Journal Entry ~ 02/09/18
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 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 firm. - Ephesians 6:12-13
When Paul says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, he’s telling us these evil forces are not earthly figures with physical bodies, but rather invisible spirits. We are fighting an enemy that we cannot see. There may be a sense that we are fighting flesh and blood because our conflict is often with people, but make not mistake about it - the evil behind the conflict is the enemy himself. The fact that we can’t see him just makes him all the more dangerous and powerful.
There are several ways the enemy attacks us. He will plant lies in your thoughts. If you have ever doubted that God is real, or given in to the pleasures of the world, been consumed with fear over the possibility of something happening, the enemy has most likely distorted what God says is true. Remember, he is a liar. We battle this by naming the lie and inserting the truth. God’s word is true, and so are his promises, but the enemy would convince us that every Word is false.
The enemy snatches away the Word we have sown in our hearts. He will literally blind us to the truth we know. We see this when we fall into sin even though we know better, but don’t do anything to stop it in the moment. We’ll look back and ask ourselves why did we let that happen when we know how we should’ve responded. In the moment of sin, the enemy snatch away His Word from our hearts.
Then the enemy convinces is we could never be forgiven for the sin we’ve committed. He wants us condemned before God, so he will whisper in our ears that God would never forgive us for that. But we know the God who loves us already took care of that sin - whatever it is. We know He sent His Son to die on the cross so that we all might be free of the enemy’s attack.
So much of the battle takes place in our minds. We need to arm ourselves with His truths to battle the whispers of the enemy.
Press on ~ you are loved 💗
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