Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
The Boy Scouts motto is “be prepared”. When you are facing a challenge, it is always good to be prepared. How strong are you? What training do you have in self defense or military tactics? If you need to defend yourself, how prepared are you? Can you take care of yourself and your family? Can you face the evil one in your own power and prevail?
If you think you have everything it takes to prevail over the dark forces that permeate our world, you are fooling yourself! So what will you do? Is it hopeless? On your own, you cannot succeed but you are not on your own. If fact, you are never alone. You don’t have to do these things in your own power. The Lord your God goes before you making the crooked places straight and leveling the peaks and valleys. He gives His angels charge over you to protect and deliver you. He gives you everything you need to prevail if you will stand your ground. How can you do that? By using the tools He has provided. He gives you the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and, the most powerful of all, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. When you face evil, all you need to combat it is the Word. “Get thee behind me Satan.” Resist the devil and he will flee from you. When Jesus was in the desert for 40 days being tempted, the only weapon He used was the Word of God. In Matthew 4, Jesus used three passages of Scripture to resist the devil and he fled!
Do you want the power to resist evil? It is available to you. The full armor of God is available to any who seek the Lord for those who seek Him will find him. Are you wearing you’re your full armor? Are you prepared to stand? Stand firm then in your armor!
Lord, please provide us Your full armor so that we will be able to stand for You. Guide us in Your ways. Let Your glory shine out from us to those in peril as a beacon of hope. You are our hope and shield. In You, we put our faith and trust. In Jesus name we pray!
