Benjamin H. Woodcox - Prepare for War!: Put on the Full Armor of God

PREPARE
for
WAR!

Put on the Full Armor of God

BENJAMIN H. WOODCOX

Copyright 2017 Benjamin H. Woodcox.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 (866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0036-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0038-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0037-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017913072

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/05/2017

Contents

For my friends and family.

It is my prayer you run the race with endurance

keeping your eyes fixed firmly upon Jesus,

the author and finisher of our faith !

Be Strong!

Be strong in the Lord and the Power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Stand therefor, having girded your waist with truth [prepared for wararmed with truththy word is truth], having put on the breastplate of righteousness [Christ is our righteousnessstand on and for his righteousness], and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [proclaiming the gospel as we go!]; above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one [soaked in the word as waterprepared and actively defending against temptation/lies/schemes of the enemy]. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. (Eph. 6:1018)

1
PREPARE FOR WAR
BELT OF TRUTH

Ephesians 6:1020

The morning started normal enoughpretty uneventful, actually. On top of this, it was not yet 8:00 a.m., and the temperature was already a comforting seventy-three degrees. Except for the occasional cloud, skies were clear. All in all, it was starting off to be a beautiful day. Little did those at the US naval base at Pearl Harbor know this morning was about to take a terrible turn.

At approximately 7:53 a.m. the quiet morning skies were suddenly pierced with the sound of fighter planes entering the air over the base. Before this surprise attack on the morning of December 7, 1941, would cease, all eight US Navy battleships housed here would be damaged, with five completely sunk, 188 US aircraft destroyed, and 2,403 Americans would lose their lives, with another 1,178 wounded. When it was all said and done, 350 fighter planes attacked the base over a two-hour period, catching them unprepared.

Obviously, if they had known the enemys plans, they would have been prepared, and the results would have been much different. They had the means to defend themselves against an attack, and they would have! They would not have known and just sat and let the aggressor complete their assault unchallenged. As believers in Christ, we too must keep in mind that we similarly have an opponent that would like to catch us unaware and then ill-prepared to defend against his schemes. Knowing the enemy could attack anytime, as believers we must be prepared. We must heed the call of 1 Peter 5:8 to, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. May is a key word; we as believers have been given the armor and weapons to defend against the aggressor. We just need to put it on and be vigilant or watchful!

First and foremost, if you are on the side of Christ, you are on the winning side! There is a line in the book of Joel that flashes out as a stark warning. It is found in Joel 3:9 , and it is a directive really toward all, though it is ultimately fulfilled and only relevant to those who do not choose Christ as Lord. It is a call for the enemies of God to prepare themselves for war. The story of Joel, though, shows us that all of the efforts by the enemy are useless and futile; those who fight against God cannot win. Nahum 1:3 declares, The LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. Even when things seem out of control and chaotic, we know God has all things under control! And while in Christ we are on the winning side, we too must prepare for war, as the enemy will not leave us unchallenged. The enemy will engage us in a battle. Two areas need to be addressed in this battle: First, we need to consider the spiritual aspect. Ephesians 6:12 tells us, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Believers have a real spiritual enemy known as Satan, whose desire is to see you fall. John 10:10 says the enemy comes but to kill, steal, and destroy. This enemy has been around for a very long time and is very cunning, and he knows human nature and is good at setting traps for you. So while the battle is spiritual, the second area that needs to be addressed is our flesh.

The enemy uses our internal physical weaknesses to try to cause us to fall. As Galatians 5:17 lets us know, internally we have this flesh that wars against the Spirit. Additionally, Mark 7:2123 declares, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. It is these lusts of the flesh the enemy uses against us in his spiritual attacks. He schemes to try to bring destruction into your life, be it through debt, drugs, alcohol, lust, negativity, lying, or stealinghowever he can get to you. And if he can fight you on your terms and in your strength, he will win. Having said all this

We Prepare for War!

Scripture not only tells us we need to prepare but also how to prepare! Ephesians 6:10 instructs us, Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Then we are told how to obtain His might in verse 11: by putting on the whole armor of God. And He gives us His Holy Spirit to make it all possible! It is in following the instructions in Ephesians 6 that we put on the strength of God. In being armed with His power, we are guaranteed victoryfor He has already won the battle for us. God knows what it takes to defeat the enemy. He has given us all the necessary instructions so that we might overcome the enemy and to then live a victorious life. In Him, we truly are more than conquerors; we need only to walk in the victory of Christ!