Beginning and Deepening Our Christian Walk

  We give praise to the Lord for His faithfulness in strengthening and protecting us from Satan.  Fulfilling these promises requires us to be obedient to God's word.  In this first subsection of Ephesians 6:10-18, we review verses10-12: "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." We are admonished to be "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."  In this passage, as well as in the passage captioned in the above image, we recognize that we have an All Powerful Shepherd , the Lord Jesus, through whom we are able to be strong.  In no circumstance should we ever dream of defending or protecting ourselves from Satan in our own strength

  Is it possible for a Christian to become proud?  Yes!  The moment we take our eyes (thoughts, praises, etc.) off of Christ and focus on any successes or accomplishments that we have achieved without giving praise and thanks to the Lord, we are on a fast track to becoming proud.  In contrast, a Christian who demonstrates humility (does not focus on self or try to lift up self), has no time to look at any of his/her accomplishments or successes apart from giving God praise and thanks for such enablement.  Without You, I can do nothing.   To the humble Christian, God gives grace. In the book of Ephesians 2:8-9, we read: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,  it is  the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ”  God's grace is enough for us in every circumstance.  The grace God gives to the humble person occurs as a result of a life that is in submission to God.  And submission to God is our guaranteed defense against Sa