Time To Get Dressed

"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 The Sword Of The Spirit, Which Is The Word Of God."

Ephesians 6:13-17

When this verse above was first mentioned to me, I admit to thinking I had to literally buy a suit of armor.

Clank around so I knew was protected, I have come a long way my friends. :)

Yes I am a dork...

I think "literally" when I hear something like "armor"...

Anyway, I am going to show you how to not only put on the full armor but to use it during your day so you are truly protected during any and all spiritual warfare you may come in contact with.

This way you will know how to come out victorious.

The Belt Of Truth:

The main weapon of attack from Satan is lies. His lies sound so truthful, however they are very dangerous to you as a servant of God.

He walks around just looking for a way to get in and destroy you...

Like a lion looking for prey.

Because we as a whole have become numb to sin, we don't even recognize it anymore.

So many things that used to be considered vial are now acceptable.

I am not a prude, by any measure, however even I am shocked at what I tolerate on a day to day basis.

Movies that promote violence, adultery, hate, racism etc...

Our children are no longer allowed to pray in school and you might just get hung (depending on where you live) if you even breathe the name of God out loud.

I am sorry but this isn't acceptable, this isn't how I want to raise my boys.

The only way to defeat these lies is God's truth.

Put on the Belt of Truth and turn away from the lies you have been fed.

The Holy Spirit, which lives within you will show you the truth no matter what circumstance you are in, just listen for His voice.

The Breastplate of Righteousness:

The breastplate is to guard your heart, the one place Satan loves to attack.

Your emotions, your feelings come from your heart and if he is able to get in and mess with those he is then able to mess with our lives.

By stirring up the emotions, he is taking you from Him, making you question your worthiness, thus making you a less effective servant of God, which is his goal.

When we feel unworthy, we are more prone to sin, we sin more, we fall further away from God...

It is a vicious cycle to be in.

You have to guard the righteousness He has given you in order for your breastplate to become stronger.

If your breastplate isn't strong and your heart takes a direct hit, you are then susceptible to temptation...

Don't give in, allow the temptations to build up your breastplate, with the full knowledge that God will never allow us to be tempted more than we can handle...

If cracks start to appear or your breastplate seems to be giving out, call to Him, He will show you a way out.

Shoes of Peace (Preparation for Gospel of Peace):

I know those shoes are hideous and I personally wanted to use a picture of black combat boots, however the voice of reason told me I needed to keep within what may have been worn back when this Scripture was written.

The Shoes of Peace are an important piece of the Armor that you put on each day.

The Gospel is a source of comfort in times of need, a source of joy in happy times, a source of hope in times of despair, the source of all the peace you seek can be found within the pages of His word.

To have true peace with our Father, we should be walking towards Him and running away from the sins of our past.

The Shield of Faith:

Out of all the armor I think this one is my favorite, especially since I deal with the "fiery darts" all the time and I am only now beginning to understand how to deflect them.

Satan uses arrows of discouragement, hate, insults, lies, doubts, fears, temptations etc...

We use the shield to block these arrows, to hide behind the shield knowing God is in control no matter how many arrows come your way.

When you reach the end of your rope, you have two choices, to trust yourself to continue on or to trust in Him to carry you through.

The trying of your Faith (your shield under attack) will allow you to learn patience.

The Helmet of Salvation:

This is something I am in dire need of, protection of the mind...

Satan can't force you to commit sin, instead he uses different tactics to get you to see that "sin" is better than what you are doing...

Your mind is what will decide if you commit that specific sin or not.

Jesus is the author of our Faith, our minds put it into action.

If we choose to live in sin, we are then mastered by Satan and our own evil wishes and desires.

The tactics Satan uses against us are designed to weaken our Faith...

He uses carnal temptations to lure you to his side...

Money, pride, sexual temptations etc...

He will do anything in his power to poison your mind and blind you to the truth.

The Helmet of Salvation is designed to give you peace from God which happens when you are focused on Him and not the world around you.

The Sword of the Spirit:

The Sword is formed by speaking His word.

Praying His word.

Singing His word.

Answering questions based on His word.

To use the Sword, you have to know the Bible as well as the context from where it was taken...

To know the Bible, you have to actually open it and read it, meditate on it and memorize it...

I pick out certain verses that sometimes are really short, however pertain to what I am needing that day...

You need to program your mind with His word and I will be the first to admit it isn't easy...

I can hear a song on the radio once and the next time it is on, I can sing it (scary I know)almost word for word...

I can't understand why Scripture gives me such a hard time, however that is a different post...

The Armor of God is based on Faith, Belief, Truth, Righteousness, Peace...

All things that each of us could probably use a little more of.

REVIVE
Don't Look Anywhere Else For Life
Don't Look Anywhere Else For Meaning
There's Nowhere Else To Find
Your Peace Of Mind
Cause I'm All You Need
And I'm All Yours