Armour of God series

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.

Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood....our brother, our sister, our neighbor, our co-worker, our spouse... is not the enemy.   We must learn to look past the hostile behavior of people and begin to stand against the powers and wicked entities that are provoking the behavior.

When I hear the word "wiles," it usually conjures up images of the Road Runner and Wiley coyote.

That's not a bad thing if it helps keep me aware that my enemy is tirelessly hatching plots to destroy me--but all comparison should stop there, because no matter how hard Wiley Coyote tried to destroy Road Runner, he never succeeded.

On the other hand, our enemy, Satan, is very good at accomplishing the destruction he sets out to inflict upon anyone he can.

Methodeia (pronounced Method-i-ah --sound familiar?) is the Greek word translated "wiles" in Ephesians 6:11. Does it have a familiar ring to it? Does it sound anything like our english word method? 

Hmmm....

Combine that with trickery (part of the meaning of the Greek word “methodeia”), and we have a pretty good picture of an enemy who not only uses trickery to trap and destroy, but he is extremely organized and systematic about it as well. It is no hit and miss operation that he is running.

Because of that, we cannot afford to be laxidaisical in our attitudes about an enemy we are warned over and over in scripture to be vigilant against.

The studies in this section are designed to equip us to stand and fight victoriously against this intelligent, well organized, and powerful, spiritual enemy.

You won't find spiritual platitudes in this study. No feel good stuff. Instead, you may find yourself dealing uncomfortably with more reality than you are accustomed to or even planned on.

Persevere.

As the saying goes--no pain no gain--that is a very scriptural saying. It goes along with the scripture that tells us, "in much wisdom is much sorrow."