Daily Dose of Hope

April 3, 2026

Scripture: Ephesians 6

Prayer: Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I am so far from where I should be. Help me see others through your eyes. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We are journeying through Paul's epistles, his letters, which we find in the New Testament. We are about to complete our seventh letter, the book of Ephesians.

Today's reading is Ephesians 6. Okay, this is our last day in the book of Ephesians. Paul begins by talking about children honoring parents, fathers not exasperating children, and both slaves and masters having respect for each other. Can I just say how extraordinary this would have been? Children didn't have a lot of value in first-century culture. We would expect Paul to want them to honor their parents but to tell a father not to frustrate their child, not to lead them to a place of anger, would be really different from the culture around them. And for slaves and masters to have mutual respect for each other? This is a total reorienting of relationships because of Jesus.

Let me be clear – by Paul addressing slaves and masters, he is not expressing any kind of sympathy for slavery. Not at all. Rather, this was something that existed in the Roman empire. It was not ideal at all, but it was the reality for Paul in the moment. In the Roman empire, the poverty level was astonishing and it wasn't uncommon for people to actually sell themselves and their families into slavery to simply survive. This was not the kind of slavery we think of as Americans; the African slave trade was abominable and a different kind of horror. So slavery in the Roman empire was different, but the Roman slaves were still slaves and vulnerable to their masters' whims.

What Paul says is that Christ totally reorders our relationships with one another. Rather than being based in power, they are founded in love and respect. I can't overestimate how revolutionary this would have been. Slave and master, according to Paul, could sit side by side and worship the Lord as equals, even if they weren't equals in the culture around them.

But let's keep going. When we take a look at the first-century church, we see the Holy Spirit at work in amazing ways. But we also see opposition. As we've mentioned over the past few days, Ephesus was a very pagan city. One of the largest and most famous temples, the Temple of Artemis, was in Ephesus. Worship of other gods was everywhere. Forces working against God were everywhere. While the church was growing and experiencing signs and wonders, it was also experiencing resistance and opposition. Evil was present and real.

Evil is still present and real. True, it is no match for the Holy Spirit but for us mere humans, we need to be sure to stay strong in the Lord and his mighty power. If we don't, we can easily and without our knowledge, be used by the evil forces of this world. I often say that most of the time, we don't make the devil work that hard because we do such a good job making bad choices. But we must be aware that evil is out there, tempting us, and looking for our weak spots. The enemy wants us to experience defeat and discouragement, rather than the freedom and victory we can experience in Jesus.

So what's the answer? Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God. How might we do this in practical ways? Off the top of my head, I immediately think of frequent prayer and dwelling in God's Word. By making these two things a priority in your life, you will know God better, stay connected to the Spirit that dwells within you, and you will have a growing awareness and knowledge of God's truth, wisdom, and love. But what else does Paul say in chapter 6?

·Verse 14-Put on the belt of truth. Our belt is what holds our clothes on the body. Our integrity holds our lives together. Are you a person of integrity?

·Verse 14-Put on the breast plate of righteousness. The breastplate would have protected vital organs on a soldier. Any crack in the breastplate would have been dangerous. Any crack in our righteousness is dangerous, as it allows impurity and evil to creep in.

·Verse 15-Put the gospel of peace on your feet. Our foundation needs to be the peace of Jesus Christ. The enemy will try to steal our peace and if that happens, we stumble. How's your foundation holding up lately? ·Verse 16-Hold up the shield of faith. Paul says that the shield protects us from Satan's arrows. Prayer and Scripture are two ways to stand firm in faith and protect ourselves from those fiery arrows.

·Verse 17-Put on the helmet of salvation. A helmet protects our brain; damage to the head has horrible consequences. Because of our salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, we are new people, called to have the mind of Jesus. When we seek to have the mind of Christ, evil has a much harder time creeping into our thoughts.

·Verse 17-Hold up the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word. God's Word is the most powerful weapon against the evil one.. Think of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness-he used Scripture to fight back. Knowing and dwelling in God's Word is critical if we are to push back anything the enemy throws at us.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki