BATTLE READY: THE INVISIBLE ENEMY
Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6: 10-18
An invisible enemy is a dangerous enemy. But an enemy that is powerful and not taken seriously is even more dangerous. Just because something cannot be seen does not change the reality of it.
BATTLE PLAN TO COUNTERATTACK THE STRATEGIES THE ENEMY USES AGAINST US
Battle Plan 1: Identify who your enemy is
We don’t struggle against flesh and blood. People aren't the issue. It’s the power and presence behind the people that’s the issue.
Our enemy is Satan; our adversary and opposer. He is known by many names: Devil (accuser), lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8-10), ruler of this world (John 14: 30), prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) , tempter (Matt. 4:3), murderer and liar (John 8:44). He is compared to a lion (1 Peter 5:8), a serpent (Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9), a dragon (Rev. 12: 7-9), as well as “the god of this age” (2 Cor.4:4). He is called Beelzebul, which means "lord of the flies” referring to his desire of all things filthy and vile (Matt 12:24). He is “Lucifer, the angel of light” (Isa. 14:12–15) and he was cast down from heaven because of his pride and his desire to occupy God’s throne.
It is important for us to know our enemy’s names so that we have insight into his personality. All these names point to his evil character of hostility, cunning, power, and evil intent toward God and His people, and he will stop at nothing to get at you and me.
Satan is a created being, he is not omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipresent. He doesn’t know everything, he can’t be everywhere at once so he will use his armies of demons to get his work done.
Rulers and authorities refer to demons that infiltrate various political systems of the world.
Powers of this dark world refer to demons who wage war against people.
Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms are the demons behind other religious systems.
Battle Plan 2: Identify your enemy's schemes
Deception: He tries to deceive us into thinking that God is against us. That God is angry with us because we have failed Him. Satan reminds us of our faults, our sins, and tells us that we are worthless, we are useless, that we will never be good enough to please God. Yes, we will never be good enough to stand before God, not on our own, but because of what Jesus did on the cross for us, we are deemed worthy to stand before God.
Control of our minds: While Satan cannot read our minds, he can definitely influence and control our thoughts. This is an ongoing battle because our minds dictate every part of us, from the way we behave to what we think of ourselves and others. So it is important that "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5
Battle Plan 3: Identify Where Our Power And Strength Comes From
To be strong in the Lord, we must recognize what our weaknesses are.
Satan is strategic and he studies patterns of behaviour. He’s been doing it since creation.
Our weaknesses are not meant to be used by the enemy against us, but to be God's tool to build our faith and reliance on Him.
When we were dead in our sins, God made us alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2: 13-15
Let the Lord fight your battles, He hasn’t lost one yet. We don’t need to fight for victory, we stand firm in the Lord and we fight in victory.
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