“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.” ~ Ephesians 6:13
Dear friend, immediately you became a believer, you made an enemy – an adversary called the devil or Satan. And he is waging war against the Lord’s people. So now you and I are soldiers in the Lord’s army, fighting the good fight of Faith.
- This is why the verse doesn’t say put on the bikini (if it’s a bikini, then we’re going for a beach party);
- Nor does it say to put on a ball gown or suit and tie (because it is not a dinner reception);
- It says put on the full armour... so it is a fight, a battlefield, and a war zone!
- Christians don’t want to accept that they are in the battlefield. And we hear people say: “hmmm the battles are too much.”
- Can I ask something? Did God say the battles will be few? (Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the LORD delivers him out of them all ~ Psalm 34:19)
The Bible says: “Fight the good fight of faith! Keep the faith! Finish your race!” Beloved, it’s not a party o, it’s a fight… You and I must develop the mind of warriors; fighters in the Kingdom!
“WHEN the day of evil comes…”
English scholars can understand what it means to use “WHEN.” It means that day will surely come; you will have your day of evil.
- Rick Warren calls it the ‘midnight time,’ where you go through the mill (you’re being grinded), and sometimes it’s like the temptations and troubles are winning.
- But hey, we pray for you (as Jesus prayed for Peter), that you may stand after that evil day, or days, or months, or even years.
- May you stand strong after it all, and may your faith not fail!
It is relatively easy to start as a Christian than it is to keep going and finish as one. “And having done all, to stand!”
- Paul said to Timothy, “I have FOUGHT the good fight, I have FINISHED the race, I have KEPT THE FAITH…” I pray that these will be our words also at the end of it all!
- Pray about it. Because Paul is one of the very few who could say he finished the race and kept the faith!
- Meaning after all he went through, he still believed what he first believed in!
Jude 1:3 says, "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH that was once for all delivered to the saints."
There is contention. We are being pulled and fought against! This is War! You can’t afford to fold up your arms and refuse to fight, you’ve got to fight in the Spirit!
We don’t have to do anything wrong for Satan to attack us. It’s what he does. It’s who he is. The Bible calls him “the accuser of our brothers and sisters” (Revelation 12:10). And he wants nothing more than to attack those who love Jesus.
- Yet often, our own impure lifestyles make us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks.
- He knows that if he can slip his foot into the door of our hearts through impurity, we’re goners.
- He’ll trip us up with all sorts of temptations, from pornography, to movies, to books, to advertising —whatever it takes to make us ineffective as representatives of God’s kingdom.
“Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest.” ~ Ephesians 6:14
That’s why the breastplate of righteousness is so important as we battle against whatever Satan throws at us. A Roman soldier going to war would always put on a breastplate to protect his heart and vital organs (Our modern day equivalent of the bulletproof vest).
No soldier would dare go to battle without this piece of armor. Neither should we! Paul tells us that righteousness, or purity of motives, is our breastplate. When we ask God to give us a pure heart and pure motives, we’re putting on that breastplate of righteousness.
- Satan fears the person with a pure heart—not the perfect person, but the person who wants to do the right thing and who keeps their motives pure.
- People who pursue purity don’t have to be afraid of him. Satan is afraid of them!
- Purity doesn’t mean perfection, though. None of us fit that description. God expects purity of motives, not necessarily perfect action.
It means when we do something wrong, we’re convicted and we want to make it right. We can’t have God’s blessing on our families, our businesses, or any other area of our lives unless we seriously pursue that kind of purity (not to gain salvation but to live out the saved life in Christ).
– For example, if you open up your heart to greed, Satan can get you to cheat on your account books or make a shady business deal.
– If you leave the door to your heart ajar through pride, you’ll chase the applause and praise of others rather than the approval of God. That leads nowhere.
Without a pure heart, you’re a pushover for Satan. We don’t have to be strong physically to stand against Satan’s attacks, but we do need to protect ourselves with God’s armor of righteousness. We will continue tomorrow, but briefly reflect on the following:
- Are there areas of your life where you have become vulnerable to impurity? What can you do about it?
- Who can you invite into your life to keep you accountable to make pure decisions that honor God?
- “Righteousness” may seem like an intimidating word, but it just means pursuing pure motives. What is one simple way you can check and correct your motives?
Remember, This is War! Let’s get to fighting! (Check out this song by my big brother, Ps Cofi Boham: https://youtu.be/DcHtBPPWsMo).
Hey, you're blessed and highly favoured and dearly loved!
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Disclaimer: this post contains portions of messages and text originally shared by Ps Rick Warren (who is one of my mentors in the faith).