Morning by Morning, January 15 - God Gives Us the Victory! -- Standing Firm in Him, Clothed in Christ, in the Whole Armor of God Good morning, Lord Jesus. Looking to You, listening for Your leading, I begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ... “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13). Every day is a spiritual battle in the spiritual realm. But I thank You that the victory is won through the victory of the Cross and the Blood of Jesus! (Colossians 1:19-20). “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). And at the same time, our part is also to daily embrace and enforce the victory of the cross through our daily battles in our everyday world, as we take our stand to “stand against the wiles of the devil... that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Not in our might or our power, but by Your Spirit (Nehemiah 4:6) and all by Your grace, for apart from You, we can do nothing (John 15:5). I praise You that we are not apart from You, that You are always with us (Matthew 28:20), always even within us (Colossians 1:27), by Your ever-abiding Presence (John 15:4) and Your ever-filling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4). And in the power of Your Presence, Your Word is continually fulfilled and enforced through the battles of our lives as we keep looking to You, standing in You, with You standing in us: “And the God of peace will crush Satan under (our) feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with (us)” (Romans 16:20). So as I fight my battles in the power of Your grace, as I take up “the weapons of our warfare (which) are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4), I take my stand in You and praise You for taking Your stand in me. With my heart entrusted to You and Your Spirit abiding in my heart (Romans 8:9), I am “clothed in Christ” (Galatians 3:26); I “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14). That’s the key to my daily victories in my daily battles. That’s Your battle plan and strategic strategy for embracing and enforcing the victory of the Cross by the Blood of Jesus in my life every day -- morning by morning, moment by moment, step by step on my journey through the spiritual warfare of this world: As I “put on the whole armor of God,” I “put on the Lord Christ.” You are “The Whole Armor of God” (Ephesians 6:13). Every part of my armor is an expression of You and Your Presence with me and within me (Ephesians 6:14-20): Lord Jesus, You are my “Helmet of Salvation.” There is salvation in no other name (Acts 4:12). By grace through faith in You alone, am I saved (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:31). Lord Jesus, You are my “Breastplate of Righteousness.” Only through You, am I made right with God and cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Only through You can I enter the very Holy of Holies of the Presence of God (Hebrews 10:20), ascending in my spirit into Your Presence with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-4), as a child of God abiding in the righteousness of God, “For He who made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and even be “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Lord Jesus, You are my “Belt of Truth.” You alone are “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). You are the One who is “called Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11). In You, I know the Truth and the Truth has set me free! (John 8:32). As You set me free, I am free indeed! (John 8:36) Lord Jesus, You are my “Shoes of Peace.” You “shod my feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” You are the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). You are the “God of Peace” (Philippians 4:9), the “Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), the “God of Peace (who) will crush Satan under (my) feet shortly” (Romans 16:20). You “keep (me) in Perfect Peace” with my mind fixed on You, trusting in You (Isaiah 26:3). Lord Jesus, You are my “Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” You are The Word of God (John 1:1 and 1:14; Revelation 19:13). You are “the Word of God (who) is living and power, and sharper than any two-edged sword” exposing “all things that naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:12-13). Lord Jesus, You are my “Shield of Faith.” You are my Faith in whom I stand to repel all the fiery darts and flaming arrows sent from my enemy. You are a “Shield to all who trust in (You)” (Psalm 18:30). In You, I “walk by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7), “for by grace through faith” have I been saved (Ephesians 2:8). Lord Jesus, You are my Mantle of Humility. You clothe me with Your mind and heart to “have this mind in (me) that was also in Christ Jesus, who ... humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:5-8). “For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). By Your grace, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone, for “apart from (You), I can do nothing” (John 15:5). Now, having put on the whole armor of God, clothed in You my Lord and Savior, may I obey Your command to go forth in this armor, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). May I “speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:20). And as I go, may I be found “speaking the truth in love” -- not just truth, not just love, but “speaking the truth in love” -- with Your character in my heart and your authority in my words (Ephesians 4:15). That’s how “the battle belongs to the Lord!” (2 Chronicles 20:15) That’s how “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). That’s how God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57) In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today. In the love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you go forth in victory clothed in Christ, who is your "Whole Armor of God" in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Mailing Address: 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
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