By Brooke Momblow
And that about wraps
it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master
has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to
use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way.
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget
about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the
finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You’re up
against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can
get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting
you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation
are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your
life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer
is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your
brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that
no one falls behind or drops out. – Ephesians 6:10-18 MSG
Remember: “We’re not
fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies. We’re fighting against evil rulers
and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world,
against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” – Eph.6:12 NLT
Marilyn McGrath talked to us about how as followers of
Christ we have free will to choose our actions; Satan cannot force us to do
anything. He has no authority or control over us. If you didn’t get a chance to
read it, I would suggest going back to June 4th as a companion to today’s
devotional.
The enemy of our soul wants to destroy us. He wants to wreak
havoc and destruction in our lives and the lives of those around us. From the
beginning he has sought to destroy relationship with God. He tirelessly works
to deceive, manipulate, confuse, and incite circumstances. He even disguises
himself as an angel of light.
We see as Jesus sanctified himself, how hard Satan worked
against him. He considered Jesus dangerous. Satan tried to persuade, tempt, and
misuse scripture to sway Jesus. When that didn’t work Satan thought he’d just
have Jesus killed. “The evening meal was being served, and the devil had
already prompted Judas Iscariot, to betray Jesus.” (John 13:2) But even demons
recognized Jesus as God, “What do you want with us, Son of God?” (Matthew
8:28-29) So, it’s eye opening to realize that Satan’s pride is so great he
believed he planned Jesus’ death.
When we submit our lives in obedience to God, the Holy
Spirit dwells in us. The devil recognizes the Spirit of Christ in us. A slave girl,
who had a spirit in her, followed Paul shouting “These men are servants of the
Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (Acts 16:16-18) The
sons of a Jewish priest tried to invoke the name of Jesus to cast out evil
spirits in a manner similar to using “Abra Cadabra,” but the evil spirit said
to them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:13-20)
When Christ is recognized in us, we become dangerous to
Satan’s plans. The fight to stand firm begins. Our adversary acts against us in
ways that might look like ordinary trials of life. He’s cunning. We resist him
by applying the Word to each situation: We love without looking for
love-worthiness. We forgive the unforgivable. We watch the news and are
righteously angry at injustice, but we don’t sin in our anger. We recognize
there is a life-and-death battle being waged in the unseen world over the souls
of all the individuals on the screen. Our eyes are opened to see
those people as brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. We allow our hearts
to be broken for them, and we step into the fight on their behalf. We earnestly
pray. We ask for God’s will to be done on earth, we ask for peace, we ask for
justice, we ask for everyone involved to turn from darkness to light. (Acts
26:18) We pray for ourselves, that we would recognize our own struggles as a
fight to resist the devil and his scheme to destroy our life in Christ.
We don’t live in fear of our adversary and we don’t walk
around casting him out of our house every time we have a fight with our spouse.
Instead, we are intentional to act on Jesus’ commands in those moments – we
resist and the devil runs from us. We pray to remain faithful to doing the
things God says to do. We also don’t look at the rebellious teenager and scream
“in the name of Jesus come out!” We enter into prayer on their behalf, and we
ask for the wisdom God freely gives to teach and to discipline in a way that
reflects the Father’s Love. We don’t pray like a child wishing. We pray with
the knowledge that God has the power to raise to life. Everything on earth and
in the spiritual world is subject to the authority of Jesus.
Personally, I’ve experienced meeting an evil spirit. It was
because he recognized the Spirit of God in me and was afraid. I had no idea he
existed until he revealed himself. This spirit was attempting to stop a woman
who wanted someone pray for her. That bizarre, supernatural experience made me
aware the fight against evil spirits in heavenly places is real and active. The
experience also taught me that the Spirit of God in me is greater, that I
overcome through the blood of the Lamb and my testimony to the redeeming work
of God in my life.
Jim Elliot was a missionary who gave his life to share Jesus
with those who had never heard of him. He lamented that: “While we profess to
know a Power the twentieth century does not reckon with, we are spiritual
pacifists in the battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high
places. We are content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. We
look like the world around us. Oh, that God would make us dangerous!”
How desperately our lives need the love, peace, and
redemption Jesus gives. How desperately the circumstances in our world need
them.
We are well armed. Let us stand firm. Let us pray. Let us
fight to the finish.
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