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Today’s reading is Ephesians 5:1-6:24.

Ephesians 6:12 scares me: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (ESV). That right there says the enemy is too much for me. How can finite, little me ever stand up to such powerful forces? Clearly, if my enemy were my next door neighbor, I could pump up at the gym a little bit and probably take him/her out. But my enemy is the devil and his spiritual forces. I’m sunk.

However, I don’t have to beat Satan. God already has. I don’t have to strengthen me and try to take on Satan. All I have to do is be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Did you catch that? Not in the strength of my might because I’m so spiritual. No, in the strength of His might. 

I can’t help but think of the psalmists. I encourage you to read the psalms with the thought in mind of  how they addressed God. Psalm 18:1-3 is a great example.

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

I don’t have to be strong in my might, I need to be strong in God’s might. I need to let God be my fortress, my rock, my stronghold. I simply need to rely on Him. How do I do that?

The text says, put on God’s armor. In other words, if I’m going to be strong in the might of the Lord, I need to put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. I need to prepare my feet by taking up the gospel of peace. I need faith as a shield to extinguish the darts of the devil. I need to don the helmet of salvation and carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. When I’m wearing this armor, I’m relying on God and His strength.

One question I automatically ask is where to get this equipment. Where is God’s armory? 

I know when we think of this list, we equate the Word with the sword of the Spirit. However, I cant’ help but notice the Word is integrally tied to each of these.

John 17:17 says, “Your word is truth.

II Timothy 3:16 says training in righteousness comes from God’s scripture.

Colossians 1:5 says the gospel is found in the word of truth.

Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ.

II Timothy 3:14-15 says scripture makes us wise unto salvation.

How do I put on God’s armor? Get into God’s word. That’s why what we are doing here is so important. Staying in the word is not the daily Christian homework assignment. It is the only way we’ll ever overcome the tempter. We can’t win this battle apart from God’s word. The issue is not can I read my Bible enough to be a good enough to go to heaven. The issue is life, strength, and armor are found in the Word, without which I can’t survive the battle.

Think of it this way. Can you imagine a soldier saying, “Do I really have to put on my body armor for today’s battle?” Of course not. Are they putting the armor on because it is their assignment in the military? Of course not. They do it because they know it will be the thing that preserves their life.

So, as always…

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out today’s reading?

Acts 27:9-10 used to give me a great deal of trouble.

“Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, ‘Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives’” (ESV)

After all, here was Paul, an inspired apostle, saying there would be great loss of life on this ship. But, in the end, no life was lost. Acts 27:44 says, “And so it was that all were brought safely to land” (ESV).

This actually teaches me something about apostleship and inspiration. I don’t know why I have ever referred to the apostles as the “inspired apostles” as if somehow everything they said came directly from God. The Bible never calls them that. And yet, I have heard that taught and I have said it myself. This passage, however, demonstrates that the apostles were not inspired. The Bible teaches that the Scriptures the apostles wrote were inspired in II Timothy 3:16-17, but it never says the apostles themselves were inspired.

When Paul told the captain there would be no loss of life, he wasn’t speaking for God. His every word was not inspired. Only what God wanted him to write down as Scripture was. Therefore, God did not fail here. Paul did not fail. Paul was simply relying on his knowledge of sea travel to make this statement. Of course, it would have been true had God not intervened.

When Paul later told his shipmates no loss of life would come, that was true because that came from the angel of God.

Anyway, the whole point of this is to clarify our language. Paul wasn’t an inspired apostle. Neither were any of the other apostles. Rather, God used the apostles and prophets to record His inspired word. We had better listen to it.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

And Now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.–(Acts 20:32, ESV)

Why are we doing this? Why do we crack open that dusty old book, written by men of outdated cultures to people who are behind the times?

Is it because God has declared, “Here is my rule, read your Bible every day!”? Is it because some preacher has guilted us into thinking we are only spiritual when we read our Bible every day? Is it because when we read our Bibles every day it makes us better than all those other people who aren’t as spiritual as we are?

No. No. And No. We are doing this because Jesus has the words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68). The only way for us to get that life is to be in His Word. We aren’t busy trying to draw all the lines, dot all the i’s, cross all the t’s so we can be good enough and have read our Bible’s enough to go to heaven. That fact is, we can’t be that good. We can’t read our Bible’s enough to earn heaven. 

However, when we get in the Word and get the Word in us. Then the life that flows from God pours into our hearts. Then we are built up. Then we gain the inheritance reserved for the sanctified and set apart. That doesn’t happen because we checked daily Bible reading off our to do list. It happens because we surrendered to God and His word.

Keep the faith today and keep reading.

ELC

In Acts 7-8, Stephen, a deacon (I believe) and evangelist, was stoned. The disciples mourned and buried him. In Acts 12, James, a leader among the apostles, was executed by Herod. The disciples mourned and buried him. However, in Acts 9:36-43, Tabitha (Dorcas), simply a sister in Christ, died and the disciples called Peter in and said, “You have to do something about this.” She held no office. She doesn’t appear to have been a leader. Evangelists, Deacons, Apostles died and they just got put in the ground. But when Tabitha died they had Peter bring her back.

Granted, I don’t really want to be brought back from the dead once I have stepped into paradise and the comfort of Abraham’s bosom. But I do want people to at least wish I was back. So, I learn a great deal from Tabitha about how I want to live to deepen my relationships with others and how to deepen my relationship with God.

1. Tabitha was full of good works and charity: She didn’t perform the occasional good work. She was full of them. One translation says she abounded in them. It was her way of life. We need to make good works and acts of charity, especially among our brethren, a way of life.
2. Tabitha sacrificed for others: Who do you think paid for the materials in those garments she made? Whose time do you think she took to make those garments? We need to remember two things. First, she was probably a lot poorer than most of us, but she still sacrificed her goods for others. Second, she had the same 24 hours in every day that we do. She used some of her 24 hours to serve. Do we?
3. Tabitha didn’t do everything, but she did what she could: There is no indication that Tabitha taught a ladies’ Bible class. There is no indication that she held any Bible studies. In fact, the only indication is that she made garments for people and did other works of charity. She didn’t do everything, but she did what she could. We don’t have to be paralyzed thinking we must do some little bit of everything. Rather, let’s just figure out what we can do well and do it to serve others.
4. Tabitha didn’t serve everyone, but she served who she could: Tabitha apparently worked for the widows. It doesn’t say any teenagers were in the room. It doesn’t say the preacher was in the room. It doesn’t say the young marrieds were in the room. The widows were there to show Peter all the good works she had performed for them. Too often we get the deer in the headlights look wondering how we will be able to do something for everyone. We need to stop that. At that point, we usually don’t do anything for anyone. We don’t have to serve everyone. We just need to serve someone. Serve the people you can today.
5. Tabitha didn’t wait for a church program, she just served: Back in Acts 6, the Jerusalem church established a congregational plan to help the widows. There is no indication that Tabitha was merely following some congregationally given assignment to help the widows. She just helped them. We must quit looking around and bad mouthing our leaders because our congregation isn’t doing something for someone. We just need to start serving.

Tabitha served who she could, when she could, doing what she could without being told. If we want to serve God. We need to do the same.

Keep the faith and keep reading

ELC

In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healed ten lepers, but only one returned to thank Him. The question of the ages is where were the nine? Having studied all the historical records in the Syriac, Coptic and even Cryptic manuscripts in their original languages, I am able to tell you what the nine said instead of actually thanking Jesus.

• The first said, “Jesus knows I’m thankful, I don’t have to say it.”
• The second said, “I think I was getting better on my own anyway.”
• The third said, “I was the one who went, Jesus didn’t do anything.”
• The fourth said, “No one else said thank you.”
• The fifth said, “The Samaritan gave thanks for us.”
• The sixth said, “If I don’t have leprosy now, I must have never had it.”
• The seventh said, “The priest must have healed me.”
• The eighth said, “I’m going to wait and see if this healing will last.”
• The ninth said, “I’ll thank Jesus later.”

I hope you could see through my earlier sarcasm and realize I actually just made all that up. However, give thought to the above statements. How often have we refrained from giving thanks to God (or others) using a form of one of the above excuses.

We need to remember, God wants and deserves thanksgiving, not just some kind of ethereal attitude of gratitude. For what do you have to be thankful today? Don’t just be thankful, actually give thanks.

ELC

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28 (ESV)

What was that woman saying? “I wish I had been lucky enough to have a Son like You! Your mom won the lottery of life.” Her cry mirrors what is so often inside me, the wish that better things had happened to me, the wish that something over which I had no control had dropped or would drop into my lap to make my life better. 

How many times have I wished I would get a big inheritance? How many times have I wished someone had educated me in certain issues when I was young? How many times have I wished I had been friends with someone who paved a path for me?

But what is Jesus’ response? “No, actually, blessing doesn’t come by something happening to you over which you have no control. Blessing comes by listening to God and doing what He says.” Of course, this is an ellipsis. That is, Jesus was not saying His mother was not blessed. The angel who announced the conception and birth of Jesus said to Mary, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28, ESV). Mary was blessed. Jesus’ point was not that Mary was not blessed at all but that there is a greater blessing reserved for those who hear His word and keep it.

Let’s quit wasting our time sitting on our backsides wishing for some blessing from the outside to fall into our laps. Instead, let’s start pursuing the blessing that God has promised us all if we will just open up His book, get into His Word and get His Word into us.

—————————————

Was anyone else struck by the irony of Jesus’ question in Luke 12:14, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” For some reason my first response when I read this verse today was, “Well, God did.” I’m sure there is a lesson in this ironic question. I’m just not sure what it is yet. Maybe you can fill me in.

What did you get out of today’s reading? Feel free to comment and let the world wide community know.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.–Luke 9:23

A brief thought struck me at this verse. We take up our cross daily. We don’t take it up weekly, monthly, yearly. We don’t even take it up for our whole lives. 

I so often live in the future, thinking I have to be sinless and pure for the rest of my life. When I start thinking that way, I begin to despair. I just don’t think I can do this for the rest of my life. I don’t think I can do this for a decade. I don’t think I can do this for a week. Sometimes I don’t even think I can do this tomorrow. But I don’t have to. All I have to do is pick up my cross today. Just one day at a time. By God’s grace, I can do this today.

Perhaps this is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34, ESV).

Don’t worry about next year, next month or next week. Just take up your cross today. You can do that.

Have a happy 4th of July.

Keep the faith and keep reading.