The Greatness of God

February 7, 2012 Hi everyone!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:10-20

Recently, a church member approached me following one of our services and asked a question: “Pastor, do Baptists not talk about the devil? I don’t recall in any of your messages where you talk about the devil! Is there a particular reason why this subject is not talked about?” I tried to answer the question as honestly as I could and said: “I am not sure why other Baptist churches and their pastors do not speak much about the devil but I believe that it is due to personal preference. For me, to the contrary, I do talk about the devil fairly often, calling him by the names in the Bible as “the enemy of our souls”, “Satan”, “ the evil one”, the “accuser”, the “thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy, the father of lies”. BUT I make a conscious effort not to give him center stage and prominence in any of my messages. The Bible is quite clear when it says that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Christ in us gives us the authority and the power to overcome the evil one. I choose not to give Satan any more attention than necessary. I believe that God alone is Creator and the devil is like us in that we are created beings, lesser than God. That is why we call God Almighty! James 4:7 reminds us that our focus instead is to be on God. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

If we keep our focus on God, then He gives us all that we need to resist the “flaming arrows” of the evil one and we will then enjoy the fullest life possible! Live life to the full, Kinoole! Fix your eyes fully on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and stand fast! Stand firm on His Word and pray. And thank you for praying for Gail and me and our families! We are indeed blessed to have your prayer support! Pastor Daniel