Fellowshipmtz Clifford Davis

Curt Fleck is the Executive Director of CIVIL SERVANT MINISTRY -- a ministry devoted to sharing the God's Word and the Gospel with those involved in politics in Springfield and Illinois.

John Burton (1803-1877) English children's hymnwriter, I OFTEN SAY MY PRAYERS
1 I often say my prayers; But do I ever pray? And do the wishes of my heart Go with the words I say?
2 I may as well kneel down, And worship gods of stone, As offer to the living God, A prayer of words alone.
3 For words without the heart, The Lord will never hear; Nor will He to those lips attend, Whose prayers are not sincere.
4 Lord, show me what I need, And teach me how to pray; Nor let me ask Thee for Thy grace, Not feeling what I say.

Ephesians 6:17b,
Besides discovering how well the LEGACY STANDARD BIBLE translated the entire passage on the Church's armor, probably the most interesting discovery was the realization the Church/Christians are told to "receive," rather than "pick up" the "sword of the Spirit" !

Ephesians 6:16-17
We initially take care of a few unfinished details concerning the "shield of faith" -- Did Jesus have faith?  Next we spend a good amount of time considering what it means to "receive" the "helmet (or hope) of salvation".

Ephesians 6:16 -  The Interpreter's Bible Exposition Commentary (1953) aptly recognizes: "Orthodox Christianity is right in its bold assertion that the root of sin is not weakness but unbelief.  Faith is the only real cure.  The Reformers were right also in confronting all works-religion with a return to the good news of "justification by faith."  Rehearsal of the great Reformation argument cannot be attempted here. The relevance of the concept, even in its most general form, to the problem of Christian ethics cries out for rediscovery.  The deeper problem raised by human sinfulness is not the what, but the why."