TAKING OVER
“Ephesians 6:15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians 6:15, CSB)
Taking Over- To assume control of, management of, or responsibility for something.
The gospel provides the footing for everything we do. However powerful the rest of your body is if you are wounded in your feet you are easy prey for the enemy. There is a constant need to stand strong in the face of adversity.
As Christians, we need to always be mindful that there is a constant battle going on between good and evil. Satan is a formidable opponent, and we must take precautions to protect ourselves against his relentless attacks.
The book of Ephesians and most especially chapter 6 speaks on the spiritual warfare we face as Christians, This particular chapter is a part of Paul’s exhortation (Ephesians 4–6), with the particular section about how Christians should live in their responsibilities as households (5:21–6:9) and the battle against spiritual forces (6:10–20).
In The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he wrote:
- “Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil – Ephesians 6:10-11.
Interestingly, Paul used the word “armor” in his letter. Throughout history, armor has been used to protect soldiers against their enemies, and that is exactly what God’s armor is for also!
The New Testament mentioned several times that satan is the ruler of this world (for non-believers)! That certainly helps explain why the world is so full of conflict, and why sometimes bad things happen to good people. The Bible teaches us that Satan is relentless in his attacks against us as he rages war against our very souls!
We need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect ourselves against his attacks.
HOW DO WE PROTECT OURSELVES FROM THESE SATANIC ATTACKS?
There are things that we can do to protect ourselves against the relentless attacks of Satan. As God’s children, we understand that regardless of how powerful Satan and his evil forces are, they are no match for the power of the almighty God!
When life’s storms come, we know that we will be able to weather them because of two things:
- God’s power,
- The protection that we receive through Jesus.
This does not mean that life will be easy. That is simply not what the Bible teaches us. What it does mean, is that we will be able to survive, if we keep the faith and put on the full armor of God!
During the most difficult of circumstances, we need to stand firm in the faith as Paul encourages us to do in the following scripture:
“Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” – Ephesians 6:14-17.
Having understood the battle we are facing and the need to put on the armor of God, what then is the armor of God all about?
In Ephesians 6:14-17, Paul references these things that make up the full armor of God:
- The breastplate of righteousness,
- The Gospel of Peace,
- The shield of faith,
- The helmet of salvation,
- The sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God in which we are meant to meditate day and night
And to protect us during times of adversity, God gives us:
- His Word,
- His Spirit,
- Our faith
The devil would love for us to try to battle him without our armor! That would make his goal of devouring us so much easier. What a foolish mistake it would be to ignore the gift of God’s protection and try to battle Satan without the full armor of God!
Conclusively,
Only when we put on the full armor of God can we stand firm against the attacks and many schemes of the devil. We can prepare ourselves for Satan’s attacks by focusing on the things mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that together make up the full armor of God.
We must have a proper understanding of these teachings and relate it to our daily lives, ones where we stand on our feet and take control over the kingdom of darkness or the enemies at our workplace, schools, neighborhood, churches, and wherever we find ourselves. We must never allow the enemy to have control over our mental health and life as a whole.
The good news for us is that we are not in this battle between good and evil alone. We have God’s Word, His Spirit, and our faith to help us through it!