Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this word, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Ephesians 6:10-17
It is amazing how much we take for granted; in our homes, our health, our children, basically, our lives in general. There is so much going on in the atmosphere that we just don’t see with the natural eye. And that which we do see, is sometimes hard to comprehend or acknowledge, let alone verbalize. We deal with much in the way of spiritual wickedness and darkness that most of us don‘t know or realize. We’ve talked about the dangers seen and unseen and how they come to us in various forms, of which is not expected, sitting or crouching idly by waiting for the opportunity to come in and wreak havoc and cause discord.
Paul speaks to the Ephesians in regards to what is needed to live daily as a believer. He also speaks to them in regards to the position, the practice, as well as the responsibility of this spiritual walk. He makes them aware that it’s necessary to understand that spiritual warfare is a daily experience for servants of God, for those who are walking upright while living in this world. His best advice is to be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” It’s going to take some strength and some power to deal with the strongholds and the demonic activity that comes and would love to overtake us. We must learn to pull down these strongholds that have us bound; we have to break and bind those things that would cause us hurt or harm. We have to continually motivate ourselves to draw on our Source, which is Christ, because we are not wrestling (fighting, struggling, battling) against flesh and blood, it’s not someone tangible, not a physical opponent that you can feel and touch but against rulers of darkness and wickedness assigned to areas and territories; and yes, it’s against us and our families, if we are living and walking as a child of God.
None of us are exempt from this activity, this is why Paul tells us in verse 10 and 13, to put on the whole armour of God, that we might be able to withstand in the evil day and against the cunning devices, plans, and attacks of the devil. It is our responsibility to suit up everyday in order to protect ourselves from the enemy because he is walking about and seeking whom he can devour and destroy (I Peter 5:8). Just as any soldier would do to prepare for battle, he gets suited up, puts on all of his gear, gets his weapons ready to fight. This is why it is imperative that we are covered from head to toe with the armour that’s for our protection. There’s a war going on and we have to be prepared for whatever comes our way.
The tactics of the enemy will never be the same, he has to come up with new strategies. In turn, we have to stay connected the Lord, seek His counsel and His guidance for an effective course of action. Most importantly, we have to stay suited for battle daily having our belt of truth tightened, wearing our breastplate of righteousness and integrity, our feet shod or covered in preparation, so that we are planted firmly and ready for his attacks, positioned with our shield of faith that blocks all of the fiery darts he throws our way and last, but certainly not least is our most effective weapon of attack—our sword, which is the word of God! Without this important piece of the armour, we will be ineffective. The Word of God is our greatest weapon, it provides the strength and the power we need to destroy the enemy, just one word or words, appropriately applied can destroy or send the enemy back to his camp. Like any enemy, he is going to keep trying, so we have to be ready for the next phase of attack.
In the midst of all that is going on around us, things we are dealing with in our homes, our families, our jobs and the nations, let’s remember to stay prayerful and armed for warfare, keeping verse 12 always in our mind, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this word, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We have to be battle ready, so suit up!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
It is amazing how much we take for granted; in our homes, our health, our children, basically, our lives in general. There is so much going on in the atmosphere that we just don’t see with the natural eye. And that which we do see, is sometimes hard to comprehend or acknowledge, let alone verbalize. We deal with much in the way of spiritual wickedness and darkness that most of us don‘t know or realize. We’ve talked about the dangers seen and unseen and how they come to us in various forms, of which is not expected, sitting or crouching idly by waiting for the opportunity to come in and wreak havoc and cause discord.
Paul speaks to the Ephesians in regards to what is needed to live daily as a believer. He also speaks to them in regards to the position, the practice, as well as the responsibility of this spiritual walk. He makes them aware that it’s necessary to understand that spiritual warfare is a daily experience for servants of God, for those who are walking upright while living in this world. His best advice is to be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” It’s going to take some strength and some power to deal with the strongholds and the demonic activity that comes and would love to overtake us. We must learn to pull down these strongholds that have us bound; we have to break and bind those things that would cause us hurt or harm. We have to continually motivate ourselves to draw on our Source, which is Christ, because we are not wrestling (fighting, struggling, battling) against flesh and blood, it’s not someone tangible, not a physical opponent that you can feel and touch but against rulers of darkness and wickedness assigned to areas and territories; and yes, it’s against us and our families, if we are living and walking as a child of God.
None of us are exempt from this activity, this is why Paul tells us in verse 10 and 13, to put on the whole armour of God, that we might be able to withstand in the evil day and against the cunning devices, plans, and attacks of the devil. It is our responsibility to suit up everyday in order to protect ourselves from the enemy because he is walking about and seeking whom he can devour and destroy (I Peter 5:8). Just as any soldier would do to prepare for battle, he gets suited up, puts on all of his gear, gets his weapons ready to fight. This is why it is imperative that we are covered from head to toe with the armour that’s for our protection. There’s a war going on and we have to be prepared for whatever comes our way.
The tactics of the enemy will never be the same, he has to come up with new strategies. In turn, we have to stay connected the Lord, seek His counsel and His guidance for an effective course of action. Most importantly, we have to stay suited for battle daily having our belt of truth tightened, wearing our breastplate of righteousness and integrity, our feet shod or covered in preparation, so that we are planted firmly and ready for his attacks, positioned with our shield of faith that blocks all of the fiery darts he throws our way and last, but certainly not least is our most effective weapon of attack—our sword, which is the word of God! Without this important piece of the armour, we will be ineffective. The Word of God is our greatest weapon, it provides the strength and the power we need to destroy the enemy, just one word or words, appropriately applied can destroy or send the enemy back to his camp. Like any enemy, he is going to keep trying, so we have to be ready for the next phase of attack.
In the midst of all that is going on around us, things we are dealing with in our homes, our families, our jobs and the nations, let’s remember to stay prayerful and armed for warfare, keeping verse 12 always in our mind, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this word, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We have to be battle ready, so suit up!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
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