Armor, A Sword and Walkie Talkies

by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁵⁾ Red Star

http://www.ph16.com

Put On All Of God’s Armor: Ephesians 6:10-18

We are under attack! But don’t head for the hills. All of us in God’s kingdom of light are sitting in the middle of Satan’s kingdom of darkness (he is the god of this world, for now, Paul said). We are the world’s enemy and we are living our lives in it’s territory. So, Paul exhorts all believers, all followers of Jesus, to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power and to put on all of God’s armor so that we will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11, NLT).

Did you know that Satan has strategies currently employed to destroy you? Peter tells us to stay alert and to watch out for our great enemy, the devil, because he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. He exhorts us to stand firm against him and to be strong in our faith (1 Peter 5:8-9).

This battle is not against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).

So, this is not a fight that we can win in the flesh. That’s a relief, because I know that I would have no chance in my own strength against Satan and his army! I mean, I was a pretty good athlete once upon a time, but I get winded now just walking to the mail box! The most well trained, disciplined and ready athlete would have no chance against a power like Satan in the physical realm. This battle is real, and it’s being waged right now in the spiritual realm. The fight is over you and me and all believers and every soul on earth, and there is no way to avoid it.

It’s interesting to me that many scientists theorize that two or more worlds can co-exist in the same place. They say it is possible that there are many other unseen worlds co-existing with ours right now, unbeknownst to us. Well, I’m not sure about all that theorizing, but I do know that there is the realm of the spirit happening all around us all of the time. This realm is full of good and evil spirits, a.k.a. angels and demons.

Sometimes, we are just cruising along in life and all is well. And praise God for those times, because they are wonderful and that’s the way God ultimately wants it for us. And we have His wonderful kingdom to look forward to, where there will be no evil or sin, only righteousness and peace. But, many times in life we begin to realize that something is different, something’s wrong. God’s Holy Spirit that He has given us speaks to our hearts and we just know that things are off and we realize it’s an attack. Even if life is seemingly smooth for you right now, right now Satan is scheming against you and attacking in ways you do not recognize, or planning an attack on you shortly.

Now, at this point, you may be thinking, “gee, thanks Brian for the upbeat message today. I think I’ll go on back and find something else to read!” But don’t. I am not trying to discourage or bring fear, but warn you and to shed some light on how the Bible says to defend ourselves as Christians against the attacks of the devil. God has led me into this study because I am struggling with attacks myself.

Paul, in writing to the Ephesians in chapter six, got all of this down. You remember that he had a few attacks to deal with in his life! You should read verses 10 through 18, and then we’ll go through them one by one.

Put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm (Eph. 6:13).

Okay, there it is. One, we need to know what God’s armor is. Two, we need to have all of it. And three, we need to put each piece on. Why is this so important? So that after the battle you will still be standing, and standing firm! Without God’s armor and weapons, the devil may very well destroy you. So, it is absolutely imperative for all of us to get this and employ it in our lives.

We’ve covered verses 10 through 13, so let’s look at the armor from verses 14 through 18.

To read the complete article or to find other works by this author, please visit http://ph16.com/vbvstudies.html

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Article submitted Saturday, September 19, 2009 & read 1156 times.

Leave your comments through World Wide Bible Studies:

» left by Teresa Ortiz (2 years 141 days ago.)

Brian, so good to see you back, Thanks for this wonderful post. I love the personality and sense of humor that comes through while you make a strong point that we as Christians cannot fight the enemy in our own strength. We need the armor of God and we need to put it to good use. I am filing this under spiritual warfare. Excellent. I am off to read the rest. Blessings to you! Teresa
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» left by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁵⁾ (2 years 140 days ago.)

Thanks, Teresa. Lord Bless!

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» left by Marijo Phelps⁽¹⁹⁹⁾ (2 years 140 days ago.)

Brian, I really enjoyed this and thought it was encouraging. We are in a war and if we don't think so, we might have died... this head's up is helpful to say the least! Marijo (Mary Jo)
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» left by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁵⁾ (2 years 139 days ago.)

Thank you, Marijo. Everything else is a hollow shell compared to the safety, wonder and beauty of His presence. May the Lord continue to use you mightily!

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» left by Marijo Phelps⁽¹⁹⁹⁾ (78 days 12 hours ago.)

And walkie talkies - walking and talking with our Lord Jesus Commander and Chief all the time, eh?

I love this and hadn't even thought of the spiritual implications until I read your article "t’s interesting to me that many scientists theorize that two or more worlds can co-exist in the same place." THANKS!
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