Our struggle is not against flesh and blood

https://odb.org/2026/01/29/standing-strong

Ephesians 6:10–20 (NIV): 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Recently, my mom gave me a play-by-play of a surprising confrontation she saw on a live webcam feed from a watering hole in Africa. The Gemsbok, a large antelope, has horns that can be more than two feet long, making it a formidable animal that doesn’t seem to scare easily. That is, unless it comes across a group of brave and rowdy ostriches. The lead ostrich, which was taller than its foes, shook its large feathers, roared, and stomped toward three Gemsbok, causing them to flee. “I guess they didn’t realize how powerful their horns are,” I said to my mom. (Nancy Gavilanes, Our Daily Bread 29th January 2026)

In my view, Ephesians 6:11-12 is probably one of Paul’s most powerful of his revelational teachings. The world as we know it, is not all what it appears to be. There is another dimension that is invisible to the naked eye and yet we all know it exists. If we have ever interacted with others in society whether growing up or at work, we would have heard of ghost stories, of encounters with the spirit world. We know of people dabbling in the occultic. In fact, my maternal grandfather was directly involved in such practices having made his living as a Taoist spiritualist/medium.

But our Christian faith has two very distinctive beliefs when it comes to the unseen spiritual dimension. The first is that there is no such thing as communicating with the dead. The dead has departed from the world of the living and will remain where they are until judgment day. They no longer participate in the affairs of the living. We cannot therefore speak to them. What spiritualists do in communicating with the departed are familiar spirits who imitate but are not the dead themselves. Corollary to that, it is essential that we do what we need to do now while we still have breath, whether it is our salvation decision or our calling in God or our dreams and aspirations. Once we breathe our last, our spirit and soul will go back to God while our bodies will revert to earth from dust to dust.

The second thing is that our faith and belief in Christ makes us inherently powerful spiritual beings. The name of Jesus Christ our Lord is powerful in the face of demons and evil spirits of the spirit world. It is not as portrayed in the movies. We can cast out demons. Evil spirits will flee at the name of Jesus. We are actually like the Gemsbok against the Ostriches when we confront the spiritual dimension. We have the upper hand because of the blood of the Lamb. Paul teaches on the armour of God in Ephesians 6. Put on the armour of God and we will defeat the evil forces that attempt to create havoc in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Intercede and pray and we will see a breakthrough, in the natural and physical realms! God is all-powerful and He is with us like He was with Joshua and Caleb. Be bold and courageous in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour! Amen!