn’t given up, and although one day he will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity, until then we are reminded that he goes around like a roaring lion. He is angry, he knows he has lost, and that Jesus has won, but he will not give up without a fight! And so, he will try every trick in the book, every possible scheme to try to wreak havoc on the earth and to try to destroy what Christ is doing in building his Church. That is why it is so essential for us today to heed Paul’s advice to put the whole, the complete, the full armour on which God has provided for us.

 

It is important that not one single believer falls into the trap of thinking ‘I will be okay’ and as a result be careless and carefree. And why do I say this? Well, imagine living in a perfect world—nothing is going to go wrong—or could it? Well, two individuals did live in a perfect world, they were called Adam and Eve, they had everything they wished for, they enjoyed daily communion with God in the garden in the cool of the evening, they wanted for absolutely nothing. But, the devil, instead of featuring as a roaring lion came to them as a subtle serpent and they fell for him, they believed his subtle lies, and sin entered the world.

 

Now let’s understand how easy it would be for men and women to fall for the schemes of the devil, if Adam and Eve fell for him in the perfect environment of the garden of Eden, he could so easily dupe us as we now find ourselves living in a fallen world. And sadly, many are, being duped by continuing with their friendship with the world, the things that the devil uses to attract and snare, rather than keeping a 24/7 watch over their souls.

 

I need the armour of God, I want the armour of God, I want to take up and to use everything that God has made available for me to keep close to him and to be aware of and to battle against every scheme and attack of the devil.

 

THURSDAY July 18^th

 

Ephesians 6:11

‘Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.’

 

As we come back to this verse and move on from the first two words, we are told here in the process of putting on, what we need to put on, it is the whole armour of God and why we need to put it on ‘that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil’.

 

It doesn’t matter what our occupation is, but I can guarantee that everyone does what is needed to make sure we are prepared to fulfil the task, job, or occupation. When I was a panel-beater / car sprayer there were essential items needed and essential workwear needed to enable me to do the job with the maximum help and protection possible. I was a car sprayer, so I needed a spray gun and not a paint brush! Yes, I could have painted the car with a brush, but one thing was sure the customer would not have been happy. How often do we try to get by in our Christianity with insufficient tools and protection! We fail to read the word, we fail to pray, we fail to put on the whole armour of God, we try in our own strength rather than in the supernatural strength that God has made available to  us.

 

Paul often uses language that speaks of warfare, as he was coming to the end of his earthly life he made this statement to Timothy, ‘For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith’, 2 Timothy 4:6–7. In his previous letter to Timothy he had also said, ‘Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses’, 1 Timothy 6:12.

 

Notice how Paul called it a good fight! It is a good fight because it is a fight against all that is opposed to God, everything that is opposed to his will and everything that seeks to undermine who God is as the sovereign God. A fight of good versus evil, right against wrong, a fight that needs us to be well prepared and protected, and God has given us his word, he has given us his name, he has given us the Holy Spirit, he has given us our testimony and the blood of the Lamb, he has given us the armour the purpose of which is to fight against the schemes of the devil.