Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

The devotional reading for today titled Our Armor in Christ was written by Arthur Jackson.

Pastor Bailey's newfound friend shared with him the story of his abuse and addiction.

Though the young man was a believer in Jesus, because of his exposure to sexual abuse and pornography at an early age,

he was plagued with the problem that was bigger than he was, and in his desperation,

he reached out for help. As believers in Christ, we wage war with unseen forces of evil,

but we've been given weapons to fight our spiritual battles. They aren't the weapons of the world, however.

On the contrary, we've been given divine power to demolish strongholds.

What does that mean?

Strongholds are well-built, secure places.

Our God-given arms include weapons of righteousness in the right hand

for attack and the left hand for defense. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 13 through 18 expands the list of

things that help protect us, including the scriptures,

faith, salvation, prayer, and the support of other believers.

When faced with forces bigger and stronger than us,

appropriating these munitions can make the difference between standing and stumbling.

God also uses counselors and other professionals to help those who struggle with forces too big to tackle alone. The good news is that

in and through Jesus, we need not surrender when we struggle. We have the armor of God.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading

is from 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 through 6.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war,

as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary,

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