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Let us begin our meditation from Ephesians 6:10-18. The Bible says: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” There is a very strong tendency at times to want to trust or rely on oneself or in other persons, rather than relying on God. God has made us to absolutely depend on Him and not ourselves. There is a reason why the Scripture says to trust in the Lord in Proverbs 3:5-6. It says: “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” The reason is because there are times when your own strength or understanding may not be able to take you through certain terrain, you simply need the help of God in those instances to come through for you.
Listen to Podcast: How To Equip Yourself for The New Year
The truth is, no matter how knowledgeable you are, no matter how powerful, how handsome or beautiful you may be, if you are at the bank of a river, a very massive river, and you need to get to the other side of it, and you cannot swim, you would definitely need the help of someone, either a professional swimmer or a speedboat to ferry you to the other side. Even though you have strength in yourself, and you have understanding, but you cannot simply swim. Your strength at times may fail you, your understanding at times may not amount to much in the face of certain challenges that comes your way.
In Psalm 20:7-8, David said: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright.” So, the starting point in equipping yourself is by putting your trust in the Lord. Let me read two more Scriptures to us on this particular notes. 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 and Jeremiah 17:5-8. The Bible says:
“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Verse 11 says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” One sure way to fight the devil is not by engaging him in a physical fight. The devil is a spirit and so, you don’t fight him physically. Most of the times when we are fighting the devil, what we are fighting with are his wiles. The devil’s number one weapon is deception. In John 8:44, Jesus showed us the nature of the devil. It says: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
The devil is a trickster. The moment you can withstand his wiles, his deceptions, and his many tricks, he will definitely leave you alone, at least, for a season. In Luke 4, we saw how he came at Jesus with so many temptations and tricks to make Him lose his Sonship and get Him distracted. But Jesus was able to withstand him by a SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD OF GOD. When the devil comes at you with his wiles, you need a superior knowledge of the word of God to confront Him. 2 Peter 3:17-18 says: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” So, escaping the trickery of Satan requires that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of God. You must need arm yourself with the word of God.
Verse 12 says: “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 the heavenly places.” This verse shows us that inherent in the believers’ portfolio here on earth is a fight to be fought. Every believer is called into spiritual warfare. Now, it is not a kind of fight that we cannot win, lest we begin to get afraid that we are going to lose. It is a fight that Christ has won for us already, BUT WE MUST CONTINUE TO DEFEND OUR TITLE. Christ has won the victory for us by His death and resurrection, but we must continue to defend that victory if we are still going to be relevant in the scheme of things.
Any athlete that is at the top of his profession wants to continue to play and remain at the top of that profession. A heavy weight boxing champion would continue to fight to defend that title until he can no longer fight. The reason he keeps fighting is not because he does not have the title, but that he must continue to fight to defend it simply because there are contenders that are also eyeing that position, he is currently occupying.
Christ has won the victory for us; we are victorious in His finished works. However, the devil is always planning that this victory is short-lived. His fight and antics against the believer are so that they can lose their place in the scheme of God’s agenda for their lives. And that is why verse 13 says: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Verse 14-18 says: “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which, you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”
Inherent in these verses are eight major things that are essential in equipping ourselves for the New Year: Truth, Righteousness, The Gospel, Faith, salvation, sword of the Spirit, prayer and watchfulness.
Truth: You need the truth so that you won’t be swept away with the many lies that will be associated with the new year. Many lies would be peddled from the pit of hell, but you knowing the truth would make you free (John 8:32). How do you know the truth? The answer is simple! It is by having a more robust and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ because He is the living truth. In John 14:6, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Also, in John 1:14, the Bible says: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” There is no way you would arm yourself with the truth and still walk in darkness. Jesus also said in John 8:12 that “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Righteousness: Righteousness is God’s benevolent gift to us because we did not reject the grace of God that came through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 tells us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)” Now, the essence of this righteousness is so that we can reign in life, and not walk in defeat. We are meant to reign in life and not be defeated. Revelations 5:10 shows us that Christ “Have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” So, when you walk in the consciousness of that righteousness come 2021, that means you are going to be walking in your dominion consciousness as a true son or daughter of the Most-High God.
The Gospel: The Gospel is the good news! And what is this good news? 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins (and therefore you don’t need to die again because of it or be held bound by it because Christ has fully paid the prize) according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…” So, that text says: “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…” meaning that you must be ready to spread this good news. Don’t let your new year be all about what God can give to you, let it also be about what you can do for God and the least you can do for Him is propagating the gospel of peace. Preach salvation to everyone around you, in your neighborhood, in your local government, and so on. Tell somebody about the love of the Father towards them.
Faith: You need to equip yourself with faith in the coming year. We will talk extensively about faith in the coming month by God’s help.
Sword of the Spirit: The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The word of God is a tool with which we can use to equip ourselves. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Your equipping isn’t complete for the New Year without the word of God to run with and to guide your life. It is not a good practice to go into the new year without a word from God that you will be running with. Habakkuk 2:1a says “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch what He will say to me…” If you are going to have your way prosperous in the New Year and record good success, you must make the word of God your companion. Joshua 1:8 says: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Prayer and Watchfulness: Colossians 4:2 says “Continue earnestly in prayer (in other words, prayer should be something that you do consistently and regularly), being vigilant in it with thanksgiving…” Your prayer life should not be something that is done once in a while, or something that is done when you go to church alone. Every child of God must have his or her personal prayer time with God, that is outside the regular prayer time we hold in our various meetings. In Mark 1:35, the Bible recorded how Jesus will rise very early in the morning to pray. It says: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” This should be our practice is children of God. We cannot afford to joke with our prayer life at any point in time. In Matthew 26:41, the Bible says “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That means failure to pray is an invitation to temptation. Failure to pray is giving Satan an entrance into our lives through temptation.
I pray the Lord will help us in Jesus’ name.
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
