By James A. Washington, Publisher of the Dallas Weekly News, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Okay. The question for today is how does one put on the full armor of God?

The bible says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11. This passage may not tell you how to put on the armor, but it certainly lets you know why you need it. That’s kind of why I pose the question.

I wish I could say most of this is original but it’s not. I’m paraphrasing most of it, but I think it’s important to understand when people talk about warfare, Satan’s power in the physical world or, just plain battling against sin, this is what they’re talking about.

Spiritual warfare as my bible says (for believers), is fought in the mind, in the emotions and in the will. It is in these areas that we do battle and most times we think we’re struggling with ourselves, our own weaknesses of flesh and blood, and discipline and integrity, pride and envy. When in actuality, we’re really struggling against “the devil’s schemes.”

At these rather intense times, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that Satan and his forces have already been defeated and to a large extent disarmed. We give him power when we forget this simple little fact.

I’ve said on many occasions that the fight for our salvation has been fixed in our favor. We do, however, have to go through the reality of test and testimony, as we navigate what some believers term a temporary existence called ‘life.’

Here is something that sums it up pretty well straight out of my bible: How do we put on spiritual armor? We do so by daily absorbing scripture as truth, living in obedience to God, sharing the gospel and trusting Christ. That’s how to put armor on. Study the Word, live according to biblical principles and believe that we live in truth due to Jesus’ protection.

That will protect us as we come under spiritual attack. It doesn’t protect us from spiritual attack. But it does it makes us less vulnerable, less susceptible to the ‘devil’s schemes.’

You see, in this world Satan is free to tempt, deceive and entice, but he has no authority over you.

My bible says when we overcome temptation in the spiritual sense, we play out Christ’s victory in the physical world. We win emotionally. We win physically. We win psychologically. Pure and simple, we win.

The point here is you’ve got to recognize that a lot of what you’re going through is the direct result of coming under attack and not because of some great flaw within yourself When you put on the armor of which I speak, you know this. It’s like knowing that it’s going to rain and taking an umbrella.

But you have to pay attention to the signs of bad weather in order to be prepared. You can’t be prepared for the devil properly unless you know Jesus Christ personally. He is your and my umbrella so to speak. And please don’t take my word for it. Just read the bible.

May God bless and keep you always.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post