‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions…’ (Ephesians 6:18)

As we come to the conclusion of these verses about the armour of God we end on what holds all of this together – on what holds our relationship with God through His Son together. Prayer! Prayer is the most wonderful ‘tool’ we have at our disposal as Christians. To be able to come before our Lord and communicate with Him; to be able to talk to Him at any time and know that He will listen is a privilege beyond belief and surely the greatest source of comfort, inspiration, encouragement, strength, faith – whatever we need at any one time – that any Christian can possibly have. So let’s remember these words of Paul. Let’s ensure that we have the full armour of God on every day and let’s hold it all together in prayer. Amen…

‘…and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God…’ (Ephesians 6:17)

Knowing that wherever we go and whatever we do that the Spirit of God is with us, is a blessing beyond compare. It is through the Spirit that we are able to discern what the Word of God is saying to us as we seek the guidance, help, strength and faith we need to navigate our way through all of life’s ups and downs, and to overcome whatever barriers and temptations we encounter each day. So allow God’s Spirit to move within your heart and soul that by His Word you might prevail each day.

‘And take the helmet of salvation…’ (Ephesians 6:17)

Perhaps the greatest joy we have as Christians is that sure and certain knowledge we have that, through faith in Jesus Christ and accepting Him as our Saviour, salvation is ours and, ‘…that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:38). Amen to that – and in that knowledge we are able to face whatever comes our way knowing that the Lord is always with us.

‘…above all taking the shield of faith…’ (Ephesians 6:16)

According to the author of Hebrews, ‘…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…’ (Hebrews 11:1) and essentially this kind of faith can be described in two words – confidence and certainty. The starting point for such faith is God’s character and the end point is believing in God’s promises – effectively, God is who He says He is and He will do what He says. Such faith comes also from remembering how God has been with us in the past and the more we remember and put our faith into practise, the greater that faith will become. If we can hold on to this in the face of all adversity then we will have the shield of faith that Paul speaks of here.

‘…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…’ (Ephesians 6:15)

It might seem strange to some that in the middle of a passage that is speaking about spiritual warfare and the need to put on the whole armour of God, that suddenly we have this reference to the gospel of peace. But the peace being spoken of here is that shalom, that inner peace that we can only know through having Jesus Christ in our lives and as we play our part in building up the Kingdom of God in this world in which we live, it’s a peace that we all need to know. That sure and certain peace we can have knowing that in all we do each day and in all we undertake in God’s name, by His Spirit, Christ will be with us. In that peace we not only know the full love of Christ, but find hope and faith to be the Disciples that He has called us to be.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me : Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.

‘…having put on the breastplate of righteousness…’ (Ephesians 6:14)

No matter how strong a faith we may have, or how devoted we may be, there is none of us righteousness in the eyes of God – not by our own merits. We see this clearly in Paul’s letter to the Romans where he talks of justification through faith and the gift of righteousness that we receive from Jesus Christ. Our breastplate of righteousness, therefore, comes through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. If we allow that faith to dwell in our hearts and souls and guide us in all we do, then through Christ we are justified and deemed righteous in the eyes of God and that breastplate of righteous will enable us to face up to any and all wickedness that comes our way.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me : Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.

‘Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth…’ (Ephesians 6:14)

In everyday language, truth is usually thought of as being conformity to fact or reality, but it is also described as being the opposite of falsehood. In terms of a Biblical or Theological understanding the latter of these two is probably a better starting point in our understanding of truth. However, even here we fall short.

When He was being questioned by Pilate during His trial and asked if He was a King, Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a King. For this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice…’ (John 18:37)  Quite simply, Jesus is Truth personified and if we listen to His voice, if we hold fast to His teachings, if we try as best we can to follow in His footsteps in our everyday lives, then we too can know that truth in our lives. And it’s a truth we need to know in order to be able to dismiss all the false claims made by the spiritual powers Paul speaks of and all the falsehoods that we hear spoken of in our world today.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me : Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.

‘Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…’ (Ephesians 6:13)

Again Paul reminds us that our whole body needs to be armed to withstand all that may come against us, but more than our own individual selves, the whole body of the Church needs the whole armour of God to withstand all it will face.  We all need God’s strength, God’s help, God’s encouragement – all that the Lord can give to us – each and every day of our lives. But look at the last two words in this verse – to stand. If we put our faith firmly in God and put on His whole armour, we will stand. That’s not to say we won’t face sad, difficult or even devastating days, but with the Lord by our side, we will stand.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me : Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.

‘…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 realm…’ (Ephesians 6:12)

For many these words might seem a bit extreme, yet the reality is that the moment we give ourselves to Jesus Christ, the moment we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, these beings that Paul speaks of become our enemies. Through Christ victory has been won and our ultimate salvation is assured, but still we are called to stand up to and combat all kinds of wickedness and evil in the world, and if ever we should feel discouraged by verses like this we should remember what our Lord said to Peter in Matthew 16:18. By His Spirit God will give us the strength we need.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me : Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.

‘Put on the full armour of God, so you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes…’ (Ephesians 6:11)

In these words Paul reminds us that beneath the surface an unseen spiritual battle is raging and as Disciples of Jesus Christ, whether we are consciously aware of this or not, we are part of this. But if we hold fast to our faith in the Lord, and put on the full armour of God (which we will look at in more detail in coming days) we can prevail. So as you come to the Lord each day in devotion, allow His love, power and strength to enshroud you and give yourselves to Him.

If there is any interest I’m looking to start a Zoom Bible discussion evening in the next few weeks. My plan would be to discuss the Bible passages that we looked at on the previous Sunday and just have a discussion about them in a bit more detail and end with 5 minutes or so of prayer. If you are interested please email me  Andrew.Graham@churchofscotland.org.uk I would need your email details to send you the Zoom link for you to join in. Each session would be no more than 40 minutes, as that’s the time limit I have on my zoom account, and could be on either an afternoon or evening.