Tag: Armor of God

It’s Near

On By TimIn 1 Peter 04, Faithfulness, Hospitality, LoveLeave a comment

The end of all things is near. Therefore be solemn and sober so you can pray.

1 Peter 4:7 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Even when Peter was writing this, his expectation was for Jesus was imminent. we live some almost two-thousand years later. By any stretch of the imagination that mass of time cannot be counted as near or imminent.

Perhaps Peter wasn’t emphasizing the timing of things, but using the anticipation of the return of Jesus as an impetus for us believers to be right-minded. The need to have that mental clarity comes from the faith that Jesus keeps His promises. We also have to gird up each other.

It’s not people, really… But the entities that work in the spiritual realm which we do not readily perceive. These entities are real, and they work tirelessly to influence people and events. It’s a real war. That’s why we all have trials.

Peter has previously spoken in this epistle to expect that suffering and those trials. He has been teaching us to think correctly in those trials by keeping our minds sharply focused on heavenly things. That way we can do the things we need to do. Live soberly, and war spiritually.

What we need to do is pray. Even Paul speaks of this spiritual mindset. Like Peter is telling us how to be prepared for that, Paul uses a different idea in Ephesians 6. The two ideas are basically the same, though Paul used the imagery of a Roman soldier in armor. That armor was to set your mind in a certain way, and be ready.

Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Be ready. Set your mind straight! And pray always.

If one isn’t sober, it is easy to get distracted and derailed, often leaving prayer behind.

Above all things, have unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Before we can pray rightly for anyone, we must love them. That is at the root of what Peter is teaching us. It is the most important way to treat each other. If you love your brothers and sisters in the faith, it will lead you to be burdened with their cares. And when they stumble, as each of us is prone to do… We don’t make another feel guilty.

Pray for them… Even as you pray for enemies. The time is too short for us all.

Show hospitality to one another without complaining. As everyone has received a gift, even so serve one another with it, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Peter 4:9–10 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Sometimes hospitality toward another presents itself as a daunting task. Some people just rub us the wrong way. We don’t want to be hospitable.

Check yourself. Hospitality isn’t about us. Well, not in the way that comes to mind. It’s about extending a gift to another. That is, giving them something they don’t deserve to get.

Look! Each of us doesn’t merit what Jesus did for us. It came to us as a gift from Him. It is a gift rooted in the love He has for each us. A gift that comes because time is short. None of us are promised tomorrow.

Extending hospitality even when we don’t feel like it is being a good steward of the grace God gives. But you say you don’t have the gift of hospitality. Peter is saying you do. It comes with your salvation… And even before you were saved. God was hospitable toward you by sending His own Son to die in your place. The Bible says God commends His love toward us. That’s hospitality. It follows then that it ought be a necessary thing to do that for another, if you are a Christian.

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone serves, let him serve with the strength that God supplies, so that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:11 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

When we do any of these things to and for others, it ought to be done in the same way God did it for us.

In that way, it lifts up Jesus in the eyes of all who look on.

Far Greater than Anything the Enemy Has

On By TimIn Daily Walk, Ephesians 06Leave a comment

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Our enemies are not people who abuse, use and destroy us. Our enemies are spiritual. Jesus gave us the authority to trample these.

Our daily devotions in El Salvador were from Ephesians, and there was a little nugget that clearly shined in this portion.

As part of our lifelong walk, we are to take up the whole armor of God. It’s not a daily task to put on the armor… Put it on and never take it off. Comport your life in such a way that you walk in the protection of it daily.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:17 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

We take that sword of the spirit… It is an offensive weapon. But clearly understanding the idea of “sword” here, this is a shorter sword. It isn’t a long spear, but a sword that is used in close-quarters combat. In other words, short-distance warfare. This is better perceived as intimate relational engagement.

In the Scriptures between these two offered… Taking up the armor, and taking the sword; we also glean information about the enemy’s weapons of warfare. These are fiery darts. One cannot help but to see the implication that these are fired from a distance. They are “distance weapons.” We can quench these with a shield of faith. (Again, we do see that our defense is in “close-quarters.”)

So how is it that the only overtly offensive weapon we seem to have is for intimate use while the enemy assails us with a distance weapon?

How do we have a chance in such battles?

There is the seventh piece of armor that many overlook. It is also a distance weapon that is far greater than anything the enemy has…

Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Prayer is not only for us, to help stave off those fiery darts, but it is for us to enter into the battle for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Each of us has our blindsides… But together, praying with all prayer and supplication for all saints… We present a formidable edifice. That is the church,. The one thing that the gates of Hell cannot prevail over.

Rejoice! Praise God! Willfully enter the foray of the battle if not for yourself, but for another! Together, by the power and authority of Jesus, we trample of serpents and scorpions.