The Unseen World

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Ephesians 6:10-20

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

 

When I was a teenager, I loved horror movies like Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and Wolfman. Every Saturday night there was a TV show called “Shock Theater” hosted by Christopher Coffin. I never missed an episode.

 

I loved movies like House on the Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price and Beast with 5 Fingers with Peter Lorre. There was a TV series called The Twilight Zone hosted by Rod Serling. Edgar Allen Poe was my favorite author. Anything that involved the supernatural or the unexplainable fascinated me.

 

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encouraged them to “be strong in the Lord”. Then he warned them about something that sounds like it could have come straight out of one of the movies that I watched as a kid.

 

¹² 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.         NLT

 

Our Western culture doesn’t embrace the concept of spiritual warfare. We would rather attribute life’s struggles to circumstances, mother nature, the environment, science or some other logical reason. But Paul clearly stated that there are spiritual battles.

 

For example, when he was in Ephesus for two years, there was a riot started by a silversmith who made shrines of the Roman goddess of Diana. Paul’s ministry was hurting his business. On the surface, it appears that the root cause of the riot was greed and jealousy. But underneath, it was a spiritual battle.

 

The book of Job is a classic example of a spiritual battle that on the surface appeared to have worldly causes: The Sabeans killed his servants and stole his oxen and donkeys. A windstorm caused a house to collapse killing his sons and daughters. His wife turned against him and told him to “curse God and die”.

 

But previous to this, unseen by Job, there was a conversation between God and Satan. The Lord pointed out the faithfulness of Job. But Satan claimed that it was only because God had blessed him with so much that Job was faithful.  

 

So, God allowed Satan to attack his servant Job to prove that he was faithful. On the surface, it appeared to be natural causes. But below the surface, in the unseen world, it was spiritual warfare.

 

When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he was under arrest and chained to a Roman soldier. So, it’s not surprising that he would use the armor of his jailer as a metaphor to encourage the Ephesians to stand strong.

 

¹³ Therefore put on the full 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.                      NIV

 

After he details what the “full armor of God” is, he closes with this statement.

 

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.       NLT

 

In Ephesians, Paul teaches us that our ultimate struggle is not against human enemies, but against "spiritual forces of evil". But the good news is that we don’t have to face them alone. The Holy Spirit is always with us and makes God’s power available to us.

 

 Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Thorn in Your Side

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

  

My best friend in high school was everything that I wanted to be but wasn’t. He was confident; could talk easily with girls; and was good at sports. In fact, some classmates thought he was a braggart. But for me, I wanted to be just like him.

 

In some ways, he was a mentor to me. One Saturday night we were at my house, when I must have told him that I didn’t know how to dance. The next thing that I knew I’d put a slow song on the record player and my best friend was dancing with me while giving me instructions. It must have looked strangely funny.

 

The world tells us that if you are weak, then you’ll get run over; people will take advantage of you; you won’t get anywhere in the world. But God has a different set of values. He doesn’t work that way.

 

Throughout the Bible, you can see how God works in people’s lives who are down and out; people with character flaws; people with weaknesses. Moses who was a murderer; Gideon who was hiding in a winepress; Rahab who was a prostitute; Peter who denied Christ – played major roles in God’s plan of redemption.

 

In the final four chapters of his letter to Corinth, Paul is defending himself against some men who have infiltrated the church. They claimed to be apostles and that Paul was not. Being an apostle meant that you were sent, or commissioned, by Jesus just like the original apostles who had walked “in the dust of the rabbi”.

 

When these men claimed that Paul wasn’t an apostle, they were attacking not only the things that he wrote and said, but also his character. It was critical for Paul to defend himself, not because he needed the title of “Apostle”, but to validate who he was and what he said.

 

With no other choice, Paul defended his ministry in many different ways, including bragging about all the suffering he had gone through by following Jesus. But he also bragged about the visions and revelations from the Lord that he’d had.

 

² I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows.          NLT

 

Paul was likely a type A personality – very driven. It would’ve been easy for him to do everything that God had called him to do, but to do it on his own… without God. He had the skills, the motivation and the confidence to do it.

 

Therefore, God gave him a thorn in the flesh – a weakness if you will. That thorn kept Paul humble, but it also enabled him to trust the Lord and live by His power. When Paul begged the Lord three times to take it away, here is His response.

 

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.           NIV

 

This is Good News for a teenage boy who lacked confidence. But it’s also Good News for anyone at any age who is painfully aware of the thorn in your side. Whatever your thorn might be, God’s strength “is made perfect” in your weakness.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

The Rebel

A Series on Lamentations
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Lamentations 5; Jeremiah 29:10-14; Luke 15:11-24 

 

[The book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah to the Jews in Babylon who had been exiled and were lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. Known as the “weeping prophet”, his tears flowed from a broken heart for Jerusalem – the “City of God” – and her people. In this series we will look at Lamentations to learn about God’s justice and mercy, the consequences of sin and the hope for redemption.]

  

When I was a little boy, Westerns were the staple of TV. One show that I used to watch was called The Rebel with Johnny Yuma. I can still remember the theme song, sung by Johnny Cash. ♫ “Johnny Yuma was a rebel; he wandered alone” ♫.

 

As a former Confederate soldier, not only was he a rebel in that sense, but also, he was a loner that didn’t fit well with the establishment. In fact, the character of Johnny Yuma was often described as a symbol of rebellious youth.

 

The people of Jerusalem were rebellious. But the difference was that they didn’t rebel against the status quo, they rebelled against the Lord. In the opening verses of Lamentations 5, Jeremiah prayed for the shattered nation.

 

¹ Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. ² Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.                             NIV            Lamentations 5

 

Jeremiah also prayed about: their daily necessities like firewood and water, which at one time was free, but now had to be bought; their enemies who pursued and oppressed them; their food which required risking your life to get it; their women who were raped; and their princes who were killed.

 

But Jeremiah realized that the Lord hadn’t shut the door on them completely.

 

¹⁹ You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation. ²¹ Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old.                                                 NKJV      Lamentations 5

 

In fact, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah telling him that after seventy years he would bring his people back home from Babylon to Jerusalem.

 

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.      NIV    Jeremiah 29

 

No matter how much we rebel against the Lord, he still desires to redeem us; to bring us back into relationship with him; to bring us home. Jesus told a parable illustrating this principle – the prodigal son.

 

In the context of Jesus’ parable, the word prodigal means wastefully extravagant or recklessly spending. In his story, a father’s youngest son asked for his inheritance. Once received, he went to a far land where he spent it all on wild living.

 

When he had nothing left and became desperate, he realized that his rebellion was a sin against his father and returned asking for forgiveness. He even went so far as to say that he didn’t deserve to be called his son. But his father wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, he set into motion a big celebration.

 

²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So, they began to celebrate.                      NIV    Luke 15

 

Like the prodigal son, we’re all lost without our Heavenly Father who happily embraces us to welcome us home.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Fall from Grace

A Series on Lamentations
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Lamentations 4; Jeremiah 20:7-18 

[The book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah to the Jews in Babylon who had been exiled and were lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. Known as the “weeping prophet”, his tears flowed from a broken heart for Jerusalem – the “City of God” – and her people. In this series we will look at Lamentations to learn about God’s justice and mercy, the consequences of sin and the hope for redemption.]

 

My junior year of high school, I was elected as our class president. It was pretty heady stuff for me to think that I was so popular. The truth is that I didn’t deal with it very well, as it resulted in me getting 4’s for my citizenship grade in several classes.

 

I still remember a classmate telling me that a 4 was not appropriate for the class president. His observation became prophetic when I ran for senior class president and lost. My bad behavior resulted in me falling from grace with my classmates.

 

Of much greater significance, the people of Jerusalem had fallen from the grace of God. Because of their sin, God had sent the Babylonians as judgment. The siege that they placed around Jerusalem lasted two years causing extreme famine and desperate behavior.

 

⁴ The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them. ⁵ The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food. ¹⁰ Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.               NLT            Lamentations 4

 

Not only did the people of Jerusalem fall from grace, but so did the priests and prophets. Their sins contributed to the destruction of Jerusalem. Their fall was great!

 

¹⁵ “Get away!” the people shouted at them. “You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!” So, they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay. ¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders.       NLT   Lamentations 4

 

Even Jeremiah came close to falling from grace. On one occasion, he was beaten and put in stocks just because he was speaking the word of the Lord. People mocked him every day for his obedience.

 

As a result, Jeremiah felt used and misled by the Lord. He was so emotionally distraught that he cursed the day he was born. Yet his faith prevailed.

 

⁹ But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!        NLT   Jeremiah 20

 

God’s grace is greater than our sin. To confirm this, you need look no further than some of the main people in God’s plan of redemption. Moses, David, Peter and Paul all had a checkered past. Yet God’s grace looked beyond their sin.

 

Paul reminded the Roman church that there is NOTHING that can “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. He also wrote to Timothy to remind and inspire him about the “fire in my bones” that Jeremiah wrote about.

 

⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.           NIV                2 Timothy 1

 

Therefore, let us “fan into flame” God’s gift to us – his word and Spirit.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com