As believers in Jesus Christ, we must know that there is a war in the spirit that is going on for us. The devil is real ya’ll. He is not just some animated made up bad guy from fairy tale books or marvel comics. He really does exist. And he is constantly striving to attack us Christians - Those who believe in Jesus Christ, who walk daily with Him and who have a relationship with Jesus, those who have chosen to follow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – Jesus Christ. The enemy’s (the devil) attacks are subtle and come in many forms (which is not the purpose of this writing today so I will not get into it). One thing we know is that the devil is cunning and always seeks to steal, kill and destroy us believers (John 10:10 – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…”). He knows our weaknesses as humans, and will always target us constantly through those weaknesses to get to us.
But the Lord encourages us and warns us always in and through His word about the enemy (James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you’. 1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”). So if Jesus himself gave us these warnings it must certainly mean that the devil truly exists and is out to get us. So what do we have as believers in Jesus to stand against the schemes of the enemy? Great question, one I have found myself asking our heavenly Father recently again. The answer can be found in the Word of God (as can any answer to any other question we have in life).
But let me back track just a little. See I am a mom of a newborn and I know any mom with newborns will know that life ‘with a newborn’ is full of adjustments, sacrifices, sometimes tears, overwhelmingness (if there is such a word), frustration, joy, laughter and much more. Its like a roller coaster of emotions all come flooding out at once. So I found myself in the tangle of adjustments and getting used to new routines and sleepless nights (those 3am feeds and diaper changes. Yes I hear you moms!). And day in day out as time passed, I found myself in the monotony of life as a mom to a newborn and a 5 year old. So what’s the big deal you say? Well big deal for me was that as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into a couple of months, I realized that I was so caught up with this new normal that I would kind of shelf God. Because hey I didn’t have time to read the word – I was too busy. I didn’t have time to pray – I was too busy. I didn’t have time to be with God one on one – I was too busy. So I just put God on the shelf in my heart. I mean I knew he was with me and I would pray when I needed strength and cry to him when I felt I couldn’t handle the craziness of the ‘new normal’ and of course pray good morning prayers and good night prayers and all that but something was missing. I didn’t realize it but I was becoming weak. Not physically (although I was at times overwhelmed and feeling weak from this new normal), but more so my spirit was weak. I could feel it deep within me. And it was starting to manifest. What do I mean? Well I guess it’s easier to explain it like this:
Imagine you are a soldier on the front lines of a battle. You are fully equipped with your full armour (lets imagine those Roman soldiers back in the days with their amours), and have your sword drawn ready for battle. So you have your shield, your sword, your helmet, your belt, your breastplate, your shoes, etc. And you are standing swords drawn on the front lines of the battle field. But the rations for food and water run out and for a week or more, you are operating on your reserve tank and will power without any food or water. Eventually you become too weak to fight, and your armor becomes too heavy, you take them off one by one to ease the burden of their weight because you are too weak to fight. And eventually you tell yourself you will just rest a little bit under this shade tree until you get your strength back. But whilst you are resting you fall asleep because you are so weak from no food and no water. And while you are asleep, the enemy sees you and advances in for the kill.
See I was so caught up with the new normal (although it’s not a bad thing) and with adjusting to life with a newborn, that I became focused on it so much so that I wasn’t feeding my spirit through the Word of God as much and I wasn’t serious in prayer but was rather relying on others (whether my husband or various teachers of the Word I listen to on you tube) for that spiritual food or covering through prayer. And while this was great and all, I myself was becoming weak from not constantly feeding myself with the Word of God and Prayer, and so I started letting down my armour (my sword, my helmet of salvation, my shield of faith, etc), my guard and slowly bit by bit the enemy started advancing into my territory. How did I know the enemy was advancing into my territory? Well it became obvious in the natural, as I’d begin to think thoughts of unworthiness, and frustration and anger sometimes. I’d get upset and frustrated with my husband for trivial things, sometimes I’d snap at those around me or become irritated for no reason. I’d be silent and not talk to anyone if something bothered me. All the little actions that had big effects. My mind was constantly bombarded with negative thoughts about myself, and quite frankly I found that being joyful was a struggle. Little did I know that I had put my spirit man into complete sleep/slumber mode! Which meant that I was the one sleeping under that shade tree- armour off, completely unguarded – helmet off, shoes off, shield laid down, sword down, belt down, breastplate off. I was a sitting duck in my own territory! And I was the perfect target for the devil. He began throwing small flaming darts (Ephesians 6:16 - …wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of he wicked) at me in my mind. Then when I would dwell on these thoughts/darts, my emotions would run simultaneously with them, and I would act upon my emotions when I would show it outwardly through my actions – through my constant snappy attitudes or silent periods or outbursts of frustration, etc. And little did I realize that the enemy was robbing me of my ‘joy, my love for others, my peace, my gentleness, etc.’ He was stealing the fruits that my spirit had produced through much work and toil (Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance). But God in all His mercy, love and kindness showed me how I was slumbering/sleeping in my spirit, and with His grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, I was able to pick myself back up, put on my armor again and feed and drink from the Word of God and be ready for battle again. You see I learnt an important lesson here through this:
"If we are sleeping/slumbering, it means we have taken off our armour and are weak!!” We cannot sleep and wear our full armour at the same time! We can only wear our full armour if we STAND!!!”
So back to the question – What do we have as believers to stand against the enemy?” We have the ‘ARMOUR OF GOD’!
Ephesians 6: 10-18 highlights the whole amour of God given for us believers in Jesus Christ to wear. Here it tells us that we are fighting a war not in the natural but we are wrestling against spiritual forces. So there is a war in the spirit that is constantly going on (Ephesians 6:12 – For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.) And that we are to “Put on the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil!” (Ephesians 6:11). So what is this armour? Ephesians 6:14-18 highlights clearly the Armour of God for us believers to wear at all times:
1. Belt of Truth;
2. Breastplate of Righteousness;
3. Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
4. Shield of Faith;
5. Helmet of Salvation;
6. Sword of the Spirit
7. Constant Prayer and supplication in the Spirit;
8. Watching with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
The Word of God is clear on this point: “when we take up the whole armour of God, we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND!” (Ephesians 6:13). We can stand in battle effectively when we take up the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD (we can look into each armour in more detail later on).
And ya’ll the complete Armour of God is not only for defense but we can use it as our offensive weapon too! For instance, the ‘sword of the Spirit’ that Ephesians 6: 17 refers to is the WORD OF GOD. And the WORD OF GOD is sharper than any double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God (sword) not only has scriptures for us to use for our ‘defense’ but also has scriptures for us to throw into the enemy’s territory as we battle. In a way, the Word of God (sword) itself is a two-edged sword! Ain’t that crazy cool! Ya’ll God has given us weapons and tools and a complete ARMOUR to use against the enemy! He has got us covered ya’ll.
So what should we do with this FULL ARMOUR OF GOD? Simple – WEAR IT!!! (Ephesians 6:11 – Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil’). Just like we wear our clothes every morning for the day, well likewise, everyday we must put on the full ARMOUR OF GOD. I do this by praying it aloud over myself and my family and declaring it. And when I find the enemy throwing darts my way, when perhaps I let down my shield of faith for even a split second, I simply declare that ‘I put on the helmet of salvation’ or ‘ the belt of truth’, or ‘ lift up my shield of faith’, etc. Declaring and confessing aloud the WORD OF GOD is like firing our arrows back into the enemy’s camp/territory (this in itself is a whole new area we can look into in another blog so stay tuned!). And believe me when I say that when we use the WORD OF GOD, we are more than likely going to hit the target right where it matters most!
So lets all take a moment and do that now, just put on the Whole ARMOUR OF GOD – as Ephesians 6:14-18 says. Say it aloud, believe it, have faith that you are putting every single armour piece on and STAND because the battle in the spirit is raging.
Be blessed.
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