1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: 3“that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”
4You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ, 6not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, 8knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same good again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free.
9You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace, 16above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints. 19Pray for me, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21But that you also may know my affairs, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make known to you all things. 22I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our state and that he may comfort your hearts.
23Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Amen.
Moving Mountains
Mountain Valley Landscape
A certain man came to the disciples, bringing his son who was in real trouble. The boy would go into fits and then would try to kill himself by throwing himself into water, fire, or some other thing. The reader should note that the behavior was satanic. A demon within the boy caused it. We will learn later in Jesus’ ministry that Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He does that to you and me. Once saved, Satan cannot have our souls, so he seeks to steal our love, joy, and peace. To clarify, believers can’t be possessed, but they can sure be oppressed. This boy was actually possessed. He had a demon living with him, and the disciples had attempted to cast it out, but they failed.
Jesus explains to them that they were not able to do so because of their unbelief. He includes that all that is required is a tiny amount of true faith. With that amount of faith and the power of God, even mountains can be moved. I interpret that to mean that things we think are impossible can become possible with faith. Yet, they are impossible to overcome with our own power. However, it requires a certain amount of spiritual work alongside that seed of faith to overcome the seemingly insurmountable. It sometimes takes prayer and fasting. We may encounter all kinds of things in our lives that seem overwhelming and destructive. Jesus is there to deliver, but we must first believe that He is able to deliver, and secondly, it will require some brutal in-the-foxhole kind of spiritual warfare. It must be bathed in prayer and involve intense focus, much like fasting does.
If you’ve encountered a mountain in your life, put on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6), and start praying. You might even focus on that mountain through fasting and prayer. Fix your eyes on it, hit it with everything you have physically, then call out the big guns. The “big guns” are the Holy Spirit, and it doesn’t hurt to ask the Lord to send a host of big, bad angels to help. However, God wants to do battle; He can do so. Some obstacles are so significant that they require all of our spiritual attention, and spiritual help on high is available at our bidding. Call on Jesus and fall to your knees. Do this believing with all of your heart that HE is able to deliver and make a path forward. He is faithful. It is He who can move those mountains that come into our lives. Or, alternatively, He can give us the strength to get over that mountain pass and bring us to a gentle place of green pastures and still water. (Psalms 23)