Daily Diary - January 13th 2016

Being Skilled for the Battle

After reading the Daily Diary about the “Tip of the Sword”. A good friend of mine sent me a follow up Question:  “To win games or be a master swordsman, you need to be skilled.  What does it mean to be a skilled Christian?  What are the skills of a Christian?”

First of all we have no ability to fight the enemy and also no skills without God.  He is the complete source for our strength as Christians!  We fight the good fight of FAITH!

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

I want God on my side and I believe I am a rewarder when I diligently seek Him.

Throughout the bible we have many scriptures that talk about the power we have in God and our tools for battle.  I was led to write this morning about the Armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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.

To have the skills needed to fight the spiritual battle, we need to follow the pattern laid out for us in Ephesians 6. There are 6 parts of this armor.  They are Truth, Righteousness, Gospel of Peace, Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God.

Our challenge is not to recognize the tools of this armor but rather to believe in them at the root of what each one represents.  As we sharpen each skill we become more effective in the battle and able to be on the offensive. 

Our challenge individually is to seek these parts in our lives to establish the WHOLE armor.  If we fall short in any area we can become vulnerable.

We must understand that the Power to overcome does not come from us but from God Himself.  We can only abide in Him, which is His word and allow the plan of God to fight through us by FAITH!

John 8:31-32 ³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The bible tells us that when we abide in His Word, that also means we are abiding in JESUS!

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word of God is our Sword!  It is the part of the armor that is designed to be a weapon of offense against the enemy.  We must have the Word inside of us, transforming us into the image of God.  When we have the Word in us we have access to this sword to draw it out and use it.  If it’s not in us then we are simply on defense unable to draw our sword.

To be skilled in this spiritual battle by the word of God, we must be in a place of surrender.  We cannot fight this battle in our flesh because we will be on the enemy’s playing field.  We must fight the enemy in the “Spirit” of God’s playing field, which is based on the Truth of His Word.

The first part of Ephesians Chapter 6 tells us that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities in the heavenly. This confirms that its not people we fight against.  It’s a spiritual battle and we need spiritual development and skills to fight with.  Lost people are simply being used of the enemy and often do not know they are causing destruction because the are not of God or are perishing by lack of knowledge as the word tells us.

In this battle we will get slaughtered in our own “flesh”, which places us on the enemy’s field and where He has the upper hand!  He is the Ruler of this dark world and when we operate in darkness outside of the light of God we will be defeated.

Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?Shalltribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?³⁶ As it is written:  “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Father, We thank you for your Son!  We know you have made us more than conquers.  Let us sharpen our Faith and the Power of your Word in our lives to make a difference in Your kingdom here and now.  It is by your spirit that we fight and not in of ourselves that we have the Victory, but only by your Son, which is also the WORD of GOD.  In Jesus Name we pray. Amen!

Daily Challenge:  Read Galatians Chapter 5 beginning in verse 16.  This describes the “Works of the Flesh” vs. the “Fruit of the Spirit”.  We make our choices based on one of these 2 lists and it determines the “Playing Field” that we are fighting on in our choices.