- A free ezine for people who love
the Lord. Easy-to understand devotionals, testimonies, biblical
questions answered and resources to help you grow in the Lord.
Read the current issue at
Current Issues
To subscribe, send a blank email to: Subscribe
We’re caught in the middle of a heated battle between good and evil and though we know that God will be victorious in the end, we’ll need some heavy-duty weaponry to defend ourselves against the enemy spirit while we’re here on this earth. Sorry to say this, but being a believer in Christ Jesus does not automatically give us immunity from nightmares, feelings of guilt for sins long since forgiven by the Lord, feelings of
worthlessness, depression, anxiety, anger, or a whole host of other feelings that we can grapple with.
In full contact sports, such as boxing and martial arts, KO means Knock Out. In the following paragraphs, I’m going to show you how to put on your boxing gloves to Knock Out the enemy.
Knowledge: Know thy enemy. Forearmed is forewarned.
Knowledge is key seems pretty obvious; nonetheless, it's true. Knowing who and what the enemy is will make your battle that much easier. But how do we know the enemy?
Take my word for it, the devil is the master of deceit: he doesn’t operate overtly; he functions covertly. Genesis 3:1 tells us that the devil is subtler than any other beast of the field that the Lord created. His primary purpose is to sever our ties with the Lord: to drive us into hiding from Him and he loves to break our fellowship with one another, to split up our families and our marriages. The apostle Paul tells us that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Trust me, if he can swindle Eve, who saw God and had daily communion with Him, then he can deceive any one of us.
First Peter chapter five, verse eight proclaims: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Life is nothing but a jungle. Imagine for a moment that you're on a safari trip. You're walking along a long since worn trail with your companions and suddenly, seemingly from out of nowhere, a lion pounces on you.
SURPRISE!!!
That's the way the devil operates: he'll use anything to destroy us. When a little problem, a wrinkle in the fabric of life, crops up, we begin
to exaggerate that problem in our minds. Our spouses said something the wrong way, our husband forgot to take out the trash, bedtime was a bit of a battle, we've gained a miniscule amount of weight and now our husband/wife doesn't see us as attractive... you name it the devil will use it to make us give more attention to problems that aren't problems. Rather than let
whatever it is roll off our backs and trust God to take care of it, we give this tiny little insignificant problem
our undivided attention and turn it into the tallest mountain in the world.
Being only human, our first instinct is to run to a friend, to tell him or her all about it, and ask for advice. But that is a
major misstep. Here's why: if that friend doesn't like your spouse or isn’t a believer in Christ, he or she won't offer sound, Biblical advice,
and we will be misled. In our minds, the advice that we're getting from our friend will sound great
at the time, but it's probably not what God wants us to do. Whenever we face difficulties, we need to seek God’s counsel first and
do what He prompts us to do.
Know the Word of God intimately
The only way to know the Word of God is to read our Bibles on a daily basis. If we know the Word of God intimately, if we’re continuously seeking His face, we'll repel attacks from the enemy, nothing can come against us. When Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, Satan came against Him with temptations, but He shut the devil down with the Word of God; the sword of truth.
Ephesians 6:10-13 tells us to put on the whole amour of God so we can stand up against the devil. When we see that it’s raining outside, we’re going to grab an umbrella before we go out. Likewise, as a Christian, we should never go anywhere without the full armor of God.
Scratch that: we shouldn’t even get out of bed without first putting on the protective covering that the Lord gives us.
But what is the full armor of God?
The apostle Paul elaborates on the armor of God farther down in Ephesians chapter six, in verses 14-17. I’ll break each verse down and explain more fully what each one means.
Ephesians 6:14: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” Our faith in the Lord is our Salvation. The truth is that Jesus died on that cross and took the punishment for everyone’s sins, making every believer in Him righteous. Just like a soldier that is engaged in combat would wear a bulletproof vest, we should never be without our vest of righteousness. That breastplate of uprightness will never come off if we do our
level best to keep from sinning after accepting salvation.
Ephesians 6:15: “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Christ died for all of us. Stand firmly on the Word of God and your feet will never slip off the good path.
Ephesians 6:16: “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” As I said earlier, the fiery darts of the wicked one come at us from everywhere at once: one of our children is disobedient; our boss discriminates against us for no good reason; a car cuts us off, threatening to cause an accident; someone falsely accuses us of something; along with a whole host of other circumstances that the devil can and will use against us. As Christians, we need to pick up our shield of faith by turning to the Lord in prayer and then stepping back to allow Him to fight our battles for us. When David defeated Goliath with nothing more than a stone, the Lord allowed David victory because of his
faith in the Lord. David’s righteousness helped him defeat that six fingered, six toed giant. Likewise, our faith in the Lord
is our shield against the enemy.
Ephesians 6:17: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Word of God is our dagger against anything that comes against us.
Obedience: Another key to our success.
Regardless of whether you believe it or not, God's Word applies to us in the here and now. James 4:7 tells us that
if we're submitting to God and walking in obedience by resisting the devil, he
will flee. We obey the Lord by giving everything to Him, meaning that you give him your entire life, your possessions, job, body, spirit, soul and mind. We must obey Him fully, never shying away from what He calls us to do and not just heeding only the parts that we like.
As a Christian, a sure fire way to throw the doors wide open and invite demons into our lives
to attack us is by sinning against the Lord intentionally. The price for disobedience is high. If we defy God, He could remove His hand from us. Some of the intentional sins that we commit are adultery, murder, rape, having anything to do with new age stuff like fortune telling and reading tarot cards, playing with Ouija boards, even once, will give the devil a foothold in your life. Furthermore, when we became saved, God placed a hedge of protection around each of us and when we sin intentionally, we're telling God that we don't want His protection.
Bring every thought that comes into your mind into the obedience of Christ so you'll never be led astray or fall prey to devils. By not taking every thought captive to the Lord, we're
giving the enemy the advantage over us. If we covet, if we’re envious, jealous or deceitful—even just a tiny bit—refuse to forgive someone for past hurts or hold anger in our hearts then we’re giving evil spirits something to feed on. We’re giving the enemy a reason to hang on to us. If we don’t repent right away, strong holds can develop within our minds. Strongholds can interfere with normal thinking. Strongholds of the mind can make you believe something that simply isn’t real.
Remember: The Lord is stronger than anything. If you're walking in obedience to the Lord, Isaiah 54:17 says that no weapon used against you will prosper. Hold fast to this truth. Don’t ever let what’s going on around you distract you from seeking the face of the Lord.
When Jesus died on that cross, He defeated evil; He defeated death. Let’s not walk in fear of the fiery darts that the enemy throws at us. If
we apply the formula for success against the enemy: (KO) Knowledge and Obedience, God will keep our feet sure on that narrow path that
will lead us straight to heaven.
Free Christian Books...
yes, they're really free, no strings attached.
Get Quick Answers To Your Burning Questions About God free!
><> Are you witnessing to an unbeliever
or are you seeking God and need some super duper quick answers
about God and Jesus... like yesterday?
Get The Bossy Church Lady's Take On The End Times FREE!
><> Curious about what the end times prophecies mean? Want to know
what's going to happen during the dreaded tribulation?
If you’re looking for a book that will take you by the hand and instruct you in the ways of
God for FREE then The Bossy Church Lady’s Official Guide For New Christians: 6 Days
To Knowing All About God is for you!
