Ephesians 6:10-18 (New King James Version)
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-
Footnotes:
Ephesians 6:12 NU-Text reads rulers of this darkness.
Full alert the commander says, everyone suit up and take your positions, for we have spotted the enemy and he is advancing quickly. Looks like he is trying to ambush us, by surrounding us on every side. So everyone takes their positions and waits in their foxholes and in their respective positions, with each one in full battle gear and the weapons, locked and loaded. But something happens, just as the enemy advances his position, those that are waiting on the enemy to advance, hear in the distance, more troops moving yet, the commander says hold your fire, hold your position, for the enemy is coming from one direction but, making it look like he is in every position. Soon, some of the troops, get nervous and begin to fire, rapidly, in all directions, without even looking at what they are aiming at. They hear screams, I've been shot, medic, medic.
Only to find out that they have been shooting their own, with their own weapons. Sound familiar? This is the how the body of Christ has been doing things for some time now and its getting worse, each day. Warning after warning, the body of Christ still aims at its own, and the results of this is taking a toll and they don't seem to realize it, they think its their duty to shoot, at everything, no matter the cost. People are leaving the church, faster than they come in. As one person told me, for every 1 person that comes in the front doors of the church, 5 to 7 leave out the back door. What a disaster this is having and the devil is having a field day! We need to learn who the enemy is 1st before we are even given a weapon to fight with, as Christians. We need to be taught and learn, for us to be effective Christians. I believe its high time, we begin to sit under the leader ship of those God has us under and learn and wait, till God is ready for us to move.
We don't need milk feed Christians, on the front line, not till all the training is complete, for if they are, we will end up with a lot more hurt people in the body of Christ and it's time we wake up and see this! God help us! Help us to seek God and His face and ask Him to forgive us and to help us see how we need to bring back those who have been hurt and how each person needs to be accountable to God and to another, for what happens to the body of Christ. We have been given a mandate a command from God the Father and from Jesus, to be about the Father's business, not about our business! Let us return to the days of Yeah and Nay (yes and no) and let our mouths, minds and lives be used by God to fulfill His purpose in this earth and not ours! God bless you and Shalom!
