Life changing advice about the spiritual battles we face as children of God.
on the topic of spiritual warfare
a lot of christians tend to be
lackadaisical about the reality of
spiritual battles
in one sermon by priscilla shire
she spoke on this matter
and she said you have an enemy
and he is scheming against you
he is against you
he is not for you
he plans to do anything and everything
in his power to stir up challenges in
your life
enough to cause you to shrink back and
not rise up and stand firm
in the victory that you have been given
in christ jesus
how true is this statement
indeed the devil is after us as children
of god
and we need to be aware of this reality
all the time
because i don’t know how you feel about
it
but there are some battles that you face
in life
that may appear to be
unexplainable
battles and challenges that
seemingly come out of nowhere
and appear to not make any sense at all
but we need to remember that the bible
makes it clear
that we ought to fix our eyes not on
what is seen
but on what is unseen
it tells us further to walk by faith and
not by sight
and furthermore
the bible tells us in 2 corinthians 10
verses 3 through 5
for though we walk in the flesh
we are not waging war according to the
flesh
for the weapons of our warfare are not
of the flesh
but have divine power to destroy
strongholds
we destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the knowledge of
god and take every thought captive to
obey christ
the bible tells us all of this because
spiritual warfare is real
there is a real enemy
who is really scheming against you
here’s what priscilla shire went on to
say about the enemy we face
she said that we have an enemy who wants
you to think
that just because he is invisible he is
also fictional
he wants to be chalked up to nothing
more than a caricature
a cartoon picture
a myth
he doesn’t want you to recognize the
influence that he has over your life
possibly to cause you to never walk in
the full expression of god’s grace
and goodness in your life
he is sinister
he is a master illusionist
and he is a deceiver and he hopes to
cleverly disguise himself
behind life’s most pressing problems
to where you will forget that he is even
there
now
i truly believe this to be true because
the devil does disguise himself
as he comes in many forms
he sometimes comes disguised as an angel
of light
he comes disguised as a friend
a friend who comes to trip you up in
your faith
the devil even comes under the disguise
of religion
but that is why we are told
to test the spirits
and so when it comes to spiritual
warfare
our best form of defense is not to run
and hide
it’s not to sit and wait it out
but rather
our best form of defense against the
enemy
is to put on the full armor of god
because it’s only when we put on the
full armor of god
it’s only then
that we can stand
and fight
the bible speaks clearly about the
reality of spiritual warfare
now you can bury your head in the sand
and pretend like this doesn’t exist but
my friends let me tell you that the word
of god would not mention spiritual
warfare if it weren’t a reality
but rather than focusing on the enemy we
face
i want us to focus on the weapons that
we’ve been given
ephesians 6 verse 10 to 18 says
finally be strong in the lord and in the
strength of his might
put on the whole armor of god
that you may be able to stand against
the schemes of the devil
for we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood but against the rulers against the
authorities against the cosmic powers
over this present darkness against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
places
therefore
take up the whole armor of god
that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day and having done all
to stand firm
stand therefore having fastened on the
belt of truth and having put on the
breastplate of righteousness and
as shoes for your feet having put on the
readiness given by the gospel of peace
in all circumstances take up the shield
of faith with which you can extinguish
all the flaming darts of the evil one
and take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the spirit which is the word of
god
praying at all times in the spirit with
all prayer and supplication
to that end
keep alert with all perseverance making
supplication for all the saints
i want you to notice something
the belt of truth
the breastplate of righteousness
feet fitted with the gospel of peace
the shield of faith
the helmet of salvation
these are all defensive elements for our
armor
these are all meant to help us block the
attacks of the enemy
they are designed to secure us and
ensure
that no weapon from the enemy’s camp can
cause serious damage to us
the only offensive weapon that we do
have is the sword of the spirit the word
of god a word that is living
this is what we are to defeat the enemy
with
and so i want you to understand each of
these individual elements that make up
our armor
now jesus christ said he is the way the
truth and the life
and we need to gird ourselves with this
truth
the devil is the father of lies but with
the belt of truth on
we will not fall victim to the enemy’s
deception
we are to wear the breastplate of
righteousness because it protects us
from all of the enemy’s unclean devices
his sinful schemes
with this on we pursue righteousness and
turn away from sin
on our feet we are to be fitted with the
gospel of peace
and i believe that this means we need to
be rooted in god’s gospel of christ
and then there is the shield of faith
this is what protects us from the arrows
that the enemy throws
arrows of discouragement arrows of
depression low self-esteem
now your head is somewhere that your
enemy will attempt to attack frequently
because if he can affect you in your
mind he can affect your life and so the
helmet of salvation is a must for all
believers
and finally
we are told to take up the sword of the
spirit
the sword of the spirit is god’s word
god’s word is living and we can use his
word to defeat the enemy
we can speak god’s word over our lives
for protection and safety
the word of god is like a hammer that
destroys evil it crushes a person’s
unholy conscience because it is god’s
very own word
you cannot deal with god and not change
you cannot meditate on the word of god
and not be changed
romans 10 17 says
faith comes by hearing and hearing by
the word of god
so the word of god is like a hammer that
helps to build faith another
characteristic about the word of god is
that it is like a mirror
james 1 verse 23 says
for if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer
he is like a man observing his natural
face in a mirror
the word of god is like a mirror
and what does a mirror do
it allows one to see their blemishes and
imperfections
the word of god shows us the true
reflection of what we are to aspire to
in terms of being christ-like and
therefore we can see ourselves and see
where we fall short in comparison to his
word
so will you make a choice today to
meditate on the word of the lord will
you make it a habit to meditate on the
things of god
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so
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you