Ephesians 6:10-20

It’s not always easy to remain upright in the world out there. Temptations abound. Most of the time we don’t even realize it, because everyone does it. Actually, that’s the way life works. As if we do not go along, we’ll be the people who stand out and miss out on everything. But just back up a bit and ask yourself if the life you’re living now is life as He pictures it.

A war is ranging all around us and most of us don’t even know. Without becoming alarmed unnecessarily, we have to realize that there are powers out there that want to wrench us from the Lord’s hands. Every effort is made to tempt us away from God.

We must know this. We must acknowledge that there is an ongoing battle to take over our souls. But we can do something about it. We must prepare and equip ourselves for the war:  11So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours.

Some people will say we are giving the devil too much recognition. No, that’s not true; sometimes you must open your eyes and smell the roses. There is a war on and it’s all about us.

Frank Peretti’s novels (The Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness and others) opened my eyes to that other world right here around us. In a way that enthralls, Peretti introduces you to a world where angels and demons are constantly fighting each other for your life. I believe in angels and every day I pray that God’s angels will protect me and my family.

Yes, it’s war. We must be aware of it and prepare for it. We must attune our eyes and ears so that we can see the things in our lives that are not from God. It’s so easy to dress something up a little, but as soon as we look further than the costume, we see the devil’s sly plans behind it.

Nowadays right and wrong is set so close together that we no longer know what is right and what is wrong. And that is exactly where the devil grabs the opportunity and before we know it, we are caught up in sin.

When I was in the army, we received a lot of training to defend ourselves against the enemy. We also received a lot of training about who the enemy was and how they would attack us. With this information we could empower and protect ourselves and make sure that the enemy did not overpower us unexpectedly.

In the same way we must be aware of the clever plans made by the enemy of God’s children. We must know what tactics he uses to mislead us. Our eyes and ears must be sharp enough to identify his scams.

There is a war on! Know it! Put on your uniform and join in the fight. Join the army of angels.

Our most important tactic is to live as close to God as possible. In that way you will remain standing strong until the end.

Reflection

Do you believe that there is an ongoing war?

Do you believe that the angels are on your side?

Do you help them?

Prayer

Lord, sometimes I don’t want to think about war. Sometimes I shy away from that. But I know I don’t have to, because You and your angels are on my side. Together we are winning. I want to live every day in a way that makes it easy for the angels to win. Amen