I remember a time when my mom came to town for a visit. While she was here, her car broke down. After getting an estimate from an area repair shop, I was motivated to do the repairs for her myself and save that enormous repair bill.
After all, I rarely make $70 an hour as a preacher. Maybe that's why I get such a considerable amount of gratification when I do things of that nature for myself. Or maybe it's just a guy thing!
Anyhow, what I was absolutely certain would take me no longer than four hours, quickly turned into an eight-hour venture, all because I didn't have the proper tools on hand that I needed. (Go ahead and laugh, I still figured it was worth $35 an hour!)
The truth, however, is that I could have saved myself about four hours of aggravation and at least four busted knuckles if I had taken a little time before hand to get what I needed to do the job.
Ephesians 6:11 tells us: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the devil's schemes."
Jesus never said that the Christian's life would be easy. On the contrary, He said, "Blessed are you that are persecuted for my sake." The truth is, the devil doesn't like it when you take a stand for God. What really gets him incensed is when you go sharing your exciting faith with others in the world.
He is so jealous of the praise that we give God, he'll do anything he can to try and stop it. Therefore, it is imperative that we go into spiritual battle properly equipped.
Our greatest weakness as humans is when we try to conquer spiritual things in the physical. We often use worldly things to mistakenly measure the things of God. What is seen as being successful in the eyes of the world, usually is not God's definition of success.
God's Word is all about living in the spirit. Verse 12 in Ephesians 6 goes on to tell us that our greatest struggles in life are not the ones we deal with in the flesh, but those battles that are spiritual in nature.
Therefore, putting on the armor of God has to be considered as more than a physical act or even going through some religious exercise. In fact, one can be very religious and still not live a spirit-filled life. Yet it is only by God's Spirit that we can effectively live the Christian life.
So why in the world would we attempt to fight off Satan without being properly equipped by God? Perhaps we want the satisfaction of doing it ourselves. Maybe we just don't want to pay the high price of being totally committed to God.
Before giving in to God's call on my life, my biggest fear was that God would want me to do something that I didn't want to do (more specifically, become a missionary in Africa).
Consequently, I lived a rather unproductive Christian life for many years. However, since I gave God permission to do anything He wanted with me, I have done a lot of things that I never would have dreamed of doing before.
You Can Do It
Yes, you can live a powerful Christian life. When you feel defeated and it seems like the world is crashing down around you, don't lose hope. The devil is the biggest con there has ever been. He wants you to think you can't make it.
Ephesians 6:13 tells us, "After you've done all you can do, STAND." You may not enjoy fighting the devil, but it sure beats joining him. The difference is in the armor. Put it on, and get ready to fight!
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