Category: Pondering Passages

This Weeks Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Jesus was an amazing teacher. He had a way of teaching that made people want to listen. He was one of those preachers that people would walk away from still talking about what they heard instead of talking about what they wanted for lunch. He was one of those preachers who who could call you a fool – but do it in such a way that you applaud him rather than berate him. That’s kind of what happens here.

Jesus has just finished preaching the longest recorded sermon in the gospels. He has covered a wide variety of topics ranging from how to be happy, to divorce, adultery, finances, giving, worry, prayer, etc. Some pretty hot topics even back in those days. No doubt in a crowd the size he was preaching to there were people who were dealing with each of these and everything in between. And yet, our passage this week says that “the crowds were amazed at his teaching.” Not offended by what he said. Not bored. Not angry. But amazed. So what made Jesus an amazing teacher? What differentiated his teaching from that of the teachers of the law? Here are a few things I see:

He lived what he taught. In other words, he had credibility. There wasn’t anything that Jesus taught that he did not live out himself. People could hurl stones at him because they thought he was a heretic but they could never hurl stones at him because he was a hypocrite. He didn’t preach about adultery and then go hook up with one of the temple prostitutes. He didn’t tell people not to judge but then point fingers judgmentally. He practiced what he preached.

He had a connection with people. He was not an arms length kind of guy. He did not sit in his study and craft the perfect sermon only to emerge on Sunday to preach a few times and then disappear. He was with people everyday getting to know them, caring for their needs, listening to their problems, laughing at their jokes. He loved people. So when he preached, people listened because they knew that he cared for them.

He spoke in a way that made people want to listen. Jesus was an artist with his words. He painted pictures that people could see through his storytelling and then hammered home powerful truths that people could wrap their hearts around. He found ways to engage their emotions as well as their minds. People would be on the edge of their seat waiting for a punchline and then Jesus would look them in the eye and confront their sin. If Jesus was speaking at the synagogue there would be standing room only because people knew they would hear a word from God that would feed their souls and challenge their lives.

He connected theology to real life. He did not speak in platitudes and principles that had no connection to life. He always connected doctrine and theology with life and practice. People would walk away from his teaching not only knowing more about God but also knowing more about how to live in a way that would honor and please God. Nobody ever walked away from a sermon of his saying “So what?”

He challenged people to think and he inspired people to change.  The best books  that I have read and the best sermons I have heard do two things. They challenge my heart to change and they challenge my mind to think – or maybe to say it better … to re-think. That’s the way that Jesus preached. People could not help but to think about and talk about what he said. He was the topic of many a conversation around the dinner table as people would grapple with and try to wrap their minds around what he said. But when you look at the gospels you also see time after time where Jesus would pierce people’s hearts and they would be so convicted that they would radically change their whole lifestyle.  And the change he affected in people did not wear off after a day or a week – it lasted a lifetime.

Hmm… so as I think about preaching in a few weeks (September 4) I’ve got a lot to think about. How can I be more like Jesus in my teaching and preaching? Those of you who read this now and then hear me then – perhaps you could give me a little feedback after I preach (even anonymously by commenting on this blog). I don’t want to take the task of preaching for granted and I don’t want to waste your time. The message is too important for that.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Weeks Passage: Hebrews 10:19-25
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Hebrews 10:24

This Weeks Passage and Memory Verse (in red):
 ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
 ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not treat prophecies with contempt ²¹ but test them all; hold on to what is good, ²² reject every kind of evil.
 ²³ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

There are several things in this passage that capture my attention. Verses 16-18 are pithy yet very meaty. Let me add my own translation of these: “Always rejoice! Always pray! Always give thanks!” And then Paul says that this is God’s will for us. We may not know God’s will about a lot of things but we do know God’s will in these matters.  And it seems to me that if we get these right then the ones that are not so clear will begin to come into focus.

1) So always rejoice. Not because everything that is going on in your life is peachy keen but because “you have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” (Colossians 1:13) And because nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:39) And because “we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Ephesians 2:10) So rejoice always!

2) So always pray. How is this even possible when there are jobs to do and people to talk to and life to live? Here’s my take on it. I think it starts by having such a close relationship with God that it is as if you are always “streaming” prayers no matter what else is going on. The Scripture word for this is “abiding”. (I blogged about this back in February). So as I’m working, I’m also praying. As I’m in conversation I’m also praying. When we are abiding in Christ prayer becomes a lot like breathing. It is something we are always doing no matter what else we might also be doing.

3) So always give thanks. When you go through life with an attitude of gratitude then you are guarded against things like jealousy, resentment, and selfishness. Things that “uglify” you. Henri Nouwen said this: “Gratitude … goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”

Verse 19 goes on to say, “Do not quench the Spirit” or “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” We have a tendency to squelch what God wants to do in and through us both as His people and His church. We don’t really mean to but I think we often allow the Spirit’s fire to be quenched. Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC, wrote a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. One of the best quotes in the book for me expresses what I think most of us want for our church as well as our lives. He said:  “I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God move mightily on our behalf.” In other words, he wanted the Spirit’s fire to “burn, baby burn!”

I love the salutations that Paul often sprinkles through his letters. I will close this post with the one he uses here as a way of echoing his prayer for you and me.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Matthew 7:24-29
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Matthew 7:24

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Here’s a word that you may or may not be familiar with: eschatology. It is the branch of theology that deals with the end times. The passage this week is an eschatological passage. Perhaps you recall the book by Steven Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. Habit #2 stated this – “Begin with the end in mind.” I think that one of the reasons why we have the Book of Revelation is so that we have a clear picture of what the end will be. As believers we need to constantly be reminded that when all is said and done we will be on the side that wins. We will be in a place that is  unimaginably beautiful. We will enjoy Life the way that it was designed to be enjoyed. We will be with the One who gave His life for us. We will experience joy unspeakable.

So as we endure the present life we live with the end in mind. Why?

1) Life is often hard – we need the assurance that it will get better. This is what hope is all about. People without hope live lives of quiet (and sometimes overtly loud) desperation. Desperate people are dangerous people.

2) The end for believers should motivate us to persevere in the present as we seek to live holy lives and as we strive to demonstrate to a dying world what the kingdom of God is like.

3) The reality of Heaven and Hell is rooted deep into people’s souls. People intuitively believe that in the end justice will be done. Therefore eschatology is a powerful tool for evangelism.

The one word in this passage that captures my attention is in verse 7. “Overcomes”. It comes from the Greek word that sounds like Nike. It means to gain the victory. “He who gains the victory will inherit all this.” The word overcome is an important word in the The Revelation (see chapters 2-3 especially). Believers are to be overcomers. No matter what life in this world throws at us we have what it takes to overcome because we know the One who has overcome everything. Think about what Jesus endured in His life: jealousy, prejudice, hatred, poverty, physical suffering, rejection, betrayal, death. He endured and He was an overcomer. And now through the Holy Spirit He indwells us to strengthen us and provide for us what we need to overcome anything that comes our way.

That’s why we live with the end in mind – because we know that one day He will make all things new, and as overcomers we will be there to enjoy every bit of it. So whatever you are going through right now, never forget that as a believer you are an overcomer!

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Next Week’s Memory Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”  

Peter uses two word pictures here to convey his point:

1) “Prepare your minds for action” – Literally in the Greek language this says “gird up the loins of your mind”. The picture is of a man gathering up his long main garment and tucking it into his belt so as to leave his limbs free for action.

2) “be self -controlled” – literally this is “be sober”.  So Peter is saying here that he we need to be intentional about what we think about. And that we can’t afford to let our minds get muddied up with stuff that will disorient us and confuse reality. Evidently this was as much a problem back then as it is now. So how do we do this? Here are a few ideas that I’ve come up with. I’d love for you to add to these.

• Ponder passages – now that we are half way through the year it may be time to go back to the beginning and get a refresher course in how to do this. The tendency is toward doing what comes easy. I may be wrong, but I would guess that some of you reading this now have gotten in the habit of letting me do the work for you – you haven’t invested time in actually pondering the passages for yourselves.
• Memorize and meditate on Scripture – This takes time and this takes work – but the dividends are great. So have you been paying attention to the memory verses each week?
• Read a great book – Great books stimulate the mind to think. Been doing any reading lately of great books? Need a few ideas? Maybe try one of these that I mentioned in a post back in February. Here are a few more to add to that list:

Don’t Call It A Comeback – Kevin DeYoung

Radical Together – David Platt

The Gospel Driven Life – Michael Horton

It – Craig Groeschel

Desiring God – John Piper

Death by Love – Mark Driscoll

Counterfeit Gods – Tim Keller

• Have a serious conversation – Have you noticed that we are really good about sitting around and talking about nothing. Maybe it’s time to sit around and talk about something that matters.
• Write/Journal – I have found that one of the great benefits of doing this blog every week is that it forces me to think. Perhaps as a part of your pondering Scripture or reading great books you could take the time to write and reflect on the things that capture your attention.

So that’s enough for one week. Didn’t even get to the last part of the passage but I have confidence you can handle it on your own. I’m in Boston this week with our team from church working here with Jon Chasteen and Redemption Hill Church.  Now would be a good time to stop and pray for us.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Revelation 21:1-8
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Revelation 21:4

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My thoughts… such as they are:

Let the peace of Christ rule – So it would seem that we have a choice as to what we allow to rule in our hearts. Many allow worry to rule. Many allow hatred to rule. Many allow jealousy to rule. Many allow greed to rule. Given the choice, peace is a much better option. Don’t you think? But how do you get there?

since as members of one body you were called to peace. – When we really get the fact that at one time we were enemies of God but that through Christ and the cross we have been reconciled to Him – that is that Christ has made peace between us and God – then we have a chance of letting peace rule in our hearts. In other words, until we grasp the gospel it will be impossible to experience true peace.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly – That’s what this pondering passages thing is all about – letting the Word dwell in us. It’s way to easy to let Scripture go in one ear and out the other. By spending a week on each passage we have the chance to let it sink in and take root.

The thing about this passage that immediately caught my attention was the emphasis on being thankful. Each of the 3 verses mention this. Why would Paul seem to harp on this? Perhaps because even back then people lived as if they deserved to be blessed, deserved to have happiness, deserved to have good things happen to them. Not much has really changed in that regard. We live in a culture that feels deserving. When what we really deserve is for the wrath of God to poured down upon us. What we need is to develop an attitude of gratitude that permeates our lives. Living a life that oozes thankfulness in everything remedies the selfishness that so easily creeps in and makes us creeps.

So if you run into me this week how about stopping me and telling me something that you are thankful for – and I will do the same. And maybe, just maybe, together we can learn what it means give thanks in all things to the Father.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: 1 Peter 1: 13-16
Next Week’s Memory Verse: 1 Peter 1:15-16

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,  that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

So I’m at the beach this week – being really lazy. Reading, sleeping, watching movies, napping, eating, napping some more. So you get a treat instead of my ponderings – which take a lot of thinking. I’m gonna give you some quotes from a book I’ve been reading – The Gospel for Real Life – by Jerry Bridges, which correlate to this passage. Enjoy.

“Our situation was so desperate that only the death of His own Son on a cruel and shameful cross was sufficient to resolve the problem. Many people erroneously think that God can just forgive our sins because He is a loving God. Nothing could be further from the truth.The cross speaks to us not only about our sin but about God’s holiness.” p.28

“The cross is an expression of God’s wrath toward sin as well as His love to us. It expresses His holiness in His determination to punish sin, even at the cost of His Son. And it expresses His love in sending His SOn to bear the punishment we so justly deserved.” p.29

“But we may ask, why is God so angry because of our sin? it is because our sin, regardless of how small or insignificant to us, is essentially an assault on the infinite majesty and sovereign authorithy of God.” p. 50

“Indwelling sin is like a disease that we can’t begin to deal with until we acknowledge its presence. But in the case of sin,we must also count on the fact that, though it still resides in us, it no longer has dominion over us.” p.161

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Colossians 3:15-17
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Colossians 3:17

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

One of the great great passages in the NT. If I were to encourage you to memorize one entire passage this year then this would be it. This past Sunday I talked about preaching the gospel to yourself everyday – well here it is. I talked about the battle that we have with the unseen forces of darkness – that’s mentioned here as well.  There is so much treasure in this passage – I hope you have pondered it for all it’s worth.

There are a few things that Paul says here that believers need to understand if they are going to understand the gospel at all.

1) We were dead! – Spiritually speaking, as far as our relationship with God was concerned, we were dead. There was no life in us. Nada. Zilch. When you begin to grasp this then you begin to understand the tremendous triumph of grace. There was NOTHING that we did to be made alive in Christ. NOTHING! There was nothing that we could do. We were dead. This is why God’s grace is so amazing.  He made dead people alive. “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

2) We were objects of wrath! – You have probably heard somewhere before that “God hates the sin but loves the sinner”.  Not true. God is not going to just punish sin, He is going to punish sinners. He will demonstrate His righteous wrath upon all those who defame His Name and who have turned away from His grace and mercy to seek life on their own terms. We at one time deserved His wrath. But at the cross he demonstrated His loving kindness to us and offered us  the free gift of salvation in Christ. Those who repent and turn to Him in faith will find Life. Those who reject His offer of life will forever experience His wrath and justice.

When you get these two things then the gospel makes sense – and you understand why the gospel is such Good News.

And then we come to verse 10. The phrase that captures my attention here is “which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” So it would seem that part of the adventure in this life is to discover what it is that God has prepared  in advance for us to do. Maybe you already know the answer to that question for your own life. Maybe you don’t. If you love adventure like I do then here is a great one for you. A lifetime of discovering all the good that God wants to wring out of your life. He didn’t just save us to sit. He saved us to serve. So have fun adventurizing!

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Romans 6:1-14
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Romans 6:13a

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): John 3:16-21  ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

You are no doubt familiar with John 3:16 but may  not be so familiar with the context  of the verse. It is a great passage to reflect on as you hear the extended conversation that Jesus was having with Nicodemus. I’m at camp this week so rather than do a lot of writing I’m only going to post a few of the questions that might have entered Nic’s mind as he heard Jesus speak. I’d love to hear your comments on this passage or these questions.

What does Jesus mean by “perish”?

What does Jesus mean by eternal life?

Is Jesus saying that I am condemned?

What does it really mean to “believe in Jesus”?

Does Jesus somehow know about my evil deeds?

What does he mean by evil?

Am I seeking Truth or just the traditions I am so familiar with?

Enjoy your time in the Word this week. Sometimes asking the right questions is just as valuable as finding the answers.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 2:1-10
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Ephesians 2:10

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

The words that immediately stand out to me from this passage are the first 5: “For the grace of God”.  Here are the things that came to mind about the grace of God as I pondered.

The grace of God – a stark contrast to the Law: God’s people had for many years lived under a harsh taskmaster – the Law. It was impossible for them to measure up to the Law’s standards. The whole idea of grace that was ushered in by Jesus must have been a welcome relief. And it must have felt to the average Jew like an emancipation from the dungeon of legalism. Amazing grace must have seemed like a sweet sound to those who felt condemned by their inability to meet the holy requirements of the Law.

The grace of God appeared in the flesh: Jesus was grace incarnate. He was God’s gift to a hurting, hopeless, and helpless world. Jesus was God’s way of showing us what He really thought about us. He came to heal our sickness, to forgive our sin, to restore hope to a world filled with despair. He came with compassion and laughter and joy and selflessness. He made people feel like they mattered. He touched the untouchable. He gave life to those who had had life drained out of them. He demonstrated what it meant to have a relationship with God that gave purpose and peace and passion to our day to day living.

The grace of God teaches us to say “No” and then teaches us to say “Yes”: When we fully comprehend what grace is, when we finally understand the incredible gift that has been offered to us in Jesus, then it makes saying “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions very easy to do. Unfortunately, not many people grasp grace. We really don’t get it at all. It is the most taken for granted gift that has ever been given. That is why our churches are so anemic these days – because we sing about God’s amazing grace and then turn around and spit in God’s face as we live lives that don’t look a whole lot different from those who are outside the church. When you grasp grace, you run daily into the arms of God,  flee the evil desires of this world, and live “self-controlled upright and godly lives.”

Verse 14 is a great encapsulation of the gospel and the effects of the gospel and what grace is all about.  Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

This week lets be intentional to demonstrate our eagerness to do what is good so that the world around us can begin to see in us what grace really is all about.

I’m just sayin’.

Next Week’s Passage: John 3:16-21
Next Week’s Memory Verse: John 3:17

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

The first time I read through this passage this week there were a few things that immediately stuck out to me. I’ll briefly elaborate on each one.

Our strength MUST come from God  (v.10) – We tend to try to find strength in places other than God – money, drink, family, friends, etc. Paul is imploring us to find our strength in the Lord. If we are going to be wage war against the enemy then He needs to be the source of our strength.

There is a devil. He is a schemer (v.11) – Just because we can’t see him does not mean he is not there. Satan is not fantasy. He is the enemy of our souls and is bent on our destruction. He is crafty and very good at what he does. He schemes to steal, kill, and destroy. That is his agenda for you and me.

We live in a dark and evil world (v.12) – Just read the headlines each day. Don’t need a whole lot more evidence to prove that we live in an evil world that has been ravaged by sin. This is the world into which we have been born again.

God has given us what we need to stand firm (vs. 13-17) – The armor of God! Faith, prayer, God’s Word, righteousness, salvation, the gospel. We have everything we need to withstand the assault of the enemy. We just need to suit up and not try to go into battle defenseless.

Prayer is crucial (v.18) – And yet we do not pray. No wonder the church and its people more often than not are fighting to survive rather than  thriving as we fight.

The gospel is a mystery (v. 19) – It is not magical but it is mysterious. I’m not sure I will ever understand how the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross provides a way for me to be reconciled to God. And when I demonstrate faith in what He has done then I become a child of God, my sins are forgiven, and I am given Life and can look forward to  an eternity in the presence of God. Amazing! And yet I know that it is true. The gospel changes lives! I know this because it has changed mine.

We are ambassadors of this gospel (v.20) – We have been given the job of telling this message to anyone who will listen. We have the opportunity to give people Good News when most of the time all they get is bad news. Unbelievably, God is making His appeal to return to Him and repent through us. Represent Him well today and as one of RBC’s heroes of the faith used to say, “Speak a good word for Jesus!” (J.B.Cash)

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Titus 2:11-14
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Titus 2:11-12