Every Day Devotion

Ephesians 6:16 [16] In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; (ESV) What kind of shield are we talking about? It was not a small shield. “The shield indicated here . . . was a large shield about four feet high and two and a half feet wide. . . The Roman shield was made of two layers of laminated wood, covered first with linen and then with hide, and then bound top and bottom with iron, with an iron ornament decorating the front of it.  A man could put his entire body behind it as it absorbed the javelins and arrows of the enemy.  In the case of flaming arrows, very often the arrow would snuff out as it buried itself in the thickness of the shield.  During battles these great shields would often bristle with smoking arrows like roasted porcupines.” - Hughes, R. Kent.  Ephesians:  The Mystery of the Body of Christ, page 234. The enemy is firing arrows at us constantly. Let me ...

Ephesians 6:15 [15] and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. (ESV) What kind of shoes should we be wearing? The Roman soldier, which is the illustration that Paul is using, would have had steel studded boots for shoes. They were for standing, not running. They were for hand to hand combat. Those boots kept the soldier grounded in the midst of the battle. What a beautiful picture. It is the peace of God which keeps us grounded in the midst of battle. There are two ways in which we experience these Gospel Peace shoes. First of all, we recognize that it is the Gospel that gives us peace WITH God. Without the Gospel, any experiences of peace are fleeting and temporary. In the most important aspect of our lives, our relationship with God, we are filled with fear because we know that we are at odds with him. There is something just not right. We might not be able to describe it, but without making things right with God, we are not abl...

Ephesians 6:14 [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (ESV) “The breastplate was usually a tough, sleeveless piece of leather or heavy material with animal horn or hoof pieces sewn on, covering the soldier’s full torso, protecting his heart and other vital organs. Because righteousness, or holiness, is such a distinctive characteristic of God himself, it is not hard to understand why that is the Christian’s chief protection against Satan and his schemes. As believers faithfully live in obedience to and communion with Jesus Christ, his own righteousness produces in them the practical, daily righteousness that becomes their spiritual breastplate. Lack of holiness, on the other hand, leaves them vulnerable to the great enemy of their souls.” - John MacArthur Study Bible notes. A breastplate gives us protection. Satan will scheme against us. He will shoot his arrows. One of his main weapons of choice is accu...

Ephesians 6:14 [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,  (ESV) Truth is perfect. If truth has even a shred of falsehood it is not the truth. The danger that we face in our current culture is that people have a notion that truth is not perfect.  People will say, "You have your truth.  I have mine."  This flies in the face of reality, as well as the written Word of God. “Once, when a stubborn disputer seemed unconvinced, Lincoln said, "Well, let's see how many legs has a cow?" "Four, of course," came the reply disgustedly. "That's right," agreed Lincoln. "Now suppose you call the cow's tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?" "Why, five, of course," was the confident reply. "Now, that's where you're wrong," said Lincoln. "Calling a cow's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." - Bits and Pieces, July, 1991. Truth is perfect. And Paul uses the ...

Ephesians 6:13 [13] Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (ESV) The scheming of the devil is such that we have a need to be fitted with every piece of the armor that God provides for us. In the verses which we will look at in more detail in the coming days we will examine each piece of armor. But, the essential truth here is that we need all of God’s armor! Paul says, “take up the WHOLE armor of God.” Now, we must be careful that we are in the right position to take up God’s armor. The great Charles Spurgeon said: “First, be strong, and then put on armor. It is no use putting armor on a weak man . . . Now you must be strong first, but then not trust in your strength, but put on the armor which is here described. And yet it would be useless to have the armor unless you are first strong. “Put on the whole armor of God.” How then do we become strong enough to put on the armor of God? By be...

Ephesians 6:11–12 [11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For 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. (ESV) One of the greatest dangers for the believer in Jesus Christ is to underestimate our enemy. We are told to put on the whole armor of God to stand against the scheming of the enemy. Do not underestimate your enemy. He was clever enough to deceive the very first human couple in the Garden. He has been clever enough to deceive family members, loved ones, co-workers, etc. 2 Corinthians 4:4 [4] In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. It is the scheming of the devil that keeps the unbelievers blinded, and unable ...

Ephesians 6:10 [10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (ESV) Sometimes the last words said are the most important. The Apostle Paul has taken us on a journey in this letter to the church at Ephesus.  We have discovered God's sovereign plan to redeem us, not by our works, but by his free gift of grace.  We have learned deep theological truths of what it means to belong to the kingdom of God and how that is very different from the kingdom of this world we live in.  We then learned how we are to practically live out all that we believe.  Our beliefs direct our actions. Now, in the last chapter of this book, Paul says, "Finally."  In the coming verses he is going to describe a vivid reality that we are at war with spiritual forces that want to destroy us.  Before he set us free to engage in that terrible battle he had to teach us who we were and what we were to believe.  Now he says, "Finally."  These next verses ...