Know Your Enemies
ICS Daily Devotions
Ephesians 6:11-12 (Amplified) Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
When engaging in spiritual warfare, Christians must first learn to be seated with Christ, then walk or enforce Jesus’s victory.
We rarely associate our life’s challenges with the works of the devil because we are so accustomed to seeing everything in the natural. We fail to realise that the spiritual realm can also influence people to commit evil acts, and think that only flesh and blood are our enemies. However, we need to remember that the prince of the power of the air can influence people, especially unbelievers and even believers who walk in the flesh.
Lucifer and one-third of the fallen angels fell with him when God expelled them from heaven. Lucifer desired to be like God and be worshipped. Because he rebelled against God, all forms of rebellion, insubordination, and division are the works of the devil. The devil and his demons strive to overrun the world with evil, and deceive people into thinking that evil is an act of God.
Their primary goal is to steal, kill, and destroy in people’s lives. Therefore, we should not be surprised if they attempt to steal our joy and peace, including taking away the Word that has been planted in our hearts through preaching and teaching. The devil will also try to cause you to drift from God by deceiving you into thinking that God is the source of your tribulations in life. Unless we understand the devil’s activities and schemes, we might wrongly blame God for our tribulations when they are the work of the devil. This explains why those who don’t know God and His character, and who cannot rightly divide His Word, tend to blame God, become offended with Him, and walk away from Him!
Nevertheless, we need not attribute to the devil those troubles that are the result of our own breach of the divine law or sowing into the flesh. The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow, and if we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption (Galatians 6:7-8). Therefore, we need to renew our minds to overcome sin and temptation through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and self-control. This is how we walk, or enforce the victory, after knowing that we are seated with Christ.
The devil is a schemer, strategist, and master of deception. Fiery darts will come our way in our personal lives, our loved ones, and our jobs. There are physical attacks upon the saints by the evil one on our bodies and minds, which we must take seriously.
However, praise the Lord that Jesus has won the victory for us. Therefore, we don’t have to try to win or tire ourselves out in spiritual warfare in the flesh, but simply enforce the victory of Jesus!
Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign (Stand)
