#DailyDevotion Your Strength Is In The Lord’s Might, Not In Yours
Eph. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Do notice where our strength is. It is in the Lord. So be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might. Now Paul is not talking about having the strength of Samson or David for our enemies are not flesh and blood but spirits. Paul talks about them as being rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places in this present darkness. Like the heavenly ranks of angles, there are ranks of evil forces and powers in this present age. Indeed their power is great and we are in and of ourselves powerless against them. So we need to be strong in the Lord’s might.
Against the Lord they must fall for the Lord is at the right hand of God ruling over heaven and earth. And from the right hand of God he has given us his armor. In that armor we must fight and fight we will. We may not always seem to be gaining the victory but one thing we can and will do when we fight back, we will remain standing. We will be able to withstand the evil day and stay on our two feet.
To be able to fight back against the forces of evil in our lives the Lord has given us his truth. A great sustainer for us is the ability to recite the creed and to trust in its message. Even such a truth as Jesus is Lord will help us to keep it all together. The breastplate of righteousness, that is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus won for us on the cross keeps mortal blows from penetrating us. Their accusations can’t touch us. The gospel of peace, that the Father no longer holds our trespasses against us he is reconciled keeps us from being frozen in our tracks. Faith is our shield that keeps the fiery darts of unbelief, guilt and shame from even hitting us. Faith believes Jesus is for us and not against us. It believes Jesus has borne our guilt and shame on the cross. The helmet of salvation, the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our salvation ever reminds of the Lord’s goodness and promises.
Finally we have the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Praying at all times in the Spirit is to take God’s Word, particularly his promises to us in the Word of God, this is his will for us, and pray the Lord to fulfill his promises and to act on them. So when we study God’s Word and take it to heart, we can then wield it against all our spiritual foes who seek to cause us harm and to damn us. But the Word of God, sharper than any two edge sword sends them scurrying away and defeats them. Indeed, one little word wins the victory.
Heavenly Father, grant us your armor, strength and might so we may overcome our spiritual enemies and stand firm in the faith unto life everlasting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.