Paul exhorted the Ephesian Church to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Beloved, why should they be strong? They were now born again, and the devil and his cohort of darkness were waging war against them, hoping to draw them back into their old way of life (John 10:10). They, therefore, had to be strong in prayer and alert in their spirit.

Beloved, if you find out that you are not praying enough as you should or are fond of missing prayer meetings, you will soon become weak (Hebrews 10:25). You have a responsibility to stay strong in the Lord; the things that make you strong are prayer, confessions of the Word, a declaration of faith, meditating on the Holy Scriptures, fasting, exercising your faith, and obeying God (1 Timothy 2:8). Beloved, rekindle these things daily—you will always be strong and powerful against the enemy and the pressures of life, and you will never fail. Praise the Lord! Be an overcomer!

Prayer Point: My dear heavenly Father, thank You for encouraging me to be strong in You and in the power of Your Spirit that is resident in me. I put Your Word to work immediately in order to reign over demons, the pressures of life, and any challenge that will come my way in Jesus’ name. Amen!

And giving is a privilege before God, so we ought to take care that we live in financial balance so that we are able to give as God gives to us.

A backslider is a Christian who gets out of touch with the Lord, a careless, disobedient, unhappy, ineffective Christian who has suffered a relapse – and he (or she) is one of the most miserable people on earth. The Christian who is enjoying the fullness of blessing in Christ is entirely satisfied with the Lord Himself; the non-Christian can be happy up to a point because he has never tasted (and therefore does not miss) the things of Christ. But the backslider is isolated between two worlds –- he is not able to enjoy the Lord and he cannot enjoy the world! Is that a description of you?

As a child of God, do you want to have all the good things in life? If you do, then what you must do is fear God. To fear God means to see God as your creator and Father and give Him all the honor and respect that He deserves. It also means you give Him the center stage in your life and are obedient to Him (Mark 12:30).

When you become born again, you become a child of God. Staying at the level of a babe is not enough to receive everything you ask from God. You need to grow up to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Beloved, the key to growing up to be a disciple is feeding on the Word of God and exercising it daily (1 Peter 2:2–3).

Making God your hope puts you at rest in Him. The psalmist lived a lifestyle that is worthy to be emulated. He made God his expectation and made a conscious effort to wait on Him. He also made God his rock, salvation, and defense. Beloved, God was his rock to lean on, salvation to deliver him, and defense to protect him from evil.