Those of you who know me know I’m a believer in daily and out loud putting on our armor. If we aren’t armoring up, we are a bunch of spiritual streakers!

 

I usually get lots of laughs on that, but it’s really not very funny. If we are streaking then we are allowing the enemy full access to the most vulnerable parts of ourselves. Our minds, our will, our emotions – our HEART.

 

So this morning, as I spent some time in the word, I was reminded to:

 

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil. Eph. 6:11

 

Just the other day WWIII broke out at our house between two siblings … one of them who struggles with mental health issues and the other is the one trying to help. It got ugly, anger bubbled over and feelings were hurt. The enemy was definitely stirring up bitterness and it seemed like there was no hope for reconciliation. Tough love was discussed and now we are in the middle of walking on that road.

 

I’ve come to realize the importance of recognizing the enemy’s tactics so that I can actually resist him. So I went to my Logos Bible software and compared the verse in different translations to get a better handle on the word “tactics” and here’s what I found.

 

NASB – schemes

AMPC – strategies and deceits

NKJV – wiles

CEB – tricks

DARBY – artifices

ERV – clever tricks

WBMS – ambushings or assailings

NCV – evil tricks

 

WOW.

 

Digging further took me into the interlinear tool showing the Greek root word for tactic to be Methodeia.

 

One of the Strong’s definitions was = lie in wait

 

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon said methodeia is a noun occurring neither in the OT nor in secular authors, but means cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery.

 

Then taking this over to dictionary.com God turned the spotlight onto how the enemy works:

 

Tactics – any mode of procedure for GAINING ADVANTAGE or success

Schemes – a SECRET plot

Strategies – the science or art of combining and employing the MEANS OF WAR in planning and directing large MILITARY MOVEMENTS AND OPERATIONS.

Deceits – the act or practice of deceiving; CONCEALMENT OR DISTORTION OF THE TRUTH FOR THE PURPOSE OF MISLEADING, duplicity, fraud, cheating

Wiles – a trick, artifice or STRATAGEM MEANT TO FOOL, TRAP, ENTICE; artful or beguiling behavior; deceitful cunning, trickery.

Trick – a CRAFTY OR UNDERHANDED DEVICE, MANEUVER, STRATAGEM intended to deceive or cheat

Artifice – CLEVER TRICK; a cunning crafty device or expedient, wile.

Ambushing – an act or instance of ATTACKING UNEXPECTEDLY FROM A CONCEALED POSITION, a surprise attack.

Assailing – to encounter with the INTENTION OF MASTERING, to attack violently, assault.

Clever – displaying sharp intelligence or MENTAL ALERTNESS, sly, cunning

 

Ummmm, wow again!

 

Our enemy is always secretly plotting to gain an advantage over us by employing military movements against us with the intention of concealing or distorting the truth for the purpose of misleading us!

 

His stratagem is meant to fool, trap and entice us with his crafty underhanded maneuvers. Cunningly crafty he is always waiting for just the right moment to attack us unexpectedly from a concealed position … encountering us with the intention of mastering us with sharp intelligence and mental alertness … just hoping we will let our guard down and not be sober minded enough to pick up on his trickery.

 

He is sly, cunning, and beguiling … and we had better be aware of how he particularly comes at us (whether it’s with fear, or anxiety, or anger, or arrogance, or lust, or jealousy, or envy, or selfish ambition), we need to know how he comes so we can stay alert and stand firm against him.

 

If we aren’t hip to his ways, and we are lax about putting our armor on daily, then we are those spiritual streakers who are his prime targets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be that kind of Christian!

 

Have you pondered lately what strategy the enemy uses in your life? If so, how do you guard against it?

 

May I encourage you to join me as we daily prepare for the battles we face by putting on our armor. Each piece not only protects us but it reminds us where the victory lies as we…

“…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 once our armor is in place we, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

 

I’d love to hear the difference you experience in the battles you face when you begin to arm yourself daily with spiritual armor.

 

Thanks for spending some time with me today!

Athena