The Invisible Reality

John 10:10 (ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We live in a world today that's fascinated with holidays that celebrate gluttony and everything dead, and news headlines that exploit human evil actions for ratings. From movies to comics we are inundated with goblins, villains, zombies, skeletons, and ghosts. Let’s not get defensive or “religious” when thinking of all of this evil, but let’s take a moment to reflect on the invisible reality that our world is fascinated in “making visible.”

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against … darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The Bible confirms that the power of witchcraft is real. The Bible also speaks of the realities of “everything dead” (we can assume that demons can manifest in many forms—i.e. goblins, zombies, skeletons, and trolls, etc.). The very fact that our world today longs to “make these things visible” testifies to their invisible reality. God is clear that evil exists.

The Bible is also clear that Satan, the originator of evil, is a thief that longs to kill and destroy anything and everything that God calls good (John 10:10). We know that Jesus is obsessed with all that is helpful, good, and life giving, but Satan is obsessed with everything dead and everything that brings death.

Our world's fascination with evil in every realm of culture should awaken us to our own numbness toward the evil around us, and to the evil within. Satan, demons, our sin, and evil, exist everywhere. They exist invisibly, and as we’ll see in our next Day’s study, they exist visibly. Let the circumstances around us encourage us to renew our resolve to “put on the whole armor of God” (Eph 6:11).

Dear Lord, we pray that each and every day we would face the evils of the world with Your “Whole Armor” on. Help us to stand firm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

This fight ain't got any rear!

Ephesians 6:10 (ESV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. "Captain, give me a gun!" he shouted. "This fight ain't got any rear!"

In Ephesians, Paul describes the armor that we should put on daily. Have you ever noticed that every part of the body is covered except for one? The back! The Lord didn't want us to run away and turn our back toward our enemy -- it would leave us vulnerable, with no armor to protect us against his attack! And just as a dog would when he senses fear, if we run from the enemy, he will relentlessly chase us until we are broken. But if we take courage and stand strong in the power of God's might, then the battle will be the Lord's... and He has already won the victory!

The battle is raging! It's time to take up our armor and face the enemy head-on! There's no turning back! We're in this together!

Dear Lord, we thank You for the armor You have given to each of us. Help us to use it to protect us from the attacks of the Devil and the world around us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Are You Standing?

Ephesians 6:11 (New International Version)

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Did you notice that the first word of advice from the apostle Paul against the attacks from the "devil's schemes" is to "stand"?

According to our tour guide at the Royal Albatross Centre in Dunedin, New Zealand, this is exactly what Dr. L.E. Richdale did in 1938.

Albatross eggs are vulnerable to predators, both of the animal and of the human-kind, and because albatross can only lay one egg per year, a vandalized egg means that the next generation of albatross will be smaller in number than the current one. Dr Richdale was tired of finding albatross eggs damaged by rocks that were thrown by humans, so the next time he found an undamaged albatross egg, he set up camp next to it, watching over it day and night, until the egg hatched. And even after that glorious event, he continued to watch over the albatross hatchling. This eventually led to the protection of all albatross eggs in the albatross colony near Dunedin, and the stand Dr. Richdale took to save the albatross led to survival of the specie in his region.

We, too, fall as easy prey to the evil one, and therefore, we are told to stand. This is actually part of our fight. If there is no standing, there is no victory, and we will find ourselves deflated and discouraged.

What does it really mean to stand?

The Greek word for "resisting" is "anthistemi" and is derived from the word "stand" "histemi". Therefore, "to stand" means to resist!

This advice is encouraged all over the New Testament: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7 NIV)

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV)

In other words, standing means to refuse to give in.

It's easy to say, but unfortunately it's hardly ever done these days. Is it possible that we have forgotten how much greater Jesus is than the evil one? Have we started doubting that He did indeed overcome the "one who is in the world"?

Remember, our only duty is to stand firm! Defeating the devil is Jesus' part!

But what do we do while we stand? We pray: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (Eph 6:18 NIV)

Have you noticed that in our spiritual battles, our biggest areas of weakness lie in not standing firm? In not praying? In not relying on God's Spirit and His Word? By neglecting these very things that lead to our victory, we are giving in to the devil's scheme, which is to hinder us from establishing an intimate relationship with our Creator and Savior!

Oh yes, we live at a time in history where rushing around, huffing and puffing is the norm, where we are so busy that oftentimes we forget we even have a family! But is it possible that this is a distraction to keep us from finding time to be with God, which ultimately will lead to our victorious living?

God cannot defend the defenseless if we don't do our part. Just as a soldier is doomed if he is neither standing firm against the enemy, nor communicating with his headquarters, nor reading the messages sent from there, we are deciding our fate by not relying completely on the One who is "greater than the one who is in the world".

Dear Lord we pray today that we would take the time to not only pray but to stand against the things that come against us. We pray that we would remember That “He is greater than the one in the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.