Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

QT 1 Dec 10

Eph 6:14-18 (NIV) Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 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 saints.

NOTE: Next up is the shield of faith, which is used to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. The word for shield, thureos, is used only here. It is a large, door shaped, shield. Faith, pisteoos, is mentioned in 1:15 "… heard of you faith …," 2:8 "… saved through faith; …," 3:12 "… we have boldness and access with confidence by faith …," and 3:16 "… that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; …" The last passage suggests that faith is required to understand the dimensions of Christ's love for us, and that it is beyond understanding. Eph 4:27 warns against the devil gaining a foothold, specifically referring to anger that continues. Finally, fiery, Greek word puroo, is from a root word meaning to kindle or inflame (with anger, grief, or lust).

What does this all mean? Satan is going to attack us. He will attack our assurance of salvation, our belief in God's great love for us, and our relationship problems. He wants to make mountains out of molehills, and forest fires out of sparks. We are called to extinguish these attacks by faith. God loves us despite our struggles and sins. God forgives us over and over again. What if God only forgave us 7 times or even 7 times 70 times? In many areas we would be out of forgiveness, even using the 490 figure. We need to have faith in his love for us, and emulate in our relationship with others. The shield of faith reminds us of our own worthiness, and our hope in our salvation.

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