Spiritual Warfare

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Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13 (ESV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 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 firm.

Devotion:

            Christianity is meant to be a fighting religion. Not like Islam that teaches its followers to use actual physical weapons to achieve victory for Allah. Christians are called to fight spiritual battles. Battles that are fought not with guns and knives, but with spiritual weapons like prayer and the proclamation of God’s word and in finally giving of our very selves over to God as living sacrifices.

            Verse 10 urges us to be strong in the Lord. If we tried to fight these battles in our own strength and with our own wisdom we would fail miserably. We have an enemy of our souls who desires nothing more than to see God’s people defeated and demoralized. We must fight the battle relying on God’s spiritual strength to win the victory.

            God has provided spiritual armor for us to wear as we do battle for the kingdom of God. This armor is described in more detail later in the chapter for now we are just to be aware of its purpose for the Christian. The purpose of the armor of God is that we would be able to stand firm against the devil's attacks on us as believers. Anyone whose work is having any impact for the kingdom can be certain that the devil and his minions will seek to interfere with their ministry. The attacks will sometimes be subtle and sometime blatant, but the attacks will come, and we must be protected by God’s armor in order to stand firm in the Lord.

            In verse 12 we have a description of what we are up against as Christians. We must always remember that no matter what the battle may look like to our physical eyes there is a deeper and more important battle to be fought in the spiritual realm. Pray that the Lord will give us spiritual eyes of discernment that we may fight the spiritual battle standing in the strength of the Lord, clothed with His armor. We should respect our enemy. He is crafty and deceptive. He always lies that is his very nature. We need not fear the Devil and his minions though. The battle was won at Calvary and victory assured at the empty tomb. And Jesus our savior in alive forever more.

Maranantha! Come quickly, Lord!

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