Ephesians 6: 10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put own the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
A Thought
Paul is preparing new believers in Christ to know they will have to take a stand against the evil schemes of the rulers, of authorities, of the powers of darkness in the world and the spiritual forces of evil at work in the heavenly realms. First we must realize that our struggles are not against our husband, our wife, our children, our neighbor, our parents, our boss nor any other flesh and blood person. There is a battle between good and evil at all times. God has made available to all believers his full armor to prepare us to stand our ground when evil comes against us. We must stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness firmly in place, have the our feet fitted with the gospel of peace ready, carry the shield of faith to put out the fiery arrows of the evil one, wear the helmet of salvation and always carry the sword of the Spirit which is God’s word. God has provided his mighty armor of power to us as his believers to war against all evil and also given his gift of prayer that we can make our requests known to him on all occasions. The battle is raging: We must be prepared to stand and always prayer for one another in Jesus’ name.
Our Prayer
Loving Father thank you for giving us your Son to bring us back in relationship to you. Now as your children, we desire to grow in your wisdom to know our battles our not against others but that we are in a Spiritual battle. Prepare us to be ready to stand against evil. We ask for your mercy for all Christians to stand firm, fully equipped with your word in Jesus’ name, amen.
