Ephesians 6
Children and Parents
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Final Greetings
21Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
23Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
Footnotes:
[a] Ephesians 6:3 Deut. 5:16
3 comments:
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
This and the following verses are some of my favorite "word-pictures" out of the entire bible. I love thinking about strapping up and being able to go out and fight for God (that's just the football player in me). But then I realize the point of this verse isn't to totally be an analogy, it grounds me to the fact that we really are fighting a war day in and day out, internally and externally. I'm sure we're not all dying and struggling of repression on a daily basis, but we do make tons of God vs. the enemy choices on a daily basis.
Lord, help me to recognize the gravity of our job as Christians. You want us to be beacons for you, to help others out of the storm, but we often need help just standing in the storm. Help us to lean on you more, the closer we ar to falling down.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
crb
Eph 6
A lot of good advice written in here that touches our everyday life. Don't anger your children, remember that it is the Lord you are working for not man or yourself, and as CRB said, remember that everyday is a battle against a far greater power than man, Satan. And, that we need a tremendous amount of armor and discipline to ward off his attempts to bring us down.
My prayers is that we learn how to wake up each morning and do as the verses below instruct.
NLT - 11Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. 12For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
13Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. 15For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.[b] 16In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.[c] 17Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.
These verses remind me again that there really isn't a split between secular and sacred in our lives. How we love becomes an expression of our worship to God. How we work becomes an expression of our worship to God. How we manage others becomes an expression of our worship of God. How liberating to let the boxes that divide up our lives go away. There truly is only one thing; the rest flows from it.
What a reminder in vs. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. that we are not fighting other people, but other spiritual forces. That does set me free to love others...even "enemies of the gospel of Christ. Why? Because they are not the enemy, but merely being used by the enemy.
I wanted to that you all for your faithful prayers for me and daily reminder to pursue God.
May God multiply His character in your lives, homes, jobs, friendships.
In Christ,
er
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