Monday, January 31, 2011

Able to Withstand

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."  Ephesians 6: 12 & 13


This verse has been running around in my brain, lately.  There have been a lot of challenges in my life, and in the lives of my friends and family.  It can be very easy to get discouraged, and to start blaming ourselves or others.  I struggle with this especially with my son.  He can be very hard on himself.  When he doesn't do something right, he starts beating himself up over it.  He can't get past it and fix the problem.  He has accepted Jesus into his heart, but still believes that satan controls him.

This verse leads into the part about the armour of God, where Paul explains all the different parts.  It occurs to me that we need this armour now, more than ever.

I was trying to make the money go farther than it did the other day, and was getting a little discouraged.  I finally figured out a plan, but was still stressed out about it.  Then, God reminded me that things are not what we see.

We are in a fallen, decaying world.  No, I don't mean to say that it's ugly, after all God made it, but it is suffering the effects of sin as much as the rest of us.  But we, as Christians, are not part of this world!  We are put here for a reason, but that reason is not to go into decay with the rest of creation.  We have been bought out by the blood of Jesus, and our home is with him in Heaven.  This is temporary.  The verses above end with "and having done all, to stand."  When our lives are done, and when this world is finally destroyed, we must still be standing.  We will not be able to stand, if we have been beaten down by the spiritual wickedness Paul talks about.  We have to put on our armour, and fight.  We are God's warriors, and we need to be at His business, saving as many others as we can while we are here on Earth.  God's armour is for our protection, but it also includes a weapon.  Here is our armour:

The Breastplate of Righteousness (right living)
The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace ( to walk into the world to spread Jesus' good news)
The Shield of Faith (no matter what our circumstances)
The Helmet of Salvation (Jesus paid it all!)
The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Yes, this is our weapon!)

If we can remember to use this armour every day, we will be able to withstand the evil.  If we keep our focus on God, He will keep us from falling, and we will be found standing in the end.





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