“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.” Ephesians 6:12
Many of you know of my love for the book of Ephesians. You’ve seen me passionately talk about this book of the Bible. You’ve read my updates on social media that frequently include the hashtag #AwakeOSleeper. I wrote a verse-by-verse Bible study through the book of Ephesians. It’s no secret that I adore Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus because like the rest of the Bible, these words are just as much for us today as they were the day they were written a few thousand years ago. That’s the nature of God’s Word—it’s alive and active.
As I type these words, I’m just days away from finishing the 11-week journey through Awake O Sleeper with close to 100 women at my church. I have loved every minute of it with these faithful ladies. Each week, I seem to grow more passionate than the week before. I can’t get enough of Ephesians! This week, however, was something different. The level of passion, anticipation, and excitement was at an all-time high for me, because we finally arrived at Ephesians 6:10-18, also known as “The Armor of God.”
Please tell me that I’m not alone in loving this part of Scripture! Please tell me that there are others out there whose lives have been changed because of these 9 verses! I might even go so far as to say that this part of Ephesians is my favorite portion of Scripture in the entire Bible. I LOVE Ephesians 6:10-18. This passage has marked my faith in ways that words cannot articulate. I memorized these 9 verses almost 9 years ago, and they have never stopped resonating in my heart and mind. The power that is packed within this short part of Scripture is immeasurable, and I want to take you there today to highlight a truth that just might change your life from today forward. Because it changed mine.
Take a few minutes to read Ephesians 6:10-18, and then jump back to verse 12 and read it again. So, what do you think? Is this your first time reading through these verses or perhaps the 100th time? In years past, I tended to land on different verses in this passage as my primary take-away, but in recent months, God has fixed my gaze on verse 12 in such a way that it has truly transformed my life.
Let me break this down for you. Verse 12 is telling us to remember who our Enemy really is. While often times, it may appear that our enemy is the person who mistreated us, betrayed us, offended us, or wronged us in some way, this verse (along with others in Scripture) reminds us that we would do well in remembering that the Enemy (Satan) is our enemy…not your neighbor, not your boss, not your dad, not your co-worker, not any person on the face of this earth. The reality that Ephesians 6:10-18 is trying to paint for us is that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. The struggle is real, yes, but it isn’t one of flesh and blood—MEANING, our enemy is THE Enemy.
Unfortunately, I believe Satan has been far too successful in deceiving us into believing that the person who hurt us is our enemy. Why would he try to do this? Because the moment our attention and energy and emotions are fixed on a person as our enemy rather than him, we become little to no threat to him because we start fighting the wrong battle. Now, he can move on to the next person, because he’s not even on our radar anymore. Do you see how dangerous this is?
If we could get our eyes off of our circumstance for just a moment and fix them on the face of God and allow His Word to inform us more than our emotions and feelings, this unbelieving world would begin to see the body of Christ as a force to be reckoned with. The last thing this world needs is more scared Christians. It needs prepared ones, faithful Christ-followers who know the battle in which they are engaged and are prepared to fight the right fight. We would do well in remembering that the Enemy is our enemy. And if we could embrace this powerful truth today for ourselves, many of us would begin walking in freedom.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
Do you have some things in your life that need to be demolished today, friends? Remember who your Enemy really is, and start fighting the right fight today.
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