Happy Friday Morning!  Please take few minutes to pray in order to open up your heart, before moving on. Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. ¹³ Therefore 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.

It’s funny how some words or phrases can take us back in life.  I know this sounds sort of silly, but the idea of putting on the armor brings back a lot of the memories of being a kid and all the things we’d find  to put on as a uniform or armor to play war….an old belt for a sash to hold a play sword or gun….an old pot, or maybe one not so old that mom didn’t know about, for a helmet…old boots that were too big, but that were cool because of how tall they were and acted as protection for about half my legs….maybe even some play sunglasses from the 5 & 10 store that had special powers to see things that the enemy couldn’t!

Well, according to these verses, we not only have the power to see the enemy, but to stand our ground against him…because of the mighty power of the Lord!  I love Paul’s calling out of the troops…"be strong in the Lord and His mighty power”…the same power that was with Jesus in his life, death and resurrection. The same power that Jesus is willing to bestow on us, making our new identity in Him possible…by faith!  So, Time to Suit Up.  And wouldn’t you know it…our Father has some armor…no, he has “the full armor”, ready to go…bathed in his mighty power and rightly so, as Paul warns us to be ready for “when the day of evil comes”.  I don’t know if you caught this, took me a couple of times through…he used the word “when”…not “if”…all with the assurance of being able to stand our ground…if we choose to suit up!  I don’t know about you…but that kinda makes me want to run out on the field and line up….game on!

I know there’s a lot more to be gleaned out of these verses.  This was just as far as I could go tonight.  So please share what they’re saying to you…with all the rest of us.  I look forward to it.

Also, I was not in church at PoG this week, and it was great to be able to go to our website and listen to Pastor’s sermon and have the corresponding message notes with the blanks filled in.  So, a big THANKS, to all those who make that possible on a weekly basis.

One final thought….and you can thank Pastor for this one…I’m just going to embellish it a little…"Suiting Up” and being an “Authorized Agent” ain’t an option for you and me!

Blessings to You & Yours….In the Mighty Name of Jesus!

jim