Putting on the Armor

In a previous post I wrote in June titled who am I? I wrote that a verse God has been putting on my heart lately is Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. I would like to expand more on this now.

Satan loves to play a part in our lives, but I think that we way too often give satan way too much credit. You see, it is not like satan and God are having a tug of war-- fighting for the Earth. Satan can NOT come even close to comparing to God. God is so much more powerful. Satan is not on the same level as our God, he just wants us to think that he is.

Anyway, I never really understood spiritual warfare until recently. When we are told to put on the armor of God I always just thought of that as a metaphor. I am learning more and more how REAL spirtual warfare is. How present satan is in my life. I feel like in Lord of the Rings Gollum/Smeagol is a great image of spiritual warfare.

Gollum: They're thieves! They're thieves! They're filthy little thieves! Where is it? Where is it? They stole it from us, our precious. Curse them! We hates them! it's ours it is, and we wants it! We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!
Smeagol: No! Not master.
Gollum: Yes precious. First they cheat you, hurt you, LIE.
Smeagol: Master's my friend!.
Gollum: You don't have any friends, nobody likes you!
Smeagol: I'm not listening, I'm not listening.
Gollum: You're a liar and a thief.
Smeagol: No!
Gollum: Murderer.

This fight happens so often in my head. Gollum is clearly playing the role of satan. Knowing what hurts us--what affects us--the most. Smeagol just doesn't want to be betrayed. He wants to be able to trust his friends and be liked and Gollum plays into that--> first they cheat you, hurt you, lie; nobody likes you;they're thieves;you don't have any friends. I hear that so often in my head. "You don't have any friends, nobody likes you" Satan plays into my very weaknesses. He will say to me, "Hey Monaca, you know everything that has happened in your life? Everything that you like to think you couldn't control? It's your fault. Every thing is your fault. You are not good enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, tough enough." And so on. And if I don't have the armor of God -- turning to The Word and praye then I am in big trouble. I need to remain standing firm in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Ephesians that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world andagainst the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (vs 6:12) Spiritual warfare is real and satan is present and if we are not ready for battle--living our lives the way Jesus meant us to; being faithful in prayer, reading the Word, and letting the Spirit work in us--we will never make it through battle.

I have never been one who is big on "spiritual warfare" and "the presence of satan" and so on, but I do believe there is something out there that is so much bigger than we can ever understand....