Are You Battle Ready?
How ruthless are you in the battle against sin in your personal life? We are in a battle. Our enemy has an army at his disposal, centuries of experience and fierce battle tactics. His plan is to get us to mess up or to give up. But He is no match for our God. The war is over. Jesus has already won. Colossians 2:14-15 says, “ He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
The war is won; but we are in the “already but not yet” of our sanctification. Paul says, in Ephesians 6:10-14a “ 10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore…”
And in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “3 For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds.”
We are in a battle and God has provided everything that we need to stand strong against the enemy. We are not to fear for He has overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. He gives the grace and the armor we need to allow His Spirit to work in us, for us, and through us. Jesus said in John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have conquered the world.”
The armor of God in every aspect is found in the truth of Jesus and His Word. The belt of truth, Jesus said, “I am the truth…” John 14:6. God’s word is also truth John 17:17 Jesus prayed, “17 Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth.”
The breastplate of righteousness, is dependent on our knowing the truth of God’s Word about the righteousness of Jesus and the righteousness that is ours in Christ. Isa 59:17 in reference to the Messiah, “He put on righteousness like a breastplate,” And we are given that righteousness it says in 2 Cor 5:21, “21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.”
Our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Before the Gospel Ephesians 2:12 says “you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” But Jesus intervened, Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
The shield of faith is faith in Christ and in His Word. How can we shield ourselves by faith without the object of our faith being front and center in our minds. Romans 10:17 “Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.”
The helmet of salvation is a helmet that Christ wore. Isa 59:17 “He put on …a helmet of salvation on His head;” It is Christ who saves and it is the word that brings faith. Once again we directed to Jesus and the Word of God in order to protect our minds from doubts and lies.
We are given the sword of the Spirit as our only weapon of Warfare. Paul tells us clearly this is the very Word of God. So we began with truth which is Jesus and His Word. We end with the Word which we know is Jesus, John 1:14 “14 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. … who came from the Father” Jesus is the Word. We also have the written Word for the fight against lies, doubts and accusations. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.”
We have Jesus, we have the Word of God, we have everything we need to stand firm in the faith. We have the Spirit of the living God living in us, to guide us, to protect us, to remind us of the truths of His precious Word. Let’s pray for one another that each day we will put on the full of armor of God and stand firm. Let’s be battle ready.
Suzi Ciliberti
Suzi Ciliberti works for Christar, a Missions Agency that plants churches among least-reached Asians worldwide. She served in Japan for two years as a single missionary and another nine with her husband and two children, then the family returned to the states. She and her husband have been serving in the US Mobilization Center since 2000. As a part of the Member Care Department, Suzi is consultant to families with children. She has been working as a children’s teacher since she was 17 and began her training under Child Evangelism Fellowship. She has taught in the church, as a school teacher for two years in a Christian elementary school, and as a speaker for adults training to work with children. She has also trained children, who are a part of families that work overseas, in their identity in Christ. She brings 44 years of teaching experience to her work. She loves creative writing as well as teaching and has found great fulfillment in combining the two as she blogs for Heartprints. She finds it a great privilege and joy to serve the Lord and His people. One of her favorite verses is Deuteronomy 4:10b, "Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children."
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