[Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20]
The main topic of the book of Ephesians that Apostle Paul talks about is embracing the radiant life God wants Christians to fully enjoy. What does a radiant life look like? Think about a wedding day! What does the bride’s face look like? She looks truly radiant with joy because she is full of joy, hope, and love in her heart. Her wedding day is one of the happiest moments ever for her. The guests can recognize the joy in her face, voice, and her whole body.
I have another biblical example of the radiant Christian life. There was a man. His name was Moses. When he came down from the mountain of God, people were amazed because his face was radiant (Exodus 34:29-35). People whispered to each other, “How come his face is shining like that?” Some said, “Because he had spoken with God.” Speaking with God made Moses’s face radiant because he was full of joy, faith, hope, love and full of confidence in God in his heart.
A radiant life means possessing “every spiritual blessing of God” that God pours upon a person’s heart and life, and everyone can recognize it. If we fully receive God’s spiritual blessings, our lives will be bright like a burst of sunshine.
Tasks for Radiant Life
Today, I will share with you two tasks for living a life of radiance. The first task is developing Christian morality. The second is guarding your spiritual life.
Jesus said to love your God and love your neighbor. These two things are greater than any other commandment of God. Loving your God means letting the Spirit of God guard His blessings in your heart and life. Loving your neighbor means developing and living a moral life.
In Ephesians 6:1-9, Paul talked about developing a moral life. “Let children obey and honor their parents” means that parents should properly train and teach their children. And he also talked about serving those who live around you and treating them well not only to gain their favor but also to gain the favor of God.
In verses 10-20, Paul focused on protecting the Christian’s spiritual life from the deceptions of the devil because Christians can fully enjoy a brilliant life in Christ when they fight to guard themselves from spiritual warfare.
However, I will share with you today how to protect your spirit from evil so that you can enjoy your brilliant life in Christ.
Against the Schemes of Evil
How many scam calls or texts do you receive per day? Every day we are attacked by scammers trying to steal our money.
There once was a grandmother who was over seventy years old. One day, she got a call from a man, and he said, “Grandma, it’s me.” She thought that he was her grandson so she answered,
“Are you Tom?” And pretending like he was Tom, the man said, “Yes, grandma. It’s me. Grandma! I had an accident, and I’m in the emergency room. I need some money. Could you please send me some?” And like most grandmas would, she sent money, but she didn’t know that most of these kinds of calls are scam calls. Even today, scammers are looking for someone to steal from.
Scammers try to deceive us because they know some of us have wealth but at the same time are vulnerable targets. Scammers will not stop deceiving their targets until the target has nothing left of value.
For this same reason, Satan never stops deceiving us in order to steal our spiritual blessings which are the joy, peace, and hope that God puts in us. Don’t be a vulnerable target.
God’s Mighty Power
In today’s passages, Paul encourages us to “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.” These passages gave me some insight that we can use God’s mighty power to protect our spiritual values against evil.
Who could be happy when all their valuables are stolen? No one could. Regret and misery will take the place of their happiness.
The backyard of our parsonage has a lot of green grass. It looks good in spring and summer, but there is a spot that looks bad all the time because grass doesn’t grow there. The spot is under a pine tree because the pine tree blocks the sun. In the same way, a Christian’s pure joy can not grow in us when we stay under the spiritual forces of evil.
In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul talked about scriptural solutions for protecting our joy. The scriptural solution is to wear the armor of God. There are many armors of God, but I want to share about prayer as the armor of God first.
Prayer and God’s Power
Verses 18-20 tell us two spiritual lessons about prayer. First, we should pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayer, and we should pray always because prayer is our spiritual breath that breathes in God’s living Spirit. You know what happens when you stop breathing? You will suffocate. Edwin Harvey said, “A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power.”
The second spiritual lesson about prayer is that prayer has a purpose. Paul said in verse 19, “Please pray that I may open my mouth and speak fearlessly the mysteries of the gospel.” He knew that prayer had power to protect him so that he could complete his holy work.
The prayer of Moses is a biblical example of the spiritual function of prayer in Exodus 17. Moses said to Joshua, “You go and fight with the enemy, and I will pray for you on the mountain top.” He
went up to the mountain, sat down, and raised his hands. “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”
1. Prayer is not only a process of thinking and speaking to God, but it should also be accompanied by proper action as Moses did at the top of the mountain.
2. Christians need to pray to God without ceasing. When Moses stopped praying, the enemy started winning.
My Story
This is my story about how my brother saved my life when I was drowning. My mom walked my two brothers and me to church a couple of miles in the rainy season when I was 6 or 7 years old. When I walked along the river, accidentally I stepped on the edge of the bank, which gave way under my weight. When I was sinking into the water with the Bible that I was carrying, I just raised my hand upright until my brother who was 11 years old rushed to me and pulled me up. This illustrates how a combination of prayer and proper action work together.
Peter cried out to God by raising his hand to Jesus when he was sinking in the water. When he raised his hand, Jesus reached out and caught him (Matthew 14:30). This is how a Christian’s radiant life looks like.
Conclusion
You have so many scam calls and emails that come in every day. In the same way, Satan tries to steal your spiritual blessings, which are the love, hope, faith, joy, and peace of God every day. You need to know why you are under attack. It’s because you are vulnerable and have God’s valuable blessings. Please don’t lose them, but rather keep them in your heart with prayer.
@ 2022.07.03. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
