As children of God, we have power and authority over the devil. And we are to use that power and authority for good, and for service to others. That almost sounds like something you could say about a superhero, doesn’t it?
It reminds me of a letter I once received from a woman, telling me about her four year old son and his cousins playing together one day. They were all pretending to be superheroes. One of them exclaimed, “I’m Superman!” Another said, “I’m Superwoman!” And this lady said her son proudly wielded his imaginary sword and proclaimed, “I’m Joyce Meyer!”
What a compliment to the Christ in me! That child saw something in me that he thought was “super” and wanted to imitate! What he saw is simply a result of the work God has done in my life through His Holy Spirit. And isn’t it interesting that while the other kids’ superhero gear included a cape, his little weapon was a sword (see Eph. 6:17)!
We are often referred to as soldiers in the Word of God. Soldiers are well trained in combat; they carry all kinds of offensive, as well as defensive equipment, and are taught to be vigilant, alert and aware.
No matter whether we view ourselves like soldiers or superheroes, our warfare is spiritual. And our weapons and armor are also spiritual.
Doing Warfare God’s Way
In this spiritual war, we fight on the battlefield of the mind. Every day we are subjected to unrelenting attacks in our thoughts, such as worry, fear, doubt and other concerns. The devil is behind many of our problems, and some we create ourselves.
But Ephesians 6:11 (NIV) tells us to “put on the full armor of God, so that [we] can take [our] stand against the devil’s schemes.” Our thoughts are very important in this warfare—what we think of ourselves as well as what we think of others or of our circumstances. The reason is that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v. 12).
So while the devil may have power, we have the power and authority of Jesus Christ at work in us by His Holy Spirit. Our job is to get to know God for ourselves—get to know who we are in Him and the power available to us through Him. We need to learn how to follow the Holy Spirit, because He wants to lead us in our individual battles according to what is right for each of us. The truth is God is on our side, and that already makes us more than conquerors in Him! (See Rom. 8:31, 37.)
What to Wear to Battle
In this war, there’s both offensive and defensive equipment. With our weapons we fight the enemy. And we are protected from him by our armor. Both are vitally important to our success.
Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.“
These verses reveal the weapons and armor of our spiritual warfare. We defeat the enemy’s tactics every time we forgive instead of hold a grudge; every time we have patience with someone rather than rush them; every time we speak with humility rather than arrogance.
Ephesians 4:25a says to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor.” Verse 31 goes on to say, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” These are things that will hinder and weigh us down in life—and certainly a spiritual battle.
The Battle Plan
To win our battles, we have to learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He leads us, according to His purpose and plan for our lives. Practically speaking, we do this as we commit to seeking God in prayer and by studying His Word, and then choosing to trust what He says above and beyond anything else. That means we believe the truth of who God is and His promises to us in the Bible no matter what our circumstances look like, what we feel or what lies the enemy is trying to put in our mind.
So tighten up your belt of truth (Eph. 6:14). In other words, learn the truth of God’s Word, especially what His Word says about you. Then do what you know to do, what you can do, and God will do what you can’t. Don’t be so concerned about how everything will work out; just trust God to do what’s right for you! {eoa}
