Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm 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 forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:10-12.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
You can do nothing fruitful without Me, but with Me you can bear much fruit that will last and bless your generation and generations to come. And that is precisely what the devil does not want. He does not want you to uncover his activities, he knows that then you will be able to resist him. He operates under cover, in the dark, like creeping things under rocks. But I gave you authority over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:28.
And the devil is now in that category.
God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall crush you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:13-15.
So how do you uncover and put down his activities? Here is the answer: Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
In the last Life Lesson we discussed what it means to submit to Me, and basically, it means to be humble enough to make a committed choice to take My Word as your ultimate and final authority in all matters of your life and never to deviate from that no matter how contrary the circumstances look. And by getting full of My Word you become healed by and protected by My Word in your heart and mouth but then you are not only protected but you are also given the answer to speak out to cast down the devil’s activity and shut him down so that he cannot steal what is already yours. And that is resisting him by treading on him and crushing his head, which Jesus already did, so it should be easy for you to follow suit. And for this purpose I have given you My armor, defensive and offensive weapons.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Luke 10:19.
I do not want you to be unaware of what you are facing that is trying to take you and many believers out of bearing fruit and finishing the Kingdom work I gave you to do.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm 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 forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:10-12.
In resisting the devil so you can have a beautiful, healthy, prosperous, and joyful life, it all starts by your understanding that you cannot do this in the flesh, by your own strength, the devil operates in the flesh to take you captive to do his will but he is a spirit being, and you have to resist him in the spirit. My Words are Spirit and life. His words are of the spirit of death.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6.
Your strength in the area of the spirit comes from being strong in Me with My strength. You must pull your strength up from Me, like a branch from the vine, like a tree branch from the trunk and roots.
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. Colossians 2:6-7.
And being rooted and grounded in Jesus, is being rooted and grounded in love and I am love and love is stronger than death, love never fails, and it is the highest source of power.
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:17-21.
So first, you see that resisting the devil requires supernatural strength and you have that in Me. It is part of My goodness to you and of My glory. Never resist the devil alone, let Me fight your battles but I do it by given you My Word as your defensive armor and as your offensive weapon, and it is the Word that does both jobs, defensive and offensive.
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am strong.” Joel 3:10
The word used that is generally translated “strong” is “gibbor (גבר)” in Hebrew, which means a mighty hero, a champion. Isaiah, by the inspiration of My Spirit, called one of the prophetic names of Jesus, that is the child born to you and the Son given you upon whose shoulders dominion rests, as “El Gibbor,” “God Hero” or “Mighty God.”
Being strong in Me makes you as Jesus is in the world, a mighty hero.
So in My secret place, the tabernacle of My presence, you begin to resist the devil by putting on My armor.
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. Psalm 27:5-6.
And that is what being in My armor will do for you. Encased in My armor of light, I hide you from the evil one and dispel his darkness so that his tactics are revealed. And lifted on the rock of My Word the devil cannot take you down, for you are now higher than him and he cannot attain to your seat at My right hand for you are seated there in Christ. And that is where you need to be to put My armor on. And what are you doing in this battle of resistance? Just what Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah did to quiet, still, and tread down the enemy. They cast their care on Me and then offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving with shouts of joy in My presence and they sang, and sang, and sang praises to Me until the enemies were not only defeated, but people of Judah also gathered up all the booty the defeated enemy armies had left behind.
Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.” 2 Chronicles 20:20.
Taking up My Word and girding yourself in it should be pure joy to you, the assurance of a victory already won. For it is My Word that will fight for you and take down the enemy. That is how Jesus resisted the devil in the wilderness before He began His public ministry. He answered him with the truth of My Word.
So standing upon the rock of My Word with your head high above your adversary, the accuser of the brethren, put on My full armor so that you will be able to resist him.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth. Ephesians 6:13-14.
The word translated as “full armor” is panoplía (from pás, “every” and hóplon, “weapon”) so properly, a complete set of defensive and offensive armor (weapons), i.e. everything needed to wage successful warfare; the full resources that I give to you who believe in My Son, so you can successfully wage spiritual warfare. In this way you do not fight for victory – but draw from Jesus’ victory. And the first piece I tell you to put on is the girdle of truth. You are to gird yourself in My Word, which is truth.
There is only one way to win over lies—with the truth. In a court, the judge is looking for the truth to make the correct judgment. The verdict goes with the truth, established by the facts and the applicable law, and the facts are established by two or three witnesses.
My Word is truth, and if you remain, abide and continue in My Word and My Word remains, abides, and continues in you, then you will truly be My disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
But My Word does more than just give you the truth, My Word is a living Word, it is Spirit and Life, and it will give you life and healing, it will sustain you, reshape you, and wash you clean. I sent My Word to heal you and deliver you from destruction. I am My Word. When you renew your mind to My Word, you come to know Me for who I really am, filled with grace and truth.
To resist the devil just means to answer whatever he is causing or telling you in your life with the truth. He is a liar and the father of lies, he cannot tell the truth, it is impossible for him to tell the truth as it is for Me to lie. You must check him immediately the minute he starts ANY activity against you and shut it down, no matter what it is. And, just as in chess if you check the advance of the enemy king, he cannot proceed unless he finds one of three means of escape, and before My Word and your strong stand on it he has no means of escape except to flee before you declare checkmate.
Gird yourself in My Word and then employ it. As you received Christ by believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth, so walk in Him. That is the only way you will stand in the place of joy and peace always.
And you will find My Word is delightful. It is full of treasures that are yours in Christ.
“I rejoice at Your Word, as one who finds great spoil.” Psalm 119:162.
Girded in truth you are protected from lies, a lie cannot get past the truth and survive.
I love you. And that is why I give you My Word for you to put in your mouth and command those things that be not as though they be until they are.