Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV
On Your Guard
The Canadian Guards (officially known as the Regiment of Canadian Guards) was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army that served in the same role as the five regiments of foot guards in the British Army. The regiment was formed on October 16, 1953, by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, the Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Army, The Canadian Guards not only served as the Household Troops of Canada, but was also the country’s first national military regiment.
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Ever since Satan put doubt into the minds of Eve and Adam about the veracity of God’s word, asking the first question in the Bible – did God really say? – the enemy has tried to put doubt into the minds of God’s people about the trustworthiness of what God has said. The apostle Paul knew this was the case, so he writes in 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” There will always be those who doubt God and who oppose the Gospel. There will always be those who stand in opposition to all that is the Kingdom of God. Jesus faced such opposition Himself in the wilderness. We need to heed carefully the command of Paul here to be on our guard. We need to know God’s Word well enough that we can clearly see when it isn’t used properly. It will take courage to stand up to the truth. It will mean we will need to be strong in our convictions about such things as the uniqueness of Jesus and the trustworthiness of His Word. Let’s determine every day to be on our guard for Jesus and His word.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley