Lighthouse Bible Studies

I will never get over the thrill of reading Psalm 18 and cherishing God as our Champion and Hero. This week as I design the July issue of Broken but Priceless: The Magazine, I would like to share with you a poem that fits into our Delighting in God’s Goodness series. I hope that this poem, which has appeared in Broken but Priceless and on my blog, blesses you this week and reminds you of Who fights for you.

Why do I cower so much in the night

And depend on my failing wisdom and might?

My enemies may be too strong for me,

But my God is the powerful One, the Almighty.

I will cry out to Him when danger draws near.

I will call on His name when my heart beats in fear.

O God, rescue me from the onslaught of attacks.

Calm my heart and remind me of the facts—

You are greater than any strong enemy.

You ride on the wind and walk on the sea.

You light coals on fire with one single breath.

The earth shakes when You’re full of wrath.

I was chained. You wouldn’t have been able to hear clanging links as I walked by, or see the chain that was metaphorically wrapped around my heart and mind. But for years, I struggled with chains of my own making. When I realized that they were hindering my walk with God, I wanted to be free. I just wasn’t sure how to do it.

Have you been there? Even children of God battle bad habits or detrimental ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Jesus died to set us free from sin’s power in our lives, but we can still walk hindered. We can let fear, anxiety, anger, loneliness, and so forth hinder what God wants to do in our lives and how we relate to Him and other people. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can break free and stay free. The strategies to do it are in our new book.  

“For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News
so that you will be fully prepared.  In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith
to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet,
and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.
Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”
Ephesians 6:14-18, NLT

Paul addressed the Christians in Ephesus how to remain strong in the Lord and in the power of God by comparing God’s protective armor to that of the Roman soldiers. The first post on the armor described the belt, vest, and shoes that Christians need to fight in spiritual warfare. Paul directed them to buckle the belt of truth around their waists, to cover their hearts with the impenetrable vests of righteousness, and to walk in boots of peace of the gospel of Christ.

Part two describes the outer shoe guard, helmet, sword, and binding cover of the armor of Christ. Paul reminded them in addition to wearing the shoes of the gospel of peace, to cover their heads with the helmet of salvation and to wield God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit. He urged them to bind all these together with prayer for defense against the enemy.

The shoe guards. The open-laced boots left the soldier’s shin exposed, therefore he wore a greave or shin armor to protect the tibia from attack. A blow below an unprotected knee rendered the soldier unable to maneuver. A metal exterior with a padded interior comprised most greaves. Often they covered only the shin, but a greave could be worn on the back of his leg by buckling them together. 

“And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God:
so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground.  
Yes, stand—truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate,
and feet protected in preparation to proclaim the good news of peace.”
Ephesians 6:13-15 (VOICE)

Why did Paul choose armor to illustrate our being protected against a spiritual enemy? Rome ruled the country and the people. Roman soldiers dwelled in every province into which Paul traveled. The citizens knew exactly what constituted an armor. By addressing the pieces of armor to which Paul refers, we gain a better mental image of what he may have been attempting to paint.

The belt. Paul urged the Ephesians to gird themselves with truth. A soldier wore a tunic with a belt around the loin which is the waist. The belt held the tunic up and supported the sword, demonstrating readiness to serve.

As a corrections officer my son wears a uniform that requires specific items at all times. On his belt, he must wear his tazer, two sets of cuffs, pepper spray, radio, baton, and gloves. At 150 pounds and six feet tall, I picture his belt as completely covered. He must be prepared for any circumstance. 

How do you respond to Satan’s lies and schemes? Today I want to look at the second prayer in our series on prayers from the Bible. Prayed at a desperate time, this prayer is a model that helps us to counteract the voice of the enemy. 

Tucked away in the chapters of Isaiah is a short but powerful prayer. Hezekiah, king of Judah, faced threats from a fierce enemy, King Sennacherib of Assyria, who planned to besiege Jerusalem. Hezekiah took a letter filled with the enemy’s threats to the temple of God, and spread the letter before Him—a perfect picture of faith and dependence on God. In the letter, the enemy boasted that he had conquered other nations and their gods hadn’t been able to save them (Isa 37:8-13). Earlier he had even said that the God of the Jews had sent him to destroy their land (Isa 36:10), which was a lie. Just like Hezekiah’s enemy tried to use lies to frighten him and the people, Satan uses lies against God’s children today to make us afraid.