Weapons to win…Part 1
This week’s devotions are based on Week 10 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
The goal is to be the last person standing.
In Greco Roman wrestling, the winner was the contestant who was standing after throwing his opponent to the ground three times. The winner has to overcome the tactics of his opponent and stay on his feet.
Perhaps this is the picture Paul has in mind as he encourages us, “Ephesians 6:13 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.” The one standing is the victor. For the Christian, we want to be standing, not falling for the schemes of Satan on the day of evil (which will come). (On a side note, I wonder if this picture has anything to do with the three temptations that face Christ in the desert in Matthew 4. After he threw Satan down the third time, Satan left…defeated…I digress.)
Paul then goes on to draw a picture of a Roman soldier ready for battle. We could spend time on all the pieces of armor and try to discern why its the belt of truth vs the helmet of truth…but today let’s just reflect on the descriptor of each piece of armor. For in the descriptors we have all we need to combat offensively and defensively the schemes of Satan. There are seven things God gives us to stay on our spiritual feet in the day of evil. Today, the first three:
- Truth: 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
The identity of our enemy is the “Father of lies.” The foundational component behind his schemes is deception. His ideal is when we question God’s truth and begin to replace it with our own truth. He loves to twist or leave out some of God’s truth so that it sounds good, but it is subtly leading us to believe a lie. Truth is the essence of God. He is full of grace and truth. His Word is truth. He is nothing but truth. If Satan is going to use lies and deception, we must be grounded in God’s truth. Jesus said in John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- Righteousness: with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
Satan loves to create doubt in our identity. With regularity he gets people to think, “God will never forgive me.” We can believe that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world…except mine. As a result, Satan leads us to think we can make ourselves feel better and be of better standing before God if we just do more good things. He tricks us into thinking we can find a righteousness by our own works. The effort is futile and we will always fall short. That is why God gives us his righteousness, his perfection to cover all our sins and imperfections. There is no question of our standing before God when we wear the “breastplate of righteousness.” Satan can try to hit our heart with doubt and despair, but it won’t penetrate because our chest is covered with Christ’s righteousness…and that alone establishes our identity and standing before God. Romans 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
- The Gospel: 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
A distraction for the Christian is all the bad news in the world around us. Five seconds on the news and one can shake their head at the evils around us. Reporters sensationalize the events. Atrocities are so many. The future is made to be uncertain. All of this can leave our hearts at unrest and lack of peace. A quick litmus test to see whether Satan is at work or God’s Spirit is at work is simply this: Is my heart full of fear (satan) or full of peace (Spirit of God)? Our steps through life will encounter evil and all its ugliness and negative impact, yet the Gospel which tells us our biggest problem in life is taken care of because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus leaves our hearts at peace. That’s what the Gospel does…it brings peace wherever it goes. Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
We have four more to cover tomorrow, but I pray already you are seeing the great blessing God has given you in his truth, righteousness, and Gospel that readily can throw Satan to the ground and leave you standing firm!
Apply: Which of these three armaments from God is what you need most today? As you put on truth, righteousness, or the Gospel of peace, what begins to change about your perspective of your day?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving to me all I need to discern Satan’s tactics and knock him to the ground over and over again. Help me to find the strength, peace and assurance in the gifts of armor you give to me! AMEN.
Who is your real enemy?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 10 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Do you realize how many spiritual battles we face every day?
Preaching on the topic this past weekend has made me more aware how many interactions each day are a spiritual battle. However, I often miss what it really is and start fighting the wrong thing.
Here’s an example…a little transparency with you this morning!
I spent time entering transactions and updating our financial expenditures for the past month and found myself frustrated that we spent as much as we did. I felt myself getting upset at my family for spending on things that seemed unnecessary, car A/C repair that was needed, and upset in general at our government for allowing inflation to make energy more expensive and every trip to the grocery store north of $50 or more. I made my family, the car manufacturer, and our government my enemy in a short period of time. As a result it was their fault and they were the ones that were responsible for my frustration.
But were they? Perhaps on the surface I can make a case they were and if their behaviors would change, my emotions and feelings would change. But…the situation was far less about all of them than it was about me. What was going on wasn’t just a practical dialogue about what our monthly budget should be, it was an internal struggle that was challenging my contentment, led me to battle greed, made me aware again of basing my mood on financial issues, and much more. At the heart of the battle was Satan working to lead me away from the love and promises of God, the family I treasure, and the country I am blessed to live in.
Of course it was.
As Paul wrote to remind me and you: 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.
Are you fighting the right enemy?
How many times have you fought a person instead of Satan’s influence in your heart and soul?
How many times have you blamed God for what Satan is really causing?
How many times have you created unrest in your relationships because you started fighting a person instead of the root of all lies and evil?
All too often.
We will get to the weapons tomorrow…but for today remember this.
Satan and his influence is all around us. It may not always manifest in an obvious way, but we can notice when he is at work when our emotions are one of fear, discontent, anger and the result in our relationships are division and discord. If these things are happening, we are fighting the wrong enemy and losing the battle. We are fighting evil and darkness in our own hearts and in the hearts of people around us. We are living with the reality of evil and darkness around us which can lead us to despair and live in unrest.
God wants us to recognize our real enemy. For when we are aware of who the real enemy is and his tactics, we will be better able to use the armor God gives us to win the victory each and every day.
Apply: Reflect on the past 24 hours. What situations did you miss seeing who the enemy was and begin to fight against flesh and blood and miss the reality of Satan and the evil and darkness he was bringing into your heart and life?
Prayer: Lord, let your light shine through the darkness. Let your power overcome evil and let my discernment always see life through the lens of spiritual warfare. With your power, promises, and truth, let me win the victory each and every day. AMEN.
Do you know the devil’s schemes?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 10 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Have you ever stopped to think, “What are the devil’s schemes?”
Sometimes you can sense from a friend that they are “up to something” but you can’t quite figure it out until the “surprise party” happens.
Sometimes you know there is a plan going on to move you out of your job or off the team…and you find out about it too late.
Sometimes as a parent, you catch your child in the middle of creating a prank for a younger sibling and you intervene just in time to thwart the plan.
There is not a time when Satan is not scheming to get you to fall away from your connection to your heavenly Father. However, there is a lot of time that we do not carry an awareness and vigilance to understand how the devil schemes.
One of the best writings done (outside of the Scripture) to help the Christian understand the schemes of the devil is C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. In this writing, Screwtape is a seasoned demon and temptor. He is writing to Wormwood to help him understand the Patient (the Christian) and how to go about tempting him to leave the Enemy (God). Here are a few quotes. Each one hints at one of the schemes Satan uses. Read them each a few times. Can you see how deceptive Satan is in his work to separate us from the love of Christ?
- There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.
- If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point,’ you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all- and more amusing.
- Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.
- Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.
- All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged.
- Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
The devil is not obvious in many cases, but when we understand how he schemes to deceive and trick us, we will be better able, with the Spirit’s help and the armor of God fully in place, to thwart the schemes of Satan before they bring spiritual harm to our souls.
Apply: Which of the Screwtape quotes got you thinking the most? How does Satan use this scheme in your heart?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please build my awareness and insight into how Satan works on my heart and soul. Forgive me when I have fallen prey to his schemes. Equip and empower me with the wisdom of your Spirit and the strength of your armor to stand up against every scheme Satan throws my way. AMEN.
Note: All quotes above came from the following website: https://bookroo.com/quotes/the-screwtape-letters
Be ready for battle!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 10 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
The annals of war history are littered with accounts of surprise attacks which found the opposing forces unaware. The art of deception and surprise is still one of the key elements to winning a victory in battle. From the Trojan Horse deception of the 12th century BC to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, military people have been caught by surprise and deceived by their enemy. The result is usually catastrophic to the group that is being attacked. So what is the answer? Always be ready.
The US Coast Guard has adopted this slogan Semper Paratus to keep the mission of their men and women before them. They do not desire to be caught by surprise or in a situation where they are unprepared. To do this one must always be training and preparing so when the time comes, the readiness to confront whatever is moving against them is ready.
So what about you and spiritual warfare?
This week we finish our series from the book of Ephesians with the familiar “Armor of God” section of Ephesians (6:10-20). As Paul lists various elements of the Roman soldier’s armor, it is couched under the theme, “Be ready.”
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Some commentators that write about the period between World War 1 and World War 2 speak of the west as having “willful ignorance” as to what Hitler was doing to rebuild the military strength of Germany as well as build the desire to take revenge on all those that stood against Germany in World War 1. Underestimating the nature of Hitler, when he began to invade the surrounding countries, the European continent found themselves fighting from behind.
At times, this is our down fall with spiritual warfare. We know of Ephesians 6. We like the picture of the “armor of God.” We like the idea of defeating Satan and standing our ground. We believe God is stronger than Satan…but then we carry a mindset of this, “This will never happen to me.” We fail to take time to study the tactics of our enemy. We fail to recognize the weaknesses in our spiritual armor. We get too busy to take time to train with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God to fight against the lies, deceptions and tactics of Satan. We can study the glorious truth of the Gospel, but fail to take seriously the tactics of Satan which God Adam and Eve in their perfection to bow to his temptations.
“Be Ready!” is not just a pithy statement for the Christian, it is a daily reality. Satan and his influence in the world are bombarding us with threats to our faith and walk with Jesus. We can not sit in our easy chair enjoying Scripture like Ephesians 6 and be thinking, “I’m glad that’s not happening to me.” or “I don’t think I’ll need that today.” As soon as we have a spirit of complacency and apathy, the enemy will strike and we will find ourselves unprepared and defeated at worst or unprepared and scurrying to put on our armor and fight back and best. This week my prayer is the message and the devotions will help us to be a little more prepared for the spiritual battle that is real every day. Know your enemy…Know how your enemy fights…and put on the armor of God so you can win!
Apply: On a scale of 1 to 10, what awareness of spiritual warfare do you carry on a daily basis? What changes when your awareness heightens?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your power and strength to overcome the attacks of Satan. You have won the ultimate victory over sin, death and the devil. You have promised your power and strength when the enemy attacks. Let me not be complacent but always ready to face the onslaught of Satan to stand safely always in your grace. AMEN.
JOY in relationships!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 9 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Have you noticed a theme in all the discussions about relationships and how a Christian is to engage in them? Marriage…parenting…employment? Perhaps as we engage in these relationships, we know that each one of them can be great or horrible depending on the day. Our marriage can be super one day and on the rocks the next. Our relationship with our children can be great one day and worst enemies the next. One Monday morning at work can set a tone for a great week or one interaction can leave you wishing for the weekend.
Relationships are challenging (Next week we will see the spiritual battle that often ensues in our relationships). But do we need hundreds of books to help us sort out the complexity of relationships? Maybe some are helpful, but let me end the week with a simple acronym that maybe many of you have heard before…but let’s apply it to relationships:
J.O.Y.
Jesus
Others
Yourself
All of the relationships we’ve looked at this week start with one premise: I won’t understand the earthly relationship until I understand my relationship with Jesus. The fact of grace that God, in his love, connected you to Christ by faith is the most profound relationship that any human being can experience. In the context of that relationship, I grow to realize how much God loves me, how much he sacrificed for me, how much he desires to grow me, and how in love he leads me. Every other relationship stems first from our relationship with Jesus, or better said, his relationship with us.
The Apostle John said, “We love because he first loved us.” How true is that! How can I love my wife as Christ loved the Church if I have no connection to the love of Christ? How can a wife submit to her husband when she is not part of the Church? How can I parent my child to walk in the ways and word of the Lord if I myself am not hearing from my Savior in his word. How can I work with all my abilities if I first don’t understand who gave me those abilities or how can I lead in the work place if I first don’t recognize the leadership of Christ in my own life.
Only with Jesus first can I be a blessing to Others.
Paul says in Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” The ability to yield my will to another only comes when I do it to glorify Christ, not myself. My natural inclination in relationships is to get as much as I can for myself out of them. Not so for the CHristian. The blessing of relationships is to realize they are gifts from God and opportunities for me to glorify my Savior who brought me into relationship with him.
But the amazing thing is Jesus does not leave us personally without blessing and benefit from godly relationships. As you’ve been able to honor Christ in your marriage, is it not true that you have been blessed by that? Do you not enjoy the peace, the mutual service, the support and love that your spouse gives as they reciprocate the love Christ has shown to them? Is not parenting more of a reward when you see the Spirit of God work in the lives of your children because you have taken time to train them in the ways of the Lord. Does not work become more of a blessing for you when you spend your day first and foremost serving the Lord?
When God designs something it is not to cause chaos and heartache, but rather to give us peace and joy in the relationships into which he has placed us. So as you head through your day and into the days ahead, approach every relationship with J.O.Y. – Jesus first…then Others…then yourself.
Apply: What is one thing you can do in your relationships to better model JOY in them?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for putting me first in your life of sacrifice and love. Lead me in all my relationships simply to model the love you shown me. AMEN.