Tuesday, February 27, 2018

A Final Word



February 27, 2018
A Final Word

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ephesians 6:10
Read: Ephesians 6:10-17

In this powerful passage where Paul introduces us to our armor in Christ, I want to focus on three points. First, Paul makes it abundantly clear our strength is in the Lord: “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). Too often, we may yield to temptation and shrink from God’s calling on our lives because we fear we do not have the strength or the power to complete the assignment. However, we can purpose in our hearts to make Paul’s word the final word in our life about the matter: “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

Secondly, Paul makes it clear that we have an adversary, the great enemy of God. The difficulties we face are not just of our own making or just the consequences of the sins of others. There is a force of evil in the world, and Jesus told us that our enemy has but one mission: “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). But Jesus also made clear his mission: “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10b). God did not leave us defenseless against His enemy, and that is my third point.

All of the armor of God is a gift of God to us, to enable us to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. As we allow God to fulfill His purpose for us of a rich and satisfying life, we will encounter difficulties of our own sinful making, and we will suffer the assaults of our enemy. However, we are not alone; God is with us, God is for us, and Christ is victorious over the powers of the evil one.

My Takeaway: We can remain faithful to God because God remains faithful to us, and He has provided us with His truth, His righteousness, His equipping for sharing the Good News, His gift of faith, His salvation and His Word.

Therefore, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

Sē’lah
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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2018 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

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