There was once a young man who stood in the shadow of a great leader. When that leader passed away, it fell to his young apprentice to pick up the reins of leadership. As he did so, he understandably faced his circumstances with a certain amount of doubts and fears. Then, someone encouraged him to be strong and exhibit courage because God would enable him. The leader was Moses, his apprentice was Joshua, and the encourager was the Lord Himself (Joshua 1:1-9).
Likewise, God challenges believers in the Dispensation of Grace to be strong. Paul told grace believers, “…quit (or act manly) you like men, be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13) and to “…be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). We must not cower in fear of, nor surrender to, Satan who is waging spiritual warfare against us. We must be strong! We can do so by remembering God’s power is available to us. Paul prayed that the saints would comprehend “…the exceeding greatness of His power (that is available) to us-ward who believe…” (Ephesians 1:19). The Lord offers us His power, and He wants us to have it. Believe it! Access God’s power “…by His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). We can never triumph over Satan in our own strength, but we can find victory when we allow God’s power to flow in our lives, in our inner man. Nourish your inner “new man” in Christ! Our inner man is empowered by equipping ourselves with “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11). This can be summarized by choosing to have a consistent daily walk in: truthfulness and righteous behavior as our standard (vs. 14), always being prepared to give the gospel (vs. 15), protecting our minds through an unmovable faith in God’s Word (vs. 16), living in the confidence of our eternal victory (vs. 17), using the Scriptures to slice through Satan’s lies (vs. 17), and being constant in prayer (vs. 18). Be vigilant in clothing yourself with apparel that enables you to have victory in your daily life!
Paul’s admonition is this: “…and having done all to stand, stand therefore…” (Ephesians 6:13-14). Have you done all you need to do to stand victorious today? Are you remembering that God’s power is available to you? Have you been spiritually strengthening your inner man? Will you consistently equip your soul with the whole armor of God? Be strong, believer! God will enable you if you look to Him for His power to overcome whatever you face today.