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. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Let me be completely transparent here. I grew up in a denomination that, in my experience, didn’t really give much acknowledgement to the “spiritual forces of evil” and unfortunately, neither was there much acknowledgement of the power of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t say hell and damnation wasn’t preached—it was and it scared me terribly. I heard plenty about the consequences of sin but little about the enemy of my joy and peace. I entered my forties not having a clear understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit and the influence of satan. I thought people who proclaimed they were battling evil forces were just copping-out and those talking too much about the Holy Spirit were a little weird. Thankfully that all changed when we began attending a church that very clearly acknowledges both and very clearly teaches how to rebuke one and embrace the other.

Scripture is very clear about our role as believers. We are to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22:37 NIV), we are to study the Word of God in order to better understand who God is and who we are in Him. We are called to be salt and light to a dark world (Matthew 5:13-14 NIV) and we are not to attempt to do so in our own strength (Isaiah 40:31 NIV). Paul is very clear in Ephesians 6 that we have been given the tools, the armor as scripture states to survive in a world hell-bent on destroying us. Note Paul doesn’t say find a good place to hide with the armor of God and hope for the best. No, Paul tells us to stand our ground—stand firm. I believe it has never been more important for those of us who follow Jesus to stand firm. Friends, the days of evil are upon us.

I’ve lived long enough to see the devastating effects of the enemy’s work in our country let alone around the world. So many people have accepted the ideology that there exists no real truth. Truth merely is self-defined and fluid. We value the life of animals more than human life growing in the womb. We live in a culture that puts credence in the words and opinions of celebrities but are quick to denounce the Bible as ancient, flawed and of no value in a modern world. And some go one step further claiming those who believe in Christ and the Bible are uneducated and gullible.

It appears we are more concerned with being politically correct rather than being concerned that we are becoming morally liquidated. We have a media system that devotes hours of video and dogma about how young adults are weeping in the streets over the outcome of an election but we must ask where’s the outrage over the plight of the homeless, the hungry, the trafficked and the unborn? Why don’t we see daily ongoing coverage of the atrocities happening underneath our noses every day? Media and politicians aside, are we as followers of Christ going into our communities and making a difference? If we don’t who will?

It’s time to get up off our lazy butts and out of our holy huddles and stand. Stand in the name of Christ for what is right, just and fair (Proverbs 1:3). Stand in love but nevertheless stand.

Wise Sayings of Solomon

A Manual for Living

 ^1-6 These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king— Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn— Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,     the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

Start with God

⁷ Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

^8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee. Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair,     like rings on your fingers. Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don’t go along with them. If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell. Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman. Let’s pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals. We’ll load up on top-quality loot. We’ll haul it home by the truckload. Join us for the time of your life! With us, it’s share and share alike!”— Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look; don’t listen to them for a minute. They’re racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on. Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching, Yet that’s what these people are doing— they’re doing themselves in. When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:  the more you get, the less you are.

Lady Wisdom

^20-21 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.  At the town center she makes her speech. In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.  At the busiest corner she calls out:

^22-24 “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?  Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? About face! I can revise your life. Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you; I’m ready to tell you all I know. As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear; I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.

^25-28 “Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, How can I take you seriously? I’ll turn the tables and joke about your troubles! What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes? You’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.

^29-33 “Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God, Because you wouldn’t take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you, Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it; you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it? Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?     Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”

Proverbs 1:1-33 (The Message)

Sweet Jesus, we pray for Godly wisdom not worldly insight. Let us put on your full armor and boldly march into this new year with a battle cry for what is right and just and fair. Let us not be idle made impotent by our worldly idols that merely desensitize us to those things that break your heart. Amen.

C. Deni Johnson