“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” Ephesians 6:10-14
You will notice in the verse above that we are exhorted to stand 4 times in regard to our walk with God and our resisting of the Devil. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are in a war in which the battle has been won already. The epistles show us that Satan was defeated at the cross but he is still around and will only finally be eradicated when he is thrown into the Lake of Fire after Jesus returns.
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:15
In the meantime, we are called to enforce Christ’s victory that He has won for us at the cross. We are not told to fight against Satan but to enforce the victory that has been won for us by standing on the truth and resisting the enemy.
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
We are told to stand in those ‘Evil Days’ and we all have them. Most days are great but there are days when we are under attack. Sometimes it can be through our own foolishness and other times we are just minding our own business when suddenly all hell breaks loose either in our minds or through people or circumstances around us. On these days we need to stand.
I look at our Christian life like a series of circles like steps or a ladder going upward. Let’s call them circles of blessing. It’s in that place we experience the love of God and enjoy the blessings. The Devil however doesn’t want us to enjoy all that God has given to us and tries to tempt us off that spot or push us off the upward ladder.
Jude 21 says that we are to keep ourselves in the love of God.
“keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Jude 21
Does that mean that God doesn’t love us on some days and does on others? No. It means that it requires skill to stay close to God with all the stuff that is being thrown at us. God’s love never fails and it’s as constant as the sun shining but all sorts of things come our way to try and convince us otherwise. It takes skill to keep yourself in the love of God, to keep believing He loves you even though friends forsake us and circumstances change. Our feelings change all the time and they can tell you that you must have done something wrong for this to happen to you or for you to feel the way you do. “You are not favoured by God anymore.” The Devil comes on that ‘Evil Day’ to wrestle you off your place of blessing, but you are told to stand.
“Wherefore take up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.” Ephesians 6:14
Whenever we get a new revelation from God it’s like a step higher up the ladder. The Spirit is always calling us higher up the mountain. The higher you are the greater the view, but the Devil doesn’t want us to be there. It’s where He used to be and he wants to steal it away from us.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
He can’t force us off but He can trick us into leaving with our own free will. He will lie to you and if you listen it will lead you down a slippery slope and hard to get back up again. This sort of thing happens in all the stages of our lives from being saved to being filled with the Spirit, used in healings and experiencing prosperity.
When it comes to healing we can soon see that it’s of God and the word is really clear about that. When you first see this truth it makes sense, it works and you wonder why you never saw it before. You get excited and share it with your friends. But be sure of this that the Devil will try and get you off that place of victory. Somehow he messes with your body and puts symptoms upon you that are contrary to what God says. This again is an evil day where Satan will try and wrestle you off your high place with God.
I have often found that after I have preached on healing the very next day symptoms come on me that I then need to resist. The Devil doesn’t want me to teach on it. He says “See it doesn’t work.”
The revelation we have on communion will be tested too. The power of praise will be tested also but you need to saturate yourself in the word and declare. “Let God be true and every man a liar.” We have to put God’s word first above all our feelings and circumstances, resisting the Devil. Standing on the word even though it doesn’t seem to be working anymore.
Satan wants you to back off and change your confession. Life and death are in the power of your tongue and he knows that. He knows that you can have what you say, so he wants you to say that it doesn’t work anymore. If you listen to him, you will stay the same most of your life or even go backwards. There is a song that we sing now in the Church that says. “I am who you say I am.” This is very true, but what God says and what we feel often contradict each other.
It is Christ’s desire for us to be conformed into His image, but for that to happen we need to get out there and stand. You need to take steps of faith higher up the mountain and stand. You could stay at home with your folks and live off them for most of your life but you will not grow stronger. I know that sometimes we are led to stay and support our loved ones but if in general we avoid life there is not much room for growth.
God’s plan is for you to stand on your own 2 feet as it were. In exercise if you have no opposition you don’t develop muscles. We need to harden up. “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”
If we let the Devil push us around we become 2 faced. One day we have one face and the next day we have another. In a sense we become unreliable. People will not feel safe with you if you keep changing, for when you are having a bad hair day you let everyone know it from your mouth. On the Evil Day you don’t change into faith mode and declare that you are all God says you are. Some Christians love letting you know when they are happy which is great but they also let you know when they are down, sad, sick, and troubled. In a sense they are wanting you to feel sorry for them. They can be happy and loving one day but the next day miserable and grumpy. They can be like a bicycle that has faulty brakes. Sometimes they work and other times they don’t. You can’t trust them.
On those Bad Hair Days, we need to stand against our feelings and not allow the Devil to cause us to have a knee jerk reaction to those attacks, by being rude, horrible, irritable, grumpy and angry. We need to learn to stand and consistently show love even when it hurts. We will eventually have what we say. Look at this verse. It’s of a person who has the world’s standard.
“Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.” Isaiah 36:6
My faith was tested awhile back. I was having some amazing times with God like I have never had before and I’m sure the Devil wasn’t liking it. He wanted me off that place of blessing. One day something happened and it saddened my heart and I couldn’t seem to get back into that place of release and victory. My first port of call in an Evil Day is to pray so I went on a prayer walk praying in tongues, but it didn’t seem to help. The next day I awoke feeling the same so I decided to have communion overlooking the sea while in New Plymouth. I find communion to be a very intimate experience now and enjoy His presence as I partake. I had prayed before I left “Lord let me see your face today and hear your voice.” Like the request of the Bride in the Song of Songs. As I looked out over the ocean there was a strange looking cloud all on its own. It morphed as I watched it and became like a hand giving the ‘V’ symbol. The symbol of victory Churchill used in the Battle of Britain. It reminded me of the verse.
“Blessed be God who always gives us the victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:57
I looked up some scriptures and when I looked back to the cloud it wasn’t there anymore, not even a trace – amazing. I asked to see His face and He answered me. I must say I still wasn’t feeling that great but determined to stand in this evil day. That night I got up and decided to shift to plan B and dance before the Lord like David did.
“At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:62
“ Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 113:1-3
It says how David praised God at midnight. Praise is the word ‘Hallal” from which we get the word Hallelujah. It means to flash forth light shine and rave, act foolishly like a madman. I danced around waving my arms and praising the Lord. I still didn’t feel it was enough and went to plan C and that was to shout. This is quite difficult in the middle of the night so I went outside to me car and shut myself in and shouted praise.
“Oh clap your hands, all ye peoples; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph. All people.” Psalm 47:1
The Hebrew word for shout is “Rua’ which means to raise a sound, shout a war cry, cry out. In the car no one could hear me except God and the forces of darkness. I then got out and danced around in the moon light. That fixed Him and I went to sleep in great peace.
We often read about dancing and shouting and designate that to pastors, Jews and extroverts, but it’s for all Christians. Praise the Lord (Hallal) you his servants; That means everyone, even you.
Are you one of His servants? If you want to rise up higher on the ladder you are going to need to be smarter and learn to stand in those evil days and not let the Devil push you around. The battle has been won for us already and all we need to do is enforce it, for the victory is ours so stand.