In the Strength of His Might

“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, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:10-20 ESV)

Now, this is not saying that we will not have physical human enemies. We most certainly will! That is why we are taught to love our enemies and to pray for them and to do good to them and to say to them what is beneficial to them in a good way. And it is why we are taught not to fear our enemies, and we are warned of what to expect when we choose to follow Jesus with our lives. For we are told that we should expect to be treated by others as Jesus was treated, because we are living for the Lord in walks of obedience to him and because we are sharing the truth of the gospel and refuting lies.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-36; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

For it isn’t that we don’t have physical enemies, but it is that we are not to fight our physical enemies with the weapons of warfare provided by human beings. We are not to murder and to do evil and to willfully do physical harm to those who are our enemies. For this is not physical warfare being talked about here, but this is speaking of a spiritual battle which we are to fight with spiritual weapons of warfare against the wicked schemes of the devil. And the devil does use humans to do his dirty work, for certain. But we can only fight this battle in the strength of the Lord, and with his armor.

Now, this is written in figurative language comparing physical armor of physical warfare with spiritual armor of warfare against our enemy Satan. But the Lord’s armor he provides for us is not of a physical nature, but of a spiritual nature. So it is not something that we put on our physical bodies, but it is what needs to be applied to our daily lives, in practice. And it is not just words we say or some routine that we go through, but it involves us engaging in these specific areas in our deeds, thoughts, and words.

For Satan (the devil) is going to scheme against us in how he might try to take us down, for he wants us to give up hope, and to stop serving the Lord in ministry, and to stop sharing the gospel, and to not live holy lives, but to continue living in sin. And if he can’t get us one way, he will try another, and another, hoping that something will work and that he will conquer. And those who are not armored up, but who leave a door open for the devil, do get taken out. And this is why we must be armored up all the time.

So, how this is applied to our lives is in how we live our lives, in practice. So if I have on the belt of truth, I am one who is living the truth of the gospel and who is teaching the truth of the gospel, and I am not one who tells lies to make others feel good. And if I am wearing the breastplate of righteousness, then righteousness is what I live, what I practice, and it guards my heart from the evil one. And if I am wearing shoes with the readiness given by the gospel of peace, I am someone who is living and who is sharing the gospel message, in practice, in my daily walk of faith.

And if I am taking up the shield of faith I am putting the faith provided by the Lord into daily practice. And that faith involves obedience to my Lord in holy living, believing his word, and putting his word into practice. And I trust the Lord and I do not doubt him. But I follow him in obedience, I listen to him, and I follow him wherever he leads me. And the same applies if I am taking up the helmet of salvation, for first of all I need to be putting my faith in biblical salvation and not the diluted version of God’s gospel of salvation so many are promoting today. For Jesus delivers from slavery to sin.

If I am taking up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, then I am being serious-minded and diligent to study the Scriptures in their correct context, to know what they teach, to apply them to my life, and then to share them with others, in truth. I am also using the Scriptures as a sword to fight against the lies of the enemy, for we fight lies with the truth. And believe me, lies and liars abound these days in the governments of nations, in the gatherings of what is called “church,” and in the media, including the news media, but also in social media – lies and liars abound there!

And then prayer is critical! If we are not talking with our Lord, and if we are not listening to him speak to our hearts, then we cannot operate in the Spirit with the Spiritual armor of God. For this can’t be something that we do in the flesh with human reasoning and intellect and choices. We need to be in open communication with our Lord about everything going on in our lives and regarding prayer needs for other people, and in order to know the way he wants us to go so that we can walk in it. For our Lord has specific callings for each of us to follow and so we need to listen to hear him speak.

Now, the Lord Jesus lately has been using this secular song in my life as an encouragement by replacing “Sun” with “Son” (Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is also God). For sometimes the troubles of life can be overwhelming, and the enemy may be attacking fiercely, and it may seem sometimes like it’s been awhile since we have seen the light of day, i.e. a breakthrough of some kind to give us encouragement and hope and healing. 

Here Comes the Sun

By George Harrison

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter

Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here

Little darlin', the smile's returning to their faces

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here

Little darlin', I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKLV8GCrveQ

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