#78: Deception (Armor of God series)

On episode 78, Tim begins a new series discussing the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into episode number seventy eight of Bringing Heaven Down.
My name is Tim and I'm the host of this
daily devotional podcast that shows up in your feed Monday
through Friday. Make sure you hit that follow button wherever
you're listening to this podcast so it shows up in
your feed, and rate and review the show if you're
willing to do that as well. All right, today, let's

(00:23):
start a new topical series. I talked about this last
night at youth group, and I want to carry this
into the podcast. I want to talk about the armor
of God that is discussed in the Book of Ephesians,
chapter six, verses ten through eighteen. We are given clear

(00:47):
instructions on how to battle spiritual warfare, how to defend
ourselves against spiritual warfare. So when that happens in our life,
we need to be prepared to respond and be prepared
to protect ourselves and also be prepared to attack the enemy.

(01:11):
So that's what we're gonna talk about today. Grab your
favorite drink or cup of coffee. Let's bring Heaven a
little closer together. So we'll take this in parts, and
today we'll focus on the first few verses that starts
in chapter six of Ephesians Versus ten. Finally, be strong

(01:34):
in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on
the full armor of God so that you can take
your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and

(01:57):
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The New Testament describes Satan as the prince of this world,
as a ruler, as an authority against a dark power,

(02:21):
which can be intimidating to think about. But when you
are a follower of Jesus, one Jesus is in control,
and two Jesus gives us instructions on how to respond

(02:48):
and battle this evil enemy. And what's so interesting is
that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our
struggle with Satan is spiritual, and there are no tangible

(03:10):
weapons that can be effectively employed against Satan and his minions.
What we need to do is we need to follow
the instructions faithfully, and if we do that, we will
be able to stand and we will have victory, regardless

(03:33):
of Satan's strategy to bring us down. Verse thirteen. Therefore
put on the full armor of God, so that when
the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.

(03:57):
The number one goal of the enemy is deception to
try to get you to think something about God is
true that is not actually true. And people will attempt
to get you to think things about God that are
not true. Because we don't live in a society where

(04:21):
many people want to say, yep, I'm wrong, I need
to follow and submit to something. Rather, people would rather
have something submit under them, meaning if they think something

(04:41):
should be true about God, they will make that thing
true about God. If they think gay marriage should be
something that God wants or loves, well, then they will
twist and turn God's word and make it say what
they want to say. If they think a sin like

(05:07):
loving money and making that in idol is okay, well
they will twist and turn God's were to make sure
that it says what they wanted to say. And that
is reading the Bible incorrectly. If we read something in
God's word that we don't fully understand or grasp, then

(05:30):
our job as followers of Jesus is to submit to
it and through prayer pray that the Holy Spirit will
reveal the truth to us and help us understand it
as time goes by. There have been so many instances
like that in my life where I didn't understand something.

(05:54):
For example, why did Jesus have to die in the cross.
Why did the God of this universe have to die
in the cross to save our Since he's God, couldn't
he do anything? I remember having that thought as a
middle school and high school god because if God is God,

(06:18):
well he could do anything. He could snap his fingers
and save us. And although that might be true, the
only way for God to save us was through death
on the cross, because the consequence for our sin is death.

(06:41):
That's why we die because of sin, and the only
way to make atonement for our sin, the only way
to make up for our sin, was for Jesus to
die on the cross himself. When I was confused, I

(07:01):
didn't push away God's word and say, let me find
something else. I believe that makes more sense. Through prayer
and through people that God put in my life, the
answer was revealed over time, and I pray that that
is the same approach that you take with the same situation.

(07:25):
If there's a topic you don't understand. Through prayer and
through guidance from other followers of Jesus that you look
up to, answers that you don't fully understand will be
revealed to you. And sometimes they won't be revealed to you.
There might be questions that remain that aren't answered that

(07:50):
you'll find out in the next life in heaven, which
is okay too, which is great. So that's where we're
going to stop today. We'll pick up in verse fourteen
of chapter six and Ephesians tomorrow. Thank you for choosing
Jesus today, and I hope the Holy Spirit reveal more

(08:11):
and more by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.