The Armor of God

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore 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. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

As Paul wraps up another great letter to the church of Ephesus he gives us the ultimate battle plan to sustain the attacks that will occur in our lives.
The first thought that comes to mind when I look at this battle plan is that when I signed up to be on God’s team I came to the realization that my battles and trials along with persecution will not be something that might happen but will happen. It is part of the true Christian life and anyone that is serious about living with God is going to be battle tested against the devils schemes.
This is what Christians refer to as “Spiritual Warfare”
It is important for many of us to be reminded that when the storm hits and the trials come that they are not always a result of something we did that was wrong but because of things that we are now doing right.
It is also important to know that our trials can get worse before they get better.
In verse 10 we see a recovery principle revealed when Paul tells us to be strong not in our strength but in the Lord and not in our power or plans but in His mighty power.

One of the greatest truths from Jesus is that apart from him we can do nothing but with him all things are possible.

In verse 11 Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
So the first question before you have to ask yourself when the storm hits, when you get tempted, when you get persecuted, when your family disowns you, when you get attacked is—do I have the full armor of God on?
The question is: not is it available because it is. The question is do you have it on?
One question worth exploring about verse 11 is: what are the devils schemes?
Here is his mission statement: Steal-Kill-Destroy—any questions?
He hates you with a sick twisted mind that can never change. He will always hate you and he hates you more now because you have accepted Jesus Christ. He hates your family, he hates your friends and he wants you dead—period!!
One of his schemes is to make you think that the enemy is other people. The devil has tricked you into thinking that the real enemy is your spouse, the person who abused you, the person who left you, the person who persecuted you and so on.
But verse 12 tells us that our battles are not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.
Did you ever stop and think that you have been fighting against the wrong enemy?
Did you ever stop and think that the people you really care about most are not really your enemy?
Did you ever stop and think God is not who you should be mad at when he loves you and the devil hates you?
Did you ever stop and think that because you did not put on the full armor and were attacked by the devil’s schemes that it is foolish to blame God when he told you how to withstand against those types of attacks?
Did you ever stop and think that it is not God’s job to put on your armor which brings us to verse 13—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.

I am sure that you can pinpoint when the day of evil was for you.
You can also count on the day of evil coming back to try you again and when that day comes, are you ready to stand your ground?
So what does stand your ground look like?
The answer is in verse 14 starting with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.
Consider this—if the devil can attack you by getting you to believe a lie because one of his titles that Jesus gave him is: “the father of lies” there must be a truth to combat and destroy any and all lies that he will send your way.
Here is a great example—if you are fearful about anything other than God such as the fear of losing your home, all your money, your spouse leaving you and fear grips and controls you—the truth that will destroy and defeat that lie is found in 2 Timothy 1:7 which says that God did not give you a spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind and because you now have this truth as one of the notches on your belt, you can choose truth over the lie, the accusation, even how you actually feel about it and you will have defeated that evil attack.

Be Blessed and Encouraged