Throughout the God's Armament series thus
far, we have been looking at the difference between the weapons of this
world and God's Armament. We have also seen that God's weapons are
designed to fight ... not physical danger, but the dangers of a far
worse kind: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God..." (2 Cor. 10:5 NIV); and "For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12 NIV).
But are these really formidable enemies? Do we
really need all of God's armament against spiritual forces in the
heavenly realms?
I will start off by answering that question
with a big, fat, YES!!!
I know this firsthand. My own dear brother
didn't bother with God's Armament, and his very sad story shows how one
little indiscretion can lead to a total downfall. My brother is now
buried in the ground, but he truly should still be alive today. This is
a hard story for me to share, but I feel it is necessary to demonstrate
just how dangerous it is to go unprotected into the world...
My brother, Jimmy, was about 5 years older
than me. Despite the difference in age, he was a good friend when we
were young, and I loved him. Whenever he was around, I was happy.
My best memory of my brother is when he wrote
stories for me. He invented a fictional character, Mr. Smith, and he
wrote about Mr. Smith's adventures. He would read these to me after we
were supposed to be in bed, and it made me feel important. Of course we
weren't supposed to be up talking and laughing after bedtime, and
sometimes our mother would come into the room with a wooden spoon. She
would discipline us with that spoon. She never spanked us hard, because
if she did, the spoon would break and that made us laugh even harder. I
will always remember the adventures of Mr. Smith, but I will especially
always remember how special it made me feel to have my big brother write
them just for...me!
Because he was older, he was allowed to do
certain things that I wasn't allowed to do. For example, he was allowed
to go out into the streets unaccompanied by my parents. I had no idea
what he did there, for he never said.
After graduating from high school, Jimmy
decided to pursue studies in Ghent to be an architect. I missed him
while he was away.
All in all, I would describe our family as an
ordinary Belgian family, but it was truly a special family, made so
especially by my best friend, my big brother, Jimmy.
Unfortunately, those were the best of times.
Things were about to change, and since Jimmy would go on to refuse God's
armament, my heart would break. But that is Friday's story...
Please Join us on Friday for God's Armament,
Part 10, to see how, if left unprotected, an ordinary family and a
loving big brother can be completely changed.
Rob Chaffart