I do not know about you…but I have no problem believing that we have an external enemy with whom we must do battle. That enemy first appears as a serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the tree God told them to not eat…the Tree of the Knowledge Good and Evil.
Pretty simple idea was it not? They could eat from every tree except one and I imagine there were not multiple trees of KG&E. Probably just one of them there in the garden…not right in the center but off to the side away from their base camp.
We read more about him in the book of Job where God allows the devil to cause death and destruction to Job’s family…killing all his children, all his servants, and all his livestock to see if Job will curse God. He mourns his losses, endures the wrong thinking of his friends, and a wife who is anything but encouraging when telling Job to “…curse God and die.”
Then we find his showing up again to try and tempt Jesus. Just to give the devil a chance Jesus goes 40 days without food to get down to His fighting weight and then to go three rounds with satan. TKO in round 3 and the devil slithers away defeated again.
So, why do I believe that we, as followers of Jesus, have the devil and his multitude of demons to contend with? Two reasons really…Jesus said in John 10:10…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
And we are warned in Ephesians 6:11-12…
“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.”
This passage informs us of a number of vital things we need to know.
First – we are not just fighting against the devil. He is not omnipresent and is a created being who is very powerful and yet he has an army of organized demons. It consists of rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil.
Second – we are warned by Paul specifically in this passage that we are to stand strong against the schemes of the devil. We are not to run away, try to hide, or dabble in things that give the devil and his demons a foothold in our lives. So, in order to do that we have been given the full armor of God and told to put it on…daily…in fact, commanded to put it on.
So, how do we put on the full armor of God so that we can be standing firm…holding our ground…resisting the devil so that he will flee from us?
Each piece of armor is a metaphor for what we need to be doing. For example, putting on the belt of truth does not mean you buy a belt with the word “TRUTH” engraved on it. The belt was a key piece of equipment to the Roman soldier that held everything together. Truth is what we need if we are going to be standing firm. We put on this belt of truth by…
Knowing the truth and telling the truth!!!
And in this world today this is so critical, and it grieves me that a number of Christians are ignoring the truth even though it is staring them in the face. For example, the truth is that Covid-19 is real and 4.55 million people have died from it. Some say that is too high and others say it is too low…ok give or take a million people it has still killed millions. And the vaccines are working. 90% of people who are in the hospital ICUs right now and dying are unvaccinated.
Choose for yourself what you will do but make that choice based on the medical facts of deaths reported and the millions of people who have had the vaccine with no side effects except keeping me out of the hospital. Are there exceptions to the rule…of course, but don’t gamble your life and the life of your loved ones by ignoring the facts to their own peril.
That is wearing the belt of truth…knowing the truth and telling the truth.
What about the breastplate of righteousness? The breastplate protected the vital organs in battle. Since this breastplate is one of righteousness it means this to me…
When tempted do the Next Right Thing!!!
It is the choices we make and the actions we take…daily…which will protect us from the body blows with which the enemy wants to hit us. And this response will always be one of taking action. Moving away from the temptation of whatever is tempting you.
If you want a more complete understanding of the Full Armor of God you can find it in my devotional 40 Days of Purity which you can purchase HERE. It is an eBook in Kindle format which means you just need to free Kindle app on your devices and will be able to read it. You do not need to purchase a Kindle device.
If you cannot afford the $2.99 for the book, just email me at doyel@me.com and I will send you the pdf file for free.
Our external enemy is real, and this armor is something we are told to be putting on daily. It will take time and consistency, but we are told if we resist the devil, best done by being part of a community of others…he will flee from us.