Spiritual Forces of Evil!

“Finally, be strong 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 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

When we get annoyed, bullied, or get angry with someone, we decide to argue or have revenge at them later on. If this is continuous cycle, it is going to never end. We have eagerness to fight, especially when we see others getting hurt physically. I often argue with my mother when I hear something from her that I do not like. It is my natural habit that I have to get rid of.

One of the characteristic attributes that believers in Jesus Christ should put on is love (Colossians 3:12-14). Apostle Paul has stated that love fulfils the law (Romans 13:8-10). In addition to this, Jesus Christ has declared that two of the greatest commandments that God has given us are to love God with our whole being and to love others as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). This means that Christians are to love their enemies as well, despite of what they have done (Luke 6:27-36).

Since followers of Jesus are to love others as themselves, we should always remember that our struggle is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms and Satan, who is controlling the mind-set of our enemies. To defeat Satan, the controller of the spiritual forces of evil, I think the best way is to spread the love of God to others. Therefore, God’s love is the prime motivator of every kind of His soldiers (1 John 4:11-12). I think I need to remind myself this all the time as I set my new year’s resolution to be an ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

Meditate on Romans 8:31-39 and Psalm 136. Ask yourself a question today: “Am I allowing the love of God to surround me up to point that I think God’s love is prime motivator?”