Continual Battle

 Paul’s command to take up the armor of God is followed by these words:

“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.” —Ephesians 6:12 

As we consider the equipment God gives us to do spiritual battle, there is so much to be said that to take it all in at once would mean we would have to go in at least a couple different directions in a single post. Instead of that, my musings may be shorter than usual, but that’s so we can concentrate on a single theme each night. 

That being said, notice that word “wrestle.” I wish I could say that once you’ve resisted temptation, the battle is over; you’ve won. Unfortunately, that word is in the present tense, which means the fight is never completely over. Even if you gain victory in one area, another problem will arise. Whether it’s fear, lust, anger, pride, dishonesty…we must continually be on our spiritual toes. Don’t be surprised or grow weary in the fight; it’s not going to get easier with time. The war continues; only the immediate battleground changes. Fortunately, we worship a God who never sleeps (Psalm 121:4), and is always watching over us, ready to come to our aid if we only ask. We wrestle, but not alone. Our God also fights.

Play Your Part

 July 30, 2024

A bit of a detour tonight. 

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

 —Ephesians 4:3

“then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” —Philippians 2:2-4 

I often hear pastors speak eloquently on the necessity of unity in the body of Christ and how if we want the world to believe in Jesus, we must strive for unity. So far, so good. Such talk is often followed up with a plea for everyone to get behind a particular ministry or program as an indication of said unity. My usual reaction to such pleas is guilt, plain and simple. I cannot, and don’t want to attend every function, volunteer for every “unity” event. I confess to frequent compassion overload.

In our pastor’s prayer meeting this morning, as we were reflecting on this passage from Philippians, a fellow pastor mentioned a musical metaphor that cleared things up for me. I play double bass for our church worship team and in a local jazz band. In the Spring and in the Fall, at our first rehearsal, the conductor passes out the sheet music we’ll be rehearsing for the next couple months. My folder contains music in the bass clef and marked “bass.” 

I never see the music for trumpets, trombones, saxes, or percussion. My job is to learn the music, to practice until I know the part almost by heart. If I don’t know my part well, in the concert, I will be concentrating so much on my music that I’m not paying attention to the others, and not keeping my eye on the conductor. I don’t need to know anyone else’s part, but I do need to know mine. If I play my part well, it will blend in with the others in a unity that is beautiful. That is unity. Trying to play anyone else’s part would be uniformity, which would destroy the harmony that is the beauty of the music.

In the Church, each of us has our own “sheet music.” Trying to play someone else’s part means we won’t be playing our own, and it destroys the harmony of the whole. Each of us needs to learn our part, practice it till we know it well; then we can listen to the others so we know how we fit in, and keep our eye on the Conductor who alone sees the whole. If I’m going to feel guilty, it shouldn’t be because I don’t latch onto every good idea fellow Christians have. If I’m going to feel guilty, it should be when I don’t know my part and cannot play it well for the good of the whole. That being said, I want to practice my part so I can play it well, and not feel any guilt at all.

Boredom in Prayer

 July 28, 2024

“Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil…”

—Ephesians 6:10-11

Yesterday I used the illustration of the British manor house where the lord of the manor is sitting at the table with the lady of the manor and their guests. While they’re eating, the servants simply stand behind the guests, ready to respond to the slightest nod from the lord. 

Here’s the kicker: Most of the time, the servants are standing, they’re doing nothing other than paying close attention to their lord. It is both boring and stressful—boring because they are doing nothing other than standing; stressful because in their boredom they must keep close attention upon the lord of the manor.

I think many of our problems today come because we insist on being constantly active. We HAVE to be doing something all the time, so we busy ourselves with all kinds of activity that distract us from paying attention to the lord of the manor. Our busyness makes us miss God’s will. It’s hard to simply stand before the Lord, but it’s our first and most important service.

Listen

July 27, 2024

“Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil…”

Yesterday, we learned that to stand in the presence of God is to recognize his authority. There’s another facet to standing. If you’ve ever watched a British manor house mystery, the lord of the manor and his guests are seated at the table in the dining room, but the servants stand behind the guests, ready to meet their every demand. Servants stand.

Too often when we pray, we act as if God were the servant and we were the masters commanding him to do our bidding. That’s backwards. We are the servants; God is the master. Our first responsibility in prayer is to listen to God, and to be ready at all times to do his bidding. So, stand today!

Master/Servant

 July 26, 2024

“Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil…”

Yesterday, we learned that to stand in the presence of God is to recognize his authority. There’s another facet to standing. If you’ve ever watched a British manor house mystery, the lord of the manor and his guests are seated at the table in the dining room, but the servants stand behind the guests, ready to meet their every demand. Servants stand.

Too often when we pray, we act as if God were the servant and we were the masters commanding him to do our bidding. That’s backwards. We are the servants; God is the master. Our first responsibility in prayer is to listen to God, and to be ready at all times to do his bidding. So, stand today!

Stand

 July 25, 2024

“Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil…”

I love that little word “stand!” Christians often imagine themselves standing strong against Satan and the world, only to find themselves surprisingly overwhelmed. “What went wrong,” they ask themselves. I can tell you: They tried standing against the world before they learned to stand with God. Listen to what Elijah said about himself: 

“And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”” —I Kings 17:1 

Before he stood against Jezebel and her 450 prophets of Baal, he stood in the presence of God. He described himself this way again in 18:15. Someone once said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” The something you want to stand for can only be found by standing in the presence of the living God. But what does it mean to stand before God? In Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul gives us a clue:

“He raised [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” 

Christ is seated. This means two things. 1) His work is done, and 2) he has authority. Even today, it is proper to stand before authority. In a courtroom, the bailiff says, “All rise” when the judge enters the room. Only when he is seated does everyone else sit down, because he is the authority in that courtroom. 

When we stand in the presence of God, we are recognizing his authority. Stand before him today so you can stand against the devil tomorrow.

Battle gear

July 23, 2024

 “Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil…”

—Ephesians 6:10

Soldiers aren’t always fitted out in full battle gear. When not in actual combat, they wear regular fatigues or dress uniforms. The uniform does what it’s name implies—because they are all the same, they enable others to know which branch of the military the wearer belongs to. The individual may be tall or short, stocky or thin, but the uniform is the same.

Christians have their unique characteristics, but we should all be wearing the same uniform: Jesus Christ. People should be able to look at us and know we belong to Jesus. It’s not about the physical clothes we wear, but that we have put on the Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul says in Romans 13:14. 

Here’s a difference between our secular military and the army of God: We don’t get to wear dress uniforms yet. We must daily don battle gear, because we face the enemy every single day. So gear up! There is a battle out there, and you want to be ready.