THE d-evils ARSENAL vs GOD'S WEAPONRY

 Greetings and Salutations O Ye Warriors.

As we walk out our sojourn with the Lord...enjoying the blessings of God in our lives...the birds are singing...the sun is shining...life is bliss...THAT IS...until the ENEMY ATTACKS.  When people try to convince other people to come to the Lord...they sometimes get exuberant in their advertising...and say something like..."Come to the Lord and ALL of your problems will be over."  Now that sounds good... but in reality...when you come to the Lord...you are enlisting in a war.  The battle is on...and while your life will definitely change for the better...things may get worse in someways. WHY?  Because there is a d-evil (little d...he does not deserve capitalization)...and he is out to steal, kill, destroy...and you are a prime target.  The question is...what kinds of weapons does he have and what kinds of weapons do we have?  FEAR NOT...God has not left us unprotected.


"Finally, BE STRONG...IN THE LORD, and IN THE STRENGTH OF HIS MIGHT. Put on the FULL ARMOR OF GOD...that you may be able to  STAND FIRM against the SCHEMES OF THE d-evil.  For our STRUGGLE is not against FLESH AND BLOOD...but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:10-13)

One of the biggest weapons that the devil uses...is DISTRACTION and MISDIRECTION.  If he (little h) can convince you that the enemy to fight is made out of flesh and blood...he can continue to attack you without you even knowing it is him (little h) doing the attacking.

"For though we walk [live] IN THE FLESH, we are not carrying on OUR WARFARE according to THE FLESH and using MERE HUMAN WEAPONS." (II Corinthians 10:3) 

For me...this is KEY to understanding the concept of the war and our enemies and our weaponry.  We are NOT limited to MERE human weapons.  Ever since THE FALL IN THE GARDEN (Genesis 3) and the AFTERMATH of that fall...weapons have ranged from rocks to swords, to sharp pointed sticks...to boiling cauldrons of oil, to bows and arrows to knives to single shot guns, shotguns, rifles, bombs, atom bombs, submachine guns, throwing stars, nun chucks...and on and on.   All of these (plus anything else you can add to the list)...things falls into the category of MERE HUMAN WEAPONS...that we struggle with against FLESH AND BLOOD.  Even in the world of KARATE...which simply means EMPTY HAND...where we have NINE WEAPONS at our disposal...including 2 feet, two knees, two elbows, two hands and one head would fall into the MERE HUMAN WEAPONS category.  Well...what does the d-evil use...and what do we have to combat the ARSENAL of the d-evil?

This Ruminator Rambling was spawned by the Rambling preceding this one called OPPORTUNITY: The World, The Flesh, The d-evil.  It was speaking of the schemes against us and go me to thinking about what the d-evil uses to bring us down. 

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification], and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the [boastful]  pride of life [assurance of one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]--these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself]. (I John 2:16)

NOTE:  Seeing this picture of an Atom Bomb blast reminds me of my dad.  He would pronounce this an Atom Bum.  I would respond back to him in a typical smart mouth teenage fashion..."An atomic BUM!?!?  What is that...a NUCLEAR HOBO????"  He was not amused.  I miss you Dad.

The d-evil tactics and arsenal is more subtle.  He does not start out...getting in your face and telling you how terrible he is and how he is going to bring you down. 

"And no wonder, for even satan (little s) DISGUISES himself as an ANGEL OF LIGHT."
(II Corinthians 11:14)

In the Garden...he approaches Eve...and begins the ATTACK.by throwing out DOUBT..."Indeed, has God said..." (Genesis 3:1)  Then he proceeds by presenting God as a liar (in reality he...the d-evil is the father of all lies)..."You surely shall not die." (Genesis 3:4)  (Even though God said she would).  Then he presents God as withholding something good from her. "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD...knowing God and evil." (Genesis 3:5)  Here the serpent...the d-evil...the deceiver...the angel of light...employs the trifecta of temptation...(1) the lust of the eyes (2) the lust of the eyes (3) the boastful pride of life.

Once he gets your defenses down...then you will be open to his other weapons of mass spiritual destruction (W.M.S.D.)

One of his favorite tools to bring you down is DISCOURAGEMENT.  If he can get you down...where you have lost your COURAGE...your MIND SET will be on the things of the FLESH (where our struggle is not).  "For the MIND SET on the FLESH is DEATH..." (Romans 8:6)  After he wears you down with DISCOURAGEMENT...he throws the counter punch of HOPELESSNESS.  Hope is CONFIDENT EXPECTATION...and without HOPE...you have NO EXPECTATIONS for anything good to take place in your life.  If the devil can get in your MIND...and discourage you and rob you of hope...you will be WALKING IN THE FLESH...and not IN THE SPIRIT.  We are called to WALK BY FAITH...and not BY SIGHT. (II Corinthians 5:7)  Walk in the FLESH...you will constantly be fighting FLESH and BLOOD...and constantly losing the battles.  In the Book of Joshua...in chapter one...we are told in multiple places to BE STRONG...and be VERY COURAGEOUS versus being WEAK and VERY DISCOURAGED.

"Have I not commanded you?  Be STRONG and COURAGEOUS!  Do not TREMBLE or BE DISMAYED, for THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO." (Joshua 1:9)

The d-evil will use distractions of everything from sickness, disease, poverty, world events, economy, wars and rumors of war, religion, atheist, humanism (worship of humans), intellectualism (worship of your mind) unanswered prayers, loved ones, hate for people of other colors or nationalities...anything to drain you of your faith and quench your spirit for the Lord.


Thank God that we are NOT left defenseless against the d-evil's attacks and his well orchestrated schemes against us.

"The grass withers...the flowers fade...BUT... the WORD of our God SHALL STAND FOREVER." (Isaiah 40:8)

"For the WEAPONS of our warfare are NOT physical (weapons of flesh and blood)...BUT... they are MIGHTY before God for the OVERTHROW and DESTRUCTION of STRONGHOLDS." (II Corinthians 10:4)

Our WEAPONRY starts with THE WORD OF GOD.  The hinge with Joshua and the possessors of the Promised Land in the face of enemies was THE WORD OF GOD...which would insure their prosperity and good success.

"This book of the law (the Word) shall not depart from your MOUTH...but you shall MEDITATE on it day and night...so that you may be careful to DO all that is written in it...for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8)

In the Ruminator Sunday School Class we quote often that..."Unrestrained THOUGHTS (what we THINK)...produces unrestrained WORDS (what we SAY)...resulting in unrestrained ACTIONS (what we DO)."

This would start with TAKING CAPTIVE the strongholds our thoughts. A stronghold is something that is holding you strongly.  If you thoughts are captive then you lose...if you captivate your thoughts...you win.

"[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purposes away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One." (II Corinthians 10:5)

In the karate class that I teach...I have the student grab my wrist.  They are in control...but with a flick and twist of my wrist...I have their wrist and I am in control.  Another thing that I do is have them grab my Gi (uniform) with both of their hands...once again they are in control.  But with a swoop of my arm and turning of my body...I entrap both of their arms and pull forward...I am in control.  So it is with this thing called captivity in the spirit...we can go from being captive to being the captor of the stronghold.

Another part of our weaponry...is FAITH.

"For we WALK BY FAITH [that is, we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by SIGHT or APPEARANCE." (II Corinthians 5:7)

This thing called FAITH...is something we walk by, live by, speak, have continually.  The d-evil would love for us to not have faith.  He knows that faith comes by HEARING...and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. (Romans 10:17)  He knows that if we regulate and conduct ourselves by FAITH that we would not be swayed by his distractions. The d-evil knows that if we have FAITH...that we will please God...by knowing that God is real...that we would come to God...that we would know that God is a rewarder and not a thief...and that we would not just passively inquire of God but that we would diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)

The key to this of course is MIND DWELLING.  Where you are DWELLING will be TELLING on your lips and in your actions.

"Finally brethren...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever I lovely, whatever is of a good report, if there is any excellence, and if anything is worthy of praise...LET/ALLOW YOUR MIND TO DWELL ON THESE THINGS." (Philippians 4:8)

Of course...our ultimate example of a Warrior is Jesus.  Remember that He was subjected to d-evil attack and dealt with him with spiritual weaponry.  Read Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-14 for full details.  Jesus had at His disposal and utilized:

1.  The Spirit of God.  He baptized in the Holy Spirit...was led about in the wilderness by the Spirit and  left the wilderness FULL OF THE SPIRIT. 

2.  The Word of God:  Jesus met each temptation with the Word of God...and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3..."Man shall not live by bread along...but by every THING that proceeds out of the mouth of God.  In the natural...words are nothing but breath driven thoughts...so it is with the Word of God...they are Spirit driven God thoughts.

3.  The Authority of God.  "Then Jesus said to him...BEGONE, SATAN." (Matthew 4:10) The cause and effect of the authority used..."Then the devil left Him..." (Matthew 4:11)

As we walk in the Word...as we renew our mind with the Word...as we speak the Word...as we exercise the delegated authority of the Word...we present the DUNAMIS...DYNAMIC ABILITY... the DYNAMITE and EXPLOSIVE POWER OF THE WORD.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Everything flows from the CROSS OF CHRIST...THE D.B.R...DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION OF JESUS...THE BLOOD OF JESUS AS THE PROPITIATION IN OUR PLACE AND OUR CONFESSION THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST ANOINTED WITH YOKE BREAKING BURDEN LIFTING OPPRESSION REMOVING HEALING POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST....THE LIVING SON OF GOD

This is but a thumbnail sketch of the AUTHORITATIVE WEAPONRY that we have at our disposal in this warfare...until He returns.  The sad thing is...when a believer has all at his disposal but does not utilize it...and lives not an abundant life.  When you have your priorities straight...spiritual first...flesh and blood secondary...you will be able to choose your battles effectively.

Love and Strong In Him Kisses
Rodney "Weak But He Is Strong" Boyd