In this episode, the Ezra Project delves into Ephesians 6 with a heartfelt reading by Camden, providing a fresh perspective from a young believer. We explore the deeper meanings behind the call to don the full armor of God in our spiritual battles, offering practical insights from decades-long journaling experiences. Reflect on how these teachings resonate in our daily lives, reinforcing the importance of applying spiritual truths actively.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we conclude the book of Ephesians with chapter 6. Our guest reader is my granddaughter Camden. She’s 12 years old. She’s in the 7th grade. She lives here close to us in Denver, Colorado. So let’s listen in to Camden as she reads Ephesians chapter 6.
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Ephesians 6. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment, with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up into the training and instructions of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of the heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not man, because you know that the Lord will And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authority, against the power of the dark world, and against the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realms. therefore put on the whole armor of god so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand stand firm then with the belt of trust buckled around your waist with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known to the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should. Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
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Back in 1992, when I read Ephesians 6, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, children, obey your parents, referring to verse 1. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, verse 4. And then I wrote, but what if bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord provokes them to anger? Like one of my sons saying, quit jamming your religion down our throat, or that’s okay if you believe the Bible is right. What’s a father to do then? And then I wrote concerning verse 13, stand firm. And then spiritual armor, truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and pray at all times. And my prayer after reading Ephesians 6 was fairly simple. God, help me at work, with you at home. I need your peace and intelligence. Ten years later, in 2002, remember I was reading Ephesians more than once in the same month, so the first entry I made on Ephesians 6 was, “‘Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord. Be strong and stand.'” A few days later, I read Ephesians 6 again, but I had one of the journal entries about the beginning of the Ezra Project. I’ll share that now. I wrote, Going to the Blair Foundation, Ezra Project office for the first time today, another exciting step. So earlier I’d shared that I went out and bought office furniture. I got to put in the office over the weekend, and this was a Monday, the first time I went to the Ezra Project office. As we close out Ephesians 6 today and the book of Ephesians altogether, I will leave, you know, the beginning of the Ezra Project as well. But I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the insights, the very beginning of this ministry, the first week and the first month of the Ezra Project, many, many years ago today. We thank God for His blessing on the Ezra Project and His sustaining this ministry for well over 16 years as I record this today. On that day, related to Ephesians 6, I wrote concerning the first nine verses, The next day I finished Ephesians 6 with these words, withstand, stand, girded, shod, taking, being watchful. If we do not actively participate, we are weak and subject to the attacks of the devil. No wonder Christianity is soft. We are not proactive. And I wrote a prayer after reading these verses. I wrote, For my weakness, strengthen me, for the armor to be real to me and to be used by me. Ten years later, in 2012, after reading chapter 6 on a cruise, I wrote, Children, obey your parents. Honor your parents. Fathers, don’t make your children mad, but bring them up in Christian faith. And then I continued, we fight spiritual battles, therefore we need to be strong in the Lord. Do all to withstand evil, then stand firm. Faith extinguishes all the flaming attacks of the evil one. The only offensive weapon is the word of God. In 2012, I mentioned we were on a cruise in the Caribbean, but I just share those journal entries to remind us all that even on vacation, I spend time in the Word each and every day. I hope you do too. Thus ends my journal entries on Ephesians 6, so let’s look at the chapter. I mentioned in one of my journals the struggle as a father to bring up my children in the ways of the Lord. Sometimes I got resistance. Maybe you did too as a parent. Verse 4 says, And as I brought them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, sometimes I think it made them angry. So if you’re a struggling parent today, I encourage you to follow the scriptural principles of raising your children. Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit work it out in their hearts. The next section in Ephesians 6 is about work. Verse 7 says, “…rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord. So I hope if you have a job, that’s how you work. You render service to the Lord throughout the day. It’s your testimony as a Christian. And you let your light shine before men. I realize that’s not always comfortable, but it’s the right place to be as a testimony of your Christianity before those you work with. And lastly, we are encouraged as Christians to be strong, stand for the Lord. Ephesians 6 reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle and therefore we need spiritual armor. Verse 12, “…for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Maybe as Christians, we don’t like to realize this, but Satan has dominion over the earth right now. This verse reminds us that that’s the battle we’re in. And in one of my journals, I said we need to be proactive Christians. One action item is to take up the whole armor of God. Take up means it’s something we need to do. If we don’t, we’re not protected against the onslaught of the enemy. But if we take up the whole armor of God, it says you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. That’s the protection God offers us in the battleground of life. With the armor that God provides, we can stand firm. We can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And in the armor of God, we are to pray at all times in the spirit. So the armor God gives us is truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer. By being proactive, by taking that on as our armor, we can withstand the fiery darts of the enemy. I encourage you to proactively put on the full armor of God. It’s a gift, but one that will do us no good unless we receive it and use it. Praise God for the armor that he has given us to live this life victoriously in him. I’m going to close our time in the book of Ephesians by going back to my journal in 2002. That very month I started the Ezra Project. After reading Ephesians a couple of times in the month of April, I wrote a summary. I’m going to share it now. I wrote, What does Paul say? He tells us who we are in Christ, where we are without him, where we are because of him, and how to act as believers. What I get most is I was dead, subject to the lusts of the flesh and wooings of the devil, but because of the redemptive work of Jesus, I am alive and can choose to follow the Holy Spirit and alter my conduct accordingly. What freedom! I can live with a song in my heart now thanks to Jesus Christ. That was my summary of the book of Ephesians in 2002. I pray you’ve been blessed by our time in the book of Ephesians. Father, we thank you for this great book of scripture. We thank you for some of the great doctrines of faith that we’ve been reminded of in this book. That we are saved by grace and grace alone and not by works. That we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and that alone. That you gifted the church to grow up the saints with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. We thank you for the reminder that you are the head of the church. And we thank you for this great description of the armor of God, your gift to help us live life. Finally, Lord, we thank you that you reminded us over 10 times that we are in Christ, the best place to be to live this thing called life. We thank you for lessons learned in the book of Ephesians. Holy Spirit, remind us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Our radio programming is set for 2026. We will cover 17 of the 66 books of the Bible using the Ezra Project Day by Day through the Bible 11 book series. We start January 1 with the writings of Moses, Genesis, and Exodus. After, we continue with his writings in our second book, The writings of Moses, which covers Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Or we get into the New Testament later in 2026 with the writings of Matthew and Luke, which include the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke, and the Book of Acts. Then we go back to the Old Testament with the writings of Solomon. By fall, we enjoy the writings of John. If you listen to each episode, you will complete 17 of the 66 books of the Bible in 2026. If you miss any, you can always go back and catch up by loading the radio station app and finding replays. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Visit the resource page and find the day-by-day through the Bible book that coincides with the radio program. It’s usually the one on sale. There’s a section in each book for you to record your thoughts on each passage, kind of like an elaborate journal. So as you listen, you can record your own notes so you’ll never forget what you got out of your time in God’s Word. Check it out today at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it. and want to share it with others.
