Daily Devotion, March 15, 2023

 

Devotion:

Read Ephesians 6:10-18.

Writing from prison, perhaps with a soldier nearby, the Apostle Paul is giving his final instructions for living a life of faith in Christ. Paul writes, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” His illustration is the description of the full armor of God.

Paul writes the word, “stand” four times here. We are to stand, stand against, stand for, and stand up. He is calling his readers to be strong and stand against the powers of darkness. I’m continually inspired by the book “Quiet Strength” written about Rosa Parks who took a “stand” for others by “sitting” on the front seat of the bus in Montgomery, AL.

A suit of armor is for protecting life, not for destroying it. The pieces of armor are: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword which is the word of God, and Paul adds “prayer” even though he doesn’t give a piece of armor for it.

We are humbled realizing that this full armor of strength is a gift from God’s Holy Spirit. If it is from our own striving, then it can easily become a way of self-righteousness and a source of pride rather than a source of strength. This gift is offered by following in the ways of Christ.

Receiving and putting on this spiritual armor of God, there are probably some things we first need to let go of from our spirit. Otherwise, our suit of armor will be too heavy to wear! We can: let go of deceptive ways, and put on the ways of truth; let go of the ways of unrighteousness…of mistreating others and put on righteousness; let go of ways of conflict and put on the ways of peace; let go of the ways of distrusting God and put on faith in God; let go of the ways of destruction and put on Christ’s way of salvation; let go of words of hopelessness and put on ways from God’s word; And let go of the way of never-praying and begin praying always.

Personal Worship Option:

On your suit of armor, is there an area which needs the strengthening help of God’s Holy Spirit? Dear God, it is by your strength that we are strong. Help us to help others. Amen.