My Devotional: Dress well daily

Dress Well Daily

By Liz Omondi | Email: timestodayke@gmail.com | image courtesy: pinterest

“in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16

I sat there feeling defeated. I was thoroughly exhausted from the blows and the darts that pierced me on all sides. The excruciating pain was evident on my face. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, I grabbed one more garment that completely shielded me from the attacks.

The long drawn battle had been fierce, yet without realising it, though dressed for the fight, I needed this extra garment to be fully dressed. And as long as I was not using this extra garment the enemy took advantage for as long as he could wage the war.

I am talking about the battle of discouragement that was going on in my mind. Many times as Christians we face discouragement as a result of one thing or the other. In my mind I felt that I had done all I could and there was nothing left for me to do to achieve a certain goal. This is when thoughts of discouragement started crippling me. I felt that God was no longer listening to my prayers. I thought he was punishing me for a certain sin. I entertained negative thoughts of despair.

Though a born again Christian, knowing the truth of God’s Word, surrendered to His will, and ready to serve always Him, I was swimming through a mud-pool of discouragement and struggling to get out of it. I felt forgotten by God. Why?

The apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “our struggle is 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.”

So what does that mean? It means the war we fight as Christians is at another higher level and therefore we should not look at things on surface level. So Paul says in verse 13 to be fully dressed for the battles that we wage daily. “13 Therefore, take up the full armour of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

The full gear for spiritual battle is listed in Ephesians 6:14-17, “14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

As I was trying to get out of the mud bath of discouragement, like popcorn, memory verses started popping in my mind. I found myself quoting Scripture verses like, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13, “I am more than a conquerer in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:37, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Verse by verse, dose by dose, I gained strength and was able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. By believing in these Words of truth, I had faith that God is faithful to accomplish the purposes He has for me in Christ Jesus and was able to ward off all the flaming arrows of the evil one. In addition, I was able to use the sword of the Spirit to pierce the enemy who was already defeated at the Cross and was now acting like a toothless dog to scare me.

Do you dress well daily for battle? With the unpredictable weather we have these days, don’t imagine that because the sun is out in the morning, you can leave behind the sweater and dress like one going to the beach. By mid morning the weather could turn out gloomy so carry all the gear with you. Google weather in unreliable. You never know what time the weather will change, because it does and the enemy looks for such moments to spoil your day.

As a matter of fact 1 Peter 5:8-9 from the Message paraphrase says, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever.”