Trusting God

Good morning.

I have had a blast studying through the book of Ephesians with you! 

Today we close out the book with a very familiar passage of Scripture. One that we’ve all heard but is so very relevant to the times in which we find ourselves. 

Read Ephesians 6:10-24

Quotes are from the NKJV

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (6:10-20)

Again, we could spend weeks studying this passage and still not cover it all. I’ll try to sum it up the best I can. Paul tells us exactly what we need to be doing in our current situation. Isn’t it amazing how these words written nearly 2000 years ago are so applicable for us today?!

Look at the world around us. It’s gone completely crazy, and it’s trying to get us to believe that this is all reasonable and right! 

Scripture tells us we are to “be strong in the Lord and in His power.” How do we do that? Let’s take a closer look at Scripture. (We can always find answers in God’s Word.) What examples does God give us for this? We can look at Joshua leading the children of Israel into the promised land. Over and over God told him to be strong and courageous; not depending on his own strength but depending on God’s strength. Check out Joshua 1:5-9. They had been at the entrance to the Promised Land once before but turned away because of fear. They saw the people that inhabited the land and knew that they would never succeed in their own strength. They turned away and chose not to trust God. Joshua, however, moved forward. Because he trusted God to fight the battles that he was not able to fight, he received victory after victory. We need to put our trust in God. Trusting Him to fight for us, trusting that He is working even when we don’t see it.

Then we are to “put on His whole armor that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Because “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.” We need to recognize that other people are not the enemy. Let me say it again; flesh and blood people are not our enemy. We fight for our rights, for justice, for causes we believe in. We battle one another over who is right or wrong, pointing fingers and placing blame. All the while, the real Enemy is working to “steal, kill, and destroy” keeping us distracted from the fact that we are in a spiritual battle not a physical one. 

That’s why we have to “take up the WHOLE armor of God that we may be able to withstand in this evil day and when having done all, to stand.” 

We are to STAND on the Word of God. We are to STAND against the devil and all his evil. We are to STAND on Truth. And after we’ve done all we can, we are to STAND, trusting God to fight the battle that is before us. God has equipped us with everything we need for the battle, all the defensive equipment; our breastplate, shield, and helmet but our weapon, our sword is the Word of God. Please don’t take this lightly. I firmly believe that our freedoms as American Christians are not going to continue on much longer. Are you fully equipped with your only weapon? Does the Word of God live in your heart? Is it something you hunger and thirst for, or do you take for granted that you will always have a copy lying around? When a soldier goes into battle, they are more successful when they know their weapon. When they’ve spent countless hours practicing to use it, it then becomes an extension of who they are. Does that describe your knowledge of the Word? 

This world we live in twists and distorts the Word until right is wrong and wrong is right. The only way we can STAND is to know, really know our weapon. The only way to do that is to make spending time in the Bible a top priority. 

Look back at Joshua 1:8

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

That’s my final challenge for us this week. Dig deep daily into God’s Word and get to know it intimately and in doing so draw closer to your God and be fully equipped to stand in these evil days. 

I’ll close with the final verse…(6:24)

Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. 

Here are links to read other posts in this series. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.