Category: encouragement

By Elizabeth Prata

An excerpt from my devotional reading in the Valley of Vision this morning-

When I sin against thee I cross thy will, love, life, and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.
My sin is not so much this or that particular evil, but my continual separation, disunion, distance from thee, and having a loose spirit towards thee.

Valley of Vision, “Christ the Word.”

Do you ever feel that way? I do, often. The Puritans who penned these prayers were collected by Arthur Bennett in the 1960s through the 1970s times and put together into a collection, in order “to prompt and encourage the Christian as he treads the path on which others have gone before.” It is helpful to read a hundreds-year old prayer and realize our spiritual forefathers in the faith yearned and struggled with similar issues that we do today.

The phrase ‘a loose spirit’ caught me. We live in a casual age. The usual haunts where one might have found formal dress, such as dinner in a restaurant, the theater, or even Proms, have gone by the wayside. The last three bastions of formal dress; church, court, and funerals, see people showing up as if they just rolled out of bed. The outer wear in my opinion is indicative of an inner overall status, even in many Christians. Loosey-goosey attitudes toward study of the word, toward Christ, and toward His laws are wrapped in an attitude of “Oh well, I’m sure God will forgive me.” Or, “Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow.”

The Jesus-is-your-boyfriend attitudes so rampant in the last decade for women, and experiential feelings based theology taught to us by other women have not helped. God is GOD, the I AM, who is thrice holy and august in His magnificence and power. That God is forgotten in favor of the wimpy needy Jesus, as Voddie Baucham famously preached.

The Christian’s walk is tight, not loose. It is a narrow gate. It is a straight way. It is a circumscribed walk, according to the canon of scripture and no more, and no less. We are told to be vigilant, watchful, and sober. That leaves no room for a loose spirit.

It’s easy to puff one’s self up in thinking, well, I’m not embezzling, or fornicating, or engaging in adultery, or murder. “My sin is not so much this or that particular evil” as the Puritan wrote. But it is also sin to have a loose spirit; to leave off prayer, to justify a smaller sin, or to ignore it completely. Anxiety, mistrust of God’s ordination of one’s circumstances, worry, or simple apathy are also ‘non-particular’ sins that can cause a terrible disunion. Worse, a general disunion or distance from Christ is in itself a sin, born from a loose spirit.

Paul advised the Ephesians in chapter 6 to gird up, tighten the belt, snap on the helmet, grasp the shield, cling to the word. Tight, not loose, is the watchword for the day.

By Elizabeth Prata

Our Sunday School class finished studying through Ephesians last Sunday. Ephesians 6 is the last chapter, and so rich with practical living.

We’re called to stand. After all the Ephesians chapters about doctrine (roughly chapters 1-3) and all the practical applications and commands (roughly chapters 4-6a), we come to Paul’s final thoughts. He wrote,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10).

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, (Ephesians 6:13-14a)

Four times within 4 verses he calls us to stand. Not chase the devil, not march against him, not blaming him on every failed desire disrupted event. Simply…stand.

The Christian life is one of battle. Paul often made military allusions in his verses. When he called for the Christian to “stand” he might have been thinking of the Roman Caligae.

Caligae (Latin; singular caliga) are heavy-soled hobnailed military sandal-boots known for being issued to Roman legionary soldiers and auxiliaries throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. Wikipedia

Worn by all ranks, no other shoes in history are as symbolic of the expansion of an empire as the famed Caligae. Rome Across Europe

The caligae are sandals and not a boot on purpose. It was a military footwear that laced up the ankle and calf, providing air to run through and preventing trenchfoot and blisters etc.

The soles were triple soles. The middle part had strong hobnails nailed into them and acted like cleats or crampons do.

When a soldier was fighting hand-to-hand they of course would not want to give ground. Firmly planting their caligae into the ground, no matter how bloody or muddy it became, they would not slide back.

It’s a powerful metaphor. “Stand”. Do we want to give ground to the enemy? No. Do we want to slide back? No. We are not wearing caligae today, but if the men who disciplined themselves, wore that armor and obeyed their commander, conquered a continent, we who are adorned with something much more powerful and effective can do so much more.

Imagine the terror of a population, hearing that hobnailed clatter on the cobblestones as a legion of 6000 hardened and disciplined soldiers marched into their city. How much more so that satan shudders when he hears disciplined and firmly standing soldiers of Christ proclaiming His word, marching on by standing firmly, unable to be moved or even pushed back.

We wear His armor, live and proclaim His Gospel, and possess His Spirit. We are God’s army, united in one cause, spread as a phalanx across the world. Wherever we are planted, stand. Housewife in Des Moines…stand. Pastor in Calgary…stand. Plumber in Portland…stand. Teacher in Kuala Lumpur…stand.

We stand against his schemes. We withstand all in the evil day. We stand firm.

Soldier on, ladies. By standing.