Week Five: Field Work Day 33: Shielding April 28, 2016

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"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of

unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes

and showers righteousness upon you."

(Hosea 10:12)

Day Thirty-Three Devotions:

MORNING MEDITATION

AFTERNOON DEVOTION

EVENING PRAYER

MORNING MEDITATION

Glean the Word: Acts 14:21-28

Glimpse of Glory: "...strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God..." (v. 22)

Jesus' entire life and ministry exemplified the trials and tribulations believers would suffer as they surrendered to the will of God and walked the path of faith. We walk on a spiritual battlefield in this world, and all around us is opposition and antagonism towards God, His followers, and His kingdom work. We are soldier's of Christ. When we trusted Jesus as Savior we enlisted in His army, and we were called to carry His cross as our banner in this spiritual war. The cross of Christ is the banner of victory, not defeat. As we go forward into battle each day, we go as conquerors and victors. The war has already been won. The real struggle we face is that of the daily battle to keep the faith. We must ask ourselves if we are willing to trust our Hero to carry us through the daily battles of life, when He has already defeated our greatest enemy's of sin and death? "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:5).

As believers, we entered into the kingdom of God through the door of faith. Faith is the door that is opened to us. It is how we enter into the kingdom of God and it is how the kingdom of God advances. All along our path however are hardships and difficulties waiting to try and test our faith and to stop us in our tracks. Our willingness to endure the challenges and continue the course, despite the setbacks, is a sign of our maturity and spiritual growth in the Lord. When we get up each day, let us look at the door before us and trust that Jesus is waiting for us on the side to feed us and lead us into the fullness of His abundant life so that we can help lead others through the door of faith (Revelation 3:20). Let us strive to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to remain true to the faith as they wait on the Lord to open the next door of opportunity. "...they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27).
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AFTERNOON DEVOTION

Glean the Word: 1 Peter 1:1-25

Gift of Grace: "...who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (v. 5)

Faith is the door that is opened to us, but it is also the door that shield us. Jesus is that door. He keeps us safe. He is constantly guarding us and shielding us and guiding us. He will faithfully lead us to our eternal destination. The trials that we face as we press on in the spiritual race are meant to prepare us for our final destination. Trials are meant to test and try our faith to see if it is sincere. Sometimes a difficulty will be used by God to show us how much we have learned from His Word and grown in our dependence upon Him. Other times, we will endure a season in the fire to purify us and cleanse us of any impurity and sin in our life that is keeping us from being wholly, and holy unto the Lord. Our trials are meant to strengthen us and deepen our faith and trust in the Lord. The testing of our faith will prove if we are truly willing to be taught of the Lord. Many cannot endure the heat and end up falling away from the Lord; proving that theirs was a shallow faith and not deeply rooted in the Lord. "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all" (Isaiah 7:9b).

In our spiritual arsenal, the shield of faith is our first line defense against the enemy; it is like a large door. It is big enough cover our entire body and protect us from all the flaming arrows of the enemy. "...You are a shield around me, O LORD..." (Psalm 3:3a). No arrow can get past the door of faith as long as we take it up each day. "We live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). When we link our shields together with our brothers and sisters in Christ we create an opposing wall that the enemy cannot penetrate, and we are able to advance more rapidly on the battlefield. With faith as our shield we can move forward in the battle with courage and confidence knowing the Lord is our protector and defender. "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). Let us praise our wonderful Protector for His shield which keeps us eternally safe. May we trust Him each day to keep us safe and secure for whatever comes our way, and pray fervently for our brothers and sisters that we would come together so we can be strengthened and advance the kingdom of God.
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EVENING PRAYER

Glean the Word: Ephesians 6:16

Fruit of Repentance: "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

Evening prayer focus: Prayer for standing firm and moving forward in faith (click on the image below for our evening prayer).

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8)

This evening, draw close to the fire and experience the warmth, love and light of Christ as we come boldly before the Throne of Grace and join our hearts together in prayer:

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