So, you’ve been drafted into this battle. What kind of soldier will you be? How do you prepare? How do you equip yourself?

Ephesians 6v10-17 says: 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.

We need the armor to stand firm.  Now tell me this, if you’re in battle, how can you stand firm, and not be running over the place, ducking, jumping, shooting?

Colossians 2v14-15 says:  Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

The victory is ours!!  (said in a Pastor Oliver voice :-), the war was already won at Calvary, we  just need to hold on to the territory that God has already conquered.

v13: Stand firm for when the evil day comes. Job had his day of spiritual warfare, but he stood firm. 1Corinthians 16v13 says: Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; We don’t need to budge when our day of spiritual warfare comes, but be equipped. It is the Lord’s strength that will enable you to stand firm.

There are 6 pieces of armor:

1. The belt of truth which is our standard of reality. We need to have an objective standard of truth. We respect the truth of doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, but what about the truth of God. John 14v6a: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
2. The breastplate of righteousness means commit yourself to a holy life. 2 Corinthians 5v21 says: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God took our sins and gave us his righteousness.
3. The gospel of peace. v15 says: and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The Roman soldier had cleats on the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn’t slip around when he walked, he was sure footed. When you live on truth and live in righteousness the peace of God will guard your hearts.
4. Shield of Faith means acting on the truth that you said you believed.
5. Helmet of Salvation… when you face a conflict to take up your position in Christ, rather than the circumstance your facing.
6. Sword of the Spirit.. the word of God. Hebrews 4v12 says: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Truth refers to Scripture. Sword refers to the use of the dagger, it’s utterance. Jesus repeated his own words many times: “It is written”, “Thou shalt not”.  Our words have no power but there is power in the word of God. We have to use it so we won’t be defeated.

Today let’s practice praying God’s words back to him.

Welcome again to the Extra Credit Discipline of Spiritual Warfare.  Karen Christie is sharing thoughts from a Kay Arthur study called “Lord is it warfare? Teach me to stand”, that a Women’s Bible Study recently concluded.   Today we continue to talk about “The Battle”:

You’re in a battle that you had nothing to do with starting. It was started in the heavenly realms when Satan rebelled and it got transferred to earth. The whole world lies in the hands of Satan, and men join Satan in his rebellion against God.

Praise God believers are born into the family of God and we’re fighting on the other side.  Here are some key points:

• Satan’s agenda is to try to make us ineffective and hold us hostage.. Prisoners Of War. 1Peter 5v8 says..Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
• Satan will attack your individual life. He doesn’t care who you are, what your status may be, Satan wants to overthrow you. He holds us POW in drugs, depression, discouragement.
• Satan seeks to destroy our families.. He started with the first family Adam and Eve. Satan tempted Eve, Eve tempted Adam and the family came under the authority of hell. In Genesis 6, the Sons of God had relationships with the Daughters of men producing a rebellious generation. So why is family so important to Satan? Because the battle will be waged by our seed, by our offspring. Satan wants to destroy the family not only because he wants you, but because he wants the next generation.
• Satan attacks the Church by promoting disunity, division, discrimination, racism. He wants to split the family of God up because Satan knows God doesn’t work in a context of disunity.

The source of our spiritual battles finds root in our minds. Paul admonishes to take or bring every thought into captivity. In order to get relief we need to learn to think differently. Satan makes himself so at home with the vice grip of our thinking that we conclude there’s no way we can get rid of our various problems. This stronghold or fortress is a mindset that holds you hostage.

Today let’s become aware of our thoughts, and take them captive by replacing them with God’s truth.. his word.

Welcome to the extra credit Discipline of Spiritual Warfare and thanks for taking the time to dig deeper.  If you have not done so, please read about the Discipline of Spiritual Warfare on the website:  http://www.40daysofdiscipline.com/

Over the next 6 Days, Karen Christie will share thoughts from a Kay Arthur study called “Lord is it warfare? Teach me to stand”, that a Women’s Bible Study recently concluded.   Today the focus will be on The Battle:

Here are some key points:

• The battle affects every area of your existence whether you know about the battle or not.
• You are a candidate once you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior.
• It’s first and foremost all spiritual (Ephesians 6v12) tell us…. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
• Spiritual Warfare  is that conflict in the invisible angelic realm that is being waged in the visible physical realm (Ephesians 6v12).
• Everything physical is influenced or caused or provoked by something spiritual.

Daniel 4v26 says..And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules. Unless we can address the spiritual, we can’t fix the physical effects.

Here are a few areas that spiritual warfare affects:

• Anger.. Ephesians 4v26 says..Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷ nor give place to the devil. There’s a correlation between the effect of uncontrolled anger and giving opportunity to the devil to take over a compartment of our lives.
• Family.. 1Corinthians 7v5 says..Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. If husband and wife don’t have a good physical relationship the devil will use this opportunity to come in and bring about moral deterioration in the family with effects that spread through.
• Church..1Timothy 4v1 says..Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. The enemy likes to mix the truth with lies, so we’re told in 1 John 4v1…Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We’re in a war and there’s nowhere to run. It’s your ability to control and influence the spiritual realm that will determine victory or defeat in the physical realm. Satan’s job is to get you to not see it as serious. If he can divert you from the spiritual realm he can divert you from the only place where the solution lies.

Today look at areas of your life that you’re facing spiritual warfare. Name them to the Lord. In Jude, when Michael the Arch Angel came up against Satan he knew he wasn’t a match for him, and he prayed Satan I rebuke you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So when you fight Satan this week instead of trying to find out how strong you are, tell the Lord how weak you are. We don’t have the ability to fight Satan but our Father does.