Body Armor – Part 4

(Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV) 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, 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.

• Through the Blood of Jesus, we have been utterly and completely set free from Satan’s control!

Therefore, Satan has no legal right to control us, our bodies, our families, our businesses, or our money. Although we once genuinely and legally belonged to him, we are no longer his to manipulate or dominate.

Why then, does the battle still rage on?

• Freedom becomes a way of life only as we replace our wrong thinking and wrong believing with what the Word of God declares about our new condition.

The problem is that people were so abused in the Satan’s slave market, they do not realize that they are no longer bound to him and his scars on their lives.

Renewing of the mind is really about removing these “residual areas” from the past so that those strongholds will not continue to exert power in believer’s lives.

The enemy probes our lives to find the “residual areas” that we don’t know to deal with or refuse to deal with so that we can be free.

Here are doors that he looks for to gain access to our lives:

• Wrong thinking
• Wrong believing
• Wrong speaking
• Memories of terrible experiences that happened before we knew the Lord that we still allow to dominate our emotions
• Fears that were transferred to us from our parents, family members or friends
• Years of incorrect doctrine taught to us in our former churches that we must now “unlearn” and overcome

In all of these areas, your soul (your mind, will, emotions) is the strategic center where spiritual warfare takes place. Before we are Born Again, the condition of our minds is hostile towards God and is bent on destruction. This is why our minds must be renewed.

(Romans 8:7 NIV) The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

(Colossians 1:21 NIV) Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

(Ephesians 4:17-18 NLT) With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. (18) Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.

• Very often it is through the un-renewed mind that the enemy is able to exert his foul influence over us.

That is why we are told over and over to give serious attention to the condition of our minds:

(Romans 12:2 NLT) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

(Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV) that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, (23) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

(1 Peter 1:13-14 NKJV) Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;

In these scriptures, Peter paints the picture of a runner whose garments have fallen down and gotten entangled around his ankles. He was running a good race and his stride was picking up, but he got tripped up because of wrong thinking. To keep this from happening he girds up his tunic in his belt, thus freeing his legs from getting caught when he runs.

The consistent renewal of our minds with the Word of God will eradicate wrong thinking, wrong believing, scars from the past, and hurtful emotional memories that would exert influence on our new life in Christ.

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV)  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  (4)  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  (5)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

In verse 5, the word “warfare” is translated from the Greek word “stratos” and is a huge key in defeating the attacks of the enemy. It is where we get the word “strategy”.

Notice that the verse tells is that the weapons are weapons of strategy.

• For spiritual weapons to work effectively, they must be accompanied with a divine strategy on how to use them.

God has given believers everything they need to defeat the enemy, but they don’t have a strategy on how to use their weapons or what to do when the attack comes. Weapons absolutely will not be successful if there is no strategy behind them.

We can have a plan for when attacks come from the enemy. We can know what to do when troubles come as they will.

But in these scriptures, Paul is addressing a stronghold that is built up in our minds that becomes a playground for the enemy.

Not every stronghold is the same. Each one will require its own strategy to be overcome.

This mandates that you spend time praying in the Spirit, reading the Word and seeking the mind of God.

In your own strength and wisdom, you will never conceive a plan that will deliver you.

When strongholds become deeply rooted in the mind, only the Holy Spirit can give you a strategy on how to pull them down.

The Holy Spirit will show you how to use your God-given weapons, and He will instruct you on when and what to attack.