Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Thought:  To me, truth and righteousness are fundamental qualities that our society have compromised and rejected over and over.

Question:  What is truth?  Have I learned that Christ stated he was the embodiment of truth?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:14 (NIV):  "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,"

God enjoys teaching us about His nature.  And we have it here, part by part, as compared to pieces of armor.  God will protect us with Who He is!  God is "Truth."  Christ said, "I am (the way), the truth (and the life)."  Only God is "righteous", that is, perfect, always right and never wrong--never capable of making a mistake.  Thus we cover our mid-section, chest, waist area and "loins", where the "bowels" are located, and, as I stated previously, representative, to me, of covering our emotional self--our sense of well-being and personal integrity.  All our most vital organs are protected with these pieces of armor.  With the "belt of truth buckled around your waist", you are completely encircled on all sides by truth.  Truth and righteousness do keep us emotionally stable.  It's when lies and errors, dishonesty and wickedness abound in a person's life that the resulting confusion begins to tear them apart and make them emotionally unstable, even mentally ill.

Prayer:  God of Truth and Righteousness, help me encircle myself with Who You are, believing You utterly, accepting You completely, that I may stand against evil.  Help me be armed with Your truth and Your right-doing.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, there is no standing against evil in our own strength.

Question:  Do I see my need for the "putting on" of "God's armor"--God's power?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:13 (NIV):  "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."

As stated, it's God's armor, God's strength.  Notice too, it is His full armor.  No piece must come up missing.  No chink in the covering must exist.  Once we have Him protecting us thoroughly and directly, we will "be able to stand", even in "the day of evil."

What is "the day of evil"?  Rather than interpret this as a singular, future day, such as the most totally evil day of AntiChrist's reign, shall we say, or the day Jesus was crucified, or whatever, we should, I think, interpret it, rather, as any day that presents itself to us as evil.  It will vary from individual to individual.  What is your day of evil?  Perhaps it is when your weakest points were under attack.  Thus we can stand even in our weakest condition.  What would our weakest condition consist of?  How about total failure?  Can we stand in the midst of utter failure, of overriding sin?  Yes!  If this is not true none of us could ever stand.  As the psalmist teaches, if God counts iniquities, who could stand?  We only stand in Christ--our iniquities not counted because of Christ's blood.  That's the whole point.  If we could realize this deeply enough we would easily pick up God's armor without having to be encouraged, because we would well be familiar with how much we need it.  We would "stand in Christ", apart from self-effort and legalistic endeavors.  We would wear the armor every moment.

"After you have done everything, stand..."  We still like to try things in our own strength.  I feel this is what Paul addresses here.  Stress the first word, (after), and you begin to get Paul's drift here.  We'll always try in human strength to live righteously, etc., to some degree, but that's often the part of the warfare we lose dreadfully.  Then when God comes to our rescue, He becomes the true energy of His own power, and the way, the true way, the only true way, of standing.

Prayer:  Lord of Victory, thank You for Your "armor"!  Help me put it on in its completeness so that I may stand against evil.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, we all need to be much more aware of the spiritual warfare going on continually in this world.

Question:  Have I perceived the struggle against evil around me--in me?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:12 (NIV):  "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."

We humans are "flesh and blood".  We can fight only on that plane, that level.  Satan is a spiritual being.  He is joined by fallen angels of various "ranks" who are also spiritual beings.  Because they are spiritual, we cannot fight them at all.  In addition, God has given satan authority.  He has allowed him to rule the earth and to dwell in its atmosphere with his demonic armies.  This has plunged the world into darkness.  Putting aside the logical and burning question for now, 'Why did God allow this?', we must simply accept this fact.  But God doesn't abandon us to this dilemma.  He has all the equipment necessary, ready and available to anyone and everyone who will receive it:  His "armor".  So the dilemma of a world ruled by satan is dissolved!  God overcomes!  When satan and his hordes are allowed to do their worst, God still wins.  Thus, if "our struggle" is against an enemy too large and powerful for us, all we need do is get equipped by God to win.

It is clear to me that Paul paints the awfulness of the opposition here for one purpose only:  to remind us how much we need God.  We must not think we can function independently.  We cannot at all.  We are totally ill-equipped to oppose "rulers", "authorities", "powers" and "spiritual forces."  What's more, we are either "used" by God or satan.  Christ put it this way, "you are of your father, the devil, and his deeds you are doing."  The implication was that they could have done the deeds of God their Heavenly Father.  Either we do one or the other--we never do "our own thing."  Many people are quite unaware of the fact that they are really serving satan when they think, via self-deception and/or satan's deception, that they are calling the shots themselves.  Man elevates himself way too much!  We are "children."  We are "sheep."  We need to remember that!  And if we are God's children, we need to clothe ourselves in His strong armor.  We'll never overcome the enemy unless we wear God's armor. 

Prayer:  Lord of Hosts, help me ever to place myself in Your side of the struggle that goes on in this world.  Equip me, Father, to utilize Your power for this battle.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, without God's "armor" we are sitting ducks for satan!

Question:  Have I availed myself of the full spiritual protection God offers me?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:11 (NIV):  "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Here is the "how to" of being strong in the Lord, verse 10, and the "why", too.  How?  Envision your whole self armored on every side; covered over for full protection.  Your head in what it thinks and chooses; your hands and arms for what deeds you move them to perform; your vulnerable internal organs, heart and inner emotions, etc., for personal well-being; your feet and legs for wherever you may go--all are covered.  Why?  So that we can stand against Satan.  All failures in the Christian life become in-roads of the enemy.  How far "in" he can proceed is determined by whether or not I have armor, and how much. 

The "devil's schemes" are many and varied.  There are probably as many different schemes of the devil as there are different individual people!  We cannot fathom these schemes or, in our human ability, defeat satan.  Satan is a much more powerful being than we are!  We cannot begin to oppose him--only God, satan's Creator, can overpower him.  Thus we must put on God's armor.  We must "be strong" in His mighty power.  God and satan fight each other.  The Christian becomes the battleground.  Let's get this straight once and for all:  we cannot help God win!  God, however, can help us win!  We must relinquish ourselves into God's ability, receive the "armor", and stand and watch God win, in and through us, against satan.  It is our responsibility to "put" the armor on.

Prayer:  Great Saving Father, cause me to see my need for protection ane help me "put on" the different coverages You provide.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, every needed support is available in Christ, even "mighty power" when we are very weak.

Question:  Do I collapse when weak or do I find His strength invigorating?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:10 (NIV):  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

The word "finally" acts as a concluder.  When all our efforts at righteous unity and living relationally in God's ways are applied, we still will exhaust our reserves.  It is then we can resort once again to God's great, inexhaustible reserve of power.  "Be strong", (you "be strong"), "in the Lord."  What Christian hasn't experienced the Lord's very basic nature as often the only encouragement in darkness?  It is a common happening to feel like giving up.  We never know exactly when it will wave over us once again, but we are aware that the enemy has given us another sideswipe.  Then is the time to "finally, be strong in the Lord."  Not in ourselves; but in complete abandonment of self-capability, admitting inability and trusting Him to take over.  Let go and let God.  His strength is "mighty"!  It is not at all like our piddley efforts.  After all, He's The Creator:  His power is awesome.  We can tap into it because we are His children.  This is our joy:  that God will help us when we are so very weak. 

And this mighty strength can help in any one of the areas previously discussed (verses 1 through 9):  in marriage, parenting or on the job.

Prayer:  God of power, thank You for offering Your might and strength when I am weak!  Help me to acquire it from You whenever needed.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, a constant consciousness of God, especially in the workplace, would eliminate a lot of poor treatment of others.

Question:  Am I a kind employer who does not function by threats?  Am I a responsive employee who works with integrity?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:9 (NIV):  "And masters, treat your slaves in the same way.  Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him."

Happily, Paul also instructs the masters, employers, to act in a Christian way.  This is a fair exhortation:  first, the underling, then the overseer, taught to dwell in unity by each conforming to the behavior that springs from knowing Who truly rewards and why, whether that obeyer is the "under" one or the "over" one.

Paul specifically mentions a clear "do not" here:  "do not threaten."  It is an easy and common temptation to lord it over people who work under you.  Often a master will be tempted to get a lot more work out of a slave by pushing and bullying--abusing his authoritative power.  Paul anticipates this problem just as he anticipated lazy slaves.  Neither is a good way to act and neither will earn a reward from God.  Both master and slave, employer and employee, are accountable, on the same level, to the same degree, to God.  There is no "favoritism."  Keeping this perspective is beautifully self-correcting.  When creatures, all of them in all levels of status, know Who their Creator is and what He is doing with them, it should draw them into perfect alignment.  All should be motivated to do good:  that's the pure point.

Our Supreme Example, Jesus Christ, never lorded it over anyone, never forced His will upon anyone, but was characterized by His gentleness and compassion, while still holding complete rule as our Master.  In other words, He did not need to intimidate anyone to hold His authority, and the lesson to us is, neither should we.

Prayer:  Lord, as I have opportunity to rule over others, help me to do so with total awareness of Your presence and my future judgment.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, life's deeds are transformed when the motive behind them is to please the Lord and earn a reward from Him.

Question:  Do I know that life is a series of opportunities to "do good"?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:8 (NIV):  "because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."

What is our motivation in "serving wholeheartedly, as if you were serving (verse 7) the Lord"?  Are we indeed serving the Lord when we serve other people?  Indeed, our motivation is God, and yes, we serve the Lord when we serve other people.  How?  Is God dwelling "in" other prople?  Yes, in some and near others.  But that is not quite the point.  The point here is, to me, that God records all our behaviors and deeds.  Everything we do is kept track of.  We are accountable for everything not because of what we owe people but because of what we owe God.  We owe God ourselves, utterly and completely, because He died to redeem us and we are bought with a price and are not our own any longer.  And if God commands us to serve employers or "masters", then we should do that, not because they may be worthy to serve, but because God said to do it.  If God says we should jump off a bridge to certain death, we owe Him our obedience--we should do it.  Whether we understand why or not is not necessary.

Here, however, Paul states that we do know why we ought to serve our "masters" (employers.)  It is because we "know" that God rewards good behavior.  He rewards all good behavior of Christians, whether they have higher social status as employers (masters), or lower social status as slaves (employees).  So we learn here that earthly social status matters little!  What matters is how much real good we do.

This verse strikes me as an awesome truth and strong challenge.  It firmly girds our confidence that good behavior does not fall by the wayside unnoticed or unappreciated.  God is watching and tallying the "scorecards."  Also it motivates us to invest ourselves toward goodness.  Anything done that is not good wastes time, destroying that opportunity to do good.  We are continually offered the chance to act wisely.  God gives us this "gift":  the opportunity of the moment.  In this context the opportunity of the slave is to ever obey and serve his master, knowing God Himself is served by his humility, kindness, self-sacrifice and contribution of time and effort.  This is the Christian way.

Prayer:  Father Almighty, keep right purposes before my eyes:  that I am here to do good, no matter what my station may be.  And thank You, Lord, for coming rewards!  Amen.

Thought:  To me, this verse clearly shows the need to stop living just to please people.

Question:  Do I perform on the job with my "whole heart"?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:7 (NIV):  "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,"

Here again we see Paul telling workers to give their all.  The temptation not to is great because workers are not "family."  But God calls us to love strangers as well as family.  Anything we do we ought to do well, putting forth our strongest effort, or else that weak part will grow and destroy what part we had done well.

When Christians know they are doing something directly for God, they, being conscious of His presence and desirous of His approval, will, by His power, do their very best.  So should we always do in everything we undertake.  Why?  Because God really is in all things and is present near all people --inside some and next to others!

Christian workers ought to avoid an attitude of catering to men:  bowing and bending to please people.  Every situation, rather, should be approached by asking what Jesus would want done.  Our focus should be ever upon God Who is everywhere present and ever worthy of our best efforts.  We please Him above all!

Prayer:  My God, every task I do can be an offering to You!  Strengthen me to serve You, help me to think of You as I work and enable me to do every task with my whole heart just for You!  Amen.

Thought:  To me, many workplaces would benefit if employees did "the will of God" from their heart!

Question:  Am I a "man-pleaser" to get ahead, or a "God-pleaser" to invest in eternal reward?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:6 (NIV):  "Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart."

Paul calls "slaves", workers, employees, to a deep obedience.  Not a surface behavior, a workplace mode of operations that I shift in and out of to keep my job, which causes me to perform at a minimal level, doing just enough to get by, or which causes me to butter up an employer and set before their eyes an actually false picture of who I am when they are examining me; then as soon as they turn their gaze away, I relax and become careless.  Do I perform well only when scrutinized?  True character, they say, is revealed by what I do when alone.  Or, in other words, I am who I really am all the time, and especially is this proven when no one is watching.

The alternative to this kind of secular, human, weak behavior, is to live "like slaves of Christ."  Having the indwelling Holy Spirit means that Christ is with us all the time.  We are in His enslavement--His utter control of us.  If indeed Christ is fully in control, we will then perform God's will, not my employer's and not my own.  We will perform it consistently and continually.  And it will emanate from the "heart"--that is, from the central core of who I really am, which is where the Holy Spirit has residence.

Paul exhorts this kind of performance in the workplace to add to the framework of unity he has been touting.  Continuing along the line of various authorities, we proceed outside the foundational family to the workplace.  In Jewish culture the home, farm, was the workplace.  Today, however, it is different.  Servants, "slaves", in Jewry, were next in line of heirarchy after flesh and blood children, so the lines of authority stretched lastly to workers.  Thus, if all workers also allow Christ to control how they relate, the same peace and love that family members can experience will be shared into the workplace.  What God can do to unite families He can also do to unite work forces.  The Christian worker's responsibility is to be obedient to God!  Deeply obedient:  listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all things, "doing the will of God from the heart."

A good way to do the will of God in every matter is to ask yourself "what would Jesus do?" in each situation.  This reliance within self to listen to the Holy Spirit's direction is a healthy dependence completely on God.  As we wait to hear His answer it ought to come to us from having been steeped in scripture.  We know His teachings.  Combined with trusting that He will guide specifically and exactly, and will not let us slip away from His shepherding, we can confidently proceed in an exact direction.  We can respond in a Christ-like manner.  This "listening" is done on the deepest level--down in "the heart."  We shut out other inputs that clamor for our attention and focus.  We focus, rather, on the depth within where the Word has previously been laid down foundationally in us, becoming part of our very nature.  We may listen to many counsels where wisdom can be evidenced; but we make our decision based on following the ways Christ taught.  And let us not be discouraged when our conscience may differ from another's, whether believer or unbeliever.  This happens all the time.  God holds individuals responsible on an individual basis.  Paul has said, "...from your heart."

Prayer:  Dear God, help me remember You are watching all my deeds and every motive.  Help me to honor You at my workplace.  Amen. 

Thought:  To me, more people need to realize that God is sovereign over our relationsips, including employer/employee relationships.

Question:  Do I respect the authority of my employer?

Scripture:  Ephesians 6:5 (NIV):  "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ."

We are continuing down "the line" of unity in society produced from the original foundations of living:  first, married couples, next children to parents and then parents to children.  Now we move further down line to the relations of slaves with masters.  Remembering that in Roman and Jewish households servants were present, we see this as a common arrangement at that time.  The "common arrangement" today, however, is employee and employer in a different workplace than the home.  Nevertheless, the same truths hold:  employees need to relate to their employers exactly in accordance with these scriptures which were written for slaves and masters.

Therefore, obedience becomes the order of the day.  Is someone in authority?  Then let them be--and obey them, showing that you accept their authority and respect their wishes.  To obey an employer is to obey God Who put that employer over you.

Workers are to respond to their employers "with respect."  To me, respect is an appreciation for the good in someone and causes admiration.  We're to respond with "fear."  This is not fright, but an acute awareness of authoritarian power over us.  We're also to respond with "sincerety of heart", that is, no underhanded motives but rather a real desire to please.  To me, this reveals whether we work merely for money or to please God Who created our employer, sees all we do and wants us to do our best.

Prayer:  Lord of all, open my eyes to see the awesome truth that places You in charge of every relationship, including that of employee and employer!  Amen. 

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