….and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace

Peace is the key word.  When the gospel is presented, and accepted, the result is peace in the Holy Spirit.  Notice the reference to the feet.  No one can come a place of preparation unless they first walk out their faith and get tested and matured.  The testing of faith and the associated character development holds us firm as we engage the enemy.  It is also our feet that holds us upright.  I’m sure we can all remember there have been times when we have been rocked by a strong wind.  As we feel the wind pushing against us, we instinctively position our feet to gain a more sturdy position so that we don’t get knocked down.  It is the same principle in warfare.  As we get rocked by the onslaught of attacks, we need to reinforce our position so that we can stand and not fall over.

Verse 16

…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Faith is our armament against attack.  We hold our faith in front of us to protect us against the circumstances being brought against us.  This faith shield is a part of our weapons collection.  However, no soldier goes to war unless they are first proficient in the use of their weapons.  Its called practice and experience.  It is the same with our faith.  We must come to a place knowing from multiple encounters and gained experience under the leading of the Holy Spirit that we are confident in our faith.  Such a place is one of peace, assurance and victory.  Without being in this place, the enemy is able to bring us deception, intimidation and doubt.

Notice how it is darts that are being propelled against us, and not spears.  Darts hurt and cause some damage and pain.  However, the more mighty weapon of the spear, penetrates deeply and maims and kills.  The enemy attacks us with a small arms fire, so to speak.  However, without maturity and a knowledge of how to fight back in victory, we then become recipients of fear and that fear escalates to something bigger so that we become weakened, dejected and ultimately give up.  A mature Christian who know their King cannot lose.  It is our King within us that carries us to His victory.  Why?  Because every knee will bow and declare His Lordship. 

Verse 17

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

The helmet covered the head.  The head is the place where our warfare takes place – in our minds.  That is why the Bible tells us to renew our minds so that we start taking on a God perspective and not a world perspective.

 The sword – interesting.  A Roman soldier carried two swords.  One was a long one that was used to wage battle against one or more foes at a distance that was not too close to the body.  It was however, useless in close situations where an enemy was right on top of you.  The Roman soldier would use the shorter sword.  It was effective in close quarter combat.  This is what is being described.  Each encounter we have is at the close quarter point.  It becomes hand to hand fighting.  WE engage the enemy, but our sword is what we have come to know from the Word.  When we take authority over the spirit we are engaging, we have confidence that and peace, and our minds are at ease, that our declaration will result in the demon spirit fleeing.  We hold fast to the truth, knowing full well that our God will back up His word, and victory is obtained!

 A major point is that Christians engage on a hand to hand combat battle.  Anything above that requires us to pray that our Father will bring about changes.  In Scripture, the only demons that Jesus cast out was the ones that He encountered.  Any level above the personal encounter is battled on our knees.

If you have to do something, then do it right the first time.  How often have you heard this comment?  It’s called doing things with pride.  When you put your effort into something, it should be the case that you are doing the job with purpose and with quality.  You need to ask yourself a question about how you do things – would you be happy if someone else was doing the job for you in the same manner as you are about to do it?  When it comes to ourselves, we all want to get quality.  In whatever you do today, tackle the task with a fresh attitude and make a determined choice to be different.  From today on, you will be known as a dependable, high quality worker who truly takes pride in their work.  Watch as you sow excellence how it will start to come back to you and reward you.  Mediocrity is easy to achieve.  Excellence is chosen from the heart!

Living in this modern age can quickly cause us to become so busy, tired or perhaps even complacent.  Our minds get preoccupied with the concerns of work, family, study, business, friends, health or money.  Before you know it, you get onto the merry-go-round of life just getting up each day and doing your thing.  Life becomes a series of mechanical routines,  broken by the need to eat and sleep.  This was never meant to be our lifestyle.  There is so much to look at and ponder the wonders of God’s amazing creation.  Have you stopped to look at the blue sky, or the clouds?  Have you ever been held in awe as you view a majestic scene from a mountain top?  Have you ever stopped and watch a child totally enjoying their world.  Such innocence; such beauty to behold.  Today, why not begin to appreciate the enormous beauty that is around.  Just stop and take it in.  There is so much beauty around us, even in these troubling times.  Don’t let the day end without at least discovering the beauty of this great world.

Life is about living to your fullest potential, and having a wonderful and supportive family and friends that fill your life with joy and hope.  How much do you appreciate your friends and family?  Too often, we can get too busy, or complacent to remember to take the time and appreciate those people in your life that really matter.  When was the last time that you told your family that you love them?  When was the last time that you told your close friends just how much they mean to you?  How many times have you heard the expression, you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone.  Never let that day ever come to you.  Take the time today and let people know that you care for them.

The words we use have impact.  However, it’s not just the words themselves.  We use words along with body language, facial expressions and tone of voice.  All these factors combine to give words their power.  We could say the right thing, but the delivery might anything but sincere.  The words we choose to deliver can only have one of two effects.  They can either build up, or tear down. 

Today as you engage people, what words will you choose to use?  Take a moment and find someone today with whom you can share words that will build them up and encourage them.  In a world filled with negativity, choose to be one who will deliver a positive message.  It’s just another example of sowing and reaping.  If you appreciate words that are honest and build you up, then take an opportunity to sow such words to someone else.

When you encounter circumstances and people that will cause you a problem, do what the farmer does.  Make the appropriate adjustments in your response and in your attitudes.  When you take control of how you engage the issue, then you protect your harvest.  Don’t let others to bring you down, or work at less than your potential.  Whatever it is that you do, remember that only you have control over you!  That being the case –  do everything with a sense of dignity and allow your conduct to win out all the time.  Like the farmer, allow your harvest to always attain to its fullest.

As you begin for the day, consider your actions, responses and thoughts for today.  Just like a farmer who sows good seed, the same farmer expects a good harvest in return.  However, before a good harvest is achieved, the farmer must first prepare the soil to receive the seed.  The same principle applies in life.  If you want a good harvest from work, studies or people, you must first prepare the ground.  That is, begin to invest in yourself.  Treat people better.  Plan more effectively.  Expect things to change.  Adjust your attitude.  Let Monday be a day where you begin to prepare the soil of your life.  Maintain this momentum of change and watch how your lifestyle begins to be transformed.  As you change, so does the world around you.

In part 2 of this article, I outlined the critical importance of knowing who you are in Christ.  It must be a total heart revelation.  It is in this revelation, and being brought to maturity, that we are able to engage in spiritual warfare and see the kingdom of darkness regress.

Often, we hear Ephesians spoken of as the Scripture that relates to spiritual warfare.  I will now go through each verse and present my understanding of the passages.

Verse 11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

 Paul tells us that in order to stand, it is necessary for us to be whole.  That is, to defeat the devil, it must be via a person who does not have major gaps in their life whereby the devil is able to have stronghold.  As Jesus said in John, “…..the devil has nothing in Me” If you have deficits in your life, the devil is able to manipulate those flaws and you are exposed to attack.  Accordingly, we are looking at a disciple who has matured through training and testing and is able to understand the tactics of the enemy and through a solid knowledge of God’s Word, is able to counter-attack and see the devil flee.

 Verse 12

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.

 I outlined the meaning of this verse in Part 1 of this article.  Again, I must state perhaps the obvious.  No soldier can effectively engage an enemy without first understanding their methodology.  Their response to their enemy must then be purposed, resourced, and tactically staged under the authority of a commanding officer.  The same principles apply to us as we engage the forces of darkness.

 Verse 13

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 Notice how the verse declares to take up the whole armor.  It would be completely useless to a soldier in a fight to know that they have a weapon beside them, but never picks it up and actually uses it to fire at the enemy.  Having it must be followed by a proactive decision to use the weapons at hand.

 However, to use a weapon effectively, it once again comes down to being trained.  Once trained, a soldier gets to practice.  I remember in the army being trained to use a machine gun.  I think I learned more in the first few seconds of holding the weapon as it fired than I did in understanding the theory.  The same is true in our Christian walk.  We must first learn what to do and then learn how to do it!  All of this must happen under an umbrella of maturity, humility and accountability.

 Verse 14

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness

 Notice the position of encounter – that of one standing!  We are to take the enemy in a full on position and be in the standing position.  When you stand in the face of darkness, it very quickly identifies you as someone who comes armed and ready to fight, except in our case, our victory is always assured because when we come by the leading and power of the Holy Spirit, then, like our Jesus, we will win.  Praise the Lord for His awesomeness!!!

 The waist has a belt of truth about it.  Now remember that Paul’s analogy refers to a uniform of the Roman soldier.  The waist band also held the weapons which were strapped to the soldier’s side.  The weapons were attached to truth.  The truth was the freedom and life of the individual, but it was the cause whereby life and battles were conducted.  You could only effectively go to conflict if you had a full belief in what you were doing.

 The breastplate obviously covered the chest.  The vital organs of the soldier were protected by a direct strike from an arrow, knife or sword.  We too must have our hearts protected by the knowledge and the revelation of the truth that we are carrying about our waist.  The truth that we know will set us free, and we are free to walk in the authority and power of the One who has sent us forth.  Such a revelation, accompanied by a humble lifestyle which is totally dependent upon God cannot but help be protected by the King Himself!  Truth, righteousness and a life of maturity under a veil of humility is the basis by which all people can achieve greatness in Christ.  This is why Jesus said to first seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and then, all over things would be added.  These criteria form the basis on which other things can be built.

 In part 4, I will finish my comments on verses 15 to 19.

As I mentioned in Part 1, each believer has been given delegated authority from God to declare, establish, expand and enforce His Kingdom.  If we had no authority, then it makes no sense that we are called the ambassadors of the Most High God.  All ambassadors have an authority by which they can act on behalf of their respective Head of State.  Jesus also made a staggering statement “Ye shall do all that I have done, and greater works than these will you do”  Jesus enlisted His disciples, taught them, explained the Kingdom and Gospel to them, and ultimately commissioned them for release to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations.

As I have said on several occasions, it is imperative that we understand that a disciple is a carbon copy of their teacher.  If Jesus said to make disciples, then we are to produce believers who have been trained, tested, matured and released into a world whereby they understand who they are and what authority and power they have to do the work of the Lord.  Anything else simply creates a bunch of people who believe in and know God, but are powerless to confront issues in the same way that Jesus did.  Yet, we keep telling people that we are to become more Christ like each day.  Certainly our character and mindset needs to change under the unction of the Holy Spirit, but in the process we are also to find HOW we are to function in each Kingdom assignment presented before us.

Since Jesus is our only model, let us look at how He did what He did.  Before He received His baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit, He was actively pursuing the Word of God.  Even at the age of twelve, His parents could not find Him in the caravan.  When they retraced their steps, they found Him in the presence of people sharing and explaining the Law.  Notice that He did no miracles, and exercised no power until the moment that He was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit was His empowerment to use Godly force and authority.  So, how does this apply to the believer today?  The answer lies in the revelation of our:

• Kingdom work
• Who is this Jesus within us?
• Resident power given to us by the Holy Spirit baptism

When you, as a Christian encounter the forces of darkness, then you must first understand who you are in Christ.  It cannot be head knowledge.  Rather, it must be a heart revelation.  You must also be aware if you are being authorized to act in that situation by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus NEVER did anything unless His Father told Him to do so.  We must always be led by the Spirit.

I can remember a situation where my wife and I were asked by a woman to pray over her house.  She felt that there was a demonic presence in the house.  We sat down with her and began to pray.  Within a minute, this woman began to literally change physical form and was turning into this hunched over old woman.  Her voice began to change and her finger nails began to grow outward.  The vulgarities that were coming out of her mouth could not be written in this article.  This was a full on demonic encounter.  There was absolutely no fear in me nor my wife.  In fact, a peace that surpasses all understanding consumed us.  We knew who our Jesus was, and that He was within us.  We began to take authority over this wretched condition and commanded the demon to let go of her and to depart.  As we ministered and watched Jesus do His thing, the woman was released from this demonic hold.  Remember, it is not us.  It is the power of God.  He simply uses us as a human vessel to minister His Kingdom purposes. 

Although freed from this demon, I was curious to know, from where did this all come?  As I prayed, the Lord laid upon my heart an image of a little girl in a colorful dress entering a temple and drinking a chalice.  I asked the woman.  Suddenly, she remembered that in Asia, where she grew up, that it was a custom for little children to go into the temples and be dedicated to a pagan god.  God is so amazing.  Not only did He free her, but He revealed the source of the problem.  The only dedication we must have is that of being set apart to our Jesus!

When you understand the power you have, and you have been matured and given authority from on High, then this revelation is a radio signal that transmits throughout all of Heaven and hell.  This is why demons will tremble when certain people come toward them.  The forces of hell know that you are someone who is submitted to Christ, is led by His Spirit and completely understands how to operate in His power. 

Oh, how glorious it would be if the church today could begin to grasp the tools of Heaven, and move towards re-taking this Earth as Jesus said – not just in word, but in power filled deeds, and authorized by Jesus from His glorious throne of grace.  We are to be the living Book of Acts.   We are still to be going and doing the things that Jesus told us to do.  Nothing has changed because God has not changed!