Today's Passage - Ephesians 6:12-13

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 6:12-13   "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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."   You might feel powerless to face this spiritual warfare, because the key to victory is not in your hand. It is not like we won't do our best to try. This warfare is just an intangible one and we don't know where to start with. Even if you keep seeking so-called effective solutions, these solutions or principles will be useless if you don't rely on God. Only God can make people hunger and thirst in their hearts, and really transform them. In the Old Testament, King Saul led the Israelite soldiers to meet the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. There was a giant warrior called Goliath in the Philistine camp. He shouted his defiance to the Israelites and said if he were overcome by the Israelites, the Philistines would become their subjects. This is a war between one man and a whole army, but nobody from the Israelite camp dared to take the challenge. At that time David was visiting his older brothers, so he volunteered to go and fight him. King Saul dressed David with his own tunic. But since Saul was much taller, David the young shepherd couldn't even walk around in Saul's tunic and armor, so he had to take them off. He chose five smooth stones and went to meet Goliath in the frontline. Goliath didn't see him carrying any weapon or wearing any armor, so he despised him. But David said: "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, for the battle is the Lord's." In the end David won the battle for the Israelites.      Saul's mistake, on the other hand, was to have missed the key to the victory for this battle. He thought it was a battle to fight with the sword and armor, and he would fight for the Lord with his own experience, talent, wisdom and strength. Aren't we just like him, trying to use our ways to serve God and please Him. In the end our ministry turns fruitless. It is not like our experience, talent, wisdom and our plan are not important. However, the most important thing is to rely on God. May the Lord help us see there is a hard spiritual battle to fight behind each task. If we rely on our victorious Lord Jesus, we can also win the victory in our job and our life.                                                                                     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, may you teach us to only seek your heart in our daily life. Bless us with the heart to follow your will, and rely on you to live a victorious life, instead of relying on our own talents and skills. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!