What a great 4th of July. I spent this past weekend with a lot of my family and some great friends at our new house. For those who don’t know yet, Dawn and I purchased a house this past Spring and we are enjoying the yard, fixing up all the little problems, and getting settled in. Well, this was the first “Yard Party” thrown in our new house. It was a great time.
As we were gathered around the fire getting waiting for the fireworks I was thinking about the freedoms that we enjoy in our country. The freedom to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I realize that we are in a battle, but we have to remember that this battle is not against each other, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, it is a spiritual battle. Ephesians 6 tells us how to be prepared for this battle. Paul starts it off in v. 10 and I want to share a few thoughts about what he shared in those verses.
One of the first thoughts is that this is written to the Christian soldier. This is not written to the world. This is not to the unbelievers. As a believer we are to be diligent. We are to keep watch. We are to be on guard. There is no way we can conquer the enemy in our life, in our families, in our communities, in our country, in our world, if we aren’t on guard. We need to heed the charge and message of this passage, or we will cave in to temptation and sin and end up walking through life just as most of the world does:
- Not experiencing the abundance and joy of life
- Not experiencing the power and deliverance, care and concern, love and fellowship of God’s daily presence
- Being uncertain and unsure of the future
- Not having the confidence of being acceptable to God
- Not being assured of living forever with God
We must heed what God says here in v. 10. We must do exactly what God says in order to conquer the enemies that we face on a daily. As I study this passage the study is twofold:
First, we must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. There is great stress that is places on the words power and strength. Three different words are used:
- Be strong
- In the Lord’s power
- In the Lord’s might
Each of these words is used to stress the utter necessity of the believer being strong and possessing power.
- The word strong means power, might, strength. So we must possess power, might and strength as we walk through the course of this life.
- The Lord’s power means His sovereign unlimited power and dominion over all
- The Lord’s might means strength, force, ability. It means His ability to use His strength and force wisely, in perfection
Now some of you might be saying, “So what?” and if you are you are one of those who drive me crazy with that phrase. Let me break it down for you a little. We are to be strong in the sovereign unlimited power of the Lord—in the power of His might—in His ability to use His power exactly as it should be used. However, there is a critical point: the strength is not human, fleshly strength; it is not the strength of anything within this world. This strength is found in the Lord—in a living dynamic relationship with Him. The Lord is the source of our strength. There is no other source that can give us the strength to overcome this world with all its trials and temptations and death.
Notice this is a living dynamic relationship. This is something that I’ll get into next time around. I would ask that you please pray for me and for our youth leaders this next week. We will be take 28 teenagers to Lake Hope State Park in southern Ohio. They will be having conferences with me everyday as well as a day filled with swimming, games, time on the lake, and then vespers worship services each evening. We will be closing the week out on Thursday with a Foot Washing and Communion Service. This is a very powerful week for everyone that goes. This is also the largest group that we have taken in a long time and poses some new challenges, but God is bigger and we are holding onto those promises. However, we do covet your prayers. Thank you and I’ll post a report when we return as well as the second part of our twofold part of verse 10. Until then stand firm in the strength and might and power of the God. Love all of you and pray for you daily.
Pastor Rob
