[Devoted1]

"Prepared For Daily Battle?"
By Zach Wood
Ephesians 6:10-11
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.


We prepare for a lot of things in life. We prepare for vacations. We prepare when we go away for college. We prepare when we start a new job. We prepare when we move to a new apartment or house. Life has so many moments in which we prepare for something new or different. Life is full of preparations.

Many of us, as adults, prepare each day to go to work and earn a living. Grade school, high school and college students prepare each day as they go off to classes. Homework needs to be done, tests studied for and pop quizzes to always watch out for. There seems to be so much preparing in life. With all this preparation, it is often easy for us to neglect preparing our hearts for each day as we enter into another day of spiritual warfare. The enemy is awaiting us each day so that he can do his best to ruin whatever God has in store for us.

As we look at this passage of Scripture Paul writes about putting on the Armor of God, we read how vital it is that we take these precautions seriously. Paul states very well in verse 10 that we need to be very strong in the Lord and be steadfast in our faith so that Satan cannot attack us and pull us down. If we do not protect our hearts and minds from the enemy, he will strike hard and blow us down. God is on our side and He will give us strength, but we have to make the effort to prepare ourselves for this battle we enter into each day. Satan awaits us, but we have the power in Christ to defeat him with his flaming arrows of temptation.

When I think of my armor, I realize how often I go through my day and I have not even asked God to protect me and help me stand strong. I often go about my days and forget that I need to stand strong against the enemy. Satan can beat me down, but God gives me strength to stand up strong again. We MUST prepare ourselves daily for the battle that we will encounter with the enemy. If we do not prepare each day, then Satan will blow us over and take control.

I encourage you to take time each morning you wake, before you do anything else, and ask God to protect your mind and heart and read His Word to be strong against attacks. Reading the Word will strengthen your spiritual immune system against the flaming arrows of the enemy. We prepare for so many other things in life, so we also need to prepare and protect our minds and hearts.
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