Armed and Right-e-ous

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” ~ Ephesians 6:10-11

Every true child of God soon learns that the Christian life is warfare, not against each other, but against the devil and his schemes! The Apostle Paul is warns us to be prepared in advance for the onslaught of satan’s attacks. The first preparatory command is to be strengthened in the Lord and the boundless resources of His might. By reading God’s Word and applying it to our everyday lives, we will know how to react when the devil attacks us. The enemy knows our weaknesses, and we need to be aware of them as well, because that is exactly where he will strike time after time!

The second command is concerned with our need for God’s armor. Ephesians 6:10-18 describes the armor of God and its function. Can you imagine a soldier going into a battle without the armor and weapons needed to defeat his enemy?! Yet that is exactly what takes place when a Christian is not grounded in Scripture and is not in communication with God through prayer but goes about their life trying through their own power to live a life that is godly. We have no power on our own to do so; it has to come from God. He has given us the Holy Spirit, which in-dwells us; He has given us His Word to obey; and He has given us fellow Christians for support in our conflicts with our enemy the devil. But we must be willing to USE them!

If a soldier went into a battle carrying his sword, yet refused to use it he could be killed! And many onlookers would wonder at the foolishness of that soldier. Well, when we Christians only carry our Bibles around, or leave them on the shelf never opening them, never reading them, never applying the Word’s instruction to our lives, we are behaving just like that foolish soldier, putting our spiritual lives in grave danger! When we fail to use the armor of God we become ineffective soldiers for God, and that is exactly what satan wants: he wants to make God’s children ineffective in their testimony for Christ!

God calls us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to live a life that is obedient to His Word. So the child of God MUST be ready for the attacks of satan that will surely come throughout our day. But we have every weapon at our disposal to be victorious over him, giving Christ the victory in our lives!!

Thank You Father God for giving me Your Holy Spirit and Your Word to defeat satan in my life, help me to stay close to You my Rock and my Salvation!! I praise You this day!!