The Spiritual Battles and Armour

UV 3637/10000 The Spiritual Battles and Armour 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. Ephesians 6 v 12 We are not in a boxing match but involved in wrestling. There is no “knock out” blow in this match. We have to be prepared for the struggle over the long haul. Our opponents are not fellow human beings but the rulers who are in alliance or nexus with evil or the devil, the powers that serve the rulers, against the known and unknown, secret and open forces of spiritual darkness, against the forces of wickedness in high or supernatural places. It implies that at various times we are involved in a struggle with an invisible enemy, satan, the fallen angels who serve him, the demonic powers that work at his behest. Hence, we need to know our enemy and be fully aware and prepared to face the burning arrows he continually fires at us. We need to don the full spiritual armour from head to toe, to protect ourselves and to stand firm and hold our ground. The shield of faith we use when we pray defensively in faith. The sword of the spirit, we wield when we claim the promises and obey the commands, teach and practice the precepts of Jesus. The belt of truth is a sincere commitment not to lead a double life but to be faithful and truthful at all times or the enemy will put us to shame by exposing our nakedness. Our willingness to go places for the Lord are our shoes, our transport, that make us both fleet footed and secure for our feet that are our foundation are secure. Like a soldier, we must devote some time daily to train and to use our spiritual weapons and authority as a soldier of God. We must not allow any part of our faith armour to rust or to be unused and not maintained. We must not let our armour weigh us down but it should be light and strong enough to enable us to be mobile and agile on our feet. We must choose the level of the enemy’s formation that we need to engage with. We need to be accurate in our aim, strategic in our plans for battle, tireless in terms of stamina. We should rest in between bouts to avoid battle fatigue. We need to feed enough on the word such that it becomes the spiritual sword in our mouths. Below our armour, we wear the tunics or linen clothes of salvation of Jesus.