The breastplate of God's righteousness protects us from the schemes and attacks of the devil as we live out our daily lives in Christ.

Pastor teaches us the 2 meanings of righteousness in the Bible;

1. The righteousness we receive through faith in Christ Jesus - a right relationship with God throuigh the gift of His Son.
2. Righteousness is also the way we desire to live based on what we have received at no cost through our Savior Christ Jesus. And growing in our faith. Seeking to do what is right - not to earn our righteousness, but as a way to thank God for the gift of righteousness that is given to us through Jesus.

Ephesians 6:14

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Why did Jesus teach us to pray. "Lead us not into temptation"? God does not tempt, but He is the One who gives us the strength to face testing/temptation and provides a way of escape from the lure of evil.

There is a spiritual war raging around us. The Christian lfe is one of spiritual warfare. We can put on the armor of God to resist the enemy - the devil and all his forces - secure in the knowledge that Jesus has already won the final victory. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground (resist the Enemy), and after you have done everything, to stand. (continue to resisit him)" Ephesians 6:12-13 The enemy is not people the enemy is The Enemy, the devil. We are to NOT to resist those people who are against us, we are to pray for them and desire to reach them with the good news of Jesus, but we ARE to resist the devil. The struggle is real. The devil is evil but he is DEFEATED! And we are to resit him in God's power alone.

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"Forgive us our debts/sins as we forgive others" is not a prayer to be spoken lightly, but a prayer to be lived. Even the most devout believer has a daily need to reconnect with God through repentance and forgiveness.

"Give us ... our daily bread" is not a "mundane" prayer request. Jesus is calling us to look to God, to trust Him with our entire lives, and to call on Him to meet all our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

We explore an action the Apostle Paul took. Was Paul compromising what had been decided at the Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15) when he circumcised Timothy?

Chapter 15 was about the question of Gentiles needing to be circumcised to be a genuine follower of Jesus. The Council at Jerusalem's unanimous decision was no - that salvation is though faith in Christ Jesus alone. But now in Acts 16 the questions is if Paul is going against what had been decided in Jerusalem when he circumcised Timothy.

Acts 16:1 - Paul came to the city Lystra where a disciple named Timothy lived. Timothy's mother was Jewish and a believer but his father was a Greek/ With a Greek father, Timothy had not been circumcised when he was 8 days old as were Jewish boys, so he is uncircumcised.

Vs 2-3 Paul wanted to take Timothy along on his upcoming journey, so he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in the areas they would be going to. People knew that Timothy's father was a Greek. But they also knew his mother was a Jew. Was Paul going against what the council in Jerusalem said? No. In Acts 15 we are told how we are saved only through faith in Christ, but the Gentiles were told to be gracious and reflective of Jewish sensibilities, especially around the idea of not wanting the Gospel to come under disrepute.

Their upcoming journey was to many towns with Jewish people and in their eyes Timothy would have been seen as a hypocrite who had abandoned his jewish heritage and faith.

What Paul is saying is that no Gentile needs to be circumcised but Jewish people were called to be circumcised and Timothy is making it clear that he is a faithful Jew. His circumcision shows his heart is for his fellow Jewish people, as well as Gentiles.

Timothy and Paul will spend many years together. Paul and Timothy have a beautiful friendship. Paul will consider Timothy his spiritual son.

And then we read in Acts 16:4-5 that as Timothy and Paul traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in the Council of Jerusalem. And the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. More and more Jewish and Gentile people became followers of Jesus.

Timothy and Paul recognized the importance of reaching all with the gospel of Christ.

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Our natural self tells us to pray, "MY will be done." But Jesus says we are to invite God to conquer us, to take charge of our lives and change our hearts so that we willingly pray, "YOUR will be done."