February 24: Wrestling with the Forces of Darkness
♫ Music:
Day 11 - Saturday, February 24
Title: WRESTLING WITH THE FORCES OF DARKNESS
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV)
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
Poetry & Poet:
“Seven Devils”
by Edmund Vance Cooke
Out of whom he had cast seven devils (Mark 16:9)
Then went the devils out of the man (Luke 8:33)
We are the Seven Devils and their kin
Evicted from our Paradise of Sin—
But undismayed, since man has ever been
A doorway with the portals swinging in.
We flit back in the deeper dregs of wine,
In greeds and gluttonies and flesh of swine
In tempest tongues and festering blood and bone,
In musk and motion of the dancing zone,
In drum and dulcimer and saxophone.
We seize on emperors by their lusts of state,
On paupers feeding on the crusts of hate;
We torment youth too full of life to hold,
And age regretful that its lips are cold.
Zealous or jealous, fools of faith or doubt,
Impish or impious, saturnine or stout,
Hip-equipped, harlot-lipped, doomed or devout
Biblicist, bibbler, lizard-lounger, lout,
Each is a compost wherein barbed tails sprout.
Outcasts we are, but never quite cast out.
WRESTLING WITH THE FORCES OF DARKNESS
Please pray with me.
Father, please speak to us, change us, and be glorified in this time of reflection.
Make us a light in this dark world. Make us like Jesus, we pray.
Amen.
"We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this present age..."
The darkness of this present age is no void. It's not a cold absence. This present darkness teems and writhes with the "spiritual hosts of wickedness"––creatures of malice, spite, and cunning.
I so much appreciate how poet Edmund Vance Cooke's Devils help us to properly frame this darkness. The devils describe mankind as "a compost." What a sense-laden comparison, with very specific feel and smell. Compost is a pile of things that were once fresh and full of life, and those things are now rotting. Bacteria move in and start to break down this organic material, then fungi join the party, then worms... There's so much activity in the rot that good compost piles generate their own heat! That is the darkness we live in––a pile good things going rotten. Cooke’s Devils say that we, each one of us, is “a compost wherein barbed tails sprout.”
Enter Lyuba Yatskiv's Warriors––What have they done in this darkness? Persevered. Stood firm. They look chiseled out of granite or formed from weathered (yet still shining) steel. These soldiers (representing many tribes and tongues) though injured and weary, have endured. They carry what looks like clusters of fruit, but they also look like burning coals, which remind me of the prayers before God’s throne in Revelation. The stems on the fruit even suggest the smoke of the incense rising to the Lord. And before the warriors, a seraph moves aside to grant entrance to their rest, a place of bright abundance.
Townsend’s song echoes today’s Scripture in showing how we can follow the example of the Warriors––“O Church arise and put your armor on.” The Devils reminded us so clearly: emperors and paupers, young and old, we’re attacked from every side. They’ve been digging in the compost for millennia, and until Christ returns, they are “never quite cast out.”
So Church, let’s take up our armor, our shield, our sword, and kneel to do battle in prayer. Our righteousness is in Christ, so when we bow our heads and our chin rests on our breastplate, we can know we are secure.
Prayer:
Father, praise you and thank you for sending your Son to do battle on our behalf.
Jesus, praise you and thank you for living the life we couldn’t live, for paying the price we couldn’t pay, and for being our righteousness.
Spirit, praise you and thank you for sealing us in Christ, and for filling us with His life, and guiding us in our lives. Guide our prayers, help us to use scripture well in battle. Sustain us, we pray.
God, make us a light in this dark world. Be glorified!
Amen
Chuck Koontz, M.L.I.S.
Systems Librarian and Archivist
Adjunct faculty for School of Fine Arts & Communications
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Art:
Prayer Warriors
Lyuba Yatskiv
2015
Acrylic and gilding on gessoed wood
37 x 50 cm.
Our greatest example of a prayer warrior is our Lord and Savior Jesus, whose prayer life was crucial to his life and ministry. The prayer warrior’s heart is one that is after God’s own heart—able to seek after God’s will in every situation. Biblical examples of powerful prayer warriors include Daniel, David, and Hannah, to mention only a few.
About the Artist:
Lyuba Yatskiv (b. 1977) belongs to a circle of Ukrainian artists from the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine who are revitalizing the ancient art of iconography that was all but lost during a half century of Soviet persecution. These new Ukrainian iconographers use time-honored and traditional techniques, but they reinterpret the established images of canonical iconography into a style that resonates with modern viewers. A graduate of the renowned Department of Sacred Art of Lviv National Academy of Arts, Yatskiv’s style conforms more closely to the traditional Byzantine manner. The artist comments, “I would never start working with a prepared, predefined concept. It is a line of the drawing that is prompting the development of a certain image; one only needs to listen to it, feel its vivid motion, and subtle plastic nuances.” Since 2002, she has been a professor at the National Academy of Arts in Lviv, Department of Sacred Art.
https://artes-almanac.com/onovlennia-ikonopys-liuby-yatskiv/
http://iconart.com.ua/en/artists/artist-4/lyuba-yatskiv
https://www.iconecristiane.it/2017/12/10/lyuba-yatskiv/
http://iconart.com.ua/en/exhibitions/8
About the Music:
“O Church Arise!” from the album Creation Sings
"O Church Arise" is a modern hymn by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. It has the aura of a hymn written three or four hundred years ago, yet it is popular over a wide spectrum of churches today. Its rich lyrics and fitting melody make it perfect for corporate worship. It is theologically sound, focusing on the sure hope we have despite our struggles to fight the good fight of faith.
Lyrics:
O church, arise and put on your armor on:
Hear the call of Christ our captain;
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth,
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
An army bold whose battle cry is “Love!”
Reaching out to those in darkness.
Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole.
We will fight with faith and valor.
When faced with trails on ev’ry side,
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died–
An inheritance of nations.
Oh, oh, oh, oh…..
Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet,
As the Son of God is stricken.
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet,
For the Conqueror has risen!
And as the stone is rolled away,
And Christ emerges from the grave,
This vict’ry march continues till the day
Eve-ry eye and heart shall see Him.
So spirit, come, put strength in ev’ry stride,
Give grace for ev’ry hurdle,
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful.
As saints of old still line the way,
Retelling triumphs of His grace,
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When, with Christ, we stand in glory.
Oh, oh, oh, oh…..
About the Composer/Performer:
Stuart Townend, a well-known British songwriter and worship leader, has been collaborating with Irish composer/arranger Keith Getty for the past five years. Together, the two musicians have been creating a new genre of worship music for the church: modern hymns, songs that are unique in popularity and usefulness throughout traditional, contemporary, and liturgical churches. Two of their most famous hymns include “The Power of the Cross” and “In Christ Alone.” Townend and Getty have been recorded hundreds of times in diverse styles including choral settings, symphony orchestras, Celtic bands, live worship events, and with other Christian artists such as Newsboys, Natalie Grant, and Tim Hughes. They have shared hymns and thoughts at universities and seminaries from Harvard to Wheaton, conferences from the National Pastors Conference to Spring Harvest and the Stoneleigh Bible Week, with organizations such as Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Focus on the Family, and regularly on British television.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Townend_(musicianhttps://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/
About the Composer:
Julian Keith Getty OBE (b. 1974) is a Northern Irish Christian singer and songwriter, best known for writing the modern hymn "In Christ Alone" (2001) with veteran songwriter and worship leader Stuart Townend. Getty and his wife Kristyn also release music under the musical duo Keith & Kristyn Getty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Getty
About the Poetry and Poet:
Edmund Vance Cooke (1866–1932) was a nineteenth- and twentieth-century poet best remembered for his inspirational verse "How Did You Die?" Cooke’s poetry has been set to music by several composers, including Nellie Bangs Skelton and Kate Vanderpoel. He published his first book of poems, A Patch of Pansies, in 1894, and went on to publish an additional fifteen books of poetry, as well as several books for children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Vance_Cooke
About the Devotion Writer:
Chuck Koontz, M.L.I.S.
Systems Librarian and Archivist
Adjunct Faculty for School of Fine Arts & Communications
Biola University
Chuck Koontz is the Systems Librarian and Archivist at Biola University, having worked at Biola since 2001. He also works as a freelance musician playing tuba in various settings around Los Angeles. He has been happily married to Faith since 2001, and they have three sons. The Koontzes are members of Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, California.