Know Your Enemy: Fight The Right Battle.

Know Your True Enemy:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (ESV)

🛡️ The Invisible Battle

Think About This
Life often feels like a struggle with conflict involving others, and this includes inside and external turmoil; however, it is not a battle with other humans. Paul reminds us that the real battle isn’t with people at all. It’s spiritual. Our enemy isn’t our neighbor, coworker, or even ourselves. The Devil and his minions would like us to believe this, as he works behind the scenes and stirs up all kinds of trouble among God's people; nevertheless it’s the unseen forces that seek to pull us away from truth, peace, faith, unity,  and the straight an narrow path the Almighty, through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, wants us to stay on.

Our verse today lifts the veil and shows us that our fight is part of a larger spiritual war. This means we need to, daily, to do what Paul tells us to do in Ephesians 6:10-20. He tells us to get dressed and "put on the full armor of God so we can stand against the Devil’s schemes:” Let me repeat this, we need to , daily, just like we put on our regular clothes, and before we begin our day, put on God’s spiritual armor; otherwise, the Devil and his cosmic evil angelic forces will use others and things to prevent us from being strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power. He will hinder us from successfully implementing God's Kingdom work.  This spiritual fight requires more than just willpower or clever words. We need truth, righteousness, faith, the Word of God that instructs us to practice this armoring up spiritual practice so we can stand firm and win this battle for our minds.

Here is What I Do

I armor up daily. As Paul says in Romans 13:11-14, I clothe myself in Jesus. I follow the wisdom of Ephesians 6:10-20 and I put on the full armor of God. I do this one piece of armor at a time. Why? Because I want to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power each day. Each day, I want to be able to stand against the Devil’s schemes. I don’t want to be tricked in getting in conflict with the wrong enemy. I don't want to be a failure in overcoming temptation; additionally,  these, our spiritual weapons, the parts of the armor of God, give us power to pull down the spiritual strong holds driving us and others who need deliverance.

Prayer:
Lord, help me to see beyond the surface. When I feel attacked or discouraged, remind me that the battle is spiritual. May I habitually armor up each day. Give me the discipline to clothe myself in you, O Christ. As I armor up, equip me with Your armor and strengthen me to stand firm in Your truth. In Jesus name. Amen.

Challenge:
Today, you will face challenges. You will face frustration or conflict. Be sure you know your enemy. Fight the right battle, and let it start with your time alone with God, as you get dressed each day. Yes, be sure you have already begun your day by practicing the spiritual practice the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians 6:10-20. Know your true enemy. Get dressed. Allow God to win the fight through you, and live in peace.

SoJourner

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

R.E.S.T: Vote With A Godly Conscience

Image
Rock-solid Eternal Spirituality Today     Absolutely R.E.S.T.s on How We Vote : SAVE OUR REPUBLIC The Christ-Follower – Patriot and Defender of The Constitution Over a period of four decades, I wore the uniform of The United States Air Force! I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve, for unashamedly saying that I am a patriot – and more importantly – a Christ Follower. And I have found it gratifying that I decided to #WalkAway from the Democratic Party, as well as the Republican party. I was both, but since I decided to follow Jesus decades ago, in time, it became clear to me that, sometimes, being loyal to a political party left me in a place that I don’t believe my Lord Jesus would have me be; therefore, I turned away from them to be sure my loyalties didn’t resemble an idolatrous relationship with a political party: I am happily an Independent . As a Christ following Patriot, I firmly believe that we were endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, and...
Read more

Strength For The Broken Heart and Weary Soul

Image
  One of the deadliest, and life-threatening diseases, is heart disease, and journeying through life with this debilitating morbidity is an overwhelming thing to be sure. That is unless you have the Lord God Almighty walking with you every step of your journey; additionally, you can become overwhelmed, not necessarily by this particular disorder, but you can really be dealing with overwhelming trauma, that simply drags you down to the valley of the shadow. Perhaps, it can best be said like this: You are going along in life, and BAM! Life comes at you in ways you were not anticipating. Whatever the circumstances, the situation is heart breaking, and your soul is simply weary. Then, all of the sudden, you feel like everything in you is giving out. Your body aches, fatigue sets in, and your mind is overwhelmed with worry. It feels like your spirit is crushed by disappointment, and you feel utterly depleted. Well, the writer of Psalm 73:26, seems to have experienced all the above and m...
Read more

God Is My Portion. HE is MORE Than Enough for Your Stuff

Image
Pork Chops & God: When I was a child, I remember every one of us sitting around the kitchen table. Mom and Dad were sitting at either end of the table, and if I remember correctly, the three boys sat on one side, and the girls sat on the other side. I remember reading a comic strip called " Little Abner. "  He actually was a big muscular guy wearing overalls. And I remember he was sitting at a table, all by himself, with a stack of pork chops on a plate. He had all the pork chops to himself. I actually imagined what it would be like having those pork chops to myself. Some Time Later: It wasn't long until I had my own pork chop experience: One particular day, we had pork chops, with the vegetable's fixings, and we had some really good southern sweet tea. Right in front of me - sitting on that table - was a big ole stack of pork chops. I counted eight of them. And I was hungry; however, by the time all eight of us had our portion, we got 1 pork chop a piece. It was ...
Read more