Warfare: December 2, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2013.

WARFARE

DEFINITION:

State of war; fighting; combat; battlefield; armed conflict between two factions.

SCRIPTURE:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, which is the devil. Hebrews 2:14.

KNOWLEDGE:

To say and believe that there is no spiritual warfare in life today is to believe the lie that Satan and evil do not exist. The truth is that we were born into an ongoing war that is already won. It is a war between God and Satan. Jesus has defeated Satan and sin and death forevermore, as we read in Hebrews 2:14 above, and in so many books of both the Old testament and the New Testament including Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, John and Revelation.

However, Satan has not surrendered and it is important to note that battles of temptation continue to happen every moment of everyday because of the power of sin and the enticing activities of Satan. That is why Paul says in the verse we have put above that we as believers need to put on the armor he has outlined in Ephesians 6 as permanent life-long attire. These battles will continue to persist until Jesus returns and the last battle against Satan is fought and won.

Many people today seem to believe that spiritual warfare only affects some people. But the Apostle Paul, talking to the people at the church of Ephesus, as recorded in Ephesians 6:13 said, “so that when the day of evil comes.” Paul never said to some but declared the day of evil will come to everyone and spiritual warfare will be faced by all believers.

Satan is constantly at war with all who are following Jesus. Satan’s goal is to defeat Christ’s Church. Satan and his army of demons will use every conceivable device and scheme to turn us away from following the Lord and lead us back into a life of sin and destruction. Satan is the great deceiver. His methods of deception encompass every sin, immoral practice, false theology, false religion, and worldly enticement that is known.

Paul, in Ephesians 6, wants us to understand that spiritual warfare is real and no one is exempt from its effects. Since this is so what are we to do about fighting it? God provides us some answers for this question through Paul in five verses from Ephesians (6:14-18). 

Paul says we must be prepared and we are to put on the whole armor of God. We are to stand firm girding our loins with truth and with His righteousness. When Paul referred to girding it was an illustration taken from the way soldiers prepared for battle by tightening their robes with a belt so their robe would not get in the way. The belt is the truth of the gospel that we need to tighten for battle against Satan’s untruth. 

Paul uses the example of a soldier who shods his feet --- wears boots with nails in them to grip the ground in combat. We need to be grounded in the Word so that we are prepared to share the good news of the gospel.

We are to take up a shield of faith to protect us from the flaming arrows of Satan just as the shield protected the soldiers in Paul’s day. Satan’s flaming arrows are the temptations he attacks us with.

Paul closes out these verses by reminding us with illustrations from the armor of his day to wear the helmet of Salvation. This was a protection for the head. Satan will do all he can to destroy what is in the mind, head, of a believer. The head is the major target in battle. Satan tries to destroy the believer’s assurance of Salvation by attacking our minds with doubt.

We are to carry the sword of the Spirit and then pray at all times, in the Spirit, for leadership and help as we face each battle in life. The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word. It is more powerful than any of Satan’s weapons.

All the resources that we need to fight our battles, and to be able to stand firm in warfare, flow out of our relationship with Jesus.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in II Corinthians 9:8.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything; you may have abundance for every good deed.

PRAYER:

Prepare our hearts today for the battles we will need to face against evil and Satan. Equip us with the armor needed to fight so that we know that you are with us and protecting us.