ESOCS Devotional 4 February 2025 – God’s Armour For Believers
MEMORY VERSE: “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesian 6:11 KJV
TEXT: EPHESIANS 6:1-13
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [b]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.
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In the Christian life, we battle against “principalities and powers” (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by Satan, who is a vicious fighter (1 Peter 5: 8). He has control over demons. They are not mere fantasies – they are very real. They are powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. You become the enemy of these beings when you believe in Christ and join the body of Christ. Their aim is to use every deceptive means and device to bring one back to sin. This was Paul’s counsel to the church in Ephesus. It is also to the body of Christ of today and forever, and all individuals within the church. The whole body needs to be armed.
To withstand these principalities and powers, God provided believers with armours. They are truth (belt), righteousness (breastplate), readiness to spread the Gospel News (shoes), faith (shield), salvation (helmet) and Word of God (sword). In addition, prayer is key while we also watch and monitor our environment and activities and those of other saints and pray and supplicate for them too.
Suffice to state categorically that most Christians relate ‘wrestle against flesh and blood’ to only spiritual attacks. But it includes deception, lies, heresy, misdirection of religious inclinations of man, including the lifestyle of many so called believers today and the immoral worship and dance culture we see in churches today.
Let us use every piece of God’s armour to resist Satan’s attacks and to stand true to God in the midst of those attacks.
CHALLENGES
- Spiritual warfare is not limited to spiritual attacks, but attack on your faith and belief.
PRAYER POINT
- Dear Lord, give me the ability to use your armour effectively in my spiritual race.
FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11; 1 Peter 5:8
ESOCS Devotional 4 February 2025
