JMD Devotional 264 Ephesians 6:10,11 Thick Skin or Correct Clothing?
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
The school of hard knocks has taught us other ways of surviving the assaults we experience. How many times have coaches, dads and other authority figures told us to develop a thick skin when a word or gesture hurt us? The world’s prescription for pain is either to grow a callous or to retreat from it. Many are taught that the best defense is a counter-attack; and have so well honed the skill as to become bullies verbally and physically without any provocation. But none of this is God’s way. We are not to become insensitive, we are not to retreat and fail to engage and we are not to be volatile and initiate a first strike: we are to stand in Christ wearing God’s armor. We wear armor because humility and sensitivity and all that we are is worth protecting!
Dear God,
Attacks seem to come from all directions; but You are my refuge. I have so learned the wrong ways to protect myself that my friends and family have trouble getting through to the real me. I am not the insensitive and angry and aggressive man I sometimes appear to be: please pumice off the calluses and make me responsive to my loved ones and people in need, for Jesus’ sake.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
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The school of hard knocks has taught us other ways of surviving the assaults we experience. How many times have coaches, dads and other authority figures told us to develop a thick skin when a word or gesture hurt us? The world’s prescription for pain is either to grow a callous or to retreat from it. Many are taught that the best defense is a counter-attack; and have so well honed the skill as to become bullies verbally and physically without any provocation. But none of this is God’s way. We are not to become insensitive, we are not to retreat and fail to engage and we are not to be volatile and initiate a first strike: we are to stand in Christ wearing God’s armor. We wear armor because humility and sensitivity and all that we are is worth protecting!
Dear God,
Attacks seem to come from all directions; but You are my refuge. I have so learned the wrong ways to protect myself that my friends and family have trouble getting through to the real me. I am not the insensitive and angry and aggressive man I sometimes appear to be: please pumice off the calluses and make me responsive to my loved ones and people in need, for Jesus’ sake.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Labels: addiction, Christian, devotional, faithfulness, integrity, purity, recovery
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 11:51 AM
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