Dear Friends,
Ephesians 6:10-14 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm….”
One translation says to resist in evil’s day of power. The enemy spends much time planning and scheming to come to a day of power. But today is a new day. Today is the day to be strong in the Lord. Today is the day to stand in the full armor of God and to stand firm.
Some of the schemes of the devil comes after the attack. This is his way of keeping control. Have you ever seen someone go through a circumstance in life, and after a few years you find they are still in the same condition as though the situation just happened yesterday? This is the enemy scheming to keep his day of power current in our life. After a physical attack, the devil will use soulish schemes to attack and try to take charge.
For example, the devil like to use stress. If he can keep us wrapped up in stressful emotions, then endurance will slip away. The Word of God says we …inherit the promises through faith and patience (endurance) Heb 10:12. We start getting stressed by the inconveniences; stressed because of property damage; stressed because of the traffic delays; stressed because there is no electric and water; stressed with our brothers and sisters. We see the devastation around us, we drive through it, ponder it, certainly do not deny it as though Goliath did not exist. We look to help, wish someone would help us, we give it our best for a week and wonder when will things change and be like they used to be?
Friends, we are in this for the long haul. We must decide if we will be the tortoise or the hare. Will we pace ourselves, or get out there and get burned out? Things in our community will not change in a week. When the storm first came, many businesses and homeowners guarded against looters. They did not want the devastation that was on the outside to become devastation inside their businesses and homes. It is the same with us. There may be devastation around us in the natural realm, but we don’t want the thief to bring this devastation inside of us in the soulish or spiritual realm. It is one thing to have circumstances, and quite another thing to become the circumstance.
As long as we (spirit and soul) are ok, everything else will be ok. As long as we are ok, things around us can be changed. We may have to temporarily live in this, but we don’t have to make it a part of us. Just as we are in this world, but not of it. We are made overcomers, victorious, strong in the Lord, more than conquerors. We all have responsibilities that need to be met, and we need to have the strength to accomplish these things. We must remember who we are, and where this strength comes from.
It is especially important in these times to remain built up in the Lord realizing where our strength comes from. I know sometimes we feel like church is just one more thing that we don’t need to deal with. If we were driving down the road in a big hurry, no matter how much of a rush we were in, we would stop for gas in order to complete our trip. If we thought, “I’m in such a hurry, I’m very busy, stopping for gas is just one more thing that I don’t need to be doing.” We all know what the results would be. Sometimes we are so busy rushing and running, caught up in the circumstances of life, we don’t even realize we are running low on gas.
Please, do not put the Lord on a back burner. Please, do not handle the circumstances of life in your own strength. Allow room for God to move on your behalf. His strength is greater, goes farther, last longer. If we will continue in Him, His strength will continue in us.
The Lord has given us each other also. We do not need to face life alone. We have each other, to stand with one another, to pray for and with each other. For myself, I consider it an honor to stand with each of you. Not only standing in prayer, but at your side giving aid wherever possible. Standing at your side with a chain saw and helping those in need. We all have needs. It is a blessing of the Lord to stand together as the Body, as the Family, as one in Christ, meeting the needs of the moment. To see the Body come together as a team and go meet the needs of others, some even putting their own needs on the side till they first helped others. Oh! What a blessing! I know the Lord looks favorably upon you. I know I speak for everyone when I say, “Thank you for your help and your faithfulness.”
The Lord blessed us by getting our church building up to speed only 4 days after the storm because He knows the importance of His Body meeting together to be built up. Let’s come together and worship our God with a heart of love and gratitude. He has given us a great promise that says “when the thief is found he must repay sevenfold.” (Proverbs 6:30-31) The Lord knows the schemes of the enemy as well as the shortcomings of His people. He has allowed promises that cover every avenue of life, and a way of escape for every peril we may ever face. He is a great God, a loving Father, a gracious King, a more than enough Provider.
I want to remind you of services on Sunday, 9:30 Bible study class in the sanctuary, as well as the 10:30 service. Tuesday service is at 9:30. Wednesday service is at 7pm. Believer’s meetings are the last Sunday of each month at 6pm. All services include Children’s Sunday School and Children’s Church.
Let’s stir up ourselves as well as each other. Let’s encourage one another, build up each other. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen us so we can continue to move forward, “strong in the Lord and the power of His might.”
