Many people who serve the country as part of Defence force (Army, Navy and Airforce) would prefer their children to join the National Defence Academy, it’s the highest Institution in Defence force which makes them as an Officer who can lead the country in the times of war. Once you get into Defence Academy you go through intense training to make you a strong.
We as children of God call ourselves as Christians, our God wants us to get training in like the Defence academy so that we are prepared when the Satan comes and strikes us, As Christians we all might have been familiar with Ephesians 6:13 -17 where Paul speaks about Armor of God.
Always remember, when we are called to walk with God, we are led by the Holy Spirit- there has to be daily dependence of God, God will bless with what he thinks that’s needed (not the way you may expect in the world) for you, there will be many trials and temptations in this path .This post deals with how we can overcome the Trials and temptations by the Armor of God.
'Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.' Hebrews 2:14-18
As Jesus knows what challenges we go thru living in the world – “he is able to help those who are being tempted”, One of the tools he gives us to overcome is the Armor of God.
Why should we have Armor of God ?
'Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ' Ephesians 6:10-11
1. With your strength it’s not possible to overcome trails, the word starts as “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”, there is nothing that can stand in the power of God, so our job is to rely on God to help us, the dependence on him can only overcome our trails.
2. Full Armor of God is given to all the Children of God, it’s given to anyone who believes Jesus is a living God.
3. Full Armor of God is given to us to stand against devil’s schemes. The devil is like a roaring lion, he is looking to devour someone with schemes that brings trouble to God’s children.
'Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ' 1 Peter 5:8
We need to understand three things in the Armor of God
Know your Enemy
Required Training for Christians
Spiritual Warfare
Know your Enemy
When you’re a soldier fighting a battle, first thing is to understand the nature of your enemy, how powerful he is, his strengths and his weakness.
Likewise as Christians our biggest Enemy is Satan. Paul explains about the enemy
'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ' Ephesians 6:12
a. As Christians the trails we go thru is not against rulers or authorities or against fellow human being
b. The battle is against the spiritual forces of evil in Heavenly realms – “against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
c. When we face trials from another person or tough situation, its Satan who brings this fight from another person or challenges or the situation to come against us, there is an invisible spiritual force from the Dark world that brings this battle against the children of God.
d. Remember Satan tried fighting the battle with Jesus when he was in the world, by tempting and with all sinful desires and troubles. But Jesus conquered it all in the cross of calvary and he is a risen king who reigns the heaven and earth. He defeated Satan and is our King in Heavenly realms guarding us to protect us from Satan’s schemes that may harm us.
Required Training for Christians
A soldier undergoes strict training before they are called as a soldier. A special operations – Naval Seals goes thru enduring training Physically and mentally to ensure they are fit to the toughest battles. The war they wage may be in a desert or in urban place or in very cold places or in jungle as they don’t know the battleground. So the training is gruesome and intense to make them tough and stronger, this will make them to handle situations as they go thru battlefield
Yes it’s the same for us as Christians, we need to be trained on how to deal with this “powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil”
But many of us as Christians think we can fight the battle with Satan without undergoing this training.
Training requires discipline and it needs practice every day. If you see the armed forces, they are put to constant practice (waking early in morning, Running / Shooting etc..) even after they become soldiers, this is to keep them fit..
'Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ' Ephesians 6:13-15
Likewise we Christians should have the discipline to get training as God calls us, Discipline is the key for us to get trained. We have to do three things to train ourselves for the fight against Satan
a. Belt of Truth –The first thing Paul instructs us to begin by your waist with truth. The belt is the first piece of Armor. It serves as vital function for a soldier to hold everything needed for combat -sword, rope, darts etc. so the belt plays a major role. Paul tells us the belt is the truth. This truth holds everything together. The Word of God is the TRUTH. To know the truth we need to diligently read the scriptures every day, Read it in a way that it gives you the instructions and advice that you should do to bring Glory to God thru your life. The Bible has instructions to all the kinds of people (You can be student, parent / teacher / minster / ruler / business person and more..) Don’t read it for the sake of reading it, read it in a way the word talks to your mind and heart. The Soul will come and reflect what areas you are off track to make you align to Gods plan. When you commit to read it in the morning you are telling God I keep you as the 1st from all the things in life. Practice to read Bible from a physical copy instead of reading from Phone or many app’s. When you do this from a Physical Bible you can memorize, underline and keep record of what you are learning. It also helps you free from many distractions of the phone. Practice to make time every day.
b. Breastplate of righteousness –Paul is stating that spiritually it is righteousness that protects your heart. Righteousness, he refers acts as a “breastplate” to protect our spiritual heart. When you read the word of God and be depend on God, God’s Holy Spirit will guide you on what you need to do. God fills you with his righteous thoughts on what you should do, what you should avoid. Think of the Holy Spirit like a GPS to God, if you use Google Maps it shows where you need to go with GPS. It guides every step of your way as you go in the world, as you encounter many hardships when you face the struggle between Flesh and Spirit, there are many things which our human knowledge cannot understand, but the Holy Spirit can guide what we should avoid and what we should embrace. You will feel the presence of God when you go thru the situations. So we can overcome the evil that is within us and the evil that is around us.
c. Gospel of peace – Praying to God bring the Gospel of Peace. Prayer is the lifeline for Christians, it’s the Oxygen for you, you need to pray daily. Many Christians pray when they are in time of trouble or when they need God’s help. This is important tool given to us to talk to God.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 NIV
Pray on every occasion, when you are sad / happy, tell God what you feel, what you think, Use your prayer like talking to God like how you would talk to your best friend. God can understand your emotions and he will make a way thru with Holy Spirit to guide you on your situations you go thru. Don’t think of solving the problem by yourself, you have an awesome God who takes everything in his shoulders to help you solve it for you. The only thing he does expect from us is ask him. That can come only thru prayer. Pray early in the morning. When you face persistent issues don’t know what to do or feel let down, pray more. Fast and Pray
Spiritual Warfare
Like how a Solider goes in to battle filed with all his equipment’s to fight the enemy, We Christians also should go to Fight “powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil”
So in this battlefield for us as Christians we go thru trials / temptations and many hardships after we come close to God, some of this may come very strong against what you would have never thought, the challenges can come from people whom you never expect, it can come as a sickness, it can come as oppositions from your work place. So expect this battles daily as you go thru your worldly activities. As you read the word of God, pray and be led by the Holy Spirit, Satan will try to test and do things opposite to what you learnt from God and make you feel weak and helpless and intimidate you in that situation.
Paul Gives three things, Many of them are the same tools that we looked in our training, but here the outcomes of the training is key in the spiritual battle.
The difference in the training and on battlefield is God will give you directions on exact things what to do in situations, earlier he prepared you in the battlefield now he will lead you thru the word / holy spirit as you constantly talk to him in your prayer’s.
'In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ' Ephesians 6:16-18
Paul compares this to a Soldier on how to fight the battles
a. Shield of Faith – The shield is an important Armor for a soldier, todays soldiers use Bullet proof vest to protect them, it protects him from enemy’s arrows or bullets. Likewise Paul tells us Faith as the Key shield for a Christians when they go thru trails.
'And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. ' Hebrews 11:6
Throughout our life we will be bombarded with fiery arrows by Satan. Only way we can protect ourselves is by Faith. Faith is not just mere belief but we need to have a solid unshakable confidence in God. Satan will bring negative / demotivating thoughts, He will bring fear and make you feel useless / helpless and Anxious in all this situation where you are because you followed God. He will make you throw a lot of deceptive things to make you Un-Faithful to God, he will bring the doubts – “Hello God are you there ?“ kind of moments. At times he will say to you God is not in control.
You can control all of this situation only by having the Faith in God. Don’t look at the situation and get intimidated by it, remember God is bigger than the situation and he can change things which we cannot even imagine, all he asks us to trust in him ask him to solve the problem.
b. Helmet of Salvation – Romans realized the importance of helmet in the battle. If the head is badly damaged then all the other Armor’s is of no use. Our ‘spiritual helmet’ is the assurance of salvation to protect our mind. This assurance will lead us to fight in the tough times.
The Spirit will guide you every step of the way. God’s spirit will guide you by the word of God, he will give you the Bible verses as you go thru the situation that will bring the comfort to you.
Some time he uses people to give you the things that you need, you will get help from places where you have never imagined. Some time he will remind you of the verses you read about few days / months / years back in certain situation which will bring the peace to you and guide you what to do. The Holy Spirit can come to you and lead you as GPS, only if you read the word of God and Pray to God.
c. Sword of Spirit – The sword is a very key weapon when you fight in close combat with the enemy. It can kill the enemy, modern warfare they use machine guns to fight out, there are many ranges to this.
'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ' Philippians 4:6-7
If you read this again, Paul says pray in all situations, pray for the hardships that you are going thru, its helping you get better and understand God more that’s how God is expecting us to look. In this hardship he has made you dependent on him, you are learning and getting more stronger in his spiritual relationship. Many times we feel very anxious about the situation how it will change etc.. it’s quite normal don’t feel bad on that, when you pray Gods peace will come and clear your un-certain mind and give you the calm. You will get a feeling that God is in control, Sometimes the situation may be so complex, but the peace of God will be there to give you the comfort that God is in Control.
You cannot say I prayed and still be complaining on your situation. The “Peace of God” should come to you, that’s the test of true Prayer and dependence of God to solve your situation. You should not have the grumbling attitude when you trust and have faith in God.
Summary
Remember our God is Strong and Mighty in Power, He has conquered Death in the Cross of Calvary, Satan is defeated. All hardship is to ensure all the human beings don’t go close to God and turn away from God.
Armor of God
Know your Enemy - The battle is against the spiritual forces of evil in Heavenly realms – “against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
Required Training for Christians
Belt of Truth – Reading the word of God that’s Bible every day
Breastplate of righteousness – When you read the word of God and be depended on God, God’s holy Spirit will guide you on what you need to do.
Gospel of peace – Praying to God bring the Gospel of Peace
Spiritual Warfare
Shield of Faith - With Faith as a shield – “you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”
Helmet of Salvation - The Holy Spirit can come to you and lead you as GPS, only if you read the word of God and Pray to God.
Sword of Spirit – Prayer and “Peace of God” is the true indication on how you have used the sword effectively. In our Spiritual battle , our sword is the spirit ,which is the word of God. It’s the word of God which helps us to fight the temptations of life.