For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 6

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

I continue my study of Ephesians via my participation in a Discipleship (D) Group that is part of my church. For this morning, I move to a more detailed examination of Ephesians 6:10-20. For this morning, I read Paul's words to "[p]ut on the whole armor of God" (v10) as a battle cry, with both excitement and vigor.  Believers MUST see our time in our earthly bodies as a battle for our soul.  The encouragement here of course is that Jesus Christ has won this battle!  "It is finished" as Jesus cries out from the cross as written in John 19:30 - see also this post from John Piper. That is how Paul, from prison when he writes the prison epistles (including Ephesians), is able to be so full of hope and boldly proclaim the gospel. Despite the darkness of our world, and how it is full of sickness, addiction, death, sin, war, suffering, and pain, we can be full of hope and boldness.  We have Christ and we can stand on how He has already won!  We must stand, and we must also, as Paul asks, pray for one another!

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:18b-20

For additional great resources, see this post on DesiringGod.com regarding addiction to digital devices and this post from John Piper on the power of Jesus' words from John 19:30 and how we must use this power to tell the world about Jesus.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for winning the battle against the darkness of this world - for me!  Incredible!  I am not deserving of such a blessing that is truly hard to grasp in terms of its riches!  My sin is great and it continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 1 Corinthians 15:24-25

I pause on both my studies of Isaiah and Proverbs to listen to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion - which today focuses on the extent to which God reigns, including a discussion of boundaries or limits, and a discussion of timing.  This devotion of course draws on John Piper's extensive thinking and writing on God's reign, particularly his book Providence. The reason Piper addresses these questions is to provide encouragement for believers in the daily battle against temptation and sin - Piper writes: "[t]here is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ will not overcome as the enemy of his honor. And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone."  Bottom line: God's reign of course does not start at the end - it is has been, is, and will be forever and ever.  Piper writes: "Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet."  Believers should be encouraged not just that God reigns, but also because we are never alone.  We have the Holy Spirit, God's Word, the church, our brothers and sisters in Christ, etc. 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:10-18

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You are more powerful than any force of darkness that exists - thank You for giving me the strength of Your might to defeat sin and darkness and my life.  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and I often fall down in my faith.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:6-8

This morning, I continued with John Piper's book Holy Ambition.  My focus today is on chapter eight Cities of Ruthless Nations Will Fear the Lord, pages 122-132. Here, Piper uses both Isaiah 25:1-8 and a description of this prophecy in action as Paul has a vision to go to Macedonia (Philippi) to spread the Gospel (Acts 16:10-12).  

As we read Piper and how he unpacks the passage in Isaiah (in the context of missions - the purpose of the book), we are first urged to remember that the goal of the Gospel is God Himself - to know, be with, and enjoy God; missions, "therefore is about the greatness of God[.]"  Piper then reminds us that much of the world is in darkness and not seeing the greatness of God, regardless of efforts to bring the message everywhere. We are at war with the powers of darkness.  Yet Piper wants us to see the prophecy in Isaiah 25:1-8 as one of hope - that God "has promised an astonishing triumph in the end."  We are urged to see how God "is a planning God...[and how] He gives forethought to what he does.  He is wise" (v25:1).  Most importantly, we are to look at v25:6-8 and how he is "stronger than the strong peoples, and he is so powerful and so gracious that in the end he will turn cities of ruthless nations to fear him....This is the reverential fear of converts."  In the end we must also remember that "[n]ot one life spent in the cause of world evangelization is spent in vain."  As Piper turns to Paul's work in Philippi, we see from 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 how Paul's efforts paid off.

Piper then sums up this chapter by stating that God's vision for missions and the nations is a "vision that cannot fail-if any one of us walks away from it, someone else will pick it up."

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such grace and mercy.  My sin continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.