The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers,

against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

It’s a well-known assumption that some readers, especially readers of mystery stories, have become so engrossed in the book they are reading, that they could not wait to see who “did the dastardly dead,” and so, they raced to the last chapter to learn the name of the villain!

It’s not quite like that with the Apostle Paul, although if you read closely, you will discover when you are coming to the end of his writings. At verse 12 above, a we are about halfway through his final chapter. Like the mighty swelling music of the strong-voiced orchestra, Paul approaches the terminal point of his letter. “Increase in strength,” he writes –not your own physical strength, but in the strength of the LORD. It is the LORD’s “full armor” that enables us to “withstand the deceitfulness of the devil.” Satan is deceitful! What’s worse, his deceitfulness is often cloaked in the pleasantries of the flesh –things we want to do; things that are skillfully disguised as “normal” and “exciting” and “pleasant” in everyday life. Watch out for Satan’s schemes! He is real, and he is powerful.

We have other struggles, too. In addition to the devil, our fleshly weaknesses often bask in the black light of pleasantness. These are rulers –real people, who exercise their powerful authority against us and all Christian believers. They feign friendship, but want nothing than that we follow their spiritual instruction. They want to rule over us by leading us into the very cesspools of life, where eternal darkness exists and nothing is clean or productive or beneficial.

No question about it, there are spiritual forces of wickedness, demon spirits, that hover above us, just waiting for the opportunity to invade our bodies, minds and spirits. At that point, they can exercise control over us and compel us to do what we would never ourselves even considered. Sound like you’ve been there before? We all have! Yet the alternative to demonic-control is repentance of all known sin in our lives, and totally yielding to the LORD Jesus Christ. A truly born-again believer in Christ Jesus can never be

demon possessed, but he can live so loosely that it is difficult to observe anything of Christ in his life. Just be careful that isn’t you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”