It's Not About Flesh And Blood

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:12

In today’s focus verse we learn to important things that we must not only understand, but carry with us daily… The first lesson is that upon this earth we will wrestle… There is a battle that takes place daily, the problem is that it comes in many forms… Laziness (a desire not to get up or go to work), jealousy (a desire to have what others have obtained) and malice (hatred, spite or cruelty) which will cause us to be nasty to people or disrespectful just to name a few… Know that battles are at your door and sometimes have already invaded your house… You must follow the guidelines that are outlined in this letter to the church of Ephesus… Paul teaches us in the verse that precedes this one that we are to put on the full amour of God… After instructing us about the importance of being prepared he goes on in today’s focus verse to explain why we need to equip ourselves… Again, whether we recognize it or not, daily we are at war within ourselves and our societies…  We see many young men and women becoming chalk outlines, many kids having kids and more and more decisions being made that lead to catastrophic outcomes… To understand the war that we are fighting (this is the second lesson that we must learn and comprehend), we must understand who the enemy really is… 

When someone commits a heinous crime we are quick to pass judgment, but the truth of the matter is that we should be praying for that individual to be released from the bondage of evil that has taken His life captive… This war that we are fighting isn’t about the flesh; it’s not about what you see but about the motives and where the decisions are derived from… Jesus taught that we are to love the sinner and not the sin… There are so many people that have been written off and pushed to the side instead of lifted up and laid before Christ… Paul reminds us today that As Christians, we are taught to love the sinner, but hate the sin. We must remember that evil comes in many forms in fashions (a wolf and sheep’s clothing) and that it is seeking whomever it can devour… Paul wrote in his letter to Rome that we aren’t to retaliate toward evil deeds, but that we are to overcome evil with good… Romans 12:20 says, “On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Paul’s message was that we cannot allow the devil to manipulate situations and cause us to fall short… When we look beyond faults and wrongdoings we are allowing God’s love and compassion to enter in and manifest it self… It is so easy to give someone a piece of our mind when they have heart us and this is the war that Paul is speaking of today… Coals are used to mold things and remove impurities from jewelry… 

Often times we are compared to gold and therefore subject to the refiner’s fire… When we extend a hand of love instead of a hand of hate, we reap coals on the person who has wronged us and those coals create the foundation for purification and molding in their lives…  Everyday that you are privileged to see is another day in the war for your soul… The devil will come in many forms; he could try you in the form of a financial hardship, losing a relationship or simply inflecting strife into your life; however, understand that none of these scenarios are focused on physical challenges… The storms your face test your faith, your mental toughness and emotions… Paul reminds us to be mindful of the situations around us, but to also remember that it isn’t about what we see on the surface… A lot of people look at what happened with Job and all the riches he lost; however, many people feel to realize when the devil actually stepped into his life… Job had lost everything and then his wife told him to curse God and die… The physical things that we see on the surface of Job’s life weren’t the real problem, it was the decision to curse God or not… Paul’s letter speaks to us and Job’s situation confirms it… We wrestle not against the flesh (what we can see), but rather against the devil and all the traps that aren’t visible…

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!