Thought Quotient

Victory in Christ

Ephesians 6:13-18: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

The pieces of armor described by Paul in this passage of Ephesians are the foundational aspects of our daily Christian walk. They are not specially reserved magical tricks or outlandish actions only aimed against evil. They are the very principles we should be observing and practicing every day of our Christian lives. When our focus is on Christ in us and on the power of the Holy Spirit working in us daily to transform us into the image of Christ, we will have no time to focus on what is evil, demonic, or satanic - our lives will be consumed with Christ. There is, then, no room for evil.

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Spiritual Warfare is a minute to minute, day to day battle, and it is fought with quiet confidence in the one to whom all will give an account, and that includes any enemies we might have, seen or unseen. All that God has provided, he offers with great love, and the historical proof of his commitment to our well being is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The scripture says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7). It is the gospel of divine love that has set you free! You are God’s child. He will not, and has not, abandoned you to evil. If you are tormented by sin, afraid of the power of darkness; If you have tried the laughing revivals, throwing up personal demons and rebuking spirits of lust, lying, anger and doubt; the Great Shepherd says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29).

- Michael Martin, Answers in Action

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1. No Satanic assault is stronger than the Lord our God. If you go to sleep tonight afraid, you’ve missed the message. This is not about being afraid. This is about standing strong! You can only do that in Christ. If you’re without Christ, you’re blind. And that’s why we appeal to you at the end of every service we hold - that you would know the joy of seeing for the first time in your life and finding a power greater than the one that’s been controlling you. No Satanic assault is stronger than the Lord our God. In His strength we’re safe.

2. No Satanic scheme can penetrate the armor of God. You put it on, you’re protected. Clothed in His armor, we’re safe and secure.

3. No Satanic mafia can defeat the work of God. We will be attacked. But they won’t defeat us.

4. No Satanic evil can withstand the prayers of God’s people. Let me tell you from experience, there is NOTHING like prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - claiming the blood of the Cross to resist the enemy. Pray for one another by NAME. Pray for protection, direction, peace … because it will be the prayers of God’s people that will withstand the Enemy.

True story: Os Guinness, a Christian author, went to England to give a lecture series at Essex University. He was being introduced to the audience and moments before he was about to speak, he looked and noticed a young woman sitting in the front row. What caught his attention was that the young woman had the most peculiar expression on her face - a look of fierce anguish. Recalling a warning he had received that anti-Christian protesters might attempt to disrupt his lecture series, Guinness paused to pray that God would bless the meeting and restrain Satan so that God’s message would go forth with power. Then Guinness stepped to the lectern and proceeded to give his talk. The lecture proceeded without interruption and was enthusiastically received. After his talk, the young woman with the strange expression walked up to him. She was angry and baffled. “How did you do that,” she demanded.

‘How did I do what?’

“The spell that you cast on me to keep me in my seat,” she asked.
“You knew I had been sent here by the witches coven to protest your talk, didn’t you? And you put some sort of spell on me to keep me silent.”

‘The only spell I used was,’ Guinness replied gently, ‘was to pray the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.’

A few weeks later, Os Guinness was back in America and a Christian lady asked him how his Essex lecture series had gone. “The reason I asked,” she explained, ” - at the same time you were about to give your lecture in England I was suddenly overcome by an impression of you standing upon a platform and a woman seated in the audience near you. I had a sense that a battle was going on between the two of you - a spiritual battle between the power of God and the power of Satan. And I immediately went to my knees and prayed for you and the woman in the audience.”

When you stepped into the Christian life, you didn’t step onto a playground, you stepped into a battleground. Let’s take this seriously.

-Chuck Swindoll, www.insight.org