“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.” ~Ephesians 6:1

Sometimes it feels like we’re not gaining any ground, much less posting any outright victories. At the end of most days, we look back and can’t really see that the weapons of righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer are making any difference at all. Sometimes it can seem that way for months. For years. And we might lose patience.

We might be tempted to take up a weapon or two that might work better. Politics, for instance, seems to get results a lot quicker than truth or the Word of God. Money makes things happen far more effectively than righteousness or salvation ever do. Technology communicates much better and faster than loyal love. Threat and force can make things change right before our eyes while peace and faith just seem like fantasy words and wishful thinking.

We don’t always experience the victories. So, we’re tempted to do things in our own ways, by our own powers.

We live in a world dominated by defeat and death. Defeat and death get all the headlines in our world. The death of society. The death of marriage. The death of careers. The death of the family. Death by war, death by starvation, death by murder, death by accident. Death by lethal injection, death by abortion, death by chemicals. The death of the church, the death of the faith, the death of hope.

Our vision for victory in Christ is not some vague wish. Our hope for victory in Jesus is a deliberate, Holy Spirit empowered way of life in a world that’s obsessed with death and defeat.

We see God’s victory together in our born-again baptisms. We experience Gods’ victory together at our Lord’s table. We hear God’s victory together in the reading of our Scriptures. We practice it together in our prayers. We live it together by refusing to let the powers of the world tell us what to do or how to think! We boldly confess and forgive. We courageously welcome the stranger and outcast. We faithfully work for peace and justice. We never stop healing and feeding. We never stop singing and preaching. We never stop giving and giving and giving and giving because we see what God sees.

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, not yours! His mighty power! And the world will know that there is a God in Amarillo!

Peace,

Allan