Day 39 - Are You Ready For Battle?

​We must all be willing to enter into battle, this is not negotiable. We have discussed so far that we need a strategy, that the enemy is real, that our greatest weapons are scriptures and prayers, so what's next? Well, we can gain much insight from the teachings of the Apostle Paul and his letter to the people of Ephesus. Paul tells them to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power, to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the devils’ schemes (Ephesians 6:10-11). Did you hear that, so we can stand against the devils’ schemes, we have already established that the enemy is real and we must be ready to do battle!
The text goes on to say who the battle is against, that it is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). The battle we face and are to get ready for is not against one another, others, our brothers and sisters, aunt uncles, acquaintances, or anyone else that is flesh and blood. In fact, we are called to love those people just like the father has loved us first, we must love each other (John 15:9-17). We must understand who the enemy is because the point for today is that we must be ready to do battle. When you become a Christian and a believer there is a target on your back straight from the pits of hell from the enemy. The enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy and his tactic is division (John 10:10).  He doesn’t care what you do as you don’t worship God. When we proclaim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are essentially enlisting in the Army of the Lord, and we must be prepared to do battle. There is a real war with a real enemy going on right now all around us, and we are called to put on the armor of our mighty Lord and go fight.
This armor that Paul talks about in the scripture (Ephesians 6:10-20) give us the courage we need for spiritual warfare and suffering. Through Paul and the Holy Spirit, the Lord is preparing us to dawn the armor and go out and fight the attacks of the enemy. There is not surrender, retreat, or taking off the armor until the battle is won and the Lord has finished His course and fulfilled His plan.  The funny thing about the armor is that there is nothing to protect the back, so if you turn and run you are vulnerable to the fiery arrows of the enemy.
The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labor to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God’s grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armor, we give him an advantage.
Are you ready to do battle with the enemy? Have you given thought to your battle plan and strategy of how you are going to engage in this war?
God bless!