1 Corinthians 16:13: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong”. Other verses on this theme include Ephesians 6:13, which encourages putting on the “full armor of God,” and 1 Peter 5:9, which tells believers to “resist him, firm in your faith”. These verses emphasize the importance of spiritual readiness and strength, drawing from God’s power to remain steadfast.
- 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love”. This verse is a direct exhortation to remain vigilant and strong in one’s faith.
- Ephesians 6:13: “Take up the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”. This passage provides the spiritual “armor” for standing strong against adversity.
- 1 Peter 5:9: “Resist him [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world”. This verse connects standing firm to a spiritual battle and the shared experience of suffering among believers.
- Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might”. This verse points to the source of our strength for standing firm—God’s power, not our own.
We all have situations where we’re praying and believing, but we don’t see anything happening. Our health isn’t improving, our child isn’t turning around, we haven’t met the right person. It’s easy to get discouraged and think God didn’t hear us. Maybe it’s not meant to be. But what you can’t see is God is working upstream. He said in Isaiah, “I will go ahead of you and make crooked places straight.” There are things He’s already done. The moment you prayed, He set the miracle into motion. He lined up the healing, the right person, the breaks you need. Now the key is you have to stay in faith until those upstream blessings make it down to you.
My Bible reading plan is currently in the book of Isaiah. God’s people fell into sin and entitlement. They had forgotten God’s faithfulness to them. They accused Him of all their troubles not taking any accountability for their unfaithfulness to Him. Despite their rebellion, God did not give up on them. Thankfully, He doesn’t give up on us or the plight of our world either.
With so much adversity, some days it is hard for me to stay positive. However, God is sovereign over all things. Nothing that is happening is a surprise to Him. Believers are going to face persecution. We see it today. We may be mocked or called rigid, when we take a stand for not compromising our morals and values. The secular world is indifferent to what God’s Word says. Its ideas are poisoning minds. We should be following what scripture tells us not what the world is telling us. His Word is immovable. While we and the world pass away His Word does not.
Open borders, abortion, sexual identity and gun control are just a few hot topics in the United States right now. They are causing a huge division…exactly what the devil is wanting to happen to our society….divide us. We cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out about things that clearly go against what scripture teaches us.
Last week I wrote about how the Bible is going to offend some people because it doesn’t fit the narrative of our world. As Christ followers we can speak God’s truth without being rude or obnoxious in our delivery. We confront the darkness that is infiltrating the minds in our nation with calmness using scripture to support our stand.
Many think Christians that follow Biblical principles are narrow minded. However, I would rather risk having that label than not honoring God and His Word. The New Testament church was not ashamed to confront the sins that went against the teachings of the Bible. This is why the gospel is spreading to every corner of the world. They didn’t shy away from speaking God’s truth. We are to do the same. When we have an opportunity to witness but choose to stay silent, we are denying God. People can’t be led to Jesus when we ignore the Holy Spirit’s nudges to minster to others.
With the state or our country, I struggle with what I can do as a disciple of Christ to make the biggest impact to lead people to Jesus. I feel God whisper, Pray. As Christians, our prayers can impact our nation. This downward trajectory of our society can be turned around. As our culture becomes more and more godless, we don’t have to throw our hands up in defeat and say our prayers don’t matter. They do. Our prayers can turn our wandering world back to Him. There is power in prayer. If we are all praying for the lost to find Jesus, we will see a revival.
Our unstable world doesn’t shake our God. One day God will transform the moral order of our world. He will bring judgment on all the nations of the earth. He has already determined what will take place. He is working everything out in His timeline. One day He will restore creation. Amen!
Father God,
Forgive me when I think my prayers don’t matter. They do. Each and every prayer lifted up to You is heard. You are faithful. Your Word is true. Help me to be on guard, standing firm in my faith. Give me the courage and strength to do this. Grow me to be more like You so that others will see Jesus in me. I lift up our country’s Christian leaders to be convicted of policies that don’t align with Your Word. Give them the boldness to take a stand for You. It is in the Name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen