Training Camp Evening Devotions
Equipped with proper clothing for the dirty jobs
Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on
the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes. 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.
In our morning devotions, we are examining some of the
difficult jobs Jesus assigns us in His Sermon on the Mount. Jobs like letting
our light shine, turning the other cheek, praying, not worrying and not
judging. During our daily Bible studies we are learning how to carry out the
difficult jobs no one wants to do like confronting sin, sharing our faith,
taming our tongue, dealing with death, and obeying God’s will.
In our evening devotions, we will check out the
clothing we are to wear in carrying out these dirty jobs.
Garbage men wear weight belts in order to spare their
backs from the extreme stress of lifting heavy garbage cans every day. Police
officers wear bullet proof vests when raiding a suspected drug dealers’ house.
Miners wear helmets with lamps on them to protect their heads while working in
the dark caves of coal mines. Factory workers wear steel-toed boots when
building tractors in Racine Detroit
They all wear this gear in order to protect themselves
from harm and danger in carrying out their difficult and dirty jobs. God has
given us protective armor to wear as we enter the difficult and dirty
battlefield of this earth.
A sore back, a stubbed toe or a bumped head can all be
painful. Flying bullets can be deadly. But those things will only hurt the
body. The apostle Paul tells us that we have an enemy who wants to hurt our
eternal soul. He wrote, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take
your stand against the devil's schemes. 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” (Ephesians 6:11 -12).
The Prince of Darkness, Satan himself, hates me and he
hates you too. It is his prime goal to destroy you and me body and soul. That
means we’re at war, and we will be as long as we live. It’s an enemy whom we
can’t see and we can’t kill. The Bible calls him a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour. It also describes him as an ancient serpent and as a
terrifying red, seven-headed dragon who is constantly on the attack.
What will that attack look like? Well, that depends.
You see, he’s observing you, studying you. He’s recording all your weaknesses.
He notes what makes you angry. He notes how you act when you get tired, or
irritated, or bored. He keeps track of what pumps up your sinful pride. He pays
attention to what makes you feel discouraged. And he watches and remembers
every single thing that tends to distract you from your relationship with your
Savior.
Then he’ll launch his attack, tailor made just for
you. Often the attack is so subtle it may be difficult for you even to notice.
At other times the attack is so sudden you may have trouble even taking in
what’s just happened. One thing is for certain. The devil’s attacks are here
today at camp. They will be here tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.
When we realize how horrible Satan is, how he
desperately wants to ruin us, and how he is far more powerful than you or me,
we are terrified. But God’s Word calms our fears. It encourages us, “Put on
the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes.” God does not leave us alone to fight against the devil, which is
good, because on our own we would easily fail. But with the armor of God, we
will be victorious. For Jesus was already victorious. He crushed the serpent’s
head. He defeated the roaring lion. He chained up the dragon in hell.
Jesus
has been victorious in His battle against Satan. Now He has given us defensive
armor to wear in order to keep deflecting the schemes of the devil. He has also
given us offensive armor in order to go on the attack.
We are armed with the sure salvation that Christ won
for us, and we know that the blessed eternity that God promises is something
that Satan cannot steal.
The time to prepare for the dirty job of going against
the devil is right now. Put on the full armor of God. Take your stand in Christ
and his Word. It’s the strongest armor there is.
Questions
for discussion:
In what area of your life do you think the devil will
find you at your weakest?
How might the devil attack you while you are here at
camp?
What has Jesus given you this week in order to
frustrate the devil’s attacks? What about while you are at home?
Prayer: Dear Lord God, every moment of every day we are in
danger. Stay with us and lead us to put our confidence in your power,
wisdom and forgiveness. Then – and only then – are we outfitted in the
full armor of God and safe from the devil’s schemes. Amen.
Stand
firm with the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness
Ephesians 6:13-14 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.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place.
Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to come out of the water
after being blobbed and realizing that you were missing part of your bathing
suit? Whoops! Wouldn’t it be a shame if your parents paid all the money for you
to climb the tower, but you couldn’t do it because you wore flip-flops instead
of tennis shoes? Whoops! Or wouldn’t it be dangerous to be a soldier in battle
and realize that you’ve neglected to pack your weapons or helmet? Ouch!
God has not left you helpless in your struggle against
Satan. He has provided you with full battle gear to wage your war successfully.
But the greatest gear in the world isn’t any good if the soldiers don’t use it.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:11 ,14, “Put on the full armor of God. Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” You know what belts do? They
keep your pants from falling down and revealing your nakedness. They hold all
your clothes and gear together. God has given you His holy Word, the Bible, so
that you will have an absolutely reliable standard of truth.
That’s why the major portion of our week together at
Training Camp is centered on the Word of God. All the boating, biking, and
swimming is fun, but the best and most important part of camp is using God’s
Word in our morning devotions, Bible studies and evening devotions. God gives us
His Word so that we won’t ever have to stand before the world naked with our
own man-made religious opinions or our own sinful righteousness. God’s Word
holds everything together.
Hang on to your Bible. Its truth will crush all of
Satan's lies. Buckle it on!
God has given us a belt to wear around our waist. He
has also given us a breastplate to wear on our chest.
A few years ago, as street
criminals increasingly became more violent and their attacks more deadly,
police officers in my city began to wear Kevlar body armor – you know,
bulletproof vests – to protect their vital organs.
Back in the day, the
first piece of armor that any soldier would acquire was a breastplate. Since
the chest on a human being is always the biggest target, and because the vital
organs are located there, protecting the upper body was of first importance.
Satan, an enemy deadlier
than any street hood, wants to destroy you. He wants you to think that you are
lost and hopeless, that your sins make you unfit for heaven. But the St. Paul
Jesus Christ gives you His
righteousness, that is, forgiveness for all your sins, to cover and comfort
your heart. Go ahead – put Christ right over your heart! Wear his holiness
with pride.
Questions
for discussion:
Why is the truth of God’s Word so important in the age
in which we live?
What does Jesus’ righteousness mean to you?
Can you give examples of how or when you have had to
stand your ground for your faith?
Prayer: Lord, keep these children, their parents, their churches and schools
faithful to your holy Word. When any of them are tempted to compromise, grant
them the courage to stand their ground upon the true words you have revealed in
your Bible. Amen.
Stand
firm with feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel
Ephesians
6:14-15 Stand
firm … with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace.
What kind of uniforms do you wear during the year?
(Wait for responses.) You might wear a white and blue jersey for your soccer
club. Or maybe you red or green or yellow jersey for your grade school
basketball team. On Friday at camp, we will all wear the green shirt that shows
we have spent the week together at our Dirty-Jobs-themed Training Camp.
On the day you were baptized, you were given the
uniform of heaven to wear. You might call them the “colors of Christ.” The
Bible says in Galatians 3:27, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ.” Paul calls this “clothing” when he writes to
the Galatians, but He calls it “armor” when he writes to the Ephesians.
He next mentions what you wear on your feet in order
to move around in your uniform/armor: “Stand firm … with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
You
need proper footwear for whatever sport or job you are doing. You want to wear
cleats on the soccer field, basketball shoes in the gym, flip-flops on the
beach, and boots when going into battle as a soldier.
Since
we are going into battle against the forces of the devil, we need to be able to
move around. Mobility is part of the
arsenal of spiritual weapons given to you by God. In your Christian walk, you
will go through many stressful changes as you get older and the devil’s
temptations become more severe. But what will sustain you in all the change,
movement, and commotion of your life is the certain knowledge that Christ Jesus
is your personal peace with God.
Mobility also brings you into contact with many other
people. You can share Christ’s peace with people you meet, and it won’t
diminish your own supply one bit.
Discussion:
Share with us how you have shared the gospel of peace
with others in your life. (Give plenty of time to respond.)
Isn’t it great that God gives us peace with Him
through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross and His victory over the grave?! Isn’t
it also great that we get to move around and share that peace through Jesus
with whomever we meet?!
Prayer: Silent prayer
asking the Holy Spirit to move you to share the gospel of peace with someone
specific.
Take up
the shield of faith
Ephesians 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
This is the first time we have had camp fires at
Training Camp. It is pretty cool to gather around the fire to sing songs, tell
stories, and eat snacks.
But it would be a totally different story if someone
entered our camp, put arrows with a small portion of gas-soaked cloth on the
ends, dipped them into the fire, and then start shooting them at our cabins. It
would seem like we were in the Middle Ages and soldiers were shooting flaming
arrows over the wall of our fortified city.
Arrows are dangerous. Flaming arrows even more so.
The Evil One, who is the devil, uses flaming arrows to
attack us. Burns are very painful. A few years ago, we had a young lady take
off her sandals and walk over the fire pit on Sunday afternoon when she arrived
at camp, not realizing the coals were still hot. She wasn’t able to do much all
week. The burns on the bottoms of her feet were too painful.
The devil tries hurting us with temptations to sin,
with bullying that we often endure, with unkind words that are directed at us,
with lack of attention at home, or with painful injuries to our bodies.
These all burn. They are painful.
But St. Paul
Discussion:
How have you been attacked for your faith?
What kinds of painful injuries have you endured
(physical, emotional, spiritual) because of Satan’s attacks?
What is the weapon that God gives us to hold in our
hands to defend ourselves against the devil’s attacks?
An ancient soldier would use a shield to defend
himself against attacks by swords or arrows. You and I have been made Christian
soldiers by our heavenly Father. We use the shield of faith to ward off the
attacks of the Old Evil Foe. Our faith is based on Jesus Christ. He has already
defeated the devil. Jesus went into the desert to go face-to-face and
toe-to-toe against the devil. Jesus crushed the serpent’s head by dying on the
cross. Jesus marched into hell and proclaimed His victory over the devil in
Satan’s own backyard.
It is faith in Jesus – and Him alone – that allows us
victory against the devil’s many attacks. It is a shield we carry with us every
day to deflect the sharp arrows of Satan’s lies and extinguish all the painful
flames of the Evil One.
Prayer: The apostle Paul ends his description of the armor of
God by saying this about prayer: “And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18 ).
Is there
anyone for whom we can pray that is going through difficult times right now?
Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit
Ephesians
6:17-18 Take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the
saints.
Everybody knows how vulnerable the head is. Even if an
infantryman is wearing no other kind of body armor, he will always wear his
helmet into battle.
Football players wear helmets in order to protect
their heads as they tackle other players. Hockey players wear protective
shields on their helmets to protect them from getting an errant puck in the
face. Even soccer players will sometimes wear headgear to protect themselves if
they have a history of concussions.
Where do you think you are most vulnerable to Satan?
In the head, of course. Satan will try to mess up your
thinking and fill your head full of his lies. Maybe he will flatter you into
pride. Maybe he will lull you into apathy. Maybe he will call you a failure,
hopeless and helpless, isolated and weak before his superior power. But the
Bible says in Ephesians 6:11 ,17,
“Put on the full armor of God. Take the helmet of salvation.” Put these
words in your head at all times; “Jesus Christ has defeated you, Satan. I have
been saved by God’s Son Himself. Away with you! Go back to hell.”
The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness,
the footgear of the gospel, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation
are all defense armor. You might get the impression that as a Christian you are
to just hunker down and ride out the storm. … Not so!
God has given you one weapon of offense – and you
don’t need any other! He has given you “the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God.” Armed with this sword of the Spirit, you not only can defend
yourself, but you can go on the offensive as well. For the Word of God is
“living and active; sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow” (Hebrews 4:12 ).
God has given to each of His believers the mightiest
weapon on earth – his Word (not my feeble words, but His mighty Word). When we
say what God has said, even the fiercest demon from hell must retreat.
We don’t just have to absorb Satan’s blows, crouching
our whole lives in a defensive posture. We can attack – spreading the Word
through literature, social media, the Internet, and our own mouths.
Questions
for discussion:
Why is it important for you to know that you get to go
on the offensive with God’s Word?
What is the best part of Training Camp?
As fun as the tower, blobbing, ga ga ga, etc. are,
what is the most important part of this week? Why do you think we call this
week “Training” Camp? In what are we training you?
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
Prayer: The apostle Paul ends his description of the armor of
God by saying this about prayer: “And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18 ).
Let’s list
all your churches and schools that you attend so that we can pray for all the
saints who attend them. We pray that they go on the offensive with God’s
powerful Word.
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