236. Able to Stand
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
If you put on the whole armor of God, then you will be able to stand against the lies and deceits of Satan. This is a big deal, because he really hates us and seeks rabidly to devour and destroy us. And he is relentless. In this spiritual warfare of words, thoughts, and feelings we have been equipped to fight, resist and stand against him.
We do not literally put on armor; we do not even have to prayerfully go through the motions with each piece of equipment (although it won’t hurt). But we put on the armor through daily repentance and faith. Let your mind hear the Law and the Gospel. This simple but powerful activity puts on and puts in Truth, Righteousness, Gospel, Faith, Salvation, and Word. Repentance and Faith puts on all these wonderful blessings and promises. We need to be aware of this armor that we have received as a gift of grace. We don’t make the armor, or earn it or work for it; we have already received it. Just use it. Stand in it.
We don’t see the devil and we don’t see the lies he shoots into our minds, but he is still real. We don’t see the pieces of armor we are wearing, but they are just as real. The promise is that these weapons of spiritual warfare are strongerthan any darts, guns, tanks or bombs the devil can throw at us. There are so many ways (wiles) that the devil uses to bring us down and so many ways we can go down. We can’t see them very well and we don’t usually recognize the devil behind the ways. But we don’t focus on him; we focus on Jesus, on the love and goodness of God, and on the six pieces of armor listed here. Focus on Jesus as often as possible and let Him do the fighting.