Devotional:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

— Ephesians. 6:10-20

Do you feel like you are in a spiritual battle? Maybe not now, but I’m sure we have all felt that oppression at some point. It is heavy and it is dark. Satan comes like a thief in the night. I imagine him creeping into my bedroom at night, staring over me, trying to read my thoughts and steal my joy.

One of my favorite quotes is from John Eldridge:

“We were born into a world at war, and we will live all our days in the midst of a great battle, involving all the forces of heaven and hell and played out here on earth… Where did you think all this opposition was coming from?”

Doesn’t this quote feel so relevant right now? Two years of COVID, politics, wars, hate, crime, the fight for life from womb to tomb, school massacres…so what did we expect? It’s right there in Ephesians! Yet, we continue to place blame on each other, nations destroying nations, people hating people, Satan destroying lives. Christians must lead this battle, starting with us.

 In his book, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, John Wesley says:

“As the most dangerous winds may enter at little openings, so the devil never enters more dangerously than by little unobserved incidents, which seem to be nothing, yet insensibly open the heart to great temptations.”

Satan works in the most subtle ways, starting out as a simple set back or glitch in our faith and then ten steps down the line, we feel like we are fighting for our lives, trying to figure out how we got there. Fatigue, stress, fear, temptation, anxiety, lies, resentment, revenge, hopelessness; these are all schemes of the devil because his ultimate goal is victory over our souls.

The substance of our faith matters! The reason for our faith matters! It is not enough to say, “I believe in God.” James 2:19 says “…even the demons believe and shudder.” We must be rooted in scripture to constantly battle against his schemes and lies. Satan creates distractions to keep us from spending time with God because he knows that he can’t win if we are planted firmly in our faith and knowledge of Christ. If we are pouring God’s Word into our lives, praying and believing what Jesus says is true, Satan cannot get a foothold.

Stress, fatigue, fear, anxiety; these are all physical attacks of Satan. Satan can move these physical things into the spiritual realm by tempting us, mind games like feelings of resentment or revenge, telling us lies that we start to believe because we have been dragged down by the stress, anxiety and fatigue he started with.

We must memorize God’s truth and go to battle. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. It is against the evil darkness that we cannot see, all around us. The only way to win that battle is through Scripture, prayer, and faith in Christ alone.

The evil things in this world are stirred by Satan, but Christ has overcome these things.

The evil things in our thoughts come from Satan. But we can pray for a hedge of protection around our thoughts and ask God to surround us with thoughts that come from Him alone.

The saying, “the devil made me do it” can be true. We can let our guard down, be vulnerable and allow him to get hold of us. Satan acts through our vulnerabilities, in whatever way he can. This is how he fights…dirty.

How do we fight back? Pray, cry out to God, read, and memorize scripture. Below I’ve added some verses that will help get you started against this unseen battle against the enemy when he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

When Joby and I lead mission trips to Jamaica, whether youth or adult, this is how we start every morning because we know Satan is right on our heels trying to destroy the work of the Lord:

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

— 1 Samuel 17:46-47

Your first step is to memorize this passage and recite it out loud every morning, whether you start to feel the attack coming or not! Because I promise you, the attack is coming. Below are some verses to remember when Satan attacks through stress, anxiety, fear, fatigue, hopelessness, loss:

Stress

• “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” Psalm 28:7
• ”Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

Anxiety

•  “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25
• “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 

Fear

• ”I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
• “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
• “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
• “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Fatigue (Spiritual and Physical)

• ”He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31
• “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25

Hopelessness

• ”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13
• “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Loss and Suffering

• “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted a saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
• “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

We are fighting an army of darkness. We can’t see it, but we know it is there because we can see and feel it all around us. Think like a soldier because you are a soldier of God. We are in this battle even though we know it has ultimately been won by the blood of Christ. But there are still those who are caught in this prison of sin that Satan has woven himself into.

Satan can still weave his way into our lives, too. We are not safe just because we go to church or attend a disciple group. Complacency. Self-doubt. Morale failure. We aren’t beyond it just because we are on God’s side. Satan works on Christians even harder than non-believers. Why would Satan spend more time on the lost? He already has them. He will come after believers twice as strong.

Remember, we have a job to do, and we don’t know how much time we have to do it. We must remind ourselves daily that we are fighting a spiritual war and God has called us to continue the fight to the end.

Think about these 3 questions:

1. How do you see spiritual warfare? How real is it to you in your daily life?
2. How do you “put on the whole armor of God” at work, school or home?
3. How are you going to guard against the evil forces of this world that try to steal, kill and destroy?