Ephesians 6:10-18 (NLT) says this about the spiritual battle that we find ourselves in as believers in Jesus Christ:
The Whole Armor of GodSo, when I read the words of King David in Psalm 18, I read them now in the context of Ephesians 6 where it says that our enemies now are not flesh and blood, such as were King David’s, but rather they are Satan and his evil spirits that war against our minds and hearts. And, our weapons of warfare are not carnal, but rather they are spiritual weapons with which we are to fight off the attacks of our enemy - the devil and his angels (evil).
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting 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.
13 Therefore, 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. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Psalm 18:1-6 (NIV):
I love you, LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The battle is the Lord’s! He is the one who gives us the strength, the courage, the wisdom and the weapons of warfare with which to fight the attacks of the enemy. He alone is our strength, our rock (pillar; mainstay; stalwart; tower of strength), our fortress and our deliverer. We cannot fight a spiritual battle with human weapons of warfare. If we do, we are destined for failure. We cannot fight this battle in our own strength or with human wisdom, knowledge and understanding. This is not an intellectual battle of the wits. The battle that we are in as believers in Jesus Christ is a spiritual battle against an evil spiritual being and his hordes of evil spirits, so we must use the weapons of warfare God has put at our disposal if we are to be victorious in this battle against our enemy.
When we are up against the enemy and he attacks us in our minds, in our bodies, in our emotions, via our relationships with other people, and via our circumstances, etc., we must call upon the Lord. We must call to him for help and we must use the spiritual weapons that he has supplied for us, which are his, in order to fight off these attacks of the evil one. If we think we can do this with our own strength or with our own reasoning, then we are bound to fail and to be even more distressed and overwhelmed by whatever is warring against us.
Psalm 18:16-19 (NIV):
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Have you ever felt without hope? Have the circumstances or relationships in your life ever been to the point to where you felt what David felt, i.e. that your enemy was too powerful for you? I have! I can even remember one day in 1982 saying to the Lord, “But Lord, you don’t understand!” Ha! Boy, was I ever wrong!! I believed that my enemy was too powerful for even God. I did not believe this with my conscious mind. Yet, my reaction to my circumstances said that I did believe that in my heart. Our enemy may be too strong for us in our flesh, but he is never too strong for God. God is much, much greater by far and he can cut our enemy off at any moment. In fact, our enemy only has the power that he has because God allows it. So, if we ever think that our circumstances are overwhelming and that there is no way out, think again!! Jesus has already won this battle for us when he died on the cross for our sins and when he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin. We don’t ever have to give in or give up, feeling as though what we are up against is too powerful for us, because we have a God who is the most powerful of all and who rules over all the earth.
When we call upon the Lord in our distress and we surrender to His will for our lives and yield our lives into his capable and loving hands, the Lord will be our support, he will deliver us through (though not necessarily from) whatever it is that is confronting us, and he will bring us out into a spacious place, i.e. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). Jesus has set us free. The “spacious place” is in faith in Christ Jesus and it is through genuine faith in Him as lived out in our daily lives that we are able to conquer the enemy of our souls. God will rescue those in whom he delights, and “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11).
Psalm 18:28-36 (NIV):
You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
36 You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
The battle is the Lord’s! He is the one who arms us with strength. He is the one who gives us the ability to stand against the enemy and his evil schemes. He is the one who trains our hands for battle. We are schooled for this battle via our time spent with the Lord Jesus at his feet in prayer, in His Word, in listening to what he says, in heeding his commands, in yielding our hearts to him in full devotion and obedience, in being willing to be his servant in going where he sends us, saying what he would have us to say, and in being his hands and his feet to others who are in need of his love, grace, mercy and compassion, etc. He teaches us through our trials and our tests of life. He guides us through putting roadblocks in our way which say “This far and no farther!” He prepares us through sickness and through health. He educates us through other people, either through their rejection and unkind words, or through their love and words of encouragement (exhortation; rebuke; correction; uplifting). Our lives, the people in our lives and our circumstances are his training ground in which we learn how to put our trust in the Lord, how to use the weapons of warfare he has put at our disposal, and how to overcome the attacks of the enemy by calling upon our Lord. His saving grace is our shield, and it is Him who makes our way secure.
Matthew 11:25-30 (NIV):
The Father Revealed in the Son
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Instead of the “yoke of slavery” to sin, to legalism, to men, etc., we are to take our Lord’s yoke upon us and to learn from Him. I had read something about this previously in relation to the yoke that oxen have to carry, so I looked it up and found this description:
•
Jesus invites all who are under the yoke of Law or sin and offers the true rest for their souls.
• We may visualize this as Jesus being the master or a farmer and us being yoked with a lighter load. But that is NOT the right picture.
• Farmers used to yoke the young ox with the old experienced ox to train them. The old ox will take the major load and the young one will be walking along and learning from him. If you read these verses in light of this, it makes more sense.
• What a wonderful picture, Jesus is giving to those who are exhausted, weary and burdened from carrying the load by themselves! What a comfort, peace, joy and rest it is to know that Jesus is right with us, walking with us, teaching us and strengthening us side by side! http://bibleseo.com/christian-life/yoke-bible-definition-word-study/
This is why the yoke we carry is “easy” and “light” because our Lord is carrying it for us, if we will let Him. The battle is the Lord’s!
The Solid Rock / Edward Mote / William Bradbury
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne
No comments:
Post a Comment