As you look around now, you are at your computer and probably in a room or immediate environment that is peaceful… no immediate danger. My friends in the Middle East might have danger near, as might some of the rest of you. But the reality is, we are all in a spiritual war… the battlefield is the mind… the prize is our soul. The teams in this epic war are God vs. Satan. God wants us to be with Him forever, Satan wants to keep God from being glorified by having us. Satan wants to be worshiped as if he were God. You and me are the prizes, our eternal destination is at stake. I know who I want to win my soul.

Thankfully, God knows exactly what we will be facing, how Satan attacks, and, as always, provides armor and weapons for us to defend ourselves and march against and attack Satan. Our responsibility is to realize the war is happening whether we like it or not, and put on the armor and use it as it is intended.

In Ephesians, God, through Paul, sets the stage and describes the armor listed below. Now understood in Paul’s talking to Christians in this passage, that the primary defenses of salvation and and confession are already being utilized. Also, once saved(salvation), your soul is God’s and Satan can never win it back. So for you the war is won! Amen. But, we have battles everyday as Satan does not give up. Satan wants to disrupt your functioning so you don’t enjoy your relationship with God and you don’t let others know, through your actions or words, how fulfilling and powerful a relationship with God is.

Ephesians 6:10-20 – The Armor of God

The Belt of Truth – knowing, believing, and acting on the Word of God, The Holy Bible, being the Truth. The belt was the piece of Roman armor that held all the other pieces together, so also the Word is foundational to the spiritual armor.

The Breastplate of Righteousness – righteous living, meaning holy character and moral conduct. This isn’t just the big 10 Commandments, but also means your mental attitude in the little problems, irritations, and setbacks of everyday life. Obedience to the Truth of God’s Word, produces healthy living, keeps you out of sinful ways, maintains your direct fellowship with God, and keeps the Holy Spirit on the throne of your life and the main influencer of your mind and decisions.

The Shoes of Preparation of the Gospel of Peace – belief and definite assurance of the truth of the Gospel. This has many great aspects, these are just a few:

    1. Knowing that you are eternally God’s through your faith in Christ as your savior. Therefore, the war is won. Now you can have peace and freedom from fear and anxiety.
    1. God has power over death, eternal separation from Him, and anything else Satan will throw at us.
    1. God loves us so much and always fights for us.
    1. God always provides answers for our problems, just like He did by sending His son to save us from our biggest problem.
    1. Preparation gives confidence to be bold and attack by witnessing the gospel to others in both telling others and Godly deeds of service in His name.

Shield of Faith – faith is believing His promises, character, and teachings to be definitely true. We intellectually believe them but in the little details and situations of life, we often act as if another reality exists. Really believe God is who He says He is and will make good on His promises in the Bible.

Helmet of Salvation – again, being secure in our eternal relationship with God… He will not leave us, forgives us, and always is coming towards us. Even though Satan tries to trick us into thinking we are failures, worthless, hopeless, messed up, blew God off way too much, too despicable, God sees us through the lenses of Jesus’ substitution and sacrifice for our sins. God sees us as pure and eternally His child. “No power of hell or scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand.”

Sword of the Spirit – the sword is the Bible. This is different than the belt of truth. Here, God and Paul are talking about not the whole Bible, but knowing, understanding specific parts of the Bible and applying them specifically to our lives. Obviously, we need to have a thorough awareness of the Bible. Reading daily and practicing the teachings…. this is the training or boot camp portion of being a soldier. Daily conditioning, practice, and tutoring from the Word through the Holy Spirit.

Equipping ourselves with this supernatural armor… to put it on, strengthen it, and use it effectively and maximally, requires intentional decisions and actions on our part. We often get lazy, complacent, take certain basic or important things for granted, but please don’t fall into that trap with the armor. Armoring up every morning to defend you against the evil things of the world and allow you to attack and advance against evil, needs to be an integral and routine part of your day. They enemy won’t take a day off. God is always helping and providing. That means your decision to put on the armor or leave yourself defenseless and vulnerable is crucial to your well-being, growth, and joy in this world.

Prayer – not part of the list of armor that Paul gives, but in verse 18, the thread that ties all these together. Having continuous communication with God implies that you are saved (born again, have eternal salvation), and have confessed any sins since your last confession. You are in the mindset of realizing who God really is, what He has done for you, and can pursue and integrate the armor together. this way they aren’t just random and disconnected pieces of armor. They are meant to integrate into each other with a synergy that is truly supernatural in power.

The regularity of putting on the armor, using it, and strengthening it will grow you spiritually and also be a measurement of how spiritually mature you actually are.

Prepare for Victory!

by HIS grace,
The Lighthouse Network Team

 

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