We know, because Jesus told us, that we will have troubles and trial in this world as Christians. We will face many battles. But fortunately for us, God does not leave us to fight our battles alone. He has given us the weapons we need to fight these battles. The full armor of God is our strength in battle - strength that is not our own, but His. With the weapons He provides, we can not only endure, but emerge vistorious!

There are a couple things we need to remember about battles. First, our battles are not against flesh and blood. (Ephesians 6:12) We will never prevail with human weapons. The arm of flesh will fail us, every time.

Second, remember battles are not punishment from God; they are essential in the life of a believer. There are some lessons we can only learn in the midst of the struggle. It is our battles that make us stronger. And what we learn from our own battles is what we can use to help other believers in the midst of theirs.

In order to win in our battles, we must first put on the FULL armor of God. This is not optional. Nor is it cafeteria-style, we cannot pick and choose which pieces we will need. Battle gear is designed to be worn together and work together, each fulfilling it's own role, and each helping the other be stronger as well.

And we must not only put on the full armor of God, we must put it all on in PREPARATION for battle. We cannot wait until the battle is upon us to get dressed for it. Every morning when we get up, we have no idea what we will face before that day is over, so it behooves us to be prepared.

God is a warrior! (See Ex. 15:3, Psalms 24:8) He knows a thing or two about battle - and He has never been defeated! Our weapons will fail us: our pride, our own strength, our abilities, our own knowledge- we can trust in none of these things. But God's armor is battle-proven, reliable, and trustworthy! We can trust in it completely, because He is trustworthy!