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. - Ephesians 6:12 


In this passage God grants us some insight on who the enemy is and how to deal with him.  Basically, the verse informs us that the enemies are not of this world, but are spiritual in nature and therefore we must combat them with spiritual weapons and defenses.  In brief these weapons include: the girt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. See, Ephesians 6:13-17.      

This verse is effective when contending with the adversary to perform the work of the Kingdom; it assumes however that as believers that we would be “wrestling.”  I believe that most Christians, in most churches, would have little use of this verse because they are not participating in the match.  A true testimony of most believers is that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, neither do we wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, nor spiritual wickedness in high places, for we wrestle not at all.”  

We don’t wrestle because we are dead spiritually but living well physically.  We have starved our spirits into a coma.  Our spirits get no nourishment because we have not the time to seek out the basic spiritual provisions required.  Our time, and hence our lives, are consumed with fulfilling the desires of the flesh.  We worship the god of our comfort and chase down the idle of the dollar.  We feed our flesh off a full diet of Hollywood and the academic elite and must needs attend some event or activity.  An event that your Saviour cannot attend because of his righteousness and holiness.  Oh how we glutton ourselves on what the temporal world provides to the exclusion of anything spiritual.  Please believer, redeem the time for the days are evil.  There is so much that we need to accomplish, so much work to be done.  We must begin now to wrestle. 

It will not be a match without struggles for the advisory is cunning and cruel and we are fat and out of shape, but our Saviour will carry the load if we will allow Him to and His yoke is easy.  And if we but abide at his feet, we will produce much fruit.  

There is a blessing we are missing individually and as a church that will only be had by entering into the wrestling match, but if we are willing to toil through the night and let not go, we will be blessed as Jacob was and we will make good use of the tools God provided for our protection and profit.  

Let us pray!  We should pray that God would give us the desire to desire to know Him above all else; that we would want to spend time in prayer with our Abba Father as loving children.  Without that God given desire our hope is hopeless.  We must also pray that God would enable us to pray in faith for we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit will intercede if we allow Him to.  Finally, we should pray for each other so that in the match, none of us will be without the aid of a brother.

Wrestle!              

palē

1) wrestling (a contest between two in which each endeavours to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck)

a) the term is transferred to the Christian's struggle with the power of evil

 

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Gen 32:24-26
 


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