For as long as I can remember my mother would recite the armor of God over my sister and me everyday. Now as a mother, I do the same for my children. It is a passage I am very familiar with, but sometimes with familiarity comes a certain mindlessness. You have recited the same words over again for so long that somewhere along the way, they lose their meaning and power.
Ephesians 6:11 came up as the verse of the day on my Bible app yesterday and one word in particular caught my attention . . . schemes.
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
A scheme is something tricky, underhanded, not fair and blind siding. It is something that can take the wind out of your sails, pull the rug out from underneath you, and leave you disheartened. It is not a full frontal attack. It is not something you see coming. It is not a fair fight.
"You're tired. God won't hold it against you if you don't spend time with Him tonight."
"You didn't actually lie. You just left out a small part that really wasn't that relevant anyway."
"I know this is wrong, but I don't want to embarrass him. God will forgive me... again."
"So you let a few unkind words slip out here and there. You;re not expected to be perfect."
"It doesn't really matter if you only go to church once in a while. No one notices when you're not
there anyway."
"So you fudged your finances a bit. It makes the most logical sense for your situation anyway."
Schemes... the whisper that is the beginning of the unraveling of a certain area in your life. Before you know it, everything is upside down and you don't even know how you got there.
I think most of us are ready to stand our ground, courageously, staunchly, and without wavering. We think we are ready for the fight, but somehow miss the small shifts underneath our feet--the shifts that end up knocking us down.
"With this is mind, be alert..." (Eph. 6:18b NIV)
"Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers..." (Eph. 6:18b NLT)
"Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet." (Eph. 6:13-18 MSG)
So what happens after we fall? Is that it? Are we better off not even trying to rectify our lives or situations?
Never!
Praise God for His encouragement that no matter how far or hard I fall NOTHING can take His love away from me.
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38) (emphasis mine)
No scheme can ever take you so far that you can't come back to Him.
He can wash you off and help you up so that you can retake your stand--wiser and more alert to those whispers.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph. 6:13-17)
Ephesians 6:11 came up as the verse of the day on my Bible app yesterday and one word in particular caught my attention . . . schemes.
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
A scheme is something tricky, underhanded, not fair and blind siding. It is something that can take the wind out of your sails, pull the rug out from underneath you, and leave you disheartened. It is not a full frontal attack. It is not something you see coming. It is not a fair fight.
"You're tired. God won't hold it against you if you don't spend time with Him tonight."
"You didn't actually lie. You just left out a small part that really wasn't that relevant anyway."
"I know this is wrong, but I don't want to embarrass him. God will forgive me... again."
"So you let a few unkind words slip out here and there. You;re not expected to be perfect."
"It doesn't really matter if you only go to church once in a while. No one notices when you're not
there anyway."
"So you fudged your finances a bit. It makes the most logical sense for your situation anyway."
Schemes... the whisper that is the beginning of the unraveling of a certain area in your life. Before you know it, everything is upside down and you don't even know how you got there.
I think most of us are ready to stand our ground, courageously, staunchly, and without wavering. We think we are ready for the fight, but somehow miss the small shifts underneath our feet--the shifts that end up knocking us down.
"With this is mind, be alert..." (Eph. 6:18b NIV)
"Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers..." (Eph. 6:18b NLT)
"Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet." (Eph. 6:13-18 MSG)
So what happens after we fall? Is that it? Are we better off not even trying to rectify our lives or situations?
Never!
Praise God for His encouragement that no matter how far or hard I fall NOTHING can take His love away from me.
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38) (emphasis mine)
No scheme can ever take you so far that you can't come back to Him.
He can wash you off and help you up so that you can retake your stand--wiser and more alert to those whispers.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph. 6:13-17)
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