Friday, July 13, 2018
Stand Firm
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (
Wouldn’t it be nice if the devil took some time off? Imagine if we found out he was taking the month of August off. The sad thing is that we would still get ourselves into trouble.
Satan doesn’t take a month off. He doesn’t take a day off. He doesn’t take an hour off. He doesn’t even take five minutes off. He is always on duty, looking for lives to ruin. That is why we need to keep our guard up and keep the armor of God on. Ephesians 6 says, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil” (verse 11 nlt).
The phrase “put on” means to do it once and for all. It speaks of permanence. The full armor of God is not something that we put on and take off every night. It’s something to be put on permanently. We keep the armor of God on throughout our entire lives. The temptations and attacks will not stop until we get to Heaven.
Unlike God, Satan can only be in one place at one time. God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. Though the devil is more powerful than any person, he is not anywhere near to being the equal of God. Satan can only be in one place at one time. He is limited in what he knows. He has limited power. So when you’re tempted, it is probably one of his demons doing his dirty work and tempting you. That is what we face when we encounter these “strategies of the devil” that the apostle Paul wrote about.
We’re in a life-and-death conflict with the devil. So recognize it’s a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons.
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