Prepare for Battle
Prepare for Battle
By Dennis Huebshman
In case it hasn’t become obvious to you yet, we are in the middle of a major war. Today, in our land we are seeing attacks against Christianity like never before. There have always been those who do not accept Jesus, but it hasn’t been as vocal as it has become just in the past couple years.
Our last president went a long way cutting down Christianity and promoting Islam. Canada also has made huge steps in ruling against anything that appears to reference the Church or Bible and even has gone so far as to threaten to take children away from parents that teach anything against alternate lifestyles. There was a news article recently that showed Canada would not allow a couple to adopt a child because they had Christian beliefs and the fear is the child would be raised to not accept any other lifestyle.
California is about to pass a law that makes the possession and distribution of any religious books, articles and whatever because the extreme left calls this nothing but hate-writings. It goes so far as to say the Bible is among those writings, and if a Christian Counselor even mentions anything against LGBT (and all the other letters) and promote Christianity, they will be breaking the law. One must be careful about giving such items as gifts as this would violate this ridiculous law as well.
Several other states are passing laws that aren’t quite as radical, but come very close. Many of the liberal courts are very Christian unfriendly, and have made some rulings against Christian businesses yet totally ignore anything muslim or atheist. Some of the cases have made it to the Supreme Court and are awaiting final rulings. At least in our favor the Court presently is leaning more to the Right than the Left.
We were told in the Bible by Jesus, Paul and others that in the end times our persecution will increase. In some countries, just to mention that a person is a Christian will get them martyred. It hasn’t gotten that bad in America yet, but with current trends it can’t be far off. In fact, during the tribulation to be Jewish or Christian will be a death sentence as the anti-christ will not allow any worship of anyone but himself.
Those who are believers today have the Rapture to look forward to which will keep us from the Wrath which starts when Jesus opens the 1st. Seal Judgment. Those who have not accepted the Savior yet are gambling with their very lives as each day passes.
Ephesians 6: 10-18 gives us some tools that will help us during these trying times. It says: “Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of His power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist; by putting on the breastplate of righteousness; by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace; and in all of this by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.
Breaking this down, each item given was used by Roman Soldiers of Paul’s time for their protection in battle. He equates each one as our aid against all forms of evil. When I look at each of the items presented, I see the following as pertinent in our lives.
Being strengthened in the Lord and the strength of His power shows He is sharing what we need to remain strong. He is our Commander-In-Chief and He knows that without our faith in Him we cannot stand against the schemes of the evil one or his forces. We were never meant to try to take on all the forces of evil by ourselves. Jesus provided our weapons with His gift at Calvary and His resurrection.
When Paul tells of fastening the Belt of Truth around your waist, three verses immediately comes to my mind: John 8:32 – you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free; John 8:36 – for if the Son therefore sets you free, you will be free indeed; John 14:6 – Jesus said I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.
Next is the Breastplate of Righteousness. A Roman Soldier would wear a metal plate to cover his chest and abdomen and the vital organs there. Putting on our own Breastplate is giving our Hearts over to Jesus so that in the end we are assured of eternal life with Him. Who better to protect our heart than the one who died for us?
Preparing the feet was to have pieces of heavy leather covering the top of the foot with even heavier leather on the bottom to protect them from stepping on anything sharp causing serious injury. To receive any major foot injury would take the soldier out of the battle. We need to keep our feet protected and walk with Jesus to keep “Land-mines” of sin from taking us out. Many times, the leather was extended to go above the foot and up the leg for even further protection.
The Shield of Faith was meant to be an extra barrier against flaming arrows from the enemy and when several soldiers would stand shoulder to shoulder they would form a wider barrier to protect from frontal attacks. Rely on Jesus to be at your side and other Christians that have the same mind-set to put up a strong barrier against evil.
Finally, the Helmet of Salvation and Sword of the Spirit to round out our protection of the body and with the Word of the Father to protect our minds from all the evil assaults thrown at us every day. Also, through prayer and petition we keep in touch with our “Leader” Jesus to keep us alert and ask for His all around righteous protection.
The Heavenly Father has provided protection measures to assist us daily, but we must remain vigilant in keeping our relationship strong with Him. By accepting His Son Jesus, we have the assurance of a Heavenly home no matter what the world throws at us.
We will stumble and fall on occasion, but He has given us the pathway to stay in His Grace and Mercy. The formula for forgiveness is found in 1 John 1: 8-10, and by using it satan cannot overcome it.
Anytime you may think the weight of the world is overpowering you, and you feel like you’re being defeated, go to Ephesians 6: 10-18 and refresh your arsenal. Ask the Father to equip you daily with this armor.
If you haven’t accepted the Savior, you’re missing out on a lot of protection that is available. To come to the end of your life on this earth either by death or after the Rapture happens without Him is like going into battle unclothed. It’s disaster just waiting to happen. The longer you wait increases the odds in favor of evil.
Call on Jesus today; He will not turn you away, and you will have the greatest person possible leading you all the way.
Amen, Come Lord Jesus!