Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

The Six Tried and True Ways to Stay Strong in the Lord.

 
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
— Ephesians‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Strong In the Lord

Pauls close in Ephesians gets super practical. Paul continually petitions and pleads with God in prayer for the Ephesians, and here in the close Paul really drives his message home with clear, practical take always. 

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” - ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul starts with the charge and command of being strong in the Lord, and his mighty power. If we look back at chapter 1, Paul unpacks the mighty power. We see the power that is in us, accessible to us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. THAT POWER! 

“and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,” - ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:19-20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul then breaks this down into what modern media would make look like a click bate article on HuffPost, The Six Tried and True Ways to Stay Strong in the Lord. 

  1. Belt of Truth

  2. Breastplate of Righteousness

  3. Feet fitted with readiness - Gospel of Peace

  4. Shield of Faith

  5. Helmet of Salvation

  6. Sword of the Spirit

Before we unpack these, we must not jump over verse 12. 

“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.” - ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul throws out a reminder of who our enemy really is...and this is SO critical for us to remember. Our enemy is not another person, a neighbor, spouse, boss, corrupt politicians or evil dictator. We must set our sight and see as Christ see with the right eyes and perspective. Paul makes it clear our struggle is not against the flesh and blood. We must be fighting the right fight, and not spending energy and resources in the wrong battle.  Verse 11 & verse 13 Paul says the same thing. Put on the full armor of God. He repeats himself...so we must listen. 

1- Belt of Truth

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” (Ephesians 6:14).

> Not surprising that Paul points us to Truth first. What is the truth, start with the baseline of truth in every situation and be truthful. 

2- Breastplate of Righteousness

...with the breastplate of righteousness in place” (Ephesians 6:14).

> What is righteousness? 1 : acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin. 2a : morally right or justifiable a righteous decision. Free from guilt or sin is only possible with Jesus, being “Right With Him.” Not something we can do on our own, the breastplate, the covering, our body armor of protection is being Right With Him! 

3- Feet fitted with readiness - Gospel of Peace

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). 

> At first this one was weird to me, just seemed to be out of place. But the more I thought about it, the cooler it became. We must be nimble, and agile. Quick on our feet, and poised to move...but not with aggression, quick to move and react with Peace from the Gospel. NOT quick to attack, quick to respond with the love of Jesus, the prince of Peace. 

4- Shield of Faith

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith...” (Ephesians 6:16).

> The shield is all about protection or flying objects and weapons that come against us. Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as - Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In the midst of the world coming at us, the evil one attacking our trust and confidence comes from NOT WHAT WE SEE, but our assurance in Christ alone. 

5- Helmet of Salvation

“Take the helmet of salvation...” (Ephesians 6:17).

> I love what a old mentor of mine once told me, “Don’t let Satan rent cheap space in your mind.” Our enemy works in our heads, and gets into our mind. Don’t fall for it, remember #1, what is the truth. Our salvation comes from Grace, and grace alone. 

6- Sword of the Spirit - the Word of God

“...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

> We start with truth, and we end with truth. The true Word of God! This is our defense and our offense since its a sword. If we look at #5, the mind games, they can be won with the Truth, the Word of God. Who does God say we are? Where does our identity come from? 

The Six Tried and True Ways to Stay Strong in the Lord. The middle four are wrapped or bookended with Truth. Wrap yourself in truth, dig into Gods Word daily, learn it, embrace it and let it permeate your soul. God’s Word will transform and change us, His Word Is Alive! 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch