Armor of God

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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.  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.”  Eph 6:11-13  Sometimes I don’t think we fully understand that we are in a battle.  Every day we must battle the god of this world…satan.  2 Corinthians 4:4 says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”  Our battle is against an unseen presence, but he is here.  Satan causes sickness, he causes conflict, he gives us shame and worry, he gives us evil thoughts, he tries to steal our children, he tries to steal our joy…anything that is evil comes from satan…not from God.  God is a healer; he gives peace, joy, comfort, hope, protection and LOVE.  The next few days we are going to look at each piece of the armor.  Evil forces will ALWAYS come against us because satan wants to ruin our witness and keep us from bringing others to Jesus.  When we learn how to protect ourselves with His armor, then we are to STAND…never run from the battle.  Stand and fight.  Satan is the god of this world, but we serve GOD ALMIGHTY and He has the power to crush the enemy.  That same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead lives in each of us who know Him as our Savior and that gives us authority over the enemy IN JESUS NAME!  Praise God!