Prepping for Battle

We know the Apostle Paul did much and suffered much for the sake of the gospel. In Ephesians, Paul directs His letter to the church at Ephesus, in hopes they may understand the weight of his imprisonment. The goal of chapter 6 of this letter is to shed light on the powers of spiritual warfare and the severity of its ability to knock us off track. Paul describes each piece of armor we should be using and what they do to protect us against the enemies of the gospel.

Ephesians 6: 10-20

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth badly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Every day as you get up and face the world both inside and outside of the home, you must be prepped for battle. Just as we have love, truth and salvation from our Creator God, there is one who opposes everything our Father does. He goes by many names; The Devil, The Enemy, The Serpent, Lucifer, Satan and the Ruler of Darkness. He is a liar. He desires us to fail, entices us to believe his lies and to sin at every possible opportunity. His main goal is to make us stumble and try to pull us away from our Savior. He is relentlessly evil.

Lucifer was an angel who resided in heaven with God. He schemed wickedly in hopes to overthrow our Heavenly Father. In trying to do so, God thwarted his selfish plans, rejected Him and threw him out of heaven. Satan exists now as the prince of darkness, using evil to rule over the earth. The “angel” and “demon” you envision on your shoulders, they stem from real examples, God and Satan. When you feel the urge to sin, that is the voice of Satan whispering those vile lies to you in hopes that you will ignore the scriptures and follow his lead. Darkness is real just as our Jesus is real. As a believer, Satan will try everything in his power to throw you off track.

This passage in Ephesians gives us tangible insight of how to be prepped for battle against the forces of darkness. It is a scary thing to be met with the enemy unprepared, but with essential tools, we can combat any evil encounter.

There are five pieces of armor we need to have on at all times. Each piece of armor was important to Roman Soldiers in biblical times.

Belt of Truth: Having scripture memorized, we will be ready to fight discerning truth from lies.
Breastplate of Righteousness: This guards our hearts, where emotions live and helps up guard against the lies that try to make us stumble.
Shield of Faith: This blocks the arrows of immorality that encourage us to be angry, lustful, prideful etc.
Helmet of Salvation: Our minds remain protected from any doubt of our salvation.
Sword of the Spirit: Knowing the truth of God’s words cut to the core of any evil scheme.

Remember your brothers and sisters in battle as we are always being fired at all day long. Pray for each other so that no one may stumble. As a Christian the fight will continue until our Lord returns and the battle will be over once He seeks the vengeance He so desires. Until then, we fight as God’s Army here on earth to protect His name and keep the forces of darkness at bay.