God so Loved the World that He Gave His Son: The greatest Spiritual battle ever fought – part twenty six
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And 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.
I purposely started with Scripture today before saying any dialog at all. Any idea why I chose to break with my previous pattern of setting-up or introducing the Scripture with words first? Think about it and we’ll come back to that question in a moment.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” (Quote by Sun Tzu, famous Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BC.)
Thank you Lord that Ephesians 6:10-18, shown above, clearly identifies our enemy as “The rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
- So, as the previous sentence states… we know our enemy!
John 3:16 (NIV)
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- As John 3:16 says, we know our self as a born again child of God, covered by the “Full Armor of God.”
2 Kings 6:16-17 (NLT2)
16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
- We can do General Sun Tzu one better! We have the Lord of Heaven’s Army on our side, fighting for us!
Okay… back to the question of why I showed the Scripture before any dialog. The Holy Spirit impressed on me that Ephesians 6:10-18 is such a powerful passage that it didn’t require any buildup prior to reading it! The Holy Spirit Himself will provide the anointing, and quicken the impact of it to each our hearts and spirits!
Remember: We are exhorted to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power! We must put on the Full Armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes.
If the Holy Spirit so leads me next week, we’ll have more to discuss regarding the Full Armor of God! Pray this week for my personal understanding of the Full Armor of God, and how He wants me to present it! Thanks, and God bless!