Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.”

Fighting against flesh and blood is a struggle we all face every single day. We fight against ourselves, against our passions, against our desires, and against our prior accomplishments. We strive, not only to outdo the others around us, but to outdo ourselves. This is not wrong and evil, it is a natural desire that God created in us. We desire to achieve and improve. We desire to create and to leave a mark. This all is part of who we are and is a driving force from the time we were born.

The problem comes when we begin to view ourselves and our flesh and blood as a problem. When we see sin in our lives, and then try to remove it. We wonder why the temptations, the problems, the sins do not go away. While Jesus spoke on sin and it’s effects (Mark 9:43) we see that we are told to remove the offending bodily member, or at least that is what it seems like. What Jesus said is that it is better to remove the sinning body part so that we do not continue sinning than to end up in Hell. This then is the principle that we must follow. Remove the root of the problem. Our struggle is not against our flesh, although the flesh is weak. Our struggle is against Satan and the principalities and powers of darkness. We then are called to stand firm in the glory that is God, in His power and might. We stand and pray, we set our standard and go to battle against Satan and his influences in our lives.

Our flesh is weak, and if we, without God’s assistance try to force our bodies, our minds, our strength, and our spirit (everything that should be dedicated to worshipping the Lord) to follow our will, to stop the fleshly desires, then we will surely fail. It is only with the assistance of God that we are able to move past ourselves. The fight to better ourselves, to improve our lives, to leave a mark of meaningfulness will only be won when we bring God’s strength against the putrid powers and principalities of Satan, the Great Deceiver.

We do not fight ourselves and our problems since that is, in effect, trying to cure the symptoms. Instead, we need to face the cause with the one thing strong enough, mighty enough, powerful enough, just enough, and merciful enough to overcome it – God.

We are not alone in our fight, God stands with us. The Lord is our defender and our provider. Let us, therefore, approach Him and request Him to help us. Let us pray that He will show us where we are being assaulted by Satan, the parts of our lives where we are being influenced by sin.

Sometimes we know we aren’t being real.
Then times, we just live by how we feel.
Is there some way we could ever deal with self?

Just by calling Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Every moment, each day!
Calling on the name of Jesus
We're finding is the way.
It's Jesus! Lord Jesus!