Isaiah 59:17,19 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in, like a flood The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Over the last week, tensions have escalated significantly following the assassination of an Iranian General and several terrorist leaders within the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus. This week also coincides with the conclusion of Ramadan, during which there have been heightened calls from terrorist groups for attacks against Jewish and Christian communities. The war drums are beating … and the question is — how should we as believers respond?
First, we have to win the spiritual battle that we’re currently fighting! Whether you realize it or not, we as believers have been at war since we came to faith!
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Thus Paul instructed us in Ephesians. We fight against the kingdom of Satan.
We fight with spiritual weapons; prayer, the Word of God, faith in His truth, and His power– these are not carnal weapons but spiritual. We are seated in the heavenlies with Him [Ephesians 1:20], and in His authority, we make our stand.
The enemy’s weapons are temptations, fiery darts of doubt and disbelief, discouragement, weariness, earthly pleasures. Thus the enemy distracts us from and disarms us in the battle position.
But what soldier goes to war without taking the equipment necessary for war? A soldier on the battlefield without his weapons is useless and helpless and in great danger.
So it is in the spiritual realm. We need to actively take up our spiritual armor and weapons to fight the enemy. And we have this promise — when the enemy comes in — like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against Him! Are you ready to make your stand in this day?
Now, today, war is a very real threat in the physical realm – but it’s already been here for millennia in the spiritual realm. So by all means necessary take up the armor of God today – stand with Him in faith and win your battle, one day at a time — win the battle over your thoughts and your actions. YHVH Tz’vaot, “The LORD of Hosts” is with you, to strengthen, equip, and overcome; and His victory is assured!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Judges 6 begins with an angel talking to Gideon saying, “thou mighty man of valor!” However, in this passage Gideon isn’t feeling very valiant — he’s consumed with his circumstances — how poor his family is and how he’s the least of his fathers’ house. He doesn’t feel he’s done anything worthy of being called valiant, yet the angel still addresses him “mighty man of valor!”
Every time I turn on the news it seems the new buzzword is – CHANGE! So how can we just shift gears and change? Let’s learn a lesson about basic automotive mechanics. Generally a car has between 4 and 5 gears. The first gear maximizes power in exchange for speed. As you move through the gears, you can continue to go faster, yet without using any more power, and before you know it – you have to look at the speedometer – cause nobody wants a speeding ticket!
One thing I absolutely love about Israel is that fruit grows everywhere in abundance. Delicious citrus fruit, mango, pomegranate, grapes, cactus fruit, avocado — and much much more! It’s common to see people people pick and eat it as they walk by. And it doesn’t taste like your average western fruit either. It seems to be especially sweet. It must be because God has blessed the land it’s grown upon!
Sometimes it’s very difficult to rejoice in trials – especially when the trials affect ministry! Last week, one of our servers had a database server collapse, but after several days of work, the server is now back online. Although the damage was minimal, the time needed to spend researching the issue and then rebuilding the databases took days.
Reading the gospels I find myself considering and identifying with the very human experiences and emotions of the Apostles, especially as the pace and intensity of the events of their lives with Yeshua were unprecedented. I have to wonder if the pace and intensity of the days of our lives can compete with theirs. Witnessing His miracles, His authoritative and concise way of teaching, His inevitable rejection, torture and crucifixion, His astounding exuberant resurrection, and eventual returning flight to Heaven from whence He came…all this must have had a rather relentless effect upon those who walked in any way closely with Him. Would it be fair to compare our present day scientific and technical accomplishments, political gymnastics, information explosion, pandemics, media magic, and the plethora of personal events, encounters and challenges, with their apostolic roller coaster ride?
Peter and John have just miraculously healed a man who was lame from his mother’s womb and Jerusalem is wonderstruck. God’s goodness and power turn a cripple into a living leaping testimony. We too come to the Lord as spiritual cripples, and He offers us a life of abundant joy as a testimony to Him. This life was purchased at an inestimably high price as recounted in verse 15 above: the death of the Prince of Life. The Hebrew, “Sar Ha-Chayim” actually expresses “life” in the plural, i.e. “lives” (chayim). This plural expression for life points to the literally millions of souls who have been redeemed by the death of Yeshua, but also, to the abundant life He provides for us.
When I was growing up in Baltimore, Maryland during the winter I always wished for a snow day so that I didn’t have to go to school the following day. I was always watching the news for any hint of snow, even just a ½ inch was usually enough–schools would just close! Aside from the weather report there was one sign …