Who's the Enemy?

 ¹⁰Finally, ^(S)be strong in the Lord and in ^(T)the strength of His might.
 ^11(U)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the^(V)schemes of the devil.
 ¹²For our ^(W)struggle is not against ^(X)flesh and blood, but ^(Y)against the rulers, against the powers, against the ^(Z)world forces of this ^(AA)darkness, against the ^(AB)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(AC)the heavenly places.


Ephesians 6:10-12


We cannot live as Christians in a vacuum, isolated from the reality of battles and conflicts in the physical and spiritual realm.  The Bible is teaching us that the spiritual realm is full of this and we need to arm ourselves.  But before we wag war we need to know who our oppressor is.  Without doing this first we fight our family, friends, coworkers and other people the devil is working through.  Make no mistake, the devil is the one we need to fight not the created vessels.


I get angry, upset and impatient all the time and I take it out conveniently on the ones I'm closest to.  But the battle for me is insecurity brought on by the sin of my flesh.  The battle for me is greed but I blame others because they're standing in my way of feeding myself.  There are so many situations where if we trace it back enough we can see the devil's schemes in action.  We need to fully arm ourselves with God's discernment.


Father God, thank You for loving me so much.  I'm worthy only of death but You pulled me out of the miry clay and set me on a mission.  Enable and equip me for Your calling.  I pray my eyes are open a little wider to see and understand who the enemy is throughout all the distractions.  In Your Son's precious name I pray, Amen!