I took a hit to the stomach making it nearly impossible to breathe. Before I knew it, I was engaged in a fight and I was losing…. Bad. I took a few more punches to the arm, which was sure to leave a bruise in the morning, but was able to escape before being completely knocked out.
I am not talking about a physical fight, but rather a spiritual one. We all know the evil one wants to attack our identity, our mind, and goes after every part of our life because he wants to kill, steal, and destroy who we are. Sometimes, without even realizing it, we get stuck in the middle of a fight we didn’t prepare to be in. However, once we discover the enemy’s strategies we can then go from being caught off guard to then being prepared to engage in the fight and ultimately… win. So how can we stand firm and combat the flaming arrows the enemy may be trying to shoot at us?
Ephesians 6 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.” Even though there is an enemy, I have good news. Our God is bigger, our God is stronger and our God is better. So, we have no reason to be afraid. God has given all of us authority over Satan and his schemes so it’s time we start walking in that God given authority. We do not need to be afraid of someone God has already defeated. Can I get an amen?
He is by definition a serpent, a liar, a deceiver, and an accuser. And he accuses us of not being good enough to receive the love of God. That Jesus loves everybody else, but doesn’t love you. I hate to break it to you, but he really isn’t that creative. He has been using the same techniques since the beginning of the world, waiting for you to take the bait. Look back at Adam and Eve, he instilled doubt, messed with their minds and tried to speak against their identity. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (creating doubt). “You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” Here he is messing with their minds by twisting the truth and appealing to their identity by saying they will be like God. The irony of this is tragic though because we know humans are already like God. We are made in his image.
So quick side story… (It all relates I promise) A couple summers ago I was in Switzerland getting ready to go up to the Swiss Alps. I had been up a couple years prior when there was no snow on the ground. So, assuming it would be the same, I put on my cute day sandals that covered about a fourth of my foot. As we begin to get closer to where we are getting off the ski gondola the entire ground is COVERED in snow. I do not know why I didn’t anticipate this, I mean it is the Swiss Alps.So, we get out and are walking around in at least a foot of snow while I am in my cute, but definitely inappropriate, sandals and leggings. Nearly 15 minutes in and I can no longer feel my feet as we begin “hiking” the Alps. I am surprised I didn’t get frost bite or have to amputate both feet!
The reason why I told you this story is because we have to put on the right armor for the occasion we are in. I was not dressed adequately for the occasion I was stepping into, so as a result… I froze! We are in the occasion of war. We are in the occasion of attack. There is someone that is coming against us and we must dress ourselves in the armor of God. We must put on truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God if we want to win in battle.
When we are dressed adequately for the occasion and know how he is going to attack, it won’t matter whenhe strikes because we will have anticipated it. We will already be standing firm because we are fit for the fight and ready to engage in war.
