The enemy is all around us.
Are you under siege? The devil claws at the door. I can almost see him grabbing at all that is dear to us. But I refuse to allow him victory. Jesus Christ already fought the battle for me… and He Won! He fought it once for all… and He Won!
Do you ever feel like you are under attack?
You are a loyal Jesus loving follower but you still feel like you are under enemy fire? It’s because we are! We are in the enemy’s sights and his finger is on the trigger. But God! When we feel like we can’t possibly take one more hit, something miraculous happens. Jesus deflects the bullets. He is deflecting the bullets for all of us all the time.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.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.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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 saints.
Ephesians 6:10-18
Jesus Christ is the Armor that Paul describes.
Read the verses above one more time. Only this time when you read, do so with the thought that Jesus Christ is our Armor. We are protected in and through Jesus. In John 14:20, Jesus tells us that we are in Him and He is in us. Therefore, we are protected from the inside out by Jesus Himself.
Jesus is the truth that we buckle around our waist.
He is the Truth (John 14:7). As we buckle the Truth that is Jesus around our waist daily, we allow Him to keep us in line. He will bring conviction to us immediately when we step outside of truth. We need this to stay in His presence as we go through our day.
Jesus is the breastplate of righteousness.
Let’s look at the Scripture that shows us this:
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:20
So as you strap on the breastplate of righteousness, know that you are strapping on the righteousness that is Jesus. This will protect us from our own self-righteousness which will only get us in trouble.
Jesus protects our walk (our feet) in the gospel of peace.
He fits our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. We are called to be His feet here on earth. Jesus desires to co-labor with us to reach the lost in this world. It is our job to be fishers of men. We are called to spread the gospel and urge others to follow Jesus. We can do this with ease when we strap on the gospel of peace to protect our walk. And we know that Jesus is the gospel of peace.
As we pick up our shield of faith, we must realize it is Jesus as well.
Jesus is the One who extinguishes the arrows of the evil one. He does all the work for us when we rest in Him and allow Him to be our Armor. Faith is a gift from God. We are unable to manufacture or create faith on our own. It is a gift purely out of His goodness. Praise God for His good gifts!!
We protect our mind with the Helmet of Salvation.
Again this is Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus knew how very important it is for us to protect our thoughts and to renew our mind daily in Him. He tells His followers to love Him with all of our mind. If we are loving Him with ALL of our mind, then it stands to reason there is no part of our mind wandering elsewhere. This is a goal we should aspire to each and every day. And Paul tells us to take our thoughts captive.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
Let’s take heed to these important words. Start renewing your mind in Christ and train your thoughts to be obedient to Him.
What is the only defensive piece of the armor?
Jesus has given us the greatest weapon of all – His Word. Paul urges us to don the armor of God. This armor only has one piece that is a weapon – everything else is solely for protection. That weapon is the sword – or the Word. We are to fight the battle with the Word of God alone. Truth and love will protect us. Jesus will protect us. After all, He is the Word.
The final piece of the armor is praying in the Spirit on all occasions.
Prayer is key to peace, joy and comfort. It is not preparation for the battle. Prayer is the battle. We can accomplish great and miraculous things from our knees. We’re told to pray on all occasions about everything! There is nothing too big or too small to take before our great Father. He cares about everything about each of us.
My friend, the only way you’ll be prepared to not be under siege is to put on the Armor that is Jesus Christ, to stay in His Word and to pray. We are also called to share the light with others. Here are some words directly from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I take these words seriously and I pray you will as well:
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Revelations 1:5-6
Dear God,
Thank you for leaving us Your Word. Our weapon against the devil. Please give us discernment and wisdom to read and digest Your Word. Use us to grow Your kingdom. Put us in the right place at the right time and give us the right words to touch others so they, too, will follow You. It is all for Your glory.
Let us be ever mindful of that truth. We do not have to always understand but we must always be willing to obey. Guide us toward the doors You are holding open and steer us away from those You are closing. Most of all, keep us in the Light and the Love that is only found in Your Son Jesus Christ In His Holy Name we pray.
Amen♥
Stay in the Light and the Love for always,
Eva
[…] Under Siege. […]