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Armor of God: Gospel Shoes

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I was taught as a child the importance of wearing shoes. Occasionally, I was allowed to run around barefoot, but not as often as some of my friends or cousins. I remember one summer, while visiting my cousins, that they made fun of me because I wasn’t able to walk barefoot on the gravel driveway like they could. They said I had pretty feet (not something I liked to hear). I felt embarrassed having to go back to get my shoes, but I had no choice. My feet were just too sensitive.

Paul also talked about the importance of shoes. This is, in fact, the next part of the armor we must put on: first the belt, then the breastplate, and now shoes (specifically, “as shoes for your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” – Ephesians 6:15)

Shoes shouldn’t need much explanation. They protect our feet from rocks, thorns, twigs, or any other sharp object on our path. To a soldier, good shoes are vital. Remember, our goal is to be still standing at the end, and protected feet are good at standing. It reminds me of something my grandpa said once about one of my cousins who had a large shoe size: he had “a good foundation.” Good shoes are about securing our foundation; the better the shoe, the better the foundation.

Even in spiritual combat, soldiers must make sure their feet are well anchored, because you never know what you will find laying on the battlefield. There will be things that cut you, trip you, or make you very miserable. I’m sure you’ve experienced some of these stones. You will be faced with a cold, hard truth: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Ouch! We wince, lift our foot, only to step down on another sharp truth: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Oh! This stuff can hurt! One step, “you’re nothing but a filthy sinner”—another step, “even your good works are worthless”—sends pain throughout our soul. This is why Paul advises, “…as shoes for your feet…”, or “…Having shod your feet…”, basically protect your feet.

Since our feet are so vulnerable, we need to make sure we do not buy into the alternatives. Satan will urge you to head into battle Barefoot with the Hesitancy that comes from Human Inadequacy. Forget about the Gospel, focus on you—the natural you. You must stand on your own weakness; bear the pain of the journey and toughen up! Of course, Satan knows this will leave you vulnerable. On the other hand, man suggests that you put on the Socks of Laziness that comes from a Hidden Gospel. Good news can make you feel warm and fuzzy, but there’s no need for everyone to know that you have it. Man’s motto: “Keep it close, but keep it hidden.” You see, your feet can’t get hurt because you won’t move out of the comfort of the pew.

No, true protection comes only from the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6:15). This is the good news of Jesus Christ! The good news that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who ever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). That, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). That, “the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom. 6:23). Standing on this Gospel, those other sharp truths will not make us stumble!

But that’s not all. Paul asks a very important question: how can people know the good news if we don’t tell them (Romans 10:14, 15)? For the armor, he mentions the preparation, or readiness, that comes with this Gospel. There needs to be a willingness to share this Gospel. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” How wonderful it is to hear the good news of salvation, and to hear that we can have peace with God. How beautiful is the person who shares this with us! God calls the feet of those who carry His good news beautiful—not pretty, not calloused, scarred, and stinky—beautiful. God doesn’t want us to have tough feet; He wants us to have beautiful feet!

There is a difference between pretty feet and beautiful feet. Once, while I was a lifeguard, I was called to an injury. An older lady had cut her foot on the nearly smooth texture of the concrete floor. I learned that she never went anywhere without wearing shoes—she had beautiful feet, but every step was painful. I realized that the more she wore her shoes, the more she had to.

You see, the longer the gospel is our foundation—the longer we walk in it and the longer we share it—the more beautiful our feet become and the more sensitive we become. Things that may not bother others become painful to us. We’ll become sensitive to our own rough edges. We become fully aware of our need of a Savior. Then we see the importance of the shoes: the longer we stand on the Gospel, the more we’ll have to. The more we share the Gospel, the more we’ll want to.

Paul proudly proclaims in Romans 1:16, “…I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.” Don’t be ashamed of the protection of the Gospel. Don’t be ashamed to share it with others. For if you desire to have victory in this rough world, you must secure your foundation; made ready by the Gospel to keep standing.

May the Good News of salvation be your foundation. May you proudly proclaim the Gospel of Peace to those you care about. May we stand, unashamed to have beautiful feet because of the Gospel of Christ!

Armor of God: Breastplate of Righteousness

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The wisest man who ever lived, once said, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man” (Proverbs 27:19). Our heart reveals who we really are. In our society, the heart is referred to as the seat of the emotions. You can “put your heart into it.” You can do things “whole-heartedly.” You may love someone with “all your heart,” or experience a “broken heart.” Even Christians like to ask, “have you asked Jesus into your… heart?” Out of our hearts comes every issue of life. This is why Solomon counseled, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

It is natural then, that the next piece of armor that Paul advises us to put on is the Breastplate (Ephesians 6:14). He counsels that, after securing the belt of truth as the center of our life, we must make sure that the Breastplate of Righteousness is in place.

The Breastplate is an important piece of armor designed to protect a soldier’s core, or vital organs—the stomach, liver, lungs, and especially the heart. An arrow piercing any of these organs would spell doom for the soldier. Much like how a bullet-proof vest would protect today: while the force of a bullet may still knock a person down, the vest keeps the bullet from making the person a statistic.

It is interesting, though, that the Bible reveals another purpose for a breastplate. It isn’t one that a warrior wears, but one a priest wears. In Exodus 28:15, we find that they were instructed to make a “breast-piece for making decisions…” The breast-piece the priests wore helped make judgment calls between right and wrong. (How nice would that be today?) The Israelite priest always wore the means of making God-led decisions over his heart—which is the foundation of what righteousness is: right choices. I believe this idea is very much connected to the armor Paul is talking about. Although what the priest wore didn’t protect them physically, it did protect them and the people spiritually.

Of course, we don’t always see the need for protection. Yet, the heart is the doorway to our character. Everything that affects our lives centers in our heart. It is decision central. The place our will is located. It is the very place in us in which God desires to live! How valuable is that? But that’s why it is also very vulnerable. We must not fool ourselves and think that satan doesn’t wish to take up residence in our hearts as well. He’d do anything to get in and keep God out! And our character will always reflect our heart’s resident. If God is residing in your heart, you will be more God-like. But, the opposite is also true. So, we must guard our heart!

We must also be careful to avoid the substitutions. Satan would like us to think that righteousness is overrated and niceness is all we need. While being nice is good, it cannot take the place of righteousness and will not protect us in spiritual battles. Therefore, man suggests we manufacture our own: self-righteousness. The trouble with such self-made Christians is that they frequently worship their “creator.” Of course, this isn’t armor either, it is a straight-jacket. No matter how hard we struggle, nothing is ever really accomplished towards eternity. In the end, it is only a big self-hug.

Here is the solution: “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:3, 4). The righteousness God offers comes from Him through Jesus Christ. How can we get this righteousness from God? “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took our sins, so we could have his righteousness. He died so we could live. Again, we find our protection and victory in Jesus! It is His righteousness that is offered to protect our hearts, His righteousness that can give us wisdom for good decisions, and His righteousness that saves us.

Does this mean that it doesn’t matter what we do? Of course not! We weren’t saved from sin just so we could continue to live in sin. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Our new heart will reflect the change. If we have on the Breastplate of Jesus’ Righteousness, His life will shine through ours. We will live for righteousness. We would obey, not to be saved, but out of love for the One who saved us. We would live a new life in Christ, obedient to His guidance. It is in this obedience—following and listening to Jesus—that will protect our heart.

We suffer a lot of needless pain because we aren’t protected. If we want to have healing, security, or forgiveness in our heart we must guard our heart. Guard it with Christ’s righteousness; guard it with obedience to His right choices. Following Him will make us careful what we put in our lives, for not everything will bless us. We will be careful what we read, what we watch, and what we listen to—we will be careful who we let in. We must be on guard to keep out things that will bring us defeat.

Our protection, and victory, comes only from following Jesus. The good choices that protect our hearts will not be our own, but Christ living in us. If we desire to be still standing at the end of our spiritual battles, we must put on the Breastplate of Righteousness! Let God lead—be obedient to His guidance—and He will guard your heart.

Armor of God: The Belt of Truth

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For the last several blogs, I have been writing about the battles and trials in our life. And we have learned that it is only through trusting in God that we are able to stand victorious afterward. We also learned that God offers us armor for protection during this conflict (Ephesians 6:13). In today’s blog, we will begin looking at this armor. If we continued to verse 14, we’d find what God counsels us to put on first: the Belt of Truth.

Why would we put a belt on first? To understand why, we have to know what the belt is used for. Today we wear a belt for (typically) one reason: to keep our pants up! However, Paul did not write this thinking about the belts we wear today. He was visualizing the belts the Roman soldier wore as a part of their armor.

The belt that a Roman soldier wore had a slightly different use. Unlike our belts, their belt was the first part of the armor they put on. The reason: all other parts of the armor would tie into the belt. The belt held the armor in place so it wouldn’t be sliding every which way. In other words, without this belt—or band, or girdle, as some translations have it—the armor would get in the way and impair the soldier’s ability to fight. Wearing the belt freed the soldier from fighting the rest of his armor!

It should be no surprise that God calls us to put on Truth first. Because truth holds everything else in place—all the other pieces of armor would cause problems if we do not start with truth.

So our armor needs a belt, but which one? God counsels us to use His armor, but for those who don’t like to limit their choices, there are others to choose from. There are two other makers of armor, in case you didn’t know: Satan offers us an alternative and mankind has our own brand as well. Of course, Satan’s suggestion (deception) will only leave you open, weak, and defenseless—not a good choice if you ask me. And man’s choice (tradition) is merely for looks—it’s pretty, but useless.

Still, many choose these alternatives because God’s armor is not always the most comfortable—truth can get a little confining and painful (some translations do call it a girdle). However, God’s armor has been battle tested, and has a perfect success rate. More important though, Jesus tells us in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Belt of Truth sets us free. It makes us free to fight the enemy, not the rest of the armor.

What is this truth that will set us free? John 17:17 says that God’s Word is truth. David said that God’s law is truth (Psalm 119:142). Basically, everything that comes from the mouth of God is truth. His words must be our foundation. Ultimately, as we search further, to the fulfillment of God’s law—to the living Word—we’ll find Jesus Christ. Jesus did say, “I Am the Truth.” It is in Jesus that we find freedom; it’s in Him we find victory. It is Jesus who holds all the rest of the armor together. We must start with the truth of God’s word, which will result in us knowing the real Truth: Jesus.

Here’s the big question, though: Are you wearing the Belt of Truth, or do you have on one of the alternatives? How can you tell? Here are three identifying marks that are the result of wearing the belt (found in 1 John).

First: if we are wearing the Belt of Truth, then we will walk in a new life away from the darkness (1 John 1:6). If you claim to have a relationship with Jesus, yet still want to live your life in ignorance, not trying to walk in the light of God’s truth, you are not wearing God’s belt. Those who walk in the light do not stop in the comfortable shade of the past (shade is still darkness). We are to keep following until there is no darkness left. So, as long as God leads us further into truth, we keep following.

Second: if we are properly wearing the Belt of Truth, then we will recognize our weakness and confess our sinfulness (1 John 1:8). If you believe you have no sins or weaknesses—if you have become perfect—then you are wearing your belt too loose. And if this is the case, you will end up tripping—falling on your face, overcome by the reality of your sins. The truth will help you to see yourself correctly, which will lead you to the source of your salvation: Jesus.

Third: if we are truly wearing the Belt of Truth, then we will obey that Truth (1 John 2:4). If you claim that God is your Leader, yet you don’t obey Him, then you are wearing the wrong belt. Deception and tradition are the substitutions for full obedience. If complete loving obedience to God is not a priority, then you have bought your armor from the wrong army, and will be easily defeated.

You see, if we want to be left standing at the end, we must put on the Belt of Truth. So, we start with the Bible—the truth of God’s word. This is the base of our armor. Others may have already encouraged you to read your Bible, and I hope you are. However, I would suggest you take it one step further: buckle up. Strap in. Do not merely read the Bible like some novel or textbook, but seek Jesus in its words. Then, when you’ve found Him, wrap yourself in the freedom of His truth as tight as you can. Let nothing, and I repeat nothing, replace it in your life. Let God’s Word be the first and only place you go for truth. Make it the sole source of your understanding of God and salvation and it will be the beginning of your victories. God’s word will not falter. It will not fail. So, we hold on tight. May God’s Truth be our first, and only foundation!

The Great Conflict: Knowing the Enemy’s Schemes

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It has been a few weeks since I’ve been able to write on my blog. While I could suggest several different reasons why, one of the main reasons is because I’ve been under attack—not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, while I was talking with my sister on the phone, she mentioned something that encompassed the struggle I had been going through. She said that she felt like Satan had been working harder lately. My mind immediately went to Revelation 12:12, which says, “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

I can’t help but agree with my sister’s observations. I can see it in the pain and struggles of my friends and family. I can see it in the bitterness and lukewarmness in too many churches (mine included). And I can feel it personally almost on a daily basis. It makes sense though. If Satan is filled with fury because he knows he doesn’t have much time left, how much more fury must he have today since we are closer to the end than ever before?

I’ve already mentioned that our dedication to God automatically places us in opposition to Satan—this is the reason for the spiritual struggles we face. I’ve also pointed out God’s plan for victory. However, if we want to survive this war and remain standing at the end, we must not be ignorant to our enemy’s schemes either. This is vital, because we are warned that Satan is like a roaring lion, prowling around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)!

The Bible makes it very clear that our adversary has a game plan (Ephesians 6:11). Paul warns us not to be “outwitted by Satan,” nor “ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11). He even counsels Timothy to preach and teach in a way that his listeners (or opposers) can see the truth and “escape from the snare of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26). Fortunately for us, though, his snares have been revealed. We do not need to be ignorant of what Satan is trying to do in our lives.

Believe it or not, Satan has one trick—he may use it in different ways, but he is nothing if not predictable. We can see the single concept that is the foundation of his schemes in his own character: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Deception is the premise on which every trap is set. Therefore, the best way to recognize his traps is to know the truth. For everything that is truth, he has a lie. Even when it comes to himself—Paul says that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” and his servants “disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15). Deception: it’s what he does best. Actually, it’s all he does.

Using this disguise, he often promotes his own ideas as truth, placing suggestions, doubts, and temptations in our minds. He’s crafty too: he was able to deceive Eve with his cunningness (Genesis 3:4, 2 Corinthians 11:3), he convinced Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2), and Ananias to lie to the Apostles (Acts 5:3). He doesn’t stop there either. He is quick to offer an alternative to the Words of God. He began his lies in the Garden of Eden and continues to lie and deceive about salvation to this day. Paul warned against the lie of a different gospel and those who would “want to distort the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7). Sometimes Satan will attempt to distract us, and even blind us, so we cannot see the light and beauty of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Another lie he’ll tell us is about ourselves. He may tell us that we are un-savable or, perhaps, that we are God’s gift to the church and society. Such snares will keep us from looking for a Savior. They will also make us more selfish, judgmental, and critical of others. James warns that these things are not from God: “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:14, 15).

We must also not forget that our enemy is called the “accuser of the brothers” (Revelation 12:10). Hatred in our hearts for another person is not from God, it is another trap set by our enemy. Satan knows that we cannot work for the Kingdom of Heaven if we hate others or are too focused on ourselves. So he encourages us to cover the truth of our selfishness and jealousy with self-righteous ideals. Ah, but Satan also knows that as long as we are fighting amongst each other, we will not fight the real battle against him (Ephesians 6:12)!

While all of these deceptions are bad, none are worse than what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 11:3—“but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Satan’s greatest trap is to somehow distract, discourage, or seduce us away from a relationship with Christ. The primary web he uses for this is the desires of this world (1 John 2:15, 16). I don’t think Satan cares what it takes as long as we leave Jesus behind. In fact, this is the result of every one of his snares.

We cannot let Satan succeed! God says in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Earlier in that passage, in verse 1, it is explained that what was lacking was a knowledge of God. This isn’t about lacking book knowledge—in the Hebrew language, they didn’t have that concept—this is about experiential knowledge. In other words, we are destroyed because of a lack of an experience with God. No wonder Satan works so hard to keep us from have any experiences!

Now that we know his plans, we must watch and pray so we do not fall into any of his traps. Because he is filled with fury and is fighting stronger than ever before, we must not let our guard down. So we hold on to Jesus more tightly. We humbly submit ourselves to God (James 4:7), stand firm in our faith in Him (1 Peter 5:9, 10), and put on God’s armor (Ephesians 6:13). Then, when we recognize the devil’s schemes, we will be able to resist “and he will flee” (James 4:7)!

 

The Great Conflict: God’s Plan for Victory

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In my last post, I talked about why we seem to have so much trouble on our journey with God: we are in the middle of a spiritual war. Sides have been drawn and battles fought. It is possible, though, that most days you feel like you’re on the edge of defeat. I have learned, in my own struggle, that the only source of spiritual victories in my life is to follow God’s plan for victory, not my own.

God spells out His battle plan in Exodus 14. It came at an intense moment in Israel’s beginning. They had recently been freed from slavery in Egypt, but were suddenly trapped by the Red Sea. This was their first confrontation as followers of God; the first time they felt like trouble was their reward for following God. Pharaoh and his army were charging in upon them and the sight of the army causes them to wish they had never left Egypt (ever notice that almost every trial they face resulted in them wishing to return to slavery?). It is at this pivotal moment that God reveals His plan for victory to His newly formed army. It is the core of every battle plan God uses.

The first thing outlined in God’s battle plan for us: “Do not be afraid” (Exodus 14:13). Can you imagine being in the heat of battle and someone next to you is screaming over and over, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die!” Fear can spread quickly. Due to this, before any battle, if an Israelite soldier was afraid, they would be sent home (Deuteronomy 20:8). God knows that fear is contagious, and many victories have been forfeited because of fear. Sadly, we can be so afraid of defeat and failure that many times we won’t even try.

We struggle with this fear even though God promises over and over that He will be with us. Actually, He does more than simply “be” with us, He fights for us! Deuteronomy 3:22 says, “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you” (emphasis mine). This is the same reason He puts in His battle plan: “…you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you. …The Lord will fight for you” (Ex 14:14). This is no doubt why David says: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). And why Paul can say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). With God as our light and salvation, and our fortress, who should we fear? We don’t have to fear because God is with us, and is fighting for us! Victorious spiritual soldiers are courageous—not because of their strength, but because they trust in the power of their God.

Next, God’s plan says that we must stand firm. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13). God’s battle plan requires that each of his soldiers take their stand. They must hold their ground—be committed. This isn’t about being committed to an idea, it is being committed to God and His plan. When you join the battle, you cannot be on the fence about Whom you stand for. You must understand and be committed to His cause. It means that you will be ready and willing to obey any order at any given time. Too often, we find ourselves running ahead and asking God later if it was something He wanted us to do. To be victorious you must not move until told to move. You will rest when you are told to rest, and fight when you are told to fight. It means you are focused—focused on Him. By standing firm, nothing else in our lives come before serving our Master and His plan.

Finally, the last part of God’s plan: be still. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex 14:14). It may sound like it is saying the same thing as before, but the Hebrew word here literally means “be silent.” What had the Israelites been doing? Complaining. For God’s battle plan to work, we must stop our mouths too—stop complaining. Complaining causes us to look at the problem rather than the solution. When we complain, we are questioning the battle plan. When we complain we can’t hear the battle plan. What reason would we have for talking over God anyway? We don’t need to point out the problem—it’s obvious. We can’t add to the strategy of His plan—it is already perfect. So what could we have to say? Nothing. Therefore, we are to be silent. Silently listening for God’s next instruction. If we read further in the chapter, we’ll find that once Israel stopped complaining they were able to see the Red Sea part.

Friends, we are in the middle of a tremendous war. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we proclaim satan our enemy. Therefore, as long as sin exists, we will have trouble in this world. So what is God’s plan for victory? Be silent, trust Him, and take a stand.

You see, God doesn’t need Super-Soldiers or mighty fighting machines—He’s got angels. What He needs in us are soldiers that will stand for Him. He’s not asking us to have faith in our strength. He doesn’t ask us to be the best fighters. He’s not even asking us to fight. He just asks us to stand.

Are there trials in your life? Stand firm—God is your refuge! Are temptations attacking more than ever? Stand firm—God is your strength! Are there more losses than victories in your spiritual life? Stand firm—God is your salvation! In other words, when Satan tries to advance in your life, you stand your ground with Christ.

We must remember, though, that victory is not winning every battle, it is about winning the war. There will be losses. There will be struggles and pain. You may feel like giving up. You may think that God has abandoned you. But do not give up! He will not abandon you! Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis mine).

The Great Conflict: Trouble on the Journey

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I was told many things about what happened after a person became a Christian. I was told that after I chose Christ as my Savior my life would change. I found this to be true; life does change. I was also told that life would be easier. Now, if this meant that Jesus would become the answer to all of my problems and I could claim many different promises in His name, this is absolutely right. But if this meant (as many people assume) that my problems would go away and it would be smooth sailing the rest of my life, it couldn’t be more wrong.

Photo by Isaac Davis on Unsplash

In my experience, the inevitable difficulties of being a Christian causes a lot of discouragement and often makes me doubt my walk with Christ. I had long held to this misconception that if I was a good Christian I wouldn’t have any issues in my spiritual life (or even life in general). So, any time I found myself struggling to be consistent in my walk with God, I thought something was wrong with me. Yet, I found that the attacks in my life seemed to happen when I was trying to get closer to Christ. I saw that my struggles grew the more my desire to know God grew. It seemed the harder I tried to live right, or the greater the mountaintop experience I had with God, the more likely I could expect something in life to throw me down again.

As I would learn later, this whole Christian/ disciple journey is a battle. As Paul said to Timothy: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). No one looks forward to hardship. Many do not expect it to be a part of being a disciple either. Jesus didn’t hide this aspect of discipleship from us though. He was clear about the cost of following Him: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). True discipleship is filled with days of self-denial and cross-carrying.

This is not a punishment for following Jesus, it is the reality of choosing Christ over this world. Troubled times are part of our Christian experience because there is a great, cosmic, spiritual war occurring all around us. Every day a battle is fought over us: God, and all of heaven, are fighting for our salvation, while our Adversary and his forces are fighting to pull us away from God. We are a part of this war whether we want to be or not and, ultimately, we all will choose a side—either on purpose or by default.

On becoming a disciple, we join the forces of God, by following Him, and are purposely taking a stand against His opposition. This is why we see trouble. This is why there is fighting. By choosing to lovingly obey God, we become a target for Satan’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11).

This is an important key to understanding our trials and sufferings. As in any war, it is important to know where the battlefront is. If we are fighting in the wrong places we will never see victory. Paul advises, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, emphasis mine). Our fight is not with the physical but with the spiritual—not with people but with powers.

In other words, we are not to fight against each other. If we are distracted from the true source of our struggles and fight each other, we are fighting the wrong battles, wasting our strength, and we will never have spiritual victories. Instead, we are only helping the enemy! Even if a person is used to hurt us or cause us to stumble, we cannot forget that the battleground is spiritual. Our fight is not with that person, but with the spiritual forces of evil. Therefore, as soldiers of Christ, we must focus all of our attention and our energy to fight against our true enemy: that old serpent, the Devil!

Yes, the battle and the struggle is real—we are at war. The more we take our stand for God, the more we can expect conflicts in life to try to knock us down. Satan will not give up. In fact, he is coming at us “in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12).

The Devil may come at us with everything he has, but that does not mean we will be overcome. God didn’t intend to call us to His side to be defeated. He sends us out into this war protected by His whole armor (Ephesians 6:13–18). As His soldiers, we are only protected if we use His armor (I’ll talk about this armor in later blogs). However, armor is useless without the right battle plan. In my next blog, I will talk about God’s battle plan.