WARFARE

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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”…The kingdom of light, God’s Kingdom is at war against the kingdom of darkness.

As a born-again believer, this is not a war that we can choose not to be a part of. The bible tells us that satan as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8). Even though Jesus defeated satan at the cross, he still roams about using every trick and weaponry he can come up with to try and keep the Believer from having the abundant life Jesus promised. He likes to try to use people to set up roadblocks to our successes. If he can influence someone to stand in the way of your progress, he will do so.

Jesus, for instance, promised that those who choose to leave all for His service will receive a hundredfold in this lifetime (Matthew 19:29). That hundredfold refers to material blessings. No born-again believer in the service of the Lord, if they are following His will, should suffer lack. That is Jesus’ promise, and He is not a man that He should lie. That does not mean that we will not have to by faith claim these promises and withstand satanic attacks through prayer, rebuking the devil, using the word against him. A part of our armor is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We cannot successfully wield that sword if we do not know the word.

Every soldier must be trained in the art of war. There is a need for Christians to know their rights according to the bible. We need to be courageous and not back down when we are experiencing spiritual warfare. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this present world (Ephesians 6:12). The bible tells of a time when satan will be banished and there will be peace on the earth for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6). If the banishment of satan brings about peace, it proves that satan is the source of evil on the earth.

The armor of God does not provide coverage for the back. The reason is because we are not to run away from any battle but to stand in faith knowing that we have Jesus on our side and all the angels in heaven cheering us on.

• I do not want to give satan any respect so I do not capitalize his name.

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