Spiritual Warfare

FatihWalkDaily October 27, 2008

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. ~ Eph 6:11-14

Spiritual battles are inevitable. Satan is not happy that God loves us so much, that he lost his place in heaven, and that God has forgiven us while demons are condemned beyond redemption.
We have been in the midst of spiritual battle in our own lives lately. When you're on the front lines taking fire without relief, it's difficult to make sense of anything, to see clearly or feel the strength of God carrying the banner before us. So often we have wanted to drop our armor and weapons and just play dead.

Today, I met with a friend to pray through some of demonic oppression and I was given a glimpse of God's glory and found new strength and hope in His promises.

I realize one very important thing in all this. Had we not been spending years in Bible study, surrounded ourselves with good loving people who know the Word of God and pray, and continued to praise God in the most difficult circumstances, things would be a whole lot worse - we might even have lost the battle completely.

We're awash in the light of our Savior though we've fallen deep into enemy territory. He is our strength, our hope and our joy. Because we'd been well prepared in our faith, we were able to persevere remembering we can do all things through Christ who is our strength.

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 saints. ~ Eph 6:14-18

Lord our strength is in You. We entrust our lives to Your care with the faith that moves mountains. In Jesus' name, amen.