Category Archives: Ephesians

sWord

Posted on February 22, 2017 | Leave a comment

Ephesians 6:13 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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ponder This:
*Feet fitted”
*Sword of the Spirit”

I often start my devotional time by jotting key points of the scripture I’m reading. What came to mind first from these verses was a graphic image of a figure wearing this armor but my visual imagery struggled with two of the pieces of armor; “feet fitted with the readiness” and “the sword of the Spirit.” The rest of the armor was clearly for personal protection but these to pieces seemed different. That made them worth thinking more about.

Shoes that are that are “fitted” to your own feet are a big deal when it comes to readiness to go anywhere. You’re virtually lame if your shoes don’t fit; too small and they pinch…too big and they can trip you up. That makes your personal fit for these special shoes dependent on knowing the truth of the gospel of peace!

The Sword is an odd image. The Word of God often confronts, challenges and convicts the one who uses it.  This is what makes it personal; the Sword is more like a surgical instrument meant to save a life rather than a weapon to slay an enemy. It’s like the “physician heal yourself” idea. A surgeon’s has to be skilled and well trained!

Those two short paragraphs are what I was meant to learn today. All the other pieces of armor are protection more readily picked up and put on but shoes and swords are unique. They require more personal attention to become part of what will protect you enough to be ready to reach out to a world of broken people. The shoes are custom “fitted” so you can step out in peace to share the gospel. Your hand picks up the sword that has surgically changed your own heart and mind to become the life-saving “sWord” that reaches beyond your hand to a broken world.

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“Instead”

Posted on November 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

Ephesians 5:18b-20 Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t be tempted to skip right over that seemingly insignificant word “Instead.” It may surprise you to consider how important just that one word is when it becomes stand-alone Scripture.  “Instead” is a word of promise that God’s options and really good advice are available.

Here’s the key.  “Instead” is a very simple “word of God” with the power to separate circumstances from outcome.

“Instead” is Scripture that’s easy to memorize too!   It’s not a rule or an ultimatum.  It’s God’s reminder when the right choice counts,  he’s provided an “Instead.”

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Posted in Ephesians, Plan "Be", Wednesday

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God Was THERE 12/12/15

Posted on December 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

Ephesians 5:8-14
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

I’ve mentioned before how words often spark thought for me and today was an interesting variation on that.  I read verse 8 several times before I realized I’d been subconsciously reading an [in] before the word darkness.  Dropping the [in] changed my whole perspective on what I had read. Darkness is not a place I was “in”  but the far more personal “what” I was.  It says it right there but I missed it.

That made me re-read this passage with far more attention to specific words like “were once…but now you are.  They sounded like a very hopeful change to me.  “WHAT I Was” changed to “What I WAS.”  Three little words and a simple change of emphasis that made a world of difference on a personal level and then became my connection to Advent.

That’s exactly what God did.   He changed the world’s emphasis with three little words. Many devout people watched and waited for Messiah long before Bethlehem.  They believed “GOD was there.”  It was the birth of Jesus that changed our emphasis to “God Was THERE.”

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Posted in Advent, Birth of Jesus, Christmas Bread, Ephesians

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Armored Up

Posted on November 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

Wednesday Blog Post a Day Early
Ephesians 6:13 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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Thoughts:
I started out reading Romans 12 but when I got to the part about renewing your mind it made me think of the armor of God so I ended up in Ephesians 6 instead.

You’ve got the truth, you’re ready to act, faith is a good shield against evil. Being Armored Up defensively is good but not complete. There’s still one area left unprotected and vulnerable, your head. The “head shot” is how the devil wipes out most Christians, wounding and messing up their thinking.

There’s only one offensive weapon in that list of armor: the sword. It’s no accident the helmet and the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” are mentioned as a set. Together they become the very best protection against the “head shot.” Not only does the helmet complete your protection from the outside but the sword is actively using all the good stuff inside it to protect you too.

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