Standing Strong Against Warfare Part 1

Standing strong, walking forward in the Lord, then BAM, your smacked right between the eyes with spiritual warfare. Maybe it’s an illness. It could be discouraging thoughts that creep in. Sometimes it comes in the form of a trial or tragedy. What ever it is, there you are, going along fine, feeling great and getting stronger in the Lord. The next moment, spiritually speaking, you've been knocked down; you’re lying on your back and can't catch your breath.

That’s the way Satan plays! And we must remember that this earth is his playground. If we are going to play on his home turf, we need to be strong enough for anything he throws at us. The stronger we get, when were making great strides, he will attack. What we must learn to do is recognize it for what it is and use the tools God has given us to fight the battle. And not just fight the battle but win the war.

I have noticed recently, a huge amount of warfare in the body of Christ. Satan is trying hard to stop Christians from taking a stand. I believe Satan sees what many of us see. He sees that things are progressing in the sense of prophecy. Time is running out. He knows the end is near and he is trying to stop a movement of God and revival of the church from breaking forth. His agenda is to stop the truth from spreading at all costs. We must recognize his tactics and build ourselves up to fight against it.

In Ephesians 6:11 Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 6:12 tells us, for we do no 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.

Paul doesn't tell us to put on part of the armor, but put on ALL of it. It's necessary to stand up to the devil. We are not fighting human things here on earth; we are up against the rulers of the darkness. We must be prepared and use the armor God has available in order to be victorious.

So what is the armor of God?

Paul uses a metaphor, the armor of a roman soldier, to show us a parallel of what we need to do battle with the devil. It is not something that you pray and put on daily like a soldier does and then take off at night. Unlike the roman soldier, we are to wear our armor at all times. We are to know our weapons by heart so we are able to defend ourselves at any time day or night.

Ephesians 6:14-18 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with the 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.

We are to:

gird our waist with the truth
put on the breastplate of righteousness
shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace
take the shield of faith with which to quench fiery darts of the wicked one
take the helmet of salvation
take the sword of the spirit, the word of God
praying always in the Spirit

Tomorrow, in Part 2 of this series, I will talk further about each part of the armor and how we are to apply it to our lives.