Tuesday, August 21, 2012

God’s Armor


“Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.” Ephesians 6: 10-11

You do realize we are in a battle, right?

Every day, at every moment, Satan and his legion of demons seek to tempt us, scare us, distract us, harm us, fool us, confuse us, dull us and destroy us. At every moment we are confronted with the choice to live for God or to live for ourselves. At every moment we are free to choose to follow the Lord’s commands and plans or to sin. At every moment we can choose to live a life of greatness or a life of mediocrity. The biggest battle of our lives takes place almost silently, invisibly, in and around us every day and our enemy is pure evil with the powers of an angel. He is the master of disguises and the father of lies.

So we stand there like a sand castle against a wave, with a history of defeats to remind us of what to expect and yet we still think that this time we will win. We look insane as we try to fight this battle the same way over and over expecting different results. Because the reality is that if it comes down to me or you versus Satan, we are going to lose every time. Satan has no need for sleep, or food. He does not tire or grow weary. He has the powers of an angel, fallen as he may be. And he relentlessly pursues us.

But God stands there offering us His strength, His mighty power and His armor. Why do we not use it? Pride, laziness, ignorance? How can Satan defeat God? He can’t. And when you and I use the Lord’s strength, the power of God the Father and the armor provided by Him, we can stand firm against the attacks of the Evil One. What is the armor of God? Truth. Righteousness. The Gospel of Peace. Faith. Salvation. The Word of God.

We need to stop fighting with our own power. We need to stop fighting with our own armor. We need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. We need to learn and accept the Truth that comes to us from the Lord through the Church. We need to think, speak and act with peace. We need to live a life of virtue and righteousness. We need to believe in the things unseen. And we need to claim our salvation, not in pride or presumption, but in the mercy of a God who loves us beyond compare. When we do this, the perfect, loving armor of God will cast out the fearful tactics of Satan every time.

Praise God that we are not called to go into this battle ill-equipped or unprepared!! The same power that created the universe from nothing, the same power that calmed the raging sea, the same power that heals, the same power that defeated Satan at the cross is available to us. If we would only draw upon it.

Dear Jesus, please give me Your strength and mighty power this day. May I never head into battle without first putting on Your armor. Amen.

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