Have you ever noticed that in the Bible when God says something that He wants us to pay attention to He says it over and over again.
This morning the doctor came by and told us that if Josh does not run a fever and his blood counts continue to improve, we will be able to go home tomorrow. Now we have heard that before so our first response was to guard our heart against disappointment, but then we began to hope and look toward what we needed to do in order to be ready to go home.
My devotions this morning was about faith out of Romans 10:17. It expanded out to look at what faith is which means you have to look at James 2:26 (faith without works is dead) and included Ephesians 6:16 (shield of faith).
As I dug deeper, I read the surrounding verses in Ephesians 6. I noticed that God said twice to put on His armor. God knows that we are in a battle and that we need to have protection. In the news the other day I heard a report about how the US military was concerned over the effectiveness of the body armor the they were using.
It made me think about how important it is to have protection for our soldiers (our oldest son Robert being one of them) against the enemies bullets and shrapnel. Proper protection can save the lives of our soldiers.
Paul, in Ephesians is telling us the same thing. We must armor up. We can't go on to the battle field (your place of work, they grocery store, the mall, etc.) wearing street cloths. We must put on the armor that God gives us to protect us against the spiritual battle that is being wages against us. There are spiritual terrorists lurking in the shadows waiting to ignite a bomb when we least expect it.
I love the imagery that Paul uses to describe this battle.
- Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power
- stand firm against all strategies of the devil
- resist the enemy in the time of evil
- hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
Paul finishes the paragraph with a challenge for us to pray.
Ephesians 6
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. 19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.
And that is what we would ask you to continue to do. Pray for every believer and pray for us, that we would have the right words to say to whomever God puts in our path.
Okay, Josh. Now I have a survey for you. I know eating does not sound that great to you right now but maybe with some good, homecooked food, your appetite will increase. What will it be?
ReplyDelete_____Texas sheetcake - (chocolate of course
_____Homemade rolls
_____Banana bread
_____Lemon Bars
_____Dump Cake
_____Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
_____Peach Cobbler
Or, anything else you can think of that I can bake or cook. We need to add some other stuff, too, that is a little more healthy like:
_____Brisket
_____Ham
_____Parmesan Chicken
_____Potato Casserole
_____Green Bean Bundles (Healthy - hmmmmmm??)
Ok, - now you have some choices and you need to let me know, okay? Praying for your fever to stay down. We want you to be able to travel tomorrow. . . .Take care . . . Janet Harrison
Hi Walton Family, I go to HDC and found your blog on the HDC Women's Ministry FB page. In 2003 my 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). She is now a healthy 10 year old! After she was diagnosed, the words to the song "I go to The Rock" kept playing over and over in my head. "When the earth all around me is sinking sand, on Christ the Solid Rock I stand." His strength is what got us through and will get you through too. We are standing with you in prayer and love. (sky2824@verizon.net)
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