“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12, NKJV)
One of the more immature things about the Christian life is to be ignorant of, naive’ about, or unbelieving toward the concept of enemies.
According to the Bible we have the world system, the devil and his evil spirits and even our own flesh battling against us. All the darkness of Hell wants to put out our light. It is truly a miracle that any of us can come to the point of salvation or continue on in any kind of significant relationship with God. So much is coming against us and wants to defeat us.
Jesus, in talking about the devil said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).
Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
And, if you want to get even more practical, we have enemies in the physical sense. Gravity pulls on us all of our life. I am shorter now than when I was in college! Body cells die off through our lifetime. Germs and disease constantly peck at our door. If we don’t use them, our muscles will atrophy. If we stay out in the sun too long we burn and get skin cancer. If we eat the wrong food or not enough of the right foods we get weaker and prone to sickness. Besides these physical enemies there are political and governmental enemies that seek to diminish us. The Bible talks about world persecution that is coming upon believers – even a world dictator/ruler called the Antichrist!
The point I am making is that we should recognize that we have enemies.
Do not be naive’ or blind about this. Your survival is at stake!
But what are we to do?
First off, recognize that you are vulnerable and you need the Lord’s help. Read Ephesians 6 where Paul talks about putting on the “full armor” of God to be able to withstand the onslaught of the enemy. Read in the Old Testament where David fought the lion, the bear, and the giant. There you will discover his secret – the Lord’s help. Recognize that there is an enemy larger and more vicious than you but not larger than you and God.
I believe that there are too many baby Christians and naive’ believers today who stumble through life getting beat up by the enemies and they don’t seem to know who is doing it. We have enemies all around us! Wake up folks!
There is hope.
First, recognize that there are vicious enemies all around us – visible and invisible, who seek to maim or destroy us.
Secondly, realize your vulnerability. No one has ever been able to overcome all of these enemies – they are too powerful and too prolific.
Thirdly, receive the help offered by the Lord in the Scriptures – the “helmet of salvation,” the “shield of faith,” the “sword of the Spirit,” etc.
David proclaimed that it was the Lord who helped him defeat the most vicious animals of his day and the most feared military giant in the world.
We must understand that as much as we think people may like us and as much as we think we are kind and loving, there are enemies nipping at our heels and knocking at our door every day. We NEED the Lord and His ability or we will not make it.
Thanks be to God for His grace, mercy, strength and help!
