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Passage: Ephesians 6
Today: Fighting your own battle or God’s?
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 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. (Eph 6, NIV)-emphasis added
Once a person stops looking at other people as their “enemies”, satan gets mad at them; one of satan’s top strategies is to create enmity between people
It doesn’t matter if it is within the family or outside; satan wants us to have some personal enemies; that’s all!
At the end of every day, demons must be giving an account of how many “personal enemies” they successfully created that day, for the so called “God’s children”!
Two things required to overcome the schemes of the enemy are “getting strengthened in unity with the Lord” and “putting on the whole armor of God”
When it is severe winter, a hot cup of coffee may help, but not without the winter clothing: hat, gloves and shoes on the outside, to overcome the attack of the cold Just like the cold attacks us from all around, so does the enemy
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6, NIV)-emphasis added
All of the armor is from God, not from us. It stays tight and close to the body. The soldier keeps checking if it is in place or not. The salvation from God is the “helmet” that protects us from the enemy, not our own good works.
As we put on the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness as opposed to our own, we will do good against the enemy. Self-righteousness is something that the devil likes, but he is scared of the righteousness through Christ
Paul often reminded himself that he was no saint even if he did no sin; but by the righteousness of Christ, he knew he was one!
“Faith” is to be a declared; it is not a “decoration. It says “life” to that which is dead, and healing to that which is sick. It says “yes” to that which is “No”!
The shield of faith must be used against the attacks of the devil, not to be just kept intact. Faith is living and active, just like the word!
The sword of the word also must be used/spoken against the devil, not to be kept under the pillow or in the car or the phone/tablet just like that
Jesus used the sword of the word against the devil; many scream at the devil, and think they know how to do it better than Jesus; we have to change some of our practices; change practice, practice change! Just say the word and he will run!
When we use all our own armor, we make it our battle; when we use God’s strength and armor, it become God’s battle. He will be with us, taking us to victory
What is missing in us is the readiness for the gospel of peace. There are many other “gospels” that the enemy is spreading fast, and we are keeping “quiet”!
Think on these things; get familiar with those terms
Have a victorious day!
BG
Reflection: Am I putting on the armor from God or using my own “gears”?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I have not been serious about the spiritual warfare. I trusted in my own self-righteousness, even though that never helped. My boasting of it is a “minus”. Help me to humbly trust in you and defeat the schemes of the enemy. Amen