Believer's are in a
warfare against the devil and his demons. The earlier we realize this and put
on these weapons the better our chances of winning the heavenly race is sure and
guaranteed. The bible admonishes the believer's to put on the whole armor of God in
order to withstand the wiles of the devil.
,
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.
Having girded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance
and supplication for all the saints{ Ephesians 6:10-18}.
An understanding that whatever negative character anyone
around us displayed is influenced by the devil, will help us in the fight
against the devil. Notice verse 11 says, For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood; our fight is not against the human being we are seeing but rather
the spirit behind their actions. When Peter try to rebuke Jesus about his death
on the cross , Jesus immediately rebuke the devil in Peter and not Peter, He
said get behind me devil, this tells us that our war is not flesh and blood.
The illustrates the forces we are fighting as summarized below;
Immediately you accept Jesus as your
Lord and Savior, the devil ultimate goal is to destroy your faith, win your
allegiance back to himself and depriving you of spending your eternity with
Christ. By this he will employ vast
array of strategies; including throwing to you the affair of this life that
will shift your focus from Christ to worldly things, the pursuit of wealth,
fame, careers etc. It could be tribulations, peril, suffering, sickness,
adversities, lack and many. No matter how far you have grown, he has not lost
hope concerning you. But we are admonished to put on our armor to fight him
back. These armors are briefly explained below;
Having
girded your waist with truth: The
first weapon is like a belt that hold other weapons. Jesus says, for you shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free. The truth is found in
Jesus,,,, Jesus is the way, the truth and Life. Your knowledge of Jesus Christ
is what you will use to hold other weapons. To wear the truth is to confess the
truth, by admitting we are sinners, saved by grace not work, to serve God with
all our heart, mind and soul and to love others like ourselves.
Having put on the breastplate of righteousness: A breastplate is for protection of
the vital organ of human body, that if something tampers it will leads to
immediate death. To live a victorious and incorruptible life, we need to put on
Christ righteousness. No human being is righteous, our righteousness is of
purchased by Christ blood on the cross. So we maintain this righteousness by
having faith on Christ and doing those things he ask us to do and forsaking
what He regards as evil. Righteousness means a right relationship
with both God and one’s fellow human beings (Matthew 5:6). Failing to put on
Christ righteousness leads to; selfishness, greed,
pride, idolatry, jealousy, envy, unfaithfulness, lies, fornication, etc.
Having shod your feet with the preparation of
the gospel of peace: The gospel of peace of peace means walking in Christ
ministry. Representing Christ on earth, engaging in the ministry of
reconciliation, telling people about Christ in everywhere we go as it is the
means by which we can stand upright before him. If we fail to do this, we will
end up pursuing worldly things, giving the devil room to dominate over our
life. In fact one way to overcome sin is to preach the gospel.
Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one: Taking the shield of faith means
putting our hope and focusing on Jesus for everything that comes to us in life.
For
all of the difficulties we encounter because of our faithlessness, we tend to
fail to see how God saves, delivers, protects, defends, and safeguards us
faithfully in the past.
When God declares, “I
am your shield” we must receive it as fact. By His love, He protects us yet He
also disciplines us. The promise of protection is a seal of our redemption so
we need never fear being lost from God, and it is a promise fulfilled in this
present testing in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises that He will never
let anything come against us that is too great for us to withstand but He will
always provide the way of escape. Faith means believing that God will do it
because He said He will do it and is capable of doing it.
Take the helmet of salvation: Putting on the
Helmet of salvation means recognizing the price paid for us on the cross by
Jesus Christ. Reflecting always the great sacrifice that Christ made for us,
thanking and worshiping him for this great sacrifice; recognizing that we are
doomed without Christ death on the cross. We wear the helmet when we live and
walk after the things of the spirit and not canal things. When we recognize
that we are dead to sin with Christ and that we now live to please Jesus
Christ.
Sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God: The word of God gives light to our path, it gives direction,
it's our strength, it's the truth, it reveal Jesus and God. The devil would
want to bring up so many things to challenge the Bible, but bible should remain
our standard for judging the right and wrong any day anytime. Beware lest anyone
cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition
of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according
to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and
you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power (Colossians 2:8-10).
Conclusively, we should always pray for ourselves, other
saints, the ministers, the church and the society at large. Prayer help us to
prevail in life and is suppose to be constant with perseverance. Always
remembering that prays is a continuous exercise, with a sense of humility. Then He came to the disciples and found them
asleep, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour?
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak.” ( Mathew 26: 40-41).
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