TUESDAY, JUNE 26
“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.”
Ephesians 6:11-12 ESV
GLADIATOR: ENEMIES
A reporter was interviewing an old man on his 100th birthday. “What are you most proud of?” he asked him. “Well,” said the man, “I don’t have an enemy in the world.” “What a beautiful thought! How inspirational!” said the reporter. “Yep,” added the centenarian, “I’ve outlived every last one of them.”
We learn from Ephesians 6:11-12 that our biggest enemies are not the people who we can see every day or who have done us wrong. The Bible teaches our biggest enemy is the devil and evil forces. The Bible teaches the devil is real and spiritual forces of evil are real. And we learn that the devil has “schemes” or a strategy to defeat us. That strategy uses a lot of deception.
Pastor and author David Jeremiah wrote concerning Satan’s schemes:
“If you could sneak into Satan’s office, wherever that might be (he’s not in hell yet), and take a peek into his files, you might be surprised to find a file folder with your name on it. I’m not exaggerating. He keeps a file on you, and inside that file are all the strategies he’s tried on you—the ones that have worked and the ones that have failed. He doesn’t waste his time with the ones that don’t work anymore. Instead, he uses variations on the strategies that have caused you to stumble in the past. As long as they keep working, he keeps using them.” (Jeremiah, D. God In You)
Our biggest battles are spiritual and not physical. The enemy has a plan and so should we. We must learn to fight him God’s way and with God’s tools. We must wrestle and fight for our families, schools, cities and our own character in the spiritual realm. One of Satan’s biggest “schemes” is to deceive us into believing that spiritual warfare isn’t a big deal and to neglect that part of our walk with Christ. Confess to God that you know there is a spiritual war to be fought. Confess your willingness and desire to fight that fight with God’s help and direction.
