Spiritual Armor for Spiritual War

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
(Ephesians 6:12)


Unfortunately, most of us don't know the first thing about fighting the kind of war in this scripture. For, as Ephesians 6:10-12 says, it's not a battle of flesh and blood, but of the spirit.

Most believers are so earthly minded (or carnally minded) that they never even realize the actual source of the enemy's attacks. They blame circumstances and people. They waste their energy fighting natural conditions instead of supernatural causes.

We need to wake up to the warfare that's going on in the heavenly realm!

We can get a glimpse of it in Daniel 10:12-20. There, we find that Daniel had been fasting and praying for 21 days, awaiting a word from the Lord. Then, an angel appeared to him 21 days later with the answer. What took him so long? He was fighting the enemy in the heavens.

That confuses some people. They say, "Devils fighting in heaven? I thought God reigned in heaven!" What they don't understand is that the Bible teaches there are three different areas called heaven:

1. The heaven where God resides.

2. The stellar heavens (what we call "outer space").

3. The heavens around this earth (the atmosphere surrounding this planet).

This last heaven is where spiritual war takes place. (That's why Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan the prince of the power of the air.) The air is where wicked spirits operate. From there, they attempt to rule the nations assigned to them.

And rule them they will unless the prayers of God's people keep them from it.

God has an army marching in this land. If we band together, we can prevent the wickedness in high places from ruling our nation. The time has come for us to pray. So, put on your full armor and take your place in the ranks of the faithful in intercession for our country and the nations of the world!

Oh Father God, I pray for all the people who are living with chronic physical pain. Some have been injured in accidents, others in war, others have illnesses or are in poor health...whatever the reason, they hurt. God, please go to the source of this pain and take care of the problem. I pray that You will touch minds and bodies and bring healing. I pray that You will remove that debilitating pain. You are the Great Healer. You are our Creator. You alone can speak and healing will come. Please, have mercy upon the painful. I pray for strength for each day. I pray for Your grace. And I thank You for hearing my prayer and for moving in lives. In Jesus' powerful name I pray, amen & AMEN!

Oh Father God, I pray for all the people who are living with chronic physical pain. Some have been injured in accidents, others in war, others have illnesses or are in poor health...whatever the reason, they hurt. God, please go to the source of this pain and take care of the problem. I pray that You will touch minds and bodies and bring healing. I pray that You will remove that debilitating pain. You are the Great Healer. You are our Creator. You alone can speak and healing will come. Please, have mercy upon the painful. I pray for strength for each day. I pray for Your grace. And I thank You for hearing my prayer and for moving in lives. In Jesus' powerful name I pray, amen & AMEN!

Guidelines for Christian Living

The Bible teaches that the Christian life is one of constant growth. When you were born again, you were born into God's family. My wife, Ruth and I now have sixteen grandchildren. And each of them is precious to us. Each is an accepted, treasured member of our family. And that's the way God feels about you. It is God's purpose that you will grow into full stature and become mature in Christ. It would be against the law of God and nature if you were to remain a baby and thus become a spiritual dwarf. In 2 Peter 3:18, the Bible says that we are to grow. This implies steady development, constant enlargement, increasing wisdom.



~Read Your Bible Daily~ Your spiritual life needs food. What kind of food? Spiritual food: the Word of God, the Bible. Read it, study it, medicate on it, memorize it. The Bible will nourish and guide you. The very practice of reading the Bible will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart.

~Learn the Secret of Prayer~ Every prayer that you pray, as a born-again believer of Jesus Christ as the risen Lord, will be answered. Answered according to God's will. Sometimes the answer will be 'Yes', sometimes 'No', sometimes 'Maybe', sometimes you may not hear an answer but it will be answered. The Holy Spirit that lives within you will help to understand and will teach you how to pray. Praying is communicating. Communing with God. Prayer combined with Bible study makes for a powerful, healthy Christian life. The Bible says, 'Pray without ceasing.' Without the constant prayer and communion with God you can never know the inner peace He wants you to have.

~Rely on the Holy Spirit~ Remember that Christ dwells in you through the Holy Spirit. You body is now the dwelling place of the Third Person of the Trinity. Stand aside and let Him take over in all the choices and decisions of your life. Rest in the Lord through the Holy Spirit. A true victorious Christian is one who in spite of worries, inner conflicts and tensions, is confident that God is in control and will be victorious in the end. In reliance on the Holy Spirit, you will find that many of your physical and mental ailments will disappear along with many worries, inner conflicts and tensions.

~Attend Church Regularly~ Christianity is a religion of fellowship. Following Christ means love, righteousness, service; and these can only be achieved and expressed through social relations with other Christians. Jesus Himself did not proclaim His service alone; He had disciples. And those disciples had other disciples. And they continued to set up Churches for other believers. All these believers in the Gospel were in the Church. There is a visible church and there is an invisible church. The invisible church is made up of true believers throughout the world, throughout the centuries. The visible church is made up of both Catholic and Protestants, including all the various denominations of the latter. The church is Christ's organization upon the earth. It is a place where we can worship God, learn from His Word, and fellowship with other Christians. This forms a complete worship to God to which He is entitled. We should joyful embrace these places of worship.

~Be a Witnessing Christian~ If you faithfully practicing the four preceding guidelines, this one will generally take care of itself--as in the case of the cup continually being filled will indeed overflow. There was a question ask of Billy Graham: which is more important, to witness by one's life or to witness by the Word? He answered: Which is more important the left or right wing of an airplane? This is ultimately true; however, the Word of God is what is blessed. We are responsible to God for the way in which we live but it is His Word that He has promised to bless and this explains why a musician in a communist country can pick up a page torn from a old Bible and be converted. God's purpose for you after you have been converted, born again, is to witness to His saving grace and power. We are holding God's light for this world. We are to let it shine! Though it may seem but a twinkling candle in a world of blackness, it is our job to let it shine, not worry about the darkness. We must be faithful witnesses. There is no happiness greater than that of winning another person to Christ.

~Be Ruled By Love~ Jesus said to those who followed Him, 'By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' Of all the gifts God offers His children, love is the greatest. Of all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, love is the first. The Bible declares that we who follow Christ should love one another as God loved us when He sent His Son to die on the Cross. This is our greatest tool for demonstrating that we are Christians: we love our fellow man. If we learn this secret of God early in our Christian experience, we will go a long way as happy, mature Christians.

~Meet Temptation~ Temptation is natural. Temptation is not sin, however. It is the yielding to temptation that is sin. God does not bring temptation to us, but He does allow it to test us. The Christian must realize that temptation is the work of the devil. Once recognized as such, it is not difficult to combat: quote a verse of Scripture at the 'tempter', and he will run, for he can not stand the Word of God. Do what Jesus did in the Wilderness when He was confronted with the temptations of Satan himself: Quote Scripture! Three times, He said, 'It is written.' Be like the little girl who said, 'Every time I hear the devil knock at my door, I send Jesus to answer it.' Amen. In order to quote Scripture, you must know Scripture, must study Scripture, must make Scripture a part of you daily life. This requires obedience. God would rather have this obedience than anything else.

~Be An Obedient Christian~ Let Jesus Christ and the Word of God have first place in your life! Make Him the Lord and Master of your life and all the choices you make in your life. We must make all our thoughts, deeds and actions subject to the scrutiny and obedience of Jesus Christ.

~Be a Wholesome Christian~ We should be chivalrous, courteous, clean of body, pure of mind, poised and gracious. We should be neat in appearance, clean and attractive, in style with good taste and discretion. Our lives and appearance should commend the gospel and make it attractive to others. We should remember our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We should glorify His presence with our bodies.

~Live Above Your Circumstances~ God made you as you are and where you are so you can best serve and glorify Him. Some people are always looking for a greener pasture; wasting time on wishful thinking, not serving God as He in His infinite wisdom has chosen to place them. Wishful thinking causes one to overlook the advantages and opportunities that are available right where you are, in time and space. If you need inspiration, look no further than the great Apostle Paul: He learned how to abound in plenty or how to abound in need; he learned to be a great, witnessing Christian even in prison. In shackles, Paul was heard singing, praising and glorifying God. Would that we could be the same! Don' let your circumstances dictate your beliefs. Learn to live graciously, but powerful for the Lord within all circumstances, knowing that God is with you always.

These principles, guidelines and suggestions may seem simplistic, perhaps so, but keep them in your heart for they do work. They are tried and tested in the lives of countless thousands of Christians throughout the world. Properly and faithfully kept and practiced, they will give you peace of soul, happiness, peace of mind, and pleasure in the Lord, and indeed you will have learned the secret to living life with Godly satisfaction.

For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death. —2 Corinthians 7:10


Godly sorrow for sin is often confused with regret. Tears and remorse are no true indication that a person has truly repented of sin. He may be crying simply because he got caught, not because he is genuinely repentant! The real test of repentance is evidenced by submission, actions that show one has submitted to the authority of another.

After challenging the Corinthian believers to discipline a brother who had fallen into immorality, Paul commended them on their response to his instructions. He said, “Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish the wrongdoer. You showed that you have done everything you could to make things right” (2 Corinthians 7:11).

Worldly sorrow is simply regret. It produces blaming others, emotional shows, dodging of facts, half-confessions (“If I’ve done anything wrong . . .”), and insincere promises to change. Godly sorrow, on the other hand, assumes responsibility, faces the facts, admits the wrong, and makes it right.

The Corinthians demonstrated true godly sorrow. They were alarmed over their sin, desirous to right the wrong, eager to address the issue, and ready to make things right. In a word, they submitted themselves to Paul’s authority and were willing to take the necessary steps to right their wrong. Such action, not emotional regret, indicates godly sorrow.

O Lord, my strength, I need Your strength for daily responsibilities, strength for staying on track with You, strength for periodic battles, strength for weaknesses within, strength to please You. You are my strength; I trust in You!