Ten Essentials for Standing Firm
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:10-12]
Hopefully, you have realized that I have been setting the foundation for you to have your best year ever in 2024. We talked about 3 keys to keeping our focus, we went over the 16 Foundational Biblical Doctrines, and we briefly talked about 15 changes we need to make. Now through the first months of this new year, we are going to go in detail through each of these concepts, and on Thursdays, we are going to be working through my book You Are Who God Says You Are to transform our thinking!!
One final thing we need to do is prepare ourselves and be ready for battle. We are going to pack our Ten Essentials and put on the full Armor of God so that no matter what happens we will not only be able to survive, but we be able to Stand Firm through 2024.
Are you familiar with the Ten Essentials? Well, the Ten Essentials are basic survival items that outdoor organizations recommend people pack when traveling into the backcountry. The original Ten Essentials list was assembled in the 1930s by The Mountaineers, a Seattle-based organization for climbers and outdoor adventurers.
The purpose of the Ten Essentials:
- Have specific items in our backpacks to respond positively to an accident or emergency on the trail.
- To have items in our packs in case we needed to spend a night or more in the backcountry and survive.
Several years ago, the Lord gave me the idea to utilize the ten essentials of the outdoors as symbols for the armor of God. So, I’m excited to finally be sharing this with you.
Make no mistake about it my dear friends, we are in a battle. Like never before are we up against evil rulers and true enemies. There are evil authorities in the spiritual world that we cannot see, and they are fighting with all they have because they know that we are in the last days.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
This scripture is real and so are the demonic forces all around us. Seriously take a look at what is going on with our economy, the border, our fluffy churches, transgender agenda, and all the lies from seriously evil people within our government. I do not want you to be deceived or duped into any more of their schemes and trust me, there are more coming.
However, it’s not only the outside forces that we need to fight. The biggest battle you are fighting is protecting yourself from being in a fluffy church, poor doctrine, or not hearing the full Word of God. These are the deceptive spirits and teachings that YOU MUST have protection from.
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. [1 Timothy 4:1-2]
Let me be honest again, you cannot live a Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit guiding you. This means you are living a transformed life. You are allowing the Holy Spirit to renew your mind so that you are not living like an unbeliever, you are living a holy life.
The bottom line is this; if you are not living this transformed life – you will not be able to stand firm. You can put on ten layers of armor and have all the ten essentials, but you will not survive. You will cave into worldly pleasures, and demonic schemes and follow deceptive spirits. Eventually, your conscience will become dead, and you will follow evil rulers and bow down (again) to anti-Christ authorities.
We are expected to withstand incredible pressures and not be defeated. We are not obligated to cave into demonic demands or anti-Christ directions or orders. We are to stand up against anything evil (not of God), against all anti-Christ spirits, and come out victorious. We are not to waver from one side to the other, be lukewarm, or be politically correct. We as TRUE believers are called to stand firm – and no matter what is thrown at us, we are to keep standing.
This is the battle that we are fighting my friend, we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers, authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
We have to be strong in the Lord, there is no other option if we want to survive. We must take on the mighty power He has given us.
Entering the battlefield naked is not an option! Just as Roman soldiers relied on physical armor for warfare, we MUST equip ourselves with our Spiritual Armor and the Ten Essentials to survive this war. The devil and his cronies are sneaking into every aspect of our lives YOU MUST BE AWARE AND PROTECTED.
We MUST put on all of God’s armor so that we will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil that we are going to face in 2024.
Girlfriends, grab your backpacks and join me on this empowering journey. Together, let’s equip ourselves with the complete armor and secure all ten essentials, ready to confront and overcome any wicked schemes that may stand before us!
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
[1 Corinthians 16:13]