Armor of God

When my son was in 3rd grade (he's in 7th now), he memorized the entire Armor of God passage in Ephesians 6.  We practiced it together every day and from that time forward, without fail, I have mentally and prayerfully put the Armor of God on each morning as I get dressed for the day and pray the the Lord would equip me to fight the spiritual battles I will be facing throughout the day.

This morning, Ephesians 6:10-18 were the verses to read with the Our Daily Bread devotional and verses 11 and 12 really stuck out to me as I thought about the world we are living in.  We REALLY CAN'T stand against the evil in this world without the protection and full armor of God.  We are in over our heads. 

I do what I can when I am with my husband and children to keep their minds focused on the Lord and their hearts filled with love.  I read a devotional to them at breakfast time, we pray together at breakfast and dinner,  I read devotionals and pray with them (including my husband) at night, I draw angels to put on the kids' bedroom doors after praying for them secretly in the night... but when my husband leaves on a trip and I drop the kids off at school,  I can't have any influence over what people or circumstances they will encounter.  

I trust that Jesus and an army of angels are walking with them, providing a protective forcefield around them.

And I pray that for you too.  I purposely don't send group texts or emails.  I pray for you as I choose your name from my contact list.  Because we all need prayer and encouragement.   We need to keep reminding eachother that we are not in this fight alone.  Most importantly,  we have an all-powerful God.  But He put a whole bunch of us together on this earth and He intended for us to work together as one body - different gifts that we are supposed to use to bless and encourage eachother.

Another devotional I was reading this morning had Joshua 3 and 4 as the reference and I was just amazed by God 's timing because we are going through Joshua at our church on Sunday mornings and the speaker who spoke on Joshua 3 pointed out that God didn't part the Jordan River until the priests with the Ark of the Covenant actually stepped into the river.  It takes faith to step in the direction God is leading - to use the gifts He has given us - but until we move in the direction He points us, God will withhold His best blessings.

So, suit up into your spiritual armor and go out there and be a blessing!😃