12 For wet are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.This is powerful. Guys...we the world we cannot see is the world that is more real than the world that we can see. We need to put on the full armor of God and prepare for the attacks of the enemy...this means we have to be in the Word of God..this means we have to be careful what we allow to enter our minds and our hearts! Be on your guard at all times because we are dealing with the mighty powers in this dark world and the evil spirits...this is real stuff and we don't want to let it have a foothold in our lives! Cover yourselves with what God has to offer and don't miss out, because it is dangerous without him!
Good job guys! You have completed the first challenge! Look out for the new challenge! Starting tomorrow. I will email you!
Verse 19:
ReplyDeletePray 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
I love how even Paul, one of the greatest evangelists of all time, asks for people to pray for this. I guess this goes to show that we really do need God's help to spread the word. I also like how he used "fearlessly." He was endlessly persecuted through jailings, riots, and stonings, but he still spread the message. It's a little convicting when you think about how easy we have it yet we still don't spread the message. I think that maybe we should also pray for our own complacency to disappear, that God would help us to act boldly, and to see his message as worthy to be spread.
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.
ReplyDeleteThis verse, along with others, specifically spoke to me. Paul tells us that it is with only the armor of God that we can stand against evil. That our Lord and Savior is our greatest protection against all things in this world that tries to make us stray off of our path. With God as our protector we are able to stand our ground against those opposing forces.
Ephesians 6:12
ReplyDeleteFor 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.
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Okay, so I may be a little off base here, but let me tell you how I interpret this. A lot of times I feel like we villainize people and are quick to brand them as the enemy. I see this a lot with how we deal with people of other religions (particularly muslims). What I hear this verse saying is that we should not look at people as the enemy but rather recognize that we are fighting something larger. For an extreme example, murderers would not be the enemies but rather hatred. likewise terrorists are not the enemy but violent extremism is. We need to recognize what we truly need to be fighting. Often times those who we would typically view as the enemy are victims of those spiritual forces of evil. They are not our enemy but rather potential future children of God. Please let me know if you think I am off base here.
verse 16:
ReplyDelete"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
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And here is one of the simplest yet most important truths about Christianity: with faith in God and his power, love, and sovereignty, we can be safe from the evil in this world.
May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteI have always known this, but recently there seems to be more emphasis on catholic, Christian, Methodist, and any other denomination. This is the key and focal point for our faith.
Owen: what you said is completely on point! That's exactly what this verse is trying to imply. It's the "hate the sin not the sinner" mentality. I took it from another perspective because this verse truly shows that there is a force that we do not see...and it is evil and powerful. We need to wake up and ask God to give us the discernment we need to fight against it.
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