Ephesians 6:12 “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.”
My son, Foster, likes to play “superhero.” He likes to put on his red cape and rescue his sister and his parents from the bad guys. So far, he’s done a pretty good job. We have not been bothered by any boogeymen recently.
Although Foster’s bad guys are of the imaginary sort, the enemies of Christ are very real. Satan and all his evil forces are constantly at work, trying to defeat Christ and His church. They want to lead Christians away from Christ, and they will stop at nothing, in order to see that happen.
If we try and fight these “bad guys” alone, we are at a great disadvantage. We are physical beings, fighting a spiritual battle. It would be much easier if we fought a battle of flesh and blood. Then, we could just kill the bad guy, and he’d be gone.
Instead, we must recognize that Satan and his demons will never be gone until Christ, in that victorious battle, conquers him once and for all. Until then, we can’t fight him with physical means. We must arm ourselves with the spiritual armor of God. We must draw on the spiritual power and might that comes only from Him.
And we must never forget, friends, that Satan is very clever. He knows each of our weak spots, and he will aim for them every time. He wants to woo us away from Christ, and he will use his spiritual powers to entice us. But we can win, we can make him tuck tail and run, if we use our armor and the strength that God provides. As we spend time with God in prayer and in His Word, our armor is strengthened, and we increase our chances of standing, victorious, against the enemy.
Dear Father, Please help me to be wise against Satan’s schemes, and to fight this spiritual battle successfully. I love You.
Amen
You’re right, Renae – fighting physical “bad guys” would be so much easier. Thank God He gives us the spiritual armor to be superheroes.
Dear Renae,
I often feel horrified when watching TV or reading the papers.
There are incredible evil forces going around, everywhere.
All these flirting with satanic powers in TV series; I will not have them in my home, but defenseless children are influenced by these series around the clock.
I even at times have been reluctant to witness, because I then have experienced falls greater than ever, as if the evil will show me; you have nothing to boast about. You’d better keep your mouth shot.
Well, such fear can be paralyzing in the long run. I’ve found support and comfort in Roman 8. The whole chapter should be memorized by heart, but I now these verses and recite them out loud when fear threatens.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen
Felisol
Satan likes to attack me through thoughts. I have to fight the battle in my head all the time. And, the battle is not easy to win if I’m not getting enough sleep and exercise. The best way to do that is to live out my Faith in everything I do – even the little, unnoticed things. And, I pray through just about everthing. We have to take care of ourselves in a balanced way – and pray hard.
Lovely post, R!!
Lillie, I already think of you as a superhero! 🙂
Felisol, I agree! We should all memorize that scripture. In teaching children’s church, I found a fun, upbeat song with that scripture. I’ll try to find it online and put the link here.
Sarah, I know what you mean! He will find the chink in our armor every time, and he knows when we are weak or tired. Our thoughts are his favorite place to attack, too, I think. If he can get us down mentally, he has conquered us. But isn’t it great that we are more than conquerers through Jesus Christ?
So glad to see all three of you!
–r
If only those in the church truly understood this verse in all its dimensions, we would be stronger and better equipped for the battles we face everyday.
It is one of satan’s greatest ploys to minimize his role in the world, to paint himself as a harmless, imaginary creature.
We underestimate him to our own disadvantage and danger.
The number one rule in any warfare or battle is to know the enemy.
Unfortunately, many in the church look at their fellow man as the enemy.
When clearly Paul says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood!
Love,
Jlo
You are so right, Judi. Too many churches waste time fussing and fighting with each other, and don’t recognize who the real enemy is!
–r
Oh, this post and the comments all of you have made are so fitting right now for me, too.
My church seems to be splitting, and I believe Satan is very interested in this fight because he instigated it. This problem has the ability to halt the wonderful work that has been blossoming (which I am sure Satan hated to see happening). These things can be complicated, though, because while the enemy is really Satan, many times the issue is serious enough that we as Christians cannot wobble around on the top of the fence hoping that we will not have to fall on either side.
You are so right about how great Ephesians is! When these problems arise and we must take a stand, the end of chapter 4 really tells us how we should act. We can fight for the right all we want, but unless we do it with love and compassion, it is all pretty empty.
Thanks so much for your posts on these topics. It is so helpful. I know
Oh, Jeanette, I am so sorry your church is going through this. Mark and I have been in a couple of churches with the same type problems. I’ll be praying that the people on both sides of the issue will recognize who the real enemy is.
–r
It’s worth remembering that the devil, apart from causing big problems, is there in the little things as well – disharmony in marriages or friendships, confusion and distractions of the mind. Don’t think he’s just turned up when the really bad things happen – he’ll sneak in anywhere there’s a little opening!
You are so right, Jackie! I think he often does more damage in the daily little things, gradually chinking away at our armor . . .
We always have to be aware, don’t we?
–r
No time to think about slack. Gotta pray up, boot up, strap up, our whole armor and get creativity, knowledge, wisdom and understanding, as we go on our day in victory over things that we do. Every second and minute matters, and we definitely have to be aware of whats going around all of us. 🙂
Amen, Daniel!