Encouragement: Speak boldy

Here is your daily encouragement words and thoughts. Today I bring you encouragement from Ephesians 6:10-20

10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand 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 rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace,
16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can 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 every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.
19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak – that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Eph 6:10-20). Biblical Studies Press.

There is an idea within the body of Christ that once you belong to Him that everything in life will be easy. This may be true while you are new in your faith, but as you grow in the Lord and start proclaiming Christ you have to be sure that you are doing your due diligence. The more that God starts to use you for His purposes, the more you become a target for the devil. The devil does not want you working for God's glory or following God's calling.

There is perhaps no better book to read to shed light on demonic forces that are around us then C. S. Lewis's book "The Screwtape Letters". I think that the devil has been very crafty in these days at convincing society as a whole that he does not exist. What better way to dis-arm someone than to make it so people think oh it is just me that is screwed up, or I just don't have it together, when the real source of the problem is that you are under attack.

There is a certain risk in writing these things down in this blog. I do not want to have you quit seeking encouragement here because I believe that the devil exists. What I will write here now can apply to your life if you think the devil exists or not.

When you do proclaim Jesus Christ at some point you will face opposition. Regardless of the source of the opposition, be it external from the world or internal in your mind, these words from Paul's letter will see you through and allow you speak boldly.

You have to be ready at all times. I have encountered several struggles since starting to write this blog. With the help of my brothers and sisters in Christ I made it through the most recent battle. So today I bring these words from Paul's letter to the Ephesians to provide all of us guidance on the battles we all face.

This scripture starts with "Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power". This is really sound advice. We need to come to terms that we can not make it on our own and that we need the strength to make it through. Where our strength ends, Gods strength begins.

We are to "Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." It is not good enough just to wear the helmet you need to have the full armor on so that you are not vulnerable to attack.

Paul then tells us point blank that our battles are not just against flesh and blood but of really tough "dudes with power" and "against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens".

Because these are big league combatants Paul urges us to put on the full armor of God and having done everything, to stand.

So what makes up our armor?

1. belt of truth
2. breastplate of righteousness
3. shoes of the good news of peace
4. shield of Faith
5. helmet of salvation
6. the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
7. prayer.

So for today let us all put on our whole armor of God. That we may be encouraged and have the confidence to speak boldly.

I think we need to camp out here for a while and study our armor. So I will continue God willing on this in the upcoming blog entries.

Amen

Music Encouragement His strength is perfect (steven curtis chapman)