Week 5 | day thirty-three
He is Bigger Than the Struggle
“The Struggle is Real” is an ever-growing phrase in our society, and let’s face it! It is, and is ever growing day by day. If you turn on the news or scroll through social media, things can look bleak and hopeless and can straight up make your blood boil! How do you, as a Christian, walk out “loving your neighbor” in a society that is hourly destroying one another and fighting for tolerance without compromising truth?
In Ephesians 6:12-13 it says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (or other people) but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in 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.” This is a familiar passage in scripture about the armor of God and the first part of the armor you put on in vs14 is the “Belt of Truth” buckled around your waist and it ends in vs17 with the “Sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God. These are two vital pieces of armor and you can’t know truth unless you are immersed in the Word. In some versions it says to be girded in truth, or surrounded in it. You cannot be prepared for what comes your way in the world without being immersed in the Truth, the Word of God.
In Hebrews 4:12 it says “the word is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” and if you look in John 1:14 it says “the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Wow! You have access to the VERY ONE who can bring about complete healing, deliverance and restoration, both in your life and the lives of others, and you get to know Him better through The Word.
What happens to you as you delve into the Word, is you start to change just like the scripture referenced on Wednesday in Corinthians. Then you start to bear the fruit that can only come from the Spirit of the Living God mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” There are important things to have in you when you encounter trials with others that make your blood boil. When you carry The Word or are emersed in Him, you don’t respond the way the world does or the way you may have responded separate from Him. In Matthew 10:16 it says “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves”.
You cannot respond to things the world does, it does not and will not set you apart and there will be no difference, no self-control in you that shows the love of Christ in the midst of controversy. There is no time like now to be girded in His Truth, to walk in the fruit of Self-Control, in a world that is drawn to chaos and whoever is screaming the loudest. There is a better way. There is the Living Truth of the Living King Jesus, and you must consume it and release it if you want to see true change in your life and the world surrounding you.
Today’s Prayer: I pray today, Jesus, for a hunger and thirst for Your Living Word, that I would consume it and it would become such an integral part of my life, that streams of living water would flow from me.
Today’s Challenge: Pick out a Bible reading plan, something you can integrate into your day-to-day life, that can bring about the true change you desire for your life and the world surrounding you.
