Taking Up the Strength to Defeat the Enemy

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

In Paul's final letter to the Ephesians, he was making emphatic closing statements.  Paul sought to alert the Ephesians that they had a mighty foe that wished to come against them.  He made it clear that the battles that they would face would not be battles against flesh and blood, but battles against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Paul then emphasized to the Ephesians that they had all that they needed to stand firm against the enemy.  All they had to do was put on the whole armor of God.

In other words, Paul was making them aware of their choices.  They could choose to fight against the evil and iniquity in their lives through their own strength or they could choose to take up the strength promised to them by their Savior Jesus Christ.  Such is the choice that we have been given.

One of the basic principles of human existence is that God has given us free choice.  Even though He has a specific plan for our lives, He allows us to make our own choices along the way.  Knowing our frailty, God has given us the Holy Spirit to stand with us as we wrestle with all that the enemy brings against us.  God even promised that He will perfect His power in our weakness. 2 Cor 12:9

So why is it that we still wrestle with personal decisions?  These personal decisions that tend to overwhelm us can be made a lot easier to handle if we are willing to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in Truth and we are willing to forego the choice of navigating through the trial on our own.  

Let us choose to be strong in the Lord.  Let us be resolute in our desire to turn everything in our lives over to Him.  Let us rejoice in the victory that is promised to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the weapons that we need to carry us through spiritual warfare and the trials of every day life.  We humbly submit to Your power in our lives.  We ask that the Holy Spirit stand with us against the wiles of Satan so that we may oppose his schemes and resist his temptations.  We pray for the wisdom to understand that we cannot stand against our enemies alone.  May we become victors through Christ Our Savior.  We ask all these things in the name of the ever victorious King of Kings, Jesus Christ.