11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
I love the movie series Taken, in which Liam Neeson plays a dad who lost a daughter to some thugs in the underground evil world of human trafficking. Watching his character plot out how he will get her back and then seeing it play out is really entertaining. The bad guys get their justice in the end. The scheme he plots out to get his daughter back is super cool.
What is the definition of scheme? It is a systematic plan of action. Paul is telling the Ephesian church to put on the full armor of God so they will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. So they can be aware of the schemes of the devil and stand firm against them. It is simple: you have to know your enemy. In war, much of it is fought on the battlefield, but so much more goes into the planning and the behind-the-scenes. Before anyone goes to war, they take careful steps to know their enemy.
How well do you know your enemy, the devil and his schemes? Better yet, how well do you know the armor of God and how it can help you in this spiritual battle? Most of us just do life and take the punches as they come. What if I told you that you can know the schemes of the devil and fight accordingly? Pretty cool, right? I never want to show up to a gunfight with a knife, so to speak.
First thing, we have to realize that the devil needs to be battled on his own turf, the spiritual realm. Verse 12 tells us that we struggle 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. The real battle is not what you see with your naked eyes, in other words. The devil has crafted scheme after scheme to throw you off his trail so you will be caught fighting the wrong things, i.e., people that we are supposed to love and spread the good news of the gospel to. Because of this, verse 13 tells us to take up the full armor of God, that we may be able to resist in the evil day and, having done everything, to stand firm.
What have you been fighting lately? Have you been fighting and fighting and nothing seems to change? It could be that you have been fighting the people who Satan has put in your path rather than the real enemy, Satan. How do you do that? We will go into what all the armor really means, but for today we must realize that our struggle is not with flesh and blood! If God can raise people from the dead, part the ocean, heal the sick, and make the blind see, He can and has given us a playbook on the devil and his schemes.
The first step is to know your enemy, and how do you do that? You read and study the Bible, your playbook or manual for this epic fight. You see, it is not about screaming while you pray or sounding mean and intimidating, it is about using the armor properly to wage war against the devil. Jesus got angry in the temple twice, that is it. The rest of the time, He used the Holy Spirit in His ministry. Good news, Jesus won the war, but there are battles we must fight, and we have to learn how to recognize the schemes of the devil so we don’t get caught fighting the wrong things. Love your neighbor and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). Why? Because the battle is not with them, but rather the devil, who is behind the scenes plotting away. Get ready!
Prayer: Father, help us to see the real enemy here on this earth. Help us to realize that Satan is the real enemy and we have all we need to fight him and be victorious. I pray that our minds, hearts, and eyes are open to the supernatural and that we war not with our flesh, but we press against the enemy on his turf, the spiritual realm. I pray that we show the love of Christ to everyone and stand firm in the evil day. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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