Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure. If one of your men is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. But as evening approaches he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
Deuteronomy 23:9-14
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Israel was soon going to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan and enter into conflict. They knew this would come because the Lord told them. He also assured them that He would be with them.
Given all this, we have the background to support today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Chapter 23. Israel would be “encamped against (their) enemies” and the Lord would be moving “about in (their) camp to protect (them) and to deliver (their) enemies to (them). All through this, Israel was to “keep away from everything impure”. They were to ensure that they stayed clean, physically and spiritually. They were also required to keep their camp holy “so that (the Lord would) not see among (them) anything indecent and turn away from (them)”.
And the Lord turning away from Israel would be bad. Be assured that they would not find victory without Him.
So what in the world does this have to do with us? A lot.
For like Israel, we are encamped every day of life against an enemy, Satan, who wishes for one thing and one thing only…to destroy every child of God. We can’t fight him unarmed. Consider these verses:
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. 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. Stand firm then, 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 from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, 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. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:10-18
So what do we gain from the full armor of God? From the belt…truth. From the breastplate…righteousness. From the feet…readiness from the gospel of peace. From the shield…faith. From the helmet…salvation. And from the sword of the Spirit…the Word of God.
In other words, everything we need to stay clean and pure…holy and upright. Everything we need to be to ensure God stays with us and helps us defeat the devil and his schemes as we stay “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.
Friends, God expected Israel to stay holy, clean and righteous before Him. And He expects the same from us. After all, He did say, “Be holy because I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:15-16) Think you can do it alone. Think again. You can’t because you are no match for Satan. The good news is that we, like Paul, have One who is more than strong enough. His name is Jesus. Keep in mind that the scriptures assure us that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”. (Philippians 4:13) Jesus already has had victory over Satan. Through Him and only through Him can we be victors as well. Is this not good news for us as we enter life’s battlefield every day? Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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