“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht   

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/

Ephesians 4:14-15… that we should nolonger be children, tossed to and fro and carriedabout with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in allthings into Him who is the head—Christ—  (NKJV)

Yesterday, I wrote about how Christians grow in their spiritual maturity at different speeds…  I believe reaching a spiritual summit is an up-hill climb for all Christian’s at the beginning…with a struggle between their own flesh, Satan, and the Holy Spirit…until they reach a point in spiritual maturity, where the Holy Spirit gains the consistent upper hand, so to speak… 

The Apostle Paul pens this fullness of Christ status, with this scripture, in…Galatians 5:16… I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall notfulfill the lust of the flesh.  (NKJV)

There are some Christians who struggle with Satan’s temptations their entire lives, because they haven’t availed themselves to the protection from Satan that the “Whole Armor of God” can and will provide the Christian, who systematically put’s on God’s 6 piece set of spiritual armor…  The Apostle Paul eloquently describes this spiritual armor from his prison cell, when he penned Ephesians…  You can go back and read about this spiritual protection from Satan discussed in Part 1, by going to www.Godsmanforever.wordpress.com and typing in 7/15/2013 into the search window…

If and when the Christian becomes fully clad in God’s spiritual armor, and they finally totally submit their lives to the Lord…I believe the up-hill struggle between the Christian’s flesh and the Holy Spirit will have reached the summit of their walk with the Lord…  At this point the Christian should be “Walking in the Spirit” most of the time…  Living for Christ then becomes a downhill, easier walk… 

We Christians will always struggle with the desires of our own flesh, until the day God calls us home to be with Him…  But I truly believe that full protection from Satan is possible, when we remain fully clad in God’s whole set of spiritual armor…Ephesians 6:11…  I also believe the promise that the Apostle James (Jesus’ half brother) pens in the following scripture…

James 4:7-8…  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and hewillflee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will drawnear to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (NKJV)

Satan is no match for the Spirit filled Christian, who is fully protected with the spiritual armor that God has given us to put on…  I equate putting on God’s armor with putting on the Lord Jesus Christ every morning…  The Apostle Paul pens this, in…Romans 13:14… But puton the LordJesusChrist, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill itslusts.  (NKJV)   

The downhill walk with the Lord will become easier and easier, as the Christian draws closer and closer to the Lord…“Draw near to God and He will drawnear to you.”   Most sins, and succumbing to the lustful temptations of our old life before salvation, will have passed away…   The love for Christ and for those around us, will grow stronger…and the light shining from the Spirit filled Christian will become brighter, as they are being conformed into the image of Christ…Romans 8:29…

Matthew 5:16…  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your goodworks and glorify your Father in heaven.   (NKJV)

This spiritual maturing process, allowing the Christian to reach their own mountain peak, I believe will not be possible without feeding on God’s Word (hopefully daily), like Jesus teaches us in…Matthew 4:4…  God’s Word is the only offensive piece of God’s 6 piece set of spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:17b); and is the source for finding and putting on all the other 5 pieces of God’s armor… 

One piece of God’s armor is faith…  The Apostle Paul deems faith as the most important, as can be seen in…Ephesians 6:16… above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fierydarts of the wicked one.  (NKJV)

The unbeliever needs saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to become a Christian to begin with…Ephesians 2:8-9…and then continuous faith in the Lord, that His grace is sufficient to help us in every facet of our lives…2 Corinthians 12:9-10…

The writer of Hebrews explains faith this way, in…Hebrews 11:6… But without faith it is impossible to pleaseHim, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that Heis a rewarder of those who diligentlyseek Him.  (NKJV)

I believe that this reward God gives to His children, who diligently seek Him, is sweet fellowship that walking with the Lord as a Spirit filled Christian will provide…Ephesians 5:18-20…  This fullness of Christ will provide a supernatural love of Christwhich passes our mortal knowledge… Ephesians 3:16-20…the fullness of joy when the Christian is walking in the Spirit… John 15:11…Colossians 1:11…&…Jude 1:24…and a supernatural peace, that goes beyond our mortal understanding…Philippians 4:6-7…when the Christian allows the Holy Spirit to take charge of their lives…

Heavenly Father, I pray that each and every one of Your children, no matter where they now find themselves in their walk with You, will see the benefits that living a life in total submission to Your will and Your ways will provide… I pray for this fullness of Christ, and a down hill journey for all of Your children, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen… 

Blessings in Christ,  bruce r mills