GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 9
GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 9 ~ ~ Psalm 105:5 ~ ~ “Remember his marvellous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;”
“Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Its long, slender, scale-covered body glides along the ground on four short legs, each of which has sharp claws. Its slender head has no teeth. It will not seek to hurt you, but if it feels threatened it will lash out with that scale-armored tail.
While this creature sounds very much like a reptile, it is, in fact, a mammal called the pangolin. There are seven species of pangolins scattered through Africa and Asia. Typically, the female pangolin will give birth to a single young one after a 140-day gestation period. When full grown, the young one, like its parents, will be almost two feet long and weigh about 20 pounds. In addition to using its tail for defense, it can also spray a bad-smelling liquid like a skunk. If all else fails, it can roll into a tight armored ball. Its feeding behavior is similar to a nocturnal anteater. The pangolin’s highly developed sense of smell can actually sniff out ant and termite mounds. When it finds a nest, it uses its long, sticky tongue to collect a meal. Unfortunately, the endangered pangolin is prized as a delicacy as well as a medicine among the hill tribes where it lives. Lions and tigers also feed on pangolins.
As I believe everything The Lord created is designed to teach us something, so, the pangolin was designed to teach us about the armour of God that believers have.
Ephesians chapter 6 describes our conduct, attitude, and position in the Lord that we’ll need in order to be in a position to withstand attack from the enemy, satan. All of us should read that often, profess its Truths, and be on guard for the demonic lies that come into our minds daily.
As the pangolin would rather not fight an animal that really isn’t attacking, so we are told that we are to be peaceful to human beings, because they aren’t our real enemies.
Ephes. 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
Epes. 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephes. 6:5 “Workers, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh,…”
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 12:10
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
And the reason we don’t fight against fellow human beings is this:
Ephes 6:12 “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.” In other words—-demons.
THAT’S where we need to use the armour given us when we were saved……when we made the decision to follow Christ at all costs.
The pangolin is a small animal, not very strong. We are small and weak also compared to the King of Kings of the Universe and beyond! Our strength is not in ourselves by any means, and those who don’t name the name of Christ will find that out about themselves eventually. When we’re dressed in His armour, we can walk away from the taunts of the devil in our ears, knowing that the armour was made more than 2000 years behind us, (like the pangolin’s tail) and Jesus “has our back”. We’re protected on all sides.
Hebrews 13:5 (AMP) “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”
Zechariah 2:5 (as the Lord declared for Jerusalem)
But I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire to her on all sides, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
Jesus gives us a powerful spiritual tail, like the pangolin has materially.
We have no spiritual teeth either. We can’t just yell at the enemy in our own words and expect him to crawl away! We ourselves are defenseless, but we have the armour of our Lord!!!
No teeth? No problem!!!! We have the “stinky spray” of the Word of God!!!! Just as the pangolin can spray, so can we!!! Jesus used the Word to defeat the temptations of satan, in Revelations, He comes with the Sword of the Word of God in His mouth, and He gave that Word to us as the only aggressive weapon we have. The rest are defensive weapons. The Word will shrivel up any demon, and send him on his way. Demons cannot stay in the vicinity of praise and the Word of God in the mouth of a true believer. They simply cannot!
With our armour on, we can do as the pangolin does——-curl up with Our Savior, and His Word!
We can rest easy, knowing He is protecting us when we’re focused on Him alone.
So, keep the armour on, and curl up with the one who is always protecting you!!!!
Live in the Light of Our Lord 