Listen to Audio Devotion

Ephesians 6:10–11, LEB
“Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil,”

Recently I watched a movie on boxing. The guy watches hours of video footage of his opponent. He literally studies him so that he could learn his strengths and weaknesses, and use it to his advantage to beat his enemy. Similarly, Satan has got all your self-help strategies in his book since the start of humanity. You can get into a boxing match with Satan and hold your guard up, but he’ll use mixed martial arts on you and knock you out. He is not here to play fair. He is a cheat and will go to any extent to destroy God’s children.

Another chief characteristic is that he disguises himself as the angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). You cannot fight an opponent whom you don’t know and that’s exactly what he wants. He wants you to think that being with him is safe, it’s okay, it’s normal. He appears as a saint waiting to seduce you. He is the best at what he does. Deception. There might be a few things that we do in our daily lives, which seem like they’re not so toxic, but they might just be a part of one of Satan’s cunning plans.

In Ephesians 6, Paul goes on to describe in detail what putting on the full armor of God looks like. Such detail to battle the enemy: Satan and his angel army. We can never fully realize whom we are up against. Satan is strong. We can do nothing in comparison to what he can do. And that’s why Paul emphasizes on putting on the full armor of God. We might be nobodies, but the One who is in us (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Just think about it. You can flee the presence of Satan but you can never flee the presence of God. Oh how amazing our God is.

Here’s a bit of encouragement from my favourite hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God”. Verse 3, it goes like this:

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, forget enduring Lord, we can’t stand in this battleground one day without you armor. We’re just weak men and women in the hands of a mighty God. Help us to become strong in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.