Today we look again at Ephesians 6: 10-20: 

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Today (and for the next few days), we’ll look a little deeper at the armor of God.  Yesterday we talked about how this passage shows us that the first thing we do while battling the evil that exists, is to stand.  Yesterday, we learned that no other human is our enemy. 

We do, however, have an enemy.   That enemy is the devil, the father of all lies, the one who seeks to destroy all of humanity.  He is the accuser of the brethren, and he is the tempter.  He is not one equal footing with God; he is, after all, just a created being. But, just as you or I could not defeat an angel via our own strength, we could not defeat the devil, or his plans, on our own. 

But through Christ, we are more than conquerors.  

Today, we see that the first step in spiritual warfare against the devil is this – to stand.  The word here in this context implies standing, resisting. To stand here means to oppose. To fight against. Once again, to resist. 

That means that we have to be willing to resist temptation. We have to see temptation for what it is, a lie. When we understand that temptation is always a lie, we can more easily resist it.  But we have to be willing to truly stand against the temptation. We have to be will to resist. As I’ve heard said, you can’t resist the demons you flirt with.  

Stand, first. Resist. Through Christ, stand your ground against sin and temptation. When we start there, the battle becomes easier. 

Today, stand your ground, resist 

Monday, we’ll look again at Ephesians 6: 10-20. 

If you’d like to get each day’s daily scripture reading sent to your phone along with this reading guide, text @39110 to 81010 to sign up!