Wrestling Against Principalities and Powers

Not My Will But Yours, Lord

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
[Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV]

Paul makes it clear that these spiritual hosts of wickedness are in the heavenly places; their area of operation is in the realm of the spirit; it is the outworking of this is seen in the natural world.

Perhaps as a result of lurid press reports and sensationalist movies, we can have the idea that the demonic spirits are only seen in people being “possessed” by them; but the spiritual hosts of wickedness are very much part of everyday living; throwing stumbling blocks in our paths to upset and divert our way. Even trying to write this meditation I have been assailed by distractions and problems, seemingly trying to frustrate my thoughts and intentions. But for all their wickedness, these rulers of darkness understand the power in Jesus’ name absolutely. His name makes demons flee.

But for this meditation — and I want to come back to this another time — I would like to leave you with “The Six Areas of Demon Work”. These things are at work in human experience, and it is part of the work of the saint to be aware of such things and to be able to protect ourselves with the full armour of God.

The six areas are in deceiving; tempting and vexing, leading on to the depressing, oppressing and finally possessing work of demons. There is a lot in this study — too much for a meditation like this, so my purpose here is merely to open the subject for consideration. As part of our walk, we are all involved, realise it or not; for Jesus said:
And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
[Matthew 10:7-8 NKJV]

The Lord has given us, as disciples, tremendous Holy Spirit power, to use in His name. Focus on Jesus, not on the difficulty.

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The Armour of God (children’s anthem) — Sound Booth

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OSWALD CHAMBERS — RUN TODAY’S RACE
Tuesday 15th September 2020
The devil would like us to believe that we are in a losing battle; nothing of the sort! We are “more than conquerors,” hilariously more than victors, “through Him that loved us.”

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