Phyllis Nissila
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. 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. 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV).
This section of scripture seems to be popping up all over the place, lately.
Turn on Christian radio, a preacher is teaching on it. Talk with another believer, she brings up how she is impressed with its timeliness. Put in some worship tunes, guess what the lyrics center on?
Do you suppose God is trying to say something? To us? Today?
Just as there was fresh manna each morning for the Israelites in the wilderness (for two days over Sabbath), God keeps us abreast of the who, what, when, where, why, and how of His Word (spiritual “food”) for the day specifically and the day, as in the era, in which we live.
And I can’t think of a better reminder, warning, encouragement, and necessity than the instructions in Ephesians 6:10-18 right now and for the foreseeable future.
Why?
Does lawlessness seem rampant? Religious persecution on the rise? Geopolitical mayhem of biblical proportions about to explode around the globe?…
It has been suggested that a good way to implement this little power-packed passage of the Good Book is to “don” the articles of our real warfare first thing in the a.m., perhaps right along with pants, shirt or blouse and skirt. Then it’s out the door–or right here at home–(spiritually) armed and dangerous, at least to him who “prowls about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
And don’t forget to “fit your feet” with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. (Now, that part of spiritual armor has to really bug The Prowler who would just love for us to initiate the conflagration so then he can do his worst work. Don’t you think?)
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Image from the public domain.
pnissila 
Sorry it took so long for me to read this post. Love your suggestion regarding quenching satan’s fiery darts through peace. Continue to be His blessed instrument to feed your spiritual family.
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Thank you! I hope you like “part 2,” today’s post, as well.
There is such a fine line between “soul and spirit” that I often worry over the “behavior preaching” messages; I worry that people will start thinking it’s our works that net us the opportunity to oppose “principalities and powers”. This is tricky theological territory and I am not an apologist; however, I have come through many years of recovery from “legalism” and I want to share the encouragement.
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I so relate, since I have recovered from spiritual legalism as well. The passage in Ephesians is one of my favorites, since it’s a “how to” for a believer.
Regarding how people perceive your message, sometimes you can say everything right, and it still winds up being misapplied or misunderstood. God works through many of us, and people need to prayerfully read what is written through us in much the same manner as they prayerfully read scripture. That’s why I keep warning others that scripture is spiritually discerned. And it is “God-breathed”, meaning God the Holy Spirit led yielded human instruments to write scripture. In much the same way, I believe He leads yielded human instruments like us to share what He wants shared.
I suggest you focus on who we are as opposed to what we do. Christianity is not formula-driven, but scripture supplies many wonderful tools and helps for us to grow in God’s grace and knowledge.
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I see, Armor Up, against Satan’s Craftiness! He wants to bring man, to his Kingdom of Hell!
His Demons, are like Roaring Lions, seeking those, He can Devour! Many will, be Lost, and go through, the WIDE GATE, straight to Hell. They, don’t see the Liar, at work, and his Grand Delusion! Christ warned us, in Matthew 24′, “Not to be Decieved!”
We MUST Heed His WARNING…for Our Salvation!
Armor Up Against The Devil…..Watch Out For The Great Deciever!
Sure, many ppl are Preaching these Truths, but do they recognize their Advesary, the Son Of Perdition???
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Yes! For me in particular this line: (“the Prowler who would just love for us to initiate the conflagration so then he can do his worst work. Don’t you think?”) touched home. A friend of mine shared that year’s ago her husband at the time would constantly in subtle and not so subtle ways ‘poke’ at her to get her to ‘explode’ so he could go ‘aha!’ at her (I’ve abbreviated to just the gist of it here…) God used those times, as she shared with me, to train her for the kind of warfare we seem to be in right now.
Recently another friend shared something she’d heard that went something like this, (imagine the forces of darkness, first thing in the morning, saying): “Oh s**t! She’s up!” I believe there’s “a glow about us”, as believers in Jesus, that is very evident in the spiritual world (Isaiah 60:1-2)
My reading through Proverbs so far this month emphasizes “My son (daughter) treasure My commandments…write them on the tablet of your heart…” so we are ‘well armed’ so to speak. And I like to remind myself that “There is no law against love” 🙂
This is a VERY timely and well written message! As always, THANK YOU.
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Love it: “Oh s**t! She’s up!”
But MORE so, I value the reminder: “There is no law against love.”
If this is true, and it is, then what’s an “adversary” to do? Puts him/her (us) in a bit of a bind, no? What can they (or we) say to the love response? “But…but…you FORGAVE me, you MEAN PERSON, you!” “How COULD you pray for me every day when I tried my best to break you?!” or “Compassion! THAT’S all you have to offer me after what I did to try to undo you?”
Um…
Scripture notes that the coals only get hotter on the head of such a one when we stop in the middle of the fray, query the Holy Spirit, and respond as He directs.
BUT, I would add, maybe it’s enough of a spiritual “shock and awe” response to stop them in their tracks and give them pause to think beyond the angst of whatever ill will has overtaken them…
Yeah. God’s got a good plan.
And He’s working it.
And helping us stand in the midst.
Because (and here’s the best part) Jesus first loved us, we who “blamed, shamed, and broke” Him to the finish on the cross which He endured to pay for all that ill will and angst, even what is yet to come.
Then, He came back with this: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Whoa.
I can’t help but think that for the rest of their lives at least a few at His bloody feet that day pondered what great love they saw and heard, and, at length, they yielded to that same love (see John 3:16, for details).
Have a great day, sis.
And keep the armor up.
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