Stand Up

Comedian Ken Davis has a routine about his daughter having her first child and his experience in the hospital.  He tells how he passed out and when he came back conscious that the staff had him hooked up to a defibrillator.  He related how bad it hurt when they shocked him.  He said, “If you are laying on the floor of a major hospital and someone yells ‘Clear!’, stand up.”

I get a big laugh out of this each time I see it.  It is funny when he does it.  Now, as I was thinking about this some things came to my mind.  First of all I thought about the Word of God.  Look at Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  The devil has many schemes against God’s people.  We need to get ready for them.

Notice in Ephesians 6:11 we are told first to, “Put on the whole armour of God,”.  This a vital place to start.  If we are going to combat (and we are) then we need to be protected.  If we are going to stand then we need the protection so that we can stand and continue to stand.  What are you standing for?  Anything?  Remember someone said, “If you are not standing for something you will fall for anything.”  Author Unknown.

Soldier, it is time for me and you to get dressed and ready for battle.  There is a battle going on whether you want to admit it or not.

So, how are you doing?

Decoy

Last night I was watching a show on television that I do not often catch because it is on late on Saturday evening.  To be honest, I forget about it.  The show is one of those hunting and fishing shows and I enjoy the host even though his public speaking ability is not the greatest (I am being kind).

Just an hour or so ago I caught the last half of the show.  The host and his guest were hunting goose in Canada.  I am all for that.  Maybe it will thin the population that comes to America each year.

As I was watching I noticed something.  There were fake geese all over the field they were hunting in.  These men had special suits designed to look like a goose.  They would blow the goose calls and the goose would circle around and start to come in for a landing and the hunting party would begin shooting as many as they could as fast as they could.

As I watched this show I began to think about the Word of God.  My mind raced all over the place.  Then the words came to me from Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  The word “wiles” in the original is “methodeia” and it means traveling over, travesty or trickery.  We need to guard against the schemes, methods and trickery of the enemy of our soul, the devil.  We do this by putting on the armor that God has provided for us in Ephesians 6.  You can look there and see how He has provided for us.

There is one place where there is no armor to cover.  That is the back side.  So, in the battles of life you and I must beware of the schemes of the devil and we must keep moving forward in the power of the Holy Spirit of the Living God.

So, how are you doing?