Standing Firm - Protestant Caucus/Devotion

"Stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). Keep your spiritual armor on at all times.

Every battle has an offensive and defensive strategy. Paul outlines the Christian's offensive strategy in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Our defensive strategy is to rely on Christ's strength and put on our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-11). Paul was probably chained to a Roman soldier when he wrote to the Ephesians, so he had a ready illustration of spiritual armament at hand. But unlike Roman soldiers, who removed their armor when off duty, Christians must remain fully protected at all times. That thought is captured in the Greek word translated "put on" in Ephesians 6:11, which carries the idea of permanence—putting it on once and for all.

"Stand firm" in verse 11 translates a military term that speaks of holding your ground while under attack. When properly employed, your spiritual armor serves as a lifelong companion that enables you to fight against the forces of evil and do so without retreat. Just as Jesus personally instructed the churches in Thyatira and Philadelphia to hold fast until He returns (Rev. 2:25; 3:11), so He also instructs us to stand our ground without wavering.

Similar New Testament exhortations call us to hold fast to biblical truth (1 Cor. 15:2), to that which is good (1 Thess. 5:21), to our confidence in Christ (Heb. 4:6), and to our confession of faith (Heb. 4:14). Those are marks of a strong and stable believer against whom the schemes of Satan have little effect.

Is there an area of your Christian life in which you're not standing as firm as you should—perhaps prayer, Bible study, or personal ministry? If so, confess it to the Lord and begin to strengthen that area today. Don't give Satan a weakness to attack.

Amen, metmom.

Prayer For Courage To Stand Firm

Father, we live in a world where spiritual deception and a watered-down gospel is luring many good men and women away from the pure milk of the Word of God, and instead of drinking from the fountain of life, so many people are compromising their faith by drinking from the broken cisterns of the world. Give me resolute courage I pray, to stand fast in the evil day and endow me with boldness and sufficient strength, that only comes from You, so that I may remain firmly anchored to the unalterable and infallible Word of God.

Keep me I pray, from being lulled into a spiritual slumber or lured into compromising the gospel of truth, for the sake of an easy existence or a peaceful life. May I recognise that one of the enemy’s chief objective is to render the witness of Christians impotent, by diluting the message of the glorious gospel of grace and twisting its eternal truths. I pray that my mind may be protected day by day as it is washed in the cleansing power of the Word of Truth, and may I put on the whole armour of God so that I may stand firm in the evil day. In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen.

Source: https://prayer.knowing-jesus.com/prayer/prayer-for-courage-to-stand-firm-1279

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