September 3, 2024 

Today's Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 19:1-21; 1 Kings 20:1-22:53; Ephesians 3:1-21

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We are in a war! Make no mistake about it: being a Christian has thrown us into battle. Our enemy is three-fold: the world, our flesh, and the Devil himself. Satan is the Commander-in-Chief overseeing and enabling his troops for battle; he is behind every opposition to faith, every doubt that undermines faith, and all the temptations that cause faith to stumble. Our combat is against spiritual forces of evil!

We are way over our heads when it comes to this fight. Who has the strength and weaponry for such combat? We are outnumbered and are fighting against an enemy we can’t see. It makes a person want to give up! What hope do we have to win such a war? That’s what Israel thought when Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to check out the land God had promised them. All they saw was an enemy they could not defeat on their own, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:31). They wanted to go back to Egypt, back into bondage, rather than trust God’s promise that the land was theirs. They trusted their eyes and not their ears; they were trusting in their strength and not in the might of God to deliver on his promise.  

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). There it is! The key to victory! We enter daily into battle not in our own power but in the strength of our almighty God. And we fight with our ears! For it is through our hearing that faith is given and strengthed to trust in our Lord’s unfailing promises and Gifts. He gives us armor to fight against and withstand the devilish attacks. It’s not our armor but God’s, and He dresses us up for battle with Gospel gear wrought by Jesus himself.  

The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit – the word of God – all these are Gifts for you. They all have one thing in common: they all find their source in Jesus. You are dressed up in him – your Baptism assures you of that. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). So we enter into daily battle in Jesus with faith grabbing onto him, and in him we are more than conquerors! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God’s Word forever shall abide, No thanks to foes, who fear it; For God himself fights by our side With weapons of the Spirit… They cannot win the day. The Kingdom’s ours forever! (LSB 657:4)

-Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.