Fish art 3

A spin off of yesterday's art

Fish art 2

Fish art 1

In a Battle - Ephesians 6:10-20

If you are in Christ, you are also in a battle. Unfortunately, may Christians wander through life completely clueless. "My life seems to be going find, no battles." Little do they know they may have already lost.

Part of this stems from the fact that we view battles in the earthly sense, but these are spiritual enemies, and their battle plans usually don't include a frontal assault. Paul calls them "schemes." A scheme doesn't have to be devious, but it often is, especially if it is devised by the father of lies, who has been sinning from the beginning.

Satan will use anything to accomplish his purpose - your destruction. That new job with the higher salary just happens to come with a really cute and flirtatious coworker. That new ministry opportunity with the church keeps you away from your family even more. It doesn't really matter what it is, Satan says, "I can work with that," so we must be both alert and equipped.

It is interesting, that at the end of this passage, Paul says, "Praying at ll times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." It seems he is talking about praying for yourself, since he adds, "To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me..." Here he speaks of praying for others, but what do we pray?

To "make supplication" is to pray earnestly, but Paul doesn't tell us what to pray for, unless his next phrase is a clue, "That words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." He asks this for himself, but it may be, that in the battle, this is the boldness we all require. Perhaps this battle is not as much about protecting ourselves, as it is about rescuing those trapped in the kingdom of darkness.

In chapter two, Paul reminded the Ephesian believers they were once "dead in trespasses and sins... following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (2:1-2). In 2 Timothy, he encourages the young pastor to correct his opponents within the church with patience, in the hope for repentance so they might "come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will" (2:25-26). Jesus, himself, said the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

A first century understanding of this would be the gates of a large walled city closed against an intruding army. The city - hell or Hades - could represent death, or the kingdom of darkness which leads to death. Either way, the gates of that city are not strong enough to withstand an army "strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might."

Is the focus of our battle the destruction of Satan? No. Christ has already defeated him through his death and resurrection. Besides, Satan is not hiding inside a walled city shaking in fear of us. He is roaming around looking for believers who are not alert - focused on the battle - so he can destroy them.

Our goal, in this situation, is sharing the gospel with those who are trapped. The gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). In the book Radical, author David Platt said something like this: We are God's Plan A, and there is not Plan B.

We are compelled to stand strong. We need to remain alert. We have to dress for battle, stay in the battle and fight. Yes, for our own sakes - Satan's schemes and fiery darts can destroy us - but we must do this even more for our neighbors, coworkers, cousins and friends who are trapped in the kingdom of darkness.

Pray that words will be given to boldly proclaim the gospel

- right in the heat of the battle.

Striped Beetle 1

Spotted Beetle 1

Spotted Turtle 1

Spotted Bird 1

In Humility - Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9

When we are in Christ, we find ourselves in redeemed relationships, and the hallmark of these relationships is humility. "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." If we are in Christ, He is our kind. We should submit everything to our Creator-King.

First and foremost, we submit to him, but in doing so, we must also submit to each other. "If you love me, obey my commands...This is my command: Love one another."

Wives, humble yourselves in love to your husbands. Humble yourselves in love by giving yourself up for you wife, like Christ did for the church. Children, humble yourselves in love to your parents by

obeying them. Slaves (or workers), humble yourselves in love to your boss by doing what he or she tells you (working hard). Bosses, humble yourselves in love to your employees by showing them respect.

If we look through scripture, we see we are also to humble ourselves in love to our pastors by respecting and following them (1 Peter 5:5). We need to humble ourselves in love to our neighbor, and Jesus identified our neighbor as anyone we come in contact with who is in need (Think, good Samaritan). Being in Christ and walking in love is living a life of humility - losing our own life for the sake of the gospel and for the glory of our great God.

Logo - Whimsicards

Here's my last logo for the week.

Logo - Threads -N- Doodles

My wife and I were considering opening an Etsy store, which would sell her embroidery and my art. We thought Threads -N- Doodles would be a clever name. These are some sketches I made for our logo. The first was my really, really rough draft, and the second was my rough draft.

Another school logo I created. Home of the Lions.

Which do you like best?

WMS logo idea

Here's an idea for either screen printing or embroidery. Home of the wolfpack