Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  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.      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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.   Ephesians 6:10-17

I love this scripture passage. I love the way it starts, it tells us to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.  It doesn’t just tell us to be tough or strong.  No, it tells us to be strong in His power.  We don’t have to rely on our power or worry about our lack of strength.  We are drawing our strength and power from the Lord.

It tells us to put on God’s armor, the full armor of God so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes.  We know that the devil is always scheming to destroy us.  We know that he wants to destroy our witness.  We know that the devil wants us to behave in a way that will turn people away from God.  We must stand against that.  In order to do so, we must put on God’s full armor.

If you don’t memorize this scripture passage or any other for that matter, it is crucial that you remember what is being said next.  We are not fighting our brother or sister, we are fighting against the spiritual forces of evil.  We are fighting against satan and his minions.  Satan loves to do anything he can to destroy us.  He will use anyone he can to accomplish his goal.  This is spiritual warfare.

Note that it goes on to say WHEN the day of evil comes not if the day of evil comes.  Oh it is coming my friend. I’ve often heard it said that if you haven’t just come out of a time of trial, and are not in a time of trial, then hold on, you are about to be in a time of trial.  As Christians our life here on earth is spent battling the devil and his evil forces.  So don’t get too comfortable if things are going well.

This passage concludes by again reminding us to put on the full armor of God and once you have done so, to stand firm.

I began this week by talking about how we should be kind and loving to people that were often unkind and unloveable.

I am wrapping up this week by talking about how God instructs us to handle these situations.  Often times, people come against us and we fail to realize that we are not in a battle with that person but against the spiritual forces of evil.  Now I know that this sounds scary, but it is what it is.  The devil wants us to hate the person.  The devil wants us to lash out in anger at the person.  The devil wants us to harbor unforgiveness, bitterness, anger and resentment towards that person.  After all, the Bible tells us that these things grieve the Holy Spirit.  What could make the devil happier than using us to grieve the Holy Spirit.

But our God, yes our awesome God, gives us armor to protect us in this battle.  We begin with the belt of truth.  As Christians we are called upon to tell the truth, the whole truth.  It can be so tempting to lie against someone when we are having an issue with them.  Sometimes there are situations where just a teeny little white lie could cause them some major grief, but we can’t do this.  Or worse yet, maybe we have messed up and we are tempted to cover it with a lie.  God does not honor lying.  Fess up and move on.  As Christians we must be truthful.

The breast plate is what protects all the vital organs of a soldier or law enforcement officer.  When we accept Christ as our savior, we are given His righteousness.  We are given the righteousness that comes from being a born again child of God.  We should continually strive to be as righteous as God.  By doing so, we should be striving toward the perfection that only God has.  We should be striving to always get it right. In doing so, God honors that behavior.  The Bible tells us that the righteous will live but the wicked will perish.  It is so tempting to plot evil and wicked schemes against those that come against us.  This behavior makes us no better than them.  God honors righteous behavior.  Follow His instructions, I promise you won’t be sorry you did.  I have been in situations where someone is coming against me and I have had to pray several times a day for God to help me maintain righteousness.  It is not easy, but with God’s power and strength, we can do it.

Our feet should be fitted with the shoes of peace.  This means that as Christians we should always be walking and working towards peace and should be ready to walk the walk and spread the gospel.  Many people claim to be Christians and talk a good game.  However, when it comes to walking the walk many fail.  Sometimes our actions alone can lead someone to Christ.  We must always remain calm and peaceful and show others what it looks like to be living with the Holy Spirit inside us.

The shield of faith refers to the kind of faith where we know, that we know, that we know, that God’s got our back.  We can’t be fearful and faithful at the same time.  We must take up this shield daily.  After all, what do we have to fear?  The Bible tells us that if God is for us, who can be against us?

The helmet of salvation refers to the wonderful helmet that we receive when we accept Christ as our savior.  The helmet protects the head from injury.  Once we accept Christ as our savior, we are protected from the evil schemes of the devil.  It doesn’t mean we won’t have to deal with them.  It just means that when we deal with them we are protected.  Just as a helmet protects the head of a solider during battle, our helmet of salvation can also protect us against the mind games played by those with malicious intent.  It can protect us so that we are not drawn in by their evil schemes.

The sword of the Spirit.  This is perhaps one of my favorite.  First of all, it is the only offensive weapon mentioned.  You may note that all the other armor is defensive or protective gear.  The sword of the Spirit refers to God’s word.  I am happy to say that I have actually used God’s word to diffuse a situation and to change someone who had offended me, into my way of thinking.  The sword works.  Lashing out in anger just causes more arguing.  Striking with the sword of the spirit throws them off their game and makes them stop and think.  Who can dispute God’s word?

Remember to put your armor on each and every day.  We never know what we will face in this world.  Never forget, however, that nothing we face is more powerful than our Lord and Savior.  Also remember that he fully equips us for battle.  So remember my friend to stand firm and have a great day!