March 1, 2023 BE STRONG
Ephesians 6:10-12 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
We are in a war; some may not realize that fact, but whether they know it or not, there is a war going on and it is not in a distant land-it’s taking place right where we live. There are physical wars taking place currently in certain parts of the world; but the greater war that believers face is a spiritual war. We have an enemy whose goal is to ‘steal, kill and destroy.’ John 10:10. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are instructed to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” And in 2 Corinthians 11:14 we see that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Satan’s primary weapon, his primary mode of war, is that of deception. Knowing that we have such an enemy, we must take to heart the above admonitions in Ephesians-and many other passages that are about spiritual warfare. The good news is that Christ defeated Satan and disarmed him; as we walk in the ways of God, as we live out of our new identity, we have victory over Satan. It is Satan’s tactic to get us to not walk and live according to the Spirit, but to walk according to our own understanding; he tempts us to pursue our way. We are normally tempted to commit some horrible deed, but we are more apt to be tempted to yield to our flesh in some ‘small’ way. Remember, Satan appears as an angel of light. In light of the spiritual warfare taking place, we must be strong in the Lord and we must put on the armor of God and stand against the wiles of our enemy. We do not fight in our own strength but we stand in the power of His might-He fights the battles-we stand. When we submit to God and we resist the devil, he flees from us. James 4:7. A lot could be said about spiritual warfare, but the basic truth is that we must have a heart that is turned to the Lord; be grounded in His word; know who we are in Him; be quick to obey Him; and be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Finally, we must make the critical choice to walk according to the Spirit and not according to our flesh. We do not have to fear Satan for he is a defeated foe; God allows him to exist, but his days or numbered. The amazing truth is that God uses Satan to further His own purposes, one of which is that we are called to be overcomers of the powers of darkness-and that glorifies God. So, be strong in the Lord-in the power of His might.
Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
1 John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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