In my cube is the above reference to the Full Armor of God, one of my “go to” passages for strength:
10 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. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. – Ephesians 6:10-18
There is another passage as well, in Romans:
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. – Romans 13:12
What a dark, dark world we live in. I really didn’t have any idea before I was saved. What was really scary was that I was just another unwitting helper against His light!
I’ve been reading up more and more about the concept of spiritual warfare, the fight to carry His light in the face of the darkness that threatens to engulf this world.
This spiritual warfare we wage in His name, against a world increasingly growing in its self-assured sophistication, and one that would love to squelch our voices. I used to be on the other side of this war, where the concept of “everything and all actions are okay and should be tolerated” was supposedly the mantra of the enlightened. Even in the brief 41 years I’ve been on this earth, I can point to trends of eroding moral standards over the past few decades.
But after the Spirit took residence in me, I learned that there are definite lines drawn by Him, and we need to hold fast to them. Like I’ve said before, we won’t win the lost by being sanctimonious or judgmental, but we must endure and not give ground where the “enlightened” of the world would want us to. We must endure as His hands and feet, to make Him and His word known through these very, very dark days.
Through grace and endurance, we will—with His help—weather the battles, and win this war.
Below are two In Touch Ministries devotionals, so please read on to see Dr. Charles Stanley’s insight on the matter:
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