“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:10-20 ESV)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are going to have enemies. We are going to have people who oppose us and who turn against us and who betray and desert us. And yes, our enemy is Satan, and our war is with him, and so this is spiritual warfare. But he has many people who serve him and who do his bidding, whether or not they are aware that they are being used of the devil to come against the Lord’s servants and messengers. But we do not fight with the weapons of this world but with spiritual weapons of warfare, for this battle is spiritual, and it must be fought with the armor of God.
So, what are these spiritual weapons of welfare we must use in order to fight off the enemy of our souls? Well, the first one is truth, because the devil is a liar and the father of lies, and his servants and messengers are also liars who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, and so they deceive the minds of the naïve and the fleshly and the worldly. But not all the lies are obvious and outright. Many are hidden and disguised and passed off as truth when they are truly of deceiving spirits and are manipulative, and they engage in misimpressions (indirect lies which are hard to prove).
And so we must be people of discernment who are listening to the Lord and who are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in order to spot the lies, especially the hidden ones, so that we can combat the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word, which also engages the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And this means that we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their appropriate context and thus who use them in the correct biblical context, and who are applying their truths to our own lives, in practice, so that we don’t end up being hypocrites.
And then we must be those who are sharing the truths of the Scriptures with others for their instruction, counsel, and encouragement. We must be those who are sharing the truth of the gospel with both the people of the world and with those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, for not everyone who professes faith in the Lord is a true child of God, for not all believe the true gospel, but many are following after the lies of the enemy which are being disguised as truth. But they are half-truths, which are lies disguised as truth, and which are leading many people astray and are sending them to hell.
And what is the true gospel? It is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self. It is that he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin and for self so that we might now please the Lord in honoring him with our lives. And it is that by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now to live as slaves to God and to his righteousness.
[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]
And then there is the shield of faith, and faith is not something we just profess with our lips. The faith that comes from God persuades us as to God’s holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of (turn away from) our sins and follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For this faith is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man – but of God, for it is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and it is gifted to us by God, and so it results in us doing the works of God he created us to do as his followers.
[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]
And then there is our salvation, which is not a profession of faith only, and which is not a one-time decision we make in our lives to “believe” in Jesus whereby heaven is now secured us for eternity regardless of how we live. Biblical salvation has a beginning, but it is something that must be ongoing throughout our lives until we die or until Jesus returns for us, his bride. And it involves us daily denying self, dying to sin, and following Jesus in obedience to his commands. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, and not righteousness, we will not have eternal life.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
And then we need to be people of prayer. And prayer is not something just scheduled for a certain period of time each day, but prayer is open communication between us and God 24/7, day and night, regardless of day or hour of day. And this allows the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts anytime of day or night and for us to respond to the Spirit’s leading and prompting in our lives. And it allows us to bring our requests to the Lord no matter what we are doing or where we are or with eyes open or shut or whether we are on our knees or sitting or standing and/or lying down.
Broken and Contrite
An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.
Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.
