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| Armor 'n Enemies (Ephesians 6:13-19) |
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Dear Members of the Our Savior Lutheran Church Email Prayer Chain, Armor 'n EnemiesTherefore 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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 saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.--Ephesians 6:13-19 Six pieces of armor. Five primarily defensive, one primarily offensive. And yet... Have you ever used the chest-bumper of righteoueness on someone? How about the head-butter of salvation? The bludgeoner of faith? The shin-kicker of readiness? Even the sword of the spirit has its proper purpose - to fight our enemies. Who are? Other Christians? Unbelievers? Mean people? While we humans can all be so hard on each other, no. One verse earlier, Paul tells us what we're fighting: Quite convicting, really. Not only do I clearly go into many days without getting completely dressed, even when I do I'm mis-using my equipment, fighting in the dark, swinging blindly, or wounding with friendly fire. When times come - like these days we're in now - where there is fierce political thought and lines being drawn and opinions spouted as truth, including the opinion that there is no truth - it's just so easy to get drawn in before we remember to put on our armor or be trained in using it. When that happens, we tend to view our enemies as each other, and forget or deny that the war is still spiritual. And therefore more serious, more wearying, not less. REFLECTIONGet dressed this morning, and tomorrow morning. Once equipped, try emphasizing the defensive uses of most of the armor. Stand up for someone. Protect the reputation of another. Shelter someone in loving truth. Run quickly to someone in need. I pray you'll begin to survive your days much less scathed. PRAYER REQUESTS -- Week of June 13, 2010FOR THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LORD FOR HEALINGTim Mattson (Brother of Beverly Silletto) dealing with blood clots in lungs. FOR THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCHBethany Kuhnle, our DCE Intern, will be joining us soon. She and her family will be arriving on June 24th. Please pray for safe travels for them. And pray that the Lord of the Church will use Bethany in a mighty way in accordance with His will while she is among us. Also pray that the Lord will provide the furniture and household items Bethany needs as she moves into an unfurnished apartment. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.--Colossians 1:10-12 In Christ, |