Perspectives

Ephesians 6:10-13… 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. (NIV)

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood: What does that mean? As new Christians, it did not take very long for our faith to be challenged by some unseen forces, forces that did not have bodies; evil spirits that attacked our faith. We experienced its effect in our thinking and in our actions. At times, I ignored the challenge from this unseen spirit. My lack of Biblical knowledge and my ignorance of the strength and tricks of the adversary was overwhelming. I soon realized I needed spiritual help.

The Bible teaches that the battle is not ours. Did I say, that right? Yes! I did! Scripture teaches that the struggle with evil spirits belongs to the Lord. However, the Bible also teaches that I have a responsibility as well. I am to put on something akin to a bulletproof vest, the whole Armor of God, which He made available to us. As a Christian it is my responsibility to wrap myself in the protective armor of God; thereby consciously fitting me with the power the Lord Jesus Christ made available to us. We are to be strong in our faith, strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must pay attention to what Scripture teaches so that we can cultivate our relationship with Him. This enables us to function in the strength of Christ. We realize that if we want the power of Christ we must understand that He and He only empower us to be victorious

There are folks who have told me that they do not believe that evil spirits exist. Their thinking is that there is no God, so how can there be evil spirits? But you and I know that we are being challenged every day. In fact, our faith in Christ is being challenged at numerous times and in various ways throughout each day. “Where does this challenge come from?” Satan is not sitting at rest in some lazy chair waiting for me to mess-up. He has a plan to make sure that I mess-up. I believe that he is evil and in due course, his evil schemes will attack those of us who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ. He goes about his work in a well-thought-out plan to discourage you and me so that he can frustrate every endeavor, every attempt to further the Gospel of Christ. He is an intelligent being. He is evil. He is well organized. He will stop at nothing to destroy and kill the faith that we have with a living God.

Our Scripture text invites us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. So that when we are attacked, we will be able to stand in the power of the Holy Spirit, being aware that only God through the Holy Spirit living in us is able to empower us. We must understand that we dare not fight Satan with weapons that we might think will be powerful enough to defeat him. Our Scripture text says that we must clothe ourselves with God’s weapons; truth, decency, righteousness, honesty, the Gospel, salvation, faith grounded in Jesus Christ and allowing the sword of the Holy Spirit to penetrate the very depth of our soul so that we will not be deceived by the devil’s evil methods.

It takes courage to engage in the battle of faith realizing that our enemy, Satan, is prepared and dangerous. However, we have a more powerful force fighting on our side – the Lord’s army. We have the opportunity to lift our prayers in strength. I must admit that often my own prayer practice is to pray only when I am being crushed with the things of this world. I understand that a daily prayer life is one of the most important ways of communicating our struggles and needs to God. As the army of God’s people on earth; in churches, in their homes, on their knees, as the prayers of God’s people go up to heaven the shout of victory can be heard… To God be the glory great things He has done.

Would you pray this prayer with me… “Lord Jesus, come into my heart? Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I really want that peace, joy and happiness that will fulfill my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name.” Amen