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 authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV)
Over the past four weeks, I brought to you my first-ever blog series. I’ve come to realize that I neglected to give the series a name – so here it is, “He Makes ALL Things Possible!” We looked at the topics, “He Made ALL the Difference,” “He Made YOU His Child,” “He Makes YOU Great,” and “He Makes YOU New.”
We’ve looked at how God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in and through our lives to accomplish things that would be humanly impossible. So, now let’s consider the next step in our walk with Him.
We may not be inclined to think of our Christian journey as a battleground, but in essence, that is surely what it is. Scripture tells us in John 10:10 (NIV), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The war is between God and the thief, Satan. But, when we respond to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 (NIV), “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” we become engaged in it. When we come to Jesus, we are choosing to belong to His troops.
That could be a scary thought, until we remember that while we are still fighting “battles,” such as health issues, monetary issues, relationship strife, struggles with addictions, etc., the war has already been won. Jesus won the war against Satan more than 2000 years ago, through His death and resurrection. When we choose to come to Jesus, we become part of His winning team. Satan will never stop trying to wreak havoc in our lives in any way that he can, but we can never forget that he is a defeated foe. Jesus has already won the war!
Sometimes we can be tempted to give more attention to Satan’s schemes against us, instead of God’s power and His ability. We need to approach oncoming assaults in the same manner that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did in Daniel 3. They were threatened with being thrown into a blazing furnace, if they didn’t bow down and worship the idols made by King Nebuchadnezzar. (vs.15) Just as Jesus was with them in that battle, He will be with us in whatever battles we face.
God’s plans for us are amazing. Because of Him, we are able to do more than we could possibly hope for, on our own. He knows that as we open up our hearts and lives to Him more, we will face the thief’s assaults against us to a greater degree. When everything seems to be going wrong, we can be tempted to feel that God has abandoned us, but that is simply not true. He promised us that He would never do that. It was never His intention to leave us unprotected against Satan’s schemes. But, we have to intentionally clothe ourselves daily in the full armor that God has provided for us, so that we will be prepared for whatever we may encounter throughout the day.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (NIV) says, “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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth 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 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 Lord’s people.”
Today’s Scripture reminds us that, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Satan is the real enemy at the root of our struggles. He will attempt to cause conflict between us, keep us over-busy with the demands of life, anxious and stressed, discouraged or weakened health-wise, etc. When we are facing something difficult, it is easy to blame other people, but we need to be on guard against the spiritual forces that are around us. God has given us all the armour that we need to effectively withstand the thief’s efforts against us. May we commit to availing of the full armor daily, in the confidence that our heavenly Father has given us all of the armaments that we will ever need, in order to live-out our Christian journeys successfully.
My prayer is, “Lord, thank you for giving us the full armor we would need to be successful in life’s daily battles. Please help us to be willing to speak the truth of the gospel at every opportunity, whatever our circumstances may be. May we do so without fear, knowing that our safety is in You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
