Winning Spiritual Battles | We Is Greater Than Me | Pastor Jodi Ruch

Emmanuel locations this morning, Elk River, Maple Grove, Lakeville, Spring Lake Park, those joining on the line. How many love Jesus today? Come on. It's so good. It's so good to be with the family of God. And we've got a lot going on in the world around us and in the church and activities all week long. But I want to pause before we get into the message today. And I just want to say to the church, from your pastor, just don't remind you, you are, Jesus said, you're the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. That you have responsibility. We have responsibility that we are not just a pull-away from the darkness, we're to be light going into the darkness, that we are salt the preserving factor for the world that is around us. And with the election that is coming up, I want to just say, I believe that our responsibility as believers and following Jesus is to not sit this one out. You need to vote. And that means it's our responsibility to step in. Irregardless of whether or not you like, appreciate whatever else, it's still on you. Turn to the person and actually say, don't sit this one out. And so when you go to vote, you have a responsibility as well to think about it and pray about it. So do your research on candidates and their platforms. Don't just listen to the ads. Go and look at the actual platforms. See how they'll vote. Look at your Bible. See what lines up with biblical values. Pray, the Holy Spirit will help you. Then simply vote. All right. We need the church Christians to be salt and light this year in the elections. Amen. And of course, as a church, we got to continue to pray. And so I just want to encourage you, don't sit it out. You've got a responsibility. I want you to remember my voice when you're thinking about skipping. Oh, shoot, Pastor Nate's gonna sneak up on me. That's what I want. I want you to not sit this one out. You need to jump into it. All right. We're in the very last of the series. We greater than me. How many have enjoyed Ephesians as we've gone through it? Today we're gonna land the plane. Actually, this particular text that we're going to, we could do a whole series just on this chapter, chapter six. It's powerful. But we started off with we greater than me. People have been gathered together in groups. I want to say thank you to all of you that man hosting and leading a connect group for

we greater than me. I hope you keep going and you choose to still connect with other people. But it's been great. And if you missed any, you can always go online or through the app and you can see the messages. You can go back and do group discussions. We've got videos in the booklet as well as through the app and encourage you to jump into that. Each week we've kind of built on this theme that Paul was talking to the church and Ephesus with a vision for what life could be like. What life could be like with the Kingdom of God in the middle of a pluralistic society that did not honor Jesus. And it's not unlike the world that we live in. And so he started off by talking about don't just be an isolated person. In fact the phrase that we've been using throughout the series is in an isolated world together is better than alone. Say that with me. In an isolated world together is better than alone. We looked at through chapters one and two and how through Jesus he's the one that really did it for us. And if he didn't do for us we wouldn't have a chance. In fact it's kind of our but God moments where we could say man where would I be without Jesus. And you and Jesus together can take on the world right. So that's a we. So you're not living life by yourself. You're living in the we of your relationship with the Lord. But then it goes beyond that he wants to break down the walls of hostility between people. He doesn't want there to be division in those kind of things in families and churches and in society. So Jesus through his death on the cross broke the walls of hostility and then he gave all of us a responsibility within the church. So we are connected. The we moves beyond just vertical me and Jesus. It's the we meet Jesus and the people around me. Turn to the person next to you on either side and say I'm so glad you're here. This is the we okay. And then and then he gives us jobs and Ephesians 4 that there are in And for 11 and 12, there's responsibility. We're finishing today the title of the message is this. Winning spiritual battles. Winning spiritual battles. Just as a thought here,

as we're gonna start off with verse 10 in Ephesians 6, that as we come into this space, Paul has now moved from thinking about us internally, how we talk, even within families. And he wants to help us deal with the spiritual external battles. If we're gonna win this race, it's not all just what happens in this room. How many of you know what spiritual battles are like? And so you've got spiritual battles around. So Paul says, I want you to win in these things. In Ephesians chapter six verse 10 says this. A final word, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Be strong in who? The Lord and in whose power? His mighty power. Many of us know how to power up. We know how to do our workouts, take our protein. Some of you do creatine and other supplements. You know how to power up, but today we need to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. And in this particular mode, we're gonna be stronger as a team when the better half of the rusces comes to bring the rest of the word. Would you give her for Jodi if she comes to speak? - Oh, thank you. I don't know about the better half,

but we are greater than me, right, together. So winning the spiritual battle is a super important topic to me. And in fact, every time I've shared it, something crazy has happened and in first service, the mic didn't work. So we're gonna start out of the gate and pray. Lord, I just thank you, Father, that no weapon fashioned against us will prosper. All those who rise up against us will fall. I just ask God that you would be in this room, Lord, that you'd push back any spirit of darkness that would try to interfere with people receiving the word of the Lord. I pray, God, that the technology would work, Lord, and that there would be no distractions. Have your way in Jesus' name, amen. So, amen, right? So, passionate, when he, there was a time in our life when he worked at North Central and he would speak at youth groups and things like that. He would travel and speak. And so, one time he got asked to speak at a church in the South Metro for about 1500 teenagers. And I have four boys, we have four boys, and all of them had things to do except one, Jeffrey. And so, we decided we were gonna go on a mommy date, we're gonna have dad go and do his speaking engagement, and we're just gonna hang out and have fun. So, Jeff was in elementary school, young,

and we went to Chili's, I think it was back then, and we were talking and having a good time and all of a sudden the phone rang. And I'm like, it's Nate. And I'm like, hey, what's up? Are you okay? No, I'm not. You need to come home right now. Now, that has never happened. And so, I'm like, okay, I paid the waitress and Jeff and I get in the car, and I began praying in the spirit in a way that my son had never really heard me pray. We were just crying out to God, rebuking the enemy. We get home, and Nate is doubled over on the floor. And he's like, I have so much pain. So, Jeff and I just began to lay hands on him, and we began to pray. And he got enough relief to be able to go. I'm like, are we gonna cancel this or what's happening? He goes, no, I think I can do it, but you guys are coming with me. So, rather than have this little mommy date, we get in the car and we go with Nate to the south side of the Metro. We call the intercessors up ahead of time. We have them praying, and we get there, and Nate grabs a microphone, steps on stage, and the pain was gone. He began to preach powerfully in half the room.

Of, there was 1,500 teenagers, or half the room responded to the altar call for salvation. Amen? And at that moment, I looked at my son and we caught eyes, and we knew what this was all about. This was a spiritual battle, and our prayers made a difference. So, the spiritual battles that you face in your life might be blatant like that, or it could be just as small as the lies that the enemy is trying to get us to believe. So, how do we win spiritual battles? Well, the good news is, Jesus has already set us up to win. So, today, I wanna share three things that help win spiritual battles from Ephesians chapter six. The first thing would be understand the battle, the second put on all of God's armor, and the third is pray and stay alert. In fact, turn to the person next to you and say, "Jesus set you up to win." All right, let's go to verse 11. Ephesians 6 starting in verse 11, "Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." So this scripture is telling believers that there is a spiritual battle that they're engaged in and begins helping us to prepare like soldiers. So let's get into it three ways to win the spiritual battle. Number one, understand the battle.

So Paul is writing to people in Ephesians, and they've got all sorts of things going on around them. They've got the culture, they've got spiritual forces working in the financial realm and in the government and controlling things. They've got all this false religions and paganism going on, but Paul, he does not want the church to succumb to that spiritual darkness, and so he gives them instructions, those same instructions to the Ephesians work for us today. So understanding the battle, we need to do our part. Look at verse 11, it says, "Put on." Now earlier in Ephesians, Paul is telling us to put on the new man. Remember when Nate had that nice illustration of all the clothes? Well, that week I was down in Lakeville, and I remember one of the gals that said, "Hey, I watched the service walk through and I saw a picture of you and Pastor Nate in the 80s." I'm like, "I didn't know him in the 80s." And so I was like, "I wonder what he is up to?" Pretty funny. He posted that on Facebook and my mom's like, "I don't remember that picture." I'm like, "It's fake, it's AI, it's not true. We didn't really know each other back then." So that was just a reminder to don't go back to the old ways, but put on the new way. So as I was preparing for this message, I thought it would be a little funny to kind of play back or a little payback, but being the nice, submissive wife that I am, I let him know I was going to do it and he was okay with it. So we need to put on all of God's armor. So putting on the new man and it's very similar to putting on the armor, we've got to live the Christian life. So do we have that picture of Nate wearing the armor? When I went through in a picture in Chatsubitea, I'm like, "Put Pastor Nate in armor." And I laughed so hard I could hardly like breathe for a while, but I did a pretty good job, but he should be carrying the sword.

So the sword's just like hanging there next to him. But anyhow, we need to put all of God's armors on. There's six pieces. We've got the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the helmet, the shield and the sword. And then of course we use prayer to make all those things go together. So then it goes on and says stand firm against. Now Paul is transitioning from earlier in the chapter where it's action oriented and we need to like walk in the spirit and walk in love as the English ESV version says to now standing firm. We've got to stand our ground, we've got to stand firm. Now standing our ground doesn't mean like we're never going to go forward. But standing our ground says we're not going to give the enemy any room to push us backward. And I think about our church. God has sent us to the city to be a light in all of our locations and we cannot take a step back from the darkness. We need to stand firm and get ready to move forward. So we need to stand against the enemy. So the image represents just a different change in posture. We go from action oriented to just standing our ground. Now if we want to understand the battle, we need to be aware of the enemy's strategies. Verse 11 says all strategies of the devil. So the devil is real and he opposes God. Have you ever thought about that? That the devil is real and he opposes God. But the devil is not equal to God, praise the Lord. So devil has strategies. He has strategies against you. He has strategies against me. He has strategies against all believers everywhere. He has strategies against the church.

So the Greek word for strategy is methodia and is derived from the word for method, carrying connotations of craftiness, cunning. The enemy deceives us in a systematic way, step by step by step. Think about how, when we think about kind of these schemes and the things that he devises against us, we can think about our algorithms in Instagram. Think about all the times that you say chicken sandwich and all of a sudden you see all these chicken ads. The enemy is listening to us and he is devising a plan. I remember when my boys were playing football and they would watch the tape of the team. Do you know that the enemy is watching your tape? He's looking for all the vulnerable areas that you have. He is trying to scheme against us. So the enemy, he'll use deception, he'll use presumption. He's gonna use scripture that he twists against us. He's gonna cast doubt in our minds. He's gonna do all sorts of things. He'll cause division and discouragement and disruptions. But the devil, he looks for the weak areas in our lives. He looks for opportunities. He, and we learned a few of these a couple of weeks ago when Pastor Nate was teaching, how the Bible says that do not let the sun go down on your anger, why? Because it gives a foothold to the enemy. In 2 Corinthians 2, 11, it talks about unforgiveness is actually a strategy, a scheme of the devil.

And we also know why it was so important to put off the old and put on the new, because when we live in sin, we're giving an open door, an open peace in our armor. So the battle, it often takes place in our mind and it's aimed at getting us to give up on our relationship with God. The goal is said in John 10, 10, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus came to give us life and give it to the full. Now we're gonna pick back up in verse 12 for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies. So why do you think Paul points us out? Well, there's always a lot of division and grumbling in the church, right? And even outside the church, so much dissension. You know, people are not our problem. People are not your problem. We need to pray and vote like Pastor Knight said, but it's not the Democrats, it's not the Republicans, it's not the politicians, it's not your neighbor, it's not the co-worker who's being mean to you, it's not the family members who cut you off, it's the devil. But against rulers and authorities of the unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. We are fighting the unseen world. So Paul, when he's talking to the Ephesians, they have a background of dualism where you've got from the pagan religions and things. So you've got fighting between evil powers and angels

and that sort of thing. And so he's letting them know through that backdrop that Jesus already won. Through the death and resurrection, and when we partner with God, we win too. So turn your neighbor again and say, Jesus set us up to win. So we need to understand the battle, but Paul doesn't have us just focus on the battle, he moves us to how we can stand and move forward. So he's shifting this and telling us all about that. So three ways to win the spiritual battle. Number one, understand the battle. Number two, put on all of God's armor. Verse 13, therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Now, Paul is writing this from prison. And actually, it's more like a house arrest. And he was like doing everything, preaching to the Gentiles and including them in. And so the Jewish people got upset

and thought he was defiling the temple. So then he ends up in Rome and he's watching all this from a house arrest. So he is looking at the guard that's likely guarding him and he's pulling out a spiritual lesson. And in the Old Testament in Isaiah 59, 17, and salvation as a helmet. And so we've got that background that they have. So the items in the armor, they're listed in the order that you put them on. You are a part of a bigger plan. Being a soldier is not a solo concept. You're a part of an army. Verse 13 says, "Put on every piece of God's armor." It's necessary for us to cover every single weak area in our lives. So you'll be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. How many of you think we're living in a time of evil? Right? So this is important for us today. So you will be able to stand against the enemy in the time of evil. Resist means to set yourself against. So when you're gonna resist something, your holding is part of standing firm. We're gonna not take the bait. I love how James 4.7 says, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." We can't just resist the devil in our own strength.

We have to humble ourselves before God. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. So remember your assignment, we're standing firm. So let's finish the verses and look at the next few verses and look at the six pieces of God's armor. You ready? First one, belt of truth. Stand your ground and put on the belt of truth. So standing our ground, coming again, and now we're putting on the belt of truth. Truth holds everything together. It's the first thing that goes on. We know that the Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him. So we start with the truth. We also start with truth between each other in the church. If we confess our sins to one another, pray for one another, we're healed. And so we need to walk in authenticity with others in the church. That's putting on the belt of truth. The next one is the body armor of God's righteousness. And I otherwise known as the breastplate of righteousness. Verse 14, put on the body armor of God's righteousness. Righteousness, it protects the heart. And it protects all of our vital organs. Now if we're in battle and we took a hit to the arm, we would still live.

We took a hit to the leg and we would still live. But if we took a hit to the heart or any vital organ, we would not make it. And so putting on righteousness, that's our right standing with God and having right standing relationship with other believers. And we need to put it on to cover us. Now usually, this was made out of bronze. We saw the lovely picture of Pastor Nate that covered the front and back and it was for the protection of vital organs. Second Corinthians 521, for God made Christ, who never sinned to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ. We need to have that breastplate of righteousness. The next one is shoes of peace. Verse 15, for shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. Now, how many of you like a good shoe game, right? Put on shoes. And those are the last thing that are, almost one of the last things that are being put on, showing that you're ready. So shoes of peace, they have two things. We could have the peace internally in our heart because of Jesus. We accept them, we accept God's peace. But it can also be used as an offensive weapon where we're taking peace into a dark world.

Our shoes are walking, it's action-oriented. We wanna have the shoes of peace to go and bring peace to the world. The next thing is the shield of faith. Now, I love the shield of faith. In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the enemy. Now, in addition, so it's not like instead of, it's in addition to all the other armor you've already put on. So hold up the shield of faith. Now, the shield of faith can be on our own. We can hold up the shield of faith and we wanna just stand in faith before God, but it's also meant to connect with others. And so there's an analogy back then where they would connect their shields and they could take round. For example, someone would put a shield in front, hold a shield in front of a person. Someone would hold a shield in the side of the person. And someone would hold a shield to the back of the person and then the other side and then someone would hold it above them. And they could walk into enemy territory and not be scathed. And so our faith, our shield of faith, is not a solo just by ourself, but it's even stronger when it's connected to other people. so you can stop the fiery darts

or the fiery arrows of the enemy. And when I think of those fiery arrows, a lot of times that is close proximity to us, things that are coming so close, they're like, how does this happen? Why? And that's when it hurts. Like, the devil does not fight fair. Case you haven't figured that out. And we can hold up our shield of faith and say no matter what happens, no matter what's going on around me, that I still believe in God. The helmet of salvation, verse 17, says put on salvation as your helmet. Now, helmets is protecting another vital organ, which is our head. So if our head takes a hit, we're not gonna make it. But putting on the helmet, a lot of times it's a sign of victory. So if you think about football teams or whatever, they'll put their little, all their champion ships that they won on their helmet. And that was a signify that there's victory already. It's also showing that we're battle ready. We're ready to go and take this on. So it's a hope of salvation. It's not just, I got saved once 'cause he's telling this to Christians, but it's a hope that Jesus wins in the end.

Like all the trials, all the different things that are happening, it's just temporary. Now, when Nate was coaching Little League football, these kids are like third grade. It'd be so funny to watch them get tackled and kids would go flying, you know. But then they'd get a bad play and the kids would come off the field and they'd take their helmet and they would throw it down. They're like, I quit. And that's what the devil is trying to get us to do. He wants us to throw our helmet and say I quit. And Nate would say, no, no, no, it's just a play. The game's not over. Put your helmet back on, you're going back in. Don't fall for the enemy's lives. Number six, the sixth thing is the sword of the spirit in verse 17. So I thought we had to have a prop here. So if I was walking down the road, I learned this from Charlotte Gamble and that's a little plug for Sisterhood Knight, in case you missed that. In November six, make sure you come, ladies. I saw this analogy from her. But when we're walking down the street, if we were holding a sword like this, don't you think this would be a little intimidating?

I mean, I don't know. If I was walking down the street in Minneapolis and someone had a sword, I'm like, yeah, I'm going the other side, even if I was in Blaine, right? And so as we think about the sword of the spirit, it's the word of God. The Bible says the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. And so it's not a weapon that's supposed to be used against people, right? It's supposed to be used against the enemy. So we can know the word of God, but the sword of the spirit is how we're applying the word of God. When we hit trials and different obstacles, we go, buy his stripes, I am healed, the Bible says it. So think about take the sword of faith, or the sword of the spirit, take your Bible, too. Think about as you're walking around, taking the word of God, how intimidating that is to the devil. And you can just know that, buy his stripes, I am healed. No weapon formed against me will prosper. All those who rise up against me will fall. In Jesus' name, he is Jehovah Jairah, my provider. He says to test me, and he would pour out a blessing. And so we've got to know the word, and we've got to use it like the sword of the spirit. Three ways to win the spiritual battle, understand the battle. Number two is put on all of God's armor. And the third thing is pray and stay alert.

Ephesians verse 18. Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God's mysterious plan that the good news is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I'm in chains now, still preaching this message. As God's ambassador, so pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him as I should. So we need to pray in the spirit. When? All times. And on every occasion, we got to be persistent in our prayers. We have to be specific in our prayers, and we need to intercede for the mission. So stay alert, why do you think we have to stay alert? Well, we've been talking about spiritual warfare, right? The enemy is studying our lives, and we have to, and he's harassing the people around us. We need to stay alert. First Peter 5.8 says be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, lion looking for someone to devour. We got to stay alert. And it's easy to say, sober mind, okay, like we should stay away from things that are addiction, drugs, you know, gettin' drunk, all those things. But we can also kind of check out with social media.

We can check out with work. So when we have these burdens to pray, we're like, come on, start scrolling. See what we need to be so reminded and stay alert. So I love how he, Paul says, I'm in chains now. So we got some chains here. He said, I am in chains now and I'm still preaching. He's still preaching. He went, he was on this house arrest. And during that time, he was there for like two years. And he's reaching out to these people of the church and he's telling them, I'm in chains and I'm still preaching. And did he say, hey, pray that I get out? He said, pray that I speak boldly, that I continue to do God's work. And while he was in prison over those two years, this is the first time he was in prison 'cause he does get out eventually. He writes four books of the Bible. Talk about an effective work of ministry. He was asking for prayers just to help him be bold as he should. His circumstances was not a setback, it was a setup. And as I was reading this portion, I was so convicted myself. Because as a leader in praying and all the things, I have my own limitations too. I've got things that the enemy is trying to stop and his scheme so I won't do his work. And I have to look and go, nope,

nothing that the enemy throws at me is gonna thwart me from the call of God that he has on my life. And that's the same for you. Maybe you feel limited in the things that God's called you to do. Maybe it's finances or marriage problems. Maybe it's physical limitations or you're taking care of a loved one and it's taking a lot of your time. Maybe it's past mistakes or diseases. Maybe you feel too young or you're too old. Paul had limitations too but it did not stop him from the mission. This is where we have to pray. We have to be resolved to pray together. So do not underestimate the power of prayer. So after we put in all of our armor and we're righteous living and we have to stand together and pray. I was thinking about the women's Bible study that had an opportunity to pop into a couple of weeks ago. And there was two women and if you guys have that picture you can throw it up on the screen. But there were two women that showed up at the Bible study kind of at the same time they didn't know each other was gonna be there. One name was Cathy and the other one was Sherry. And they were both there just talking to the Bible.

So they're like, can we just testify? Can we just thank you? Both of them had very serious life-threatening issues in their life and they're not out of the woods yet. But yet they're testifying because they're like if it wasn't for the prayers of the women in this Bible study I wouldn't be here right now. And then the other gal, same thing, same story. And it was such a holy moment in that room because we all realized we're a part of a bigger thing. We is greater than me. Verse 21, "To bring you up-to-date, Tyticus, "will give you the full report about what I am doing "and how I am getting along. "He is a beloved brother and a faithful helper "in the Lord's work. "I have sent him to you for this very purpose "to let you know how we're doing and to encourage you. "Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, "and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ "give you love with faithfulness. "May God's grace be eternally upon all who know "our Lord Jesus." So Paul sends his servant, Tyticus, to bring the news to the church, to encourage the church. I mean, I don't know if it was me. I would be tempted to go, "Oh, man, the food here is terrible. "I'm not sure what's going on here." And he's like, "I'm not gonna worry about my chains. "I'm gonna worry about the chains that are taking people

"in the church. "I'm gonna worry about the chains that are taking people "in our community. "This is really the spiritual battle. "My circumstances bad their momentary, "but the real spiritual battle is what's going on "outside of here." And when Paul is asking the church to be united and come together as an idol, We need to not take the bait of the enemy and we need to stand firm to take on the enemy. So Paul, he begins Ephesians with wishing everyone grace and peace, and then he ends Ephesians the same. So in closing, how do we win spiritual battles? Well, we need to understand the battle. We need to put on all of God's armor and we need to stay alert and pray. So where do you need to stand firm today? Is there a lie that you've been believing? Are there areas that you need to surrender to the Lord? A battle that you've been keeping to yourself and no one even knows about it? Maybe you've never surrendered to Jesus and you'll have an opportunity to do that today. So Jesus, he already made the way for us to win and part of his plan was the church. You are a part of his plan. There are people sitting all around you today that can pray and that can be with you to stand for the battle. We can, it can encourage us and we can pray together.

So this is how Jesus set us up to win. So let's stand together in all locations. As we sing this song, "Break these chains." Break this chain. We're gonna think from a posture of what God wants to do in us. Being in a battle, it's not a solo. Being a soldier is not a solo thing. We're in an army. We're in a greater group of witnesses. We're with others who can help win the battle with us and praying together is a key part of that. So as we sing, let's pray for one another with an attitude of going, we're in this together and the pastors at each location will come and they'll give a response after this. Let's pray. Lord, I just thank you for what you're doing in this place. Lord and across every one of our locations, I thank you, Lord, that your spirit is here. Lord, we thank you that you send your word that one can chase a thousand and two can chase 10,000. We thank you, Lord, that you said in your word that no weapon fashioned against us will prosper and that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. And so I thank you, Lord, that you're calling us to move forward and stand firm at the same time. I pray, God, that each and every person would put on the full armor of God, Lord, that they would understand the battle, Lord, and that they would pray and stay alert,

have your way in Jesus' name. Amen.