Front Line Fighting

Ephesians 6:12  

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, 

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 

against spiritual wickedness in high places." 

   As a Believer, we must be ready to battle our enemy "the devil."  We must also battle his cohorts which we find in (Eph. 6:12).  Our battle starts at the top with Principalities, which is lets say Satan's Generals who have the over sight of entire nations, (see Dan. chap 10).  His powers are his "privates" who possess human beings, (see Mark 5:1-20; Matt. 17:14-21). Then we have the world rulers, these are the demons that are in charge of worldly religion.
   Now that we know who we must battle, we need to understand his tactics, which is called the wiles of the devil, (v. 6:11).  these are his cunning arts, deceit craft and trickery. Then we must battle the fiery darts of the wicked. These are arrows that are tipped with tow, pitch, and other material than set on fire before they are discharged.
   My Friends, we can not battle Satan and his demons with a weak christian attitude. We must be in union with God and put on the whole armor of God, which we will discuss in our next Devotion.
Amen!
Reading:  Eph: 6:10-12
                Dan. chap. 10
                Mark 5:1-20
               Matt. 17:14-21
Ref:HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

     

Banished From Christian Life

Ephesians 4:32  

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, 

forgiving one another, even as God for

Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 

   You must get rid of your old way of life just like you would get rid of an old suit of clothes. Clothe yourself in a new way; put off your sins, and put on the righteousness and the holiness which God can give you.  Paul speaks of the things which must be banished from the Christian life. 
   There must be no more falsehood. There is more than one kind of lie in this world. There is the lie in speech, sometimes deliberate and sometimes almost unconscious. When something happens at one place and time, and they, when relating to it say it happen at another place, do not let it pass, instantly check them; because you just don't know where deviation of truth will end.  It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that causes falsehood in the world today. Truth demands a deliberate effort. There is also the lie of silence, and it is more common. It is things that should have been said that wasn't, (ie) you did not listen to the Holy Spirit.   

   There must also be anger in the Christian life, but it must be the right kind of anger.  The anger which is selfish and uncontrolled is a sinful and hurtful thing, which must be banished from the Christian life.  But the selfless anger which is disciplined into the service of Christ and of our fellow men is one of the great dynamic forces of the world.  The man who was a thief must become an honest workman.

   Paul urges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guide of life. When we act contrary to what our parents tell us when we are young, we hurt them. So, to act contrary to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is to grieve the Spirit and to hurt the heart of God, the Father, who, through the Spirit, sent his word to us. 

   My Friends, It would save a great deal of heartbreak in this world if we simply learned to keep our voices down and if, when we had nothing good to say to a person, we did not say anything at all. The argument which has to be supported in a shout is no argument; and the dispute which has to be conducted in insults is not an argument but a brawl. 

Amen!

Reading: Eph. 4:25-32

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

 The Cross Life Ministry

Live In The Unity Of Christ

Ephesians 4:4

"There is one body, and one Spirit

even as ye are called in one

hope of your calling" 

    Here Paul is talking about the Jew and the Gentile which had always been prejudice against each other. The Jews thought the Gentiles were not true followers because they were not circumcised and obedient to the Law of Moses. But over all Paul is talking  about the unity of believers in Christ. And still today there is problems with unity within our Christian families, inside our Church walls and outside the Church walls. The reason being, at times we as believers put ourselves in the center of the plan of Salvation instead of  placing Christ there. We should view our brothers in Christ on an equal level. 

   My Friends, God is sovereign over all races, cultures, problems of humanity (such as social and family situations, and even the unseen beings, "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God," (Eph. 3:10). We are God's chosen people having been set free from sin and made to be equals by Jesus' death and resurrection, we must live in unity of Christ.

Amen!

Reading: Eph. 4:1-16

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

   

Blessed Is The Lord

Psalms 68:19  

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, 

even the God of our salvation. Selah." 

   God's benefits are not few or light, they are loads; and they don't just come once, they come “daily.”  They are never confined to one or two favorites, for God knows we change and what we need changes daily. If He Himself burdens us with sorrow, He gives strength sufficient to sustain it; and if others oppress us, there is no cause for fear, for the Lord will come to the rescue of His people. 

   A world of meaning is condensed into a few words. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, therefore blessed be the Savior's name for evermore. My Friends, Let us all bless the Prince of Peace! All the saved adore thee, and call thee blessed. 

Amen!

Reading: Ps. 68:18-20

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross life Ministry

The Gifts Of God

Ephesians 1:7-8  

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, 

the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 

Wherein he hath abounded toward us 

in all wisdom and prudence;" 

    In our verses we study today we come across three of the great conceptions of the Christian faith.    The first is deliverance:.  In every case the conception is the delivering of a man from a situation from which he was powerless to liberate himself or from a penalty which he himself could never have paid, for his own redemption.  
   God delivered men from a situation from which they could never have delivered themselves. That is precisely what Christianity did do for us. When Christianity came into this world we were haunted by the sense of our own powerlessness. We knew the wrongness of the life we were living; and we also know that we were powerless to do anything about it.

   Then we have forgiveness: Even the rich and the strongest people in the world knows that they are in the grip of something they are helpless to deliver themselves from, and they need liberation. It is  that liberation which Jesus Christ brought. It is still true that he can liberate men from slavery of Sin, to the things that attract and disgust them at one and the same time. To put it at its simplest, Jesus can still make bad men good. 
    If there was one thing which men knew it was the sense of sin and the dread of God. Jesus changed all that. He taught men about the love of God. Because Jesus came into the world, men, even in their sin, discovered God's love.  My Friends, as the Scriptures tell us there is wisdom and prudence (sound sense), and Christ brought both of them to us, therefore let us stand on our Christian faith with God's gifts in hand.
Amen!
Reading: Eph. 1:7-8
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry 

  

In Christ

Ephesians 1:3  

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings 

in heavenly places in Christ:" 

   The creating of this body was wrought and planned by the Father: He blessed us, He chose us, He predestined us, He adopted us. All this happened before the foundation of the world, (cf. v. 4).  Paul writes to those at Ephesus, "and to the faithful in Christ Jesus" (v. 1). The little word (in), is the most  important word  of this epistle when it precedes Christ. There have been so many words defining our salvation such as redemption, atonement, justification, reconciliation, propitiation  and the sacrifice of Christ.

   All of these are fine, and each presents one aspect of the many facets of our salvation, None however seem entirely adequate. What does it mean to be saved? This is a question that is answered simply by the Bible term, "in Christ." To be saved means to be in Christ. A sinner who has trusted Christ for his salvation has as much right in heaven as has Christ; or he has no right there at all! 

Amen!

Reading: Eph. 1:1-6

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You 

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Share In All Good Things

Galatians 6:10  

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, 

especially unto them who are of the household of faith." 

    Paul is being Practical here. He reminds us that Church was and still is really a sharing institution. No Christian should strive to have too much while others had too little. "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things," (Gal.6:6). So what Paul is saying here is; If a man is teaching you the eternal truths, the least you can do is share with him such material things as you possess. 

    Life holds the scales with an even balance. If a man allows the scales to tip to the lower side of nature, in the end he can expect nothing but trouble. But if he keeps walking on the high side doing the right thing, in the end God will repay. 

   My Friends, Christianity never takes the threat out of Life. What we do need to remember is this. It is the blessed true that God can and does forgive men for their sins, but not even he can wipe out the consequence of sin. For example: If a man sins against his body, sooner or later he will pay in ruined health, even if he is forgiven. If a man sins against his loved ones, sooner or later hearts will be broken even if he is forgiven. We cannot trade on the forgiveness of God. There is a moral law in the universe. If a man breaks it he may be forgiven, but he breaks it at his risk. Let us all remember the duty of generosity, and the old cliche, "No man who ever cast his bread upon the waters found that it did not return some day to him." 
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 6:6-10
Ref: HG SB; BDSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry