Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near… For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace… from Isaiah 55

It was a great 5 minute rainstorm, just enough and just thankful for not having thunder and lightning, for the cat’s sake not mine because sometimes we DO  love the sound of a good storm, sort of reminds me that we are alive and that this IS summer. 

Of course I was also PLEASED to hear rain, 230am and again at 5am, BECAUSE I was waiting for it in order to check my latest laundry room ceiling leak fix. I’m really waiting for sideways rain, but these were intense straight-down downpours. My latest repair wasn’t thousands of dollars, no goo, no plywood, no plastic bubble. This fix? I closed the storm window. Oh. Oh. Oh… I slid the existing outer window to block the inner window track from getting wet. Oh. Silly me…

Did I know this? I think so, a couple times, I forgot or just didn’t fully believe the issue was significant enough here as the track is supposed to drain somewhere, maybe it did 60 years ago when built, but not now… drip drip drip it gets inside. 

This devotion is about spiritual battles, how we need to pick up the SHIELD OF FAITH, close the storm window, don’t let the devil gnaw at us, keep it out. Our armor of God may be sturdy and intact but would be incomplete without actually holding up the SHIELD OF FAITH. Sometimes we forget, our arms might get tired too and we let our guard down. This is where a community of prayer can make a big difference for those weary. So, we need to remember to CLOSE THE STORM WINDOW and prevent barbs from hitting us, from damaging our path, and getting in our way. Move your feet too, bring an umbrella to cover the rain on someone, move to a place where we can share God’s peace. We do have a God greater than any enemy, greater even than death. We do.

Pick up the SHIELD OF FAITH. Show how we BELIEVE IN JESUS, and in His Rescue and Righteousness for all’s sake. Teach Preach Reach.

Sometimes we ignore or forgot that we are in Spiritual Warfare, or we think it is SO OVERWHELMING that we slump in defeat before the battle really is even staged – and yet, we DO HAVE Armor for our hearts and our bodies, we DO have a Shield, we HAVE a Helmet of Salvation too. Our feet are readily equipped to share faith actively, we know the belt of truth keeps us intact, our breastplate of righteousness is God’s Way holding us up, guarding our hearts. When the going gets tough, we can keep going. Walk THROUGH that valley and always up to the high road.

Armor of God includes fighting in heavenly realms too. We are currently the ground force deployed. We have all the saints praying for us, that’s POWERFUL. Imagine that they are rooting for you. Jesus is a slain Lamb but standing upright for our lives. We too can stand up for God over all the schemes of hate, and small things to throw us off balance. Remember, someone in armor really often may need a rescue when knocked down because armor is heavy – and yet, Jesus makes our way LIGHT.  We have Jesus, He will carry you and your armor.

JESUS RESCUES. Jesus is the Word and therefore the SWORD of the SPIRIT. Let Jesus have the first, best and final Word.

Shut the Storm Window. AMEN!   (oh yeah, my ceiling stayed dry, Thanks Lord!)

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From Ephesians 6:10-18

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.