Marilyn M​ars Ministries of Restoration​

Aspiring to reconcile to God by helping to restore a sense of divine identity, purpose, potential, and destiny; unearthing potential in every individual.

• For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12).
• Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
• Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6: 11-12)

"You need to know the rules of warfare. The first basic rule of any type of warfare, whether it be a spiritual warfare or a natural warfare, is to know your enemy. You need to know the function names of the demons who are out there, and it will give you a good head start, because their function names will tell you how they are “playing” the person who they are manipulating, along with providing you with clues as to what their legal rights may be on that person.."

Many of us are wondering why it is that there is no significant improvement in our lives even though we are making every effort to do what is right in the eyes of God. We as they say; take one step forward and two steps backward. All this is happening because there is some unseen force that is working against us to cause negatives situations to occur in our life.

We are a spiritual being living in a earthly body and we were created by God in His own image and likeness. He also blessed us to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moved upon the earth.

We were blessed in heavenly places to be the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 54:14). We were designed to prosper, to live in abundance and to progress in every aspect of our live. We were created with the authority and power to subdue, control and defeat every negativity in our life and the adversary which is Satan, the Devil, Beelzebub, or whatever name we call this enemy who is constantly in pursue of the children of God (1 Peter 5:8).

So what had happen, why are we unable to live up to these attributes? We are unable to live up and exercise this authority because we have forgotten or do not know who we are in God and the authority we possess. We have not follow the commandments, laws and statues that God told us in His Word. We took the free will that was given to us and decided to use it to walk in disobedience and defiance of God. Our ancestors had sinned against God causing curses to continue onto the third and fourth generations thereafter. Many of us are a part of that generation today. We ourselves have also cause curses to fall upon ourselves and our family due to our own disobedience.

How have we been disobedience? We have been disobedient by serving other gods. Anything that we have put above our Creator has become an idol or a god in our life, so we serve the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25) Because of our disobedience in following after God we have opened the door for the adversary to take a stand in our lives, and we have to be knowledgeable of the fact that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places; which are demonic forces whose agenda is to cause the destruction of man.

These demonic forces are monitoring our everyday life living and trying their best to cause us to fall into sin and destruction, that is why we need to be vigilant for our adversary - the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.(1Peter 5:8)

We must put on the whole armor of God, we must return to our Creator and serve Him in spirit and in truth, we must stand in our authority as Children of God, Citizens of the Kingdom of God, and joint heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

What is the Full Armor of God?

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.

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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. 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 saints.” --- Ephesians 6:10-18

The Belt Of Truth

This represents the Believer's Integrity - Soldiers in Paul's day had a leather girdle or belt that he tightened about his waist to protect his loins and carry his weapons of warfare, such as a dagger or sword. The belt also held his tunic together so it wouldn't be snagged. In Christian armor and in their life, it is integrity that holds everything else together. If you do not have integrity in the big and small things of your life, you are going to lose the battle. The enemy will defeat you because you would be of the same characteristic as he is - without integrity - a liar, with no strength greater than his.

Can people say that you are a woman or man of integrity? If not, then you cannot win the battle.

The Breastplate Of Righteousness

This represents the Believer's Purity - The breastplate of a soldier was sometimes made of woven chain and used to cover the soldier's vital organs. For the Christian, the breastplate is righteousness of the mind and body.

The enemy wants to attack you not only with lies, but also with impurity. He wants you to continue to read filthy magazines, watch immoral movies, speak immorally and engage in all temptations of the flesh, including sexual immoralities. The bottom line is that Satan wants to get into your heart and mind. He is always looking for a crack in your armor. And don't be fooled. Satan knows where that crack is. Is your heart pure before God, are you living pure? If not, then you cannot win the battle.

The Shoes Of Peace

This represents the Believer's Tranquility - A Roman soldier's would have hobnails on the sole, very much like football cleats because when they were fighting they needed solid footing from which to move.

Unless you have a solid footing of peace, you can never make war. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it? When Satan comes against your tranquility, he throws out stones and briars of doubts and discouragement to cause you to stumble, to disturb your peace, for the is the author of confusion. Do you have peace right now? If not, then you cannot win the battle.

The Shield Of Faith

This represents the Believer's Certainty - The Roman soldier's shield measured approximately two by four feet and was made of wood covered with leather. In that day, soldiers dipped arrows in oil, then lit them and shot them at the enemy. These shields were vital to protect the solider from getting burned.

Satan is going to fire flaming arrows of doubt at you. He wants to place subtle doubts in your mind about God and His Truth, he wants to make you forget the Word of God and not act on His promises. He knows a spark doubt can ignite a big fire of doubt in your mind about God. You will need to feed your faith and starve your doubts. Are there any seeds of doubt in your mind today? If there are, then you cannot win the battle.

The Helmet Of Salvation

This represents the Believer's Sanity - A soldier used a helmet to protect his head because if his head was wounded, he wouldn't be able to think. Every believer needs to have the mind of Christ under the control of Almighty God.

When a person is saved, for the first time he has his right mind. A person without the Spirit of God within has

a form of insanity, they behave and do anything that the carnal mind would have them do. without inhibition. They do not operate with the mind that God made them to have. The most important thing for you to have at

all times is an assurance of your salvation. Do you know that you are saved? If you aren't, then you cannot

win the battle.

Sword of the Spirit

This represents the Word of God - When we are tempted, the most effective weapon that God has given to us as believers is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Jesus modeled this so beautifully during His temptation in the wilderness. When the devil tried temptation after temptation against Him, Jesus used the sword of the Spirit. Jesus spoke the Word of God to Satan. In Luke 4:1-13, Jesus responded, “It is written,

‘You shall worship the Lord God only. Him only you shall serve.” and again brought the Scripture back into context, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

The sword of the Spirit works. Memorize Scripture and use the Word of God to defeat Satan's lies and attacks. Let him know that you know what you God say about the matter at hand. Do you know the Word of God?

If you don't, then you cannot win the battle.

God has a plan for our lives. The enemy has a plan for us too. We just have to decide which voice we’re going to listen to, and who we're going to choose to follow each day. And chances are, if we don't make a determined choice to follow God, we may eventually fall into the evil one’s trap. God gives specific instructions in his Word, he gives us all we need to stand strong in this life. Yet all too often we race through busy, full days, ill-equipped, unprepared, or simply not aware of what we’re up against, or who the real enemy even is.

If you're a believer living like salt and light (the salt of the earth and a light in the world) in this dark world, you won't go for long without encountering obstacles and attacks he'll hurl attacks straight in your direction. This battle is real, it’s intense, and you have to be ready.

Today let us focus on putting on the whole of His armor, staying alert, and praying, that God will equip believers everywhere to "stand strong."

Dear God,

We thank you that you hold the victory over sin and death in this world. We thank you that you came to set the captives free. We thank you for your redemptive work you’ve done in our lives. We thank you for freedom and the hope you bring.

We hold your Word of Truth as weapon against the enemy’s schemes, and proclaim he does not have authority over our lives for we’ve been set free. Give us wisdom and discernment to recognize his traps

and to stand strong against his work. Fill us fresh with the power of your Holy Spirit.

Today we put on the full armor to guard our lives against attack. We put on the belt of truth to protect against lies and deception. We put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect our hearts from the temptations we battle. We put the gospel of peace on our feet, so we’re ready to take your light wherever you send us this day. We choose to walk in the peace and freedom of your Spirit and not be overcome with fear and anxious thoughts. We take up your shield of faith that will extinguish all the darts and threats hurled our way by the enemy. We believe in your power to protect us and choose to trust in you. We put on the helmet of salvation, which covers our minds and thoughts, reminding us we are children of the day, forgiven, set free, saved by

the grace of Christ Jesus. We take up the sword of the Spirit, your very Word, the one offensive weapon given to us for battle, which has the power to demolish strongholds, alive, active, and sharper than any

double-edged sword.

We ask that you’d remind us to pray, constantly, for all believers. We ask for your help to stay alert in a dark world. We ask for your help to be salt and light, that we’d be loving and gracious, yet unyielding to sin.

We ask for your help in remembering to put on your full armor every day, for you give us all that we need to stand firm in this world. Forgive us God for the times we’ve been unprepared, too busy to care, or trying to

fight and wrestle in our own strength.

Thank you that we never fight alone, for you are constantly at work on our behalf, shielding, protecting, strengthening, exposing deeds of darkness, bringing to light what needs to be known, covering us from the cruel attacks we face even when we’re unaware.

We love you Lord, we need you today. In the Powerful Name of Jesus, Amen."

Remembering this day that the battle we face may be more about what is unseen than what we see before us. And when we resist the enemy, God's word tells us he has to flee. James 4:7.

Stand strong.

You're never alone.

“Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.”Deuteronomy 3:22.