This Life Is A Battle

God’s Orders. God’s mission

We are all fighting a spiritual battle and being a soldier in God’s Army is tough. Really tough.

This life isn’t intended to be an easy one. One thing I’ve learned in life is that satan is persistent. We wants to destroy everything that is good. He is aware of our mission and works non-stop to cause it to fail.

Satan is hell-bent on taking us out. He will scare us, tempt us, and put doubts in our heads. He appeals to our fears to try and get us to our tipping point so we will ultimately give up. He wants us tormented.

But, we have a spiritual suit of armor available to us.

God’s Orders

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may stand against the schemes of the devil. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual focuses of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” – Ephesians 6: 11-13.

Our Armor

• The Belt Of Truth. It gathers everything together, and holds it in place. In our culture truth is often twisted into lies. We need to secure our belt of truth so that we can ignore the lies and hold truth in place.
• The Breastplate of Righteousness. We can’t fight with our own righteousness. It is Jesus’s righteousness that the enemy hates. Satan will work to convince us that our unrighteousness condemns our souls. This is not true for a true believer. The breastplate protects our most vital organs. In a spiritual sense, it protects our souls.
• The Shoes Of The Gospel Of Peace. The Shoes of Peace are designed to help us stand strong and be prepared for the onslaught of attacks, as the enemy reigns blows upon us. They provide sure footing on slippery ground.
• The Shield Of Faith. This is to extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one. This means darts of doubt, worry, and fear. When we have faith, we can advance through anything. We want faith to lead our lives, not just our own intellect.
• The Helmet Of Salvation. Our thought life can be a nest of craziness, at least for me. Many times, that’s where Satan gets to us, is in our heads. The helmet must be put on to block our temptations and clear our thoughts. It saves us from being influenced by the lies, and thinking the wrong things. Our salvation protects us, we are saved by the blood of Jesus and the enemy cannot steal our salvation.

• The Sword Of The Spirit. The Word of God. We are to use this as a weapon against evil. Defend our faith with it. We can win battles with truth. Lies are easily severed with a sharp spiritual sword – God’s Word. Jesus fought off Satan with the sword of the spirit saying “It is written.” in the 40 days of the wilderness.

The Last Piece. This isn’t part of the armor, but it’s every bit as essential. It’s prayer. Ephesians 6:18 after listing the armor it says, “With all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the holy ones.

The only part of the body that is not covered with the armor of God is our backs. God Himself protects us “behind and before” (Psalm 139:5) and the “glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard,” ( Isaiah 58:8).

That’s also where our brothers and sisters in Christ come in. They have our backs covered. They help us through the warfare and the battles, encouraging us and exhorting us in the scripture, just as they are commands to do. Just as they are commanded to do in Acts 14:22.

The armor of God is not meant to stop the warfare but to protect the mission. Satan wants to destroy the mission of the true believer. So, when we clothe ourselves with the Armor, we are prepared and ready to do our duty. Without it we are vulnerable and subject to the attacks from the enemy.

We are on a battlefield, not a playground. Do not be naive. Guard your heart and be prepared for the fight. For yourself in the strength of God and with His might and armor.

“Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for the Lord your God Himself is who goes with you, He will not fail you or forsake you” – Deuteronomy 31:6 (Messianic)