TUESDAY July 30, 2024

Put on God’s Armor and Stand!

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11

The Apostle Paul gave us a serious charge for engaging in spiritual warfare. His demand was for courage, determination, and for ceaseless vigilance in our stand against the wiles of the devil. The word wiles means “cunning arts, deceit, craft and trickery.” Although Jesus Christ defeated Satan when He died on the Cross and has given us eternal life, do not underestimate Satan’s trickery. He will entice you to live a sinful life with the false hope of eternal life.

Satan is described as a thief. Know your enemy. He seeks to destroy your life and steal away your soul: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Jesus gives you a blessed life, and after physical death, eternal life in heaven.

The Christian life will have continuous conflict, not only against the wiles of the devil, but your own flesh. We can be our own worst enemy. Paul gave us the answer to have victory over our fleshly desires:

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the thing that you wish (Galatians 5:16-17).

The Bible gives many examples of men and women who perished because of their fleshly desires. First Corinthians 10:12 warns: Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Paul, writing to Christians, spoke truth and cut through the deception when he said:

...adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like ... those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

Do not be deceived; your sin has to be forsaken.

Satan can make men dance upon the brink of hell as though they were on the verge of heaven.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!