Growing up, I played a lot of ball. Volleyball, basketball, softball. My siblings played and my family just was known as the loud and crazy sports family that was never home. My parents always pushed us to be better. A way of doing that was making us practice at home. I am not kidding when I say I would wake up in the summer, walk out to the kitchen counter and see a C.S. Lewis book, the bible, or some kind of American History book sitting on the counter with a bookmark that had between 5-10 questions on it and I had to look up the answers. Then right next to the book I would have a list of dribbling drills that dad wanted me to do, and then a note underneath that saying, “when I get home we are throwing 100 pitches be ready”…After about 16 eye rolls and an hour before dad would get home, I hurry and get everything done.
One day, I was working on my pitching and I was specifically working on my drop ball. I couldn’t quite get the spin. Dad was always my catcher and I finally said, “just let me try one more time. I think I got it.” He said okay and sat back down on his bucket. So I wound up and everything went perfect and guess what…the ball dropped…right into my dad’s shin.
The next, thing I know the buckets flying and my eyes were huge as the softball itself and I sprinted inside went into my brothers’ room and he looks at me all confused and I yell, “the ball finally dropped!”
This story is just a long way of saying…my mom and dad were always good at making sure I was equipped with everything I needed. I just wanted to throw in the story of the drop ball because I personally think it’s hilarious.
Do you know that we all have a Father that likes to equip us?
God, our heavenly Father wants to make sure that we are equipped enough to go into spiritual battles. The best thing about facing our battles when Jesus is our savior is this our weakness is His strength. The fight has nothing to do with our ability to overcome the powers of sin and darkness. It’s about the Lord’s power in us. So how strong you are is irrelevant – in fact, your strength can become a liability in spiritual warfare, because the places where you feel strong are places you are most likely to forget your need to depend on God.
Finally, 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. 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 6:10-12
There are 7 pieces of armor that we should put on every day so that we can stand strong in the Lord,
Stand firm, with the belt of truth, buckled around your waist, With the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
The bible is the breath of God and He blessed us with His word because it is the way we Christians are meant to fight battles, with Him leading the way.
Much love,
Kylie
