Passage of the Day - February 27, 2013

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, ¹⁹ and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The sword of the Spirit, aka the Word of God, is our weapon.  Jesus used this weapon during the time of temptation in the wilderness.  When we are being strongly tempted to do something, it doesn’t take will power to resist.  Will power is fleeting and will not stand up to the barrage of attacks one can expect when doing the Lord’s work.

In addition, stumbling blocks and confusing situations will also be thrown our way.  The circumstances of a situation can also lead us to question “Is this God closing a door, or is this something to be endured and prayerfully rammed through by the power of the Holy Spirit?”  The Word of God will determine these things.  Left to our own devices and our blunt weapons, we will not be able to pierce through the veils of uncertainty.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)