“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” (Ephesians 6:10-11). Sounds like a pretty good message doesn’t it? And for those of us who attended church at least somewhat regularly growing up, this passage on “the armor of God” was probably a sermon message or Sunday school topic heard many times.
Throughout my life I have heard messages on “putting on the full armor of God” and I have read this passage in the bible multiple times. I have probably even thought I knew everything there was to know about putting on the armor of God.
Before this year on the World Race, I seemed to think I knew pretty much EVERYTHING there was to know about a relationship with God. I thought I had this Christian thing down!
But oh have I been wrong!
God is more! God has more! God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
There is so much more to God than my short life or finite mind will ever figure out. I think I kind of like it that way though.
Lately, I am realizing how vital for followers of Christ, the Ephesians chapter on the armor of God truly is. For, our “struggle is not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12). So often I see life in an earthly, or fleshly view. If I am bothered by someone, it is because they are doing something I do not like; if I am tired and struggling to stay awake to read my bible, it is because I haven’t gotten enough sleep and I need to rest; if I think, ‘I should encourage this person on my mind’ or ‘tell this person about Christ’s love’, but suddenly get nervous and say “next time I’ll do it”, it is because it would be awkward to talk to that person out of the blue, and another time would be a better; and so on and so on.
But Ephesians says our struggles are “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 6:12).
Wow! Rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world! These all seem much deeper and heavier than merely being sleepy or bothered. How often though, do we realize EVERY thought… attitude… action… word… we have, is either taking up our armor against these “forces of evil” or laying down our weapons and letting Satan trample all over us, every little lie and manipulation at a time?
The past few weeks I did not pick up all my armor, and Satan took advantage of my weak, unarmored, places. Yes, I said ALL my armor. The struggle we are fighting against is mostly unseen and almost always disguised, because Satan’s power comes from deceit. Even though I was in constant prayer and reading the Word everyday, (using some of my armor) I did not stand firm with “the shield of faith”. Satan was throwing “flaming arrows” (Ephesians 6:16), lies about myself, about my ability to serve Him and serve my team, and about how my team felt about me.
My shield of faith was down, and I allowed Satan to get a foothold. Just one or two lies from Satan and He ran with it. After I listened to those lies, anything that happened or was said in my team, Satan took and twisted it, leading me to believe
more and more and more of His lies.
So “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” so “that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground” (Ephesians 6:10,13). I am learning to put on the FULL armor of God and fight with Christ’s strength against Satan and his armies. Satan wants to defeat us, but “we are more than conquerors through Christ” (Romans 8:37).
For all of us, ¨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.¨
