First day of spring and, in our neck of the woods, we are greeted by rain and promise of even more rain during the week – which also, by the way is Spring Break in our area.  Those that remain in Oregon and choose to ski the slopes of our mountains are going to find them packed with other people because the snow pack is fantastic.

The rest will have to endure the rain and do things that are going to take that into account.

I hope to have Ian up here this week to help me get the smoker going, it has to be set up and he did one for his mom that is identical to ours.  But we have to have a dry day since this is a pellet smoker and requires electricity.

We will get it done, eventually.

Ephesians 6:10-18   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Every Christian knows these verses well.  We understand that satan has many devices and many ways of tripping us up and getting us to sin against God.

God has given us the implements to combat satan, for our defense against all satan has to offer. 

Today I was reading in Joshua 8:13-18

And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:

⁵ And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them,

⁶ (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them.

⁷ Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.

The warriors of Israel had fled before the people of Ai, they turned their back on them and what should have been a great victory turned into a rout – because a man sinned and took property he was told to destroy.

Joshua was told by God to punish the offender and his family and obeyed.  In doing so the remorse of Joshua allowed God to once again help Israel in its time of trials.

The next attack on Ai is described above.  Joshua set up an ambush and then made a mock attack on the city gates.  When the people of Ai came out to defend the city Joshua and his men ran away, again.  Thinking that they once again had the upper hand and would be able to chase them out of the area, the men of Ai charged forth, leaving the city undefended.

It was a ruse, of course and when they had all left the city the ambush started by first taking over the city and burning it and then coming on the backside of the enemy, pinching them between them and then taking them out.

It has become a classic means of warfare, fool the enemy, get them focused on you as they think they have you on the run and then attack from the ambush when they are least prepared.  The enemy’s overconfidence leads them to believe they will be the victor, when in fact they have fallen for the deception and suffer the consequences.

There is a reason we are told to put on the WHOLE armor of God, we are worthless and vulnerable if we just take a piece or two and think we are covered.  We have to be prepared for all that satan is going to attack us with.

As I read Joshua I realized that satan also knows the Bible and he has used these same tactics himself.  He sets us up, we think we are invincible as we fight against him on the one front, only to find out that he has lured us into a sense of ‘I am the victor here’ only to find out that there are other sins, other means of attacking our soul. 

If we get overconfident the defeat of Ai can be ours also.  If we don’t keep our blades sharpened, if we don’t remember our shield or helmet; if we forget to pray and focus on what God wants, we can be lulled into a false security and that makes us vulnerable from an attack from a different angle.

We know that God has it all covered, but He expects us to do what HE tells us to do so He can indeed cover us.  Israel found out what happens when God removes His protective hand because they sinned, He was and is willing to accept sincere contrition, but it would be much better for us if we didn’t have to ask for forgiveness.

If we have the full armor of God about us at all times, we will find that even when satan attacks in a mode we are not familiar with that we can stand and overcome the temptation.

Later, Art :-)