ICS Daily Devotions
Putting On the Armor of God
Ephesians 6:12,16 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Did you put on the armor of God today? In fact, we should have it on throughout the day even when we are asleep in the night. It is wonderful to be conscious of what we have in Christ and who we are in Christ. It is a form of protection. When we do so, we are boasting about the work of Christ and the ability that He has given us. We are to stand against the wiles of the evil one in the realm of our mind, conduct, and daily experiences.
Our right standing with God is often attacked by the evil one through our mind. Therefore, it is important to understand and know that our right standing is obtained through the redemptive work of Christ and that we are made righteous after we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. This is given purely by the grace of God. It does not mean that we are perfect but after knowing that we are a new creation and seen by God as righteous, it is expected of us to live a righteous life through the ability of the new creation.
Our prayer will be effective and fervent in the Spirit when we know that we are righteous. We need to pray in all situations, especially in the area of interceding for our loved ones. All this armory is integrated, therefore we need to have each armor with us in order to be effective. The devil is unscrupulous, wicked, evil, a liar, deceptive and all that darkness entails. His purpose is to destroy you, therefore it is better that we submit to the Word and have the armor of God in place.
It may be people who harm and hurt us with their actions and words but we are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Therefore it is very clear that our spouse, colleagues, in-laws, bosses and neighbors are not our enemies. There is an unseen enemy who is orchestrating the events and instigating the people to attack, steal, destroy, and rob from your life.
Paul cannot be any clearer in his Epistle; he wrote to the church that the enemies are principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Daniel 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
The devil and one third of the fallen angels who formed the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness have not been thrown into the lake of fire yet. As the powers are still present, they are doing work of destruction in people’s lives. There is a hierarchy of Satan’s control. They are operating in the unseen spiritual realm and the natural realm through human beings who yield to them and those who are under their control.
Praise the Lord that we are no longer in the kingdom of darkness but are in the Kingdom of Light! We are no longer slaves of sin but slaves of righteousness!
Romans 6:18-19 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
One of the devil’s greatest deceptions is to cause us to think that we are still under his control. We need to begin to think that we are no longer a slave to sin and that we are free! When we are conscious about being righteous in Christ, we will act righteously because of the ability of the Holy Spirit in us and when we yield to Him.
We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places far above all principalities and powers. Therefore, we need to learn to enforce the victory in Christ. Jesus Christ has defeated the devil on the cross of Calvary and disarmed him. The wonderful news is He has given us provision to be fully armed through the spiritual blessing that belongs to us in Christ!
Sermon series: Inner Man
