A few months ago, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for my spiritual armor everyday. To my regret, I haven't been completely faithful in this. I've since came to a heart change, and now pray into this and put on my armor everyday. To quote a commercialized catchphrase, the origin of which currently escapes me, "Oh, what a relief it is!"
"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."
Ephesians 6:13-16
The truth is that God has equipped us with our spiritual armor since the time we first believed--and perhaps before then, too. Heaven's reality says that our armor has been, is, and always will be in place. Why, then, do we need to constantly apply and reapply it? Why do we need to continually pray for something that has already been given to us?
The answer lies in renewing our minds. We need to come into agreement with God and the Light. Spiritually, we need to identify with Him. We need to clothe ourselves with His protective covering so that the enemy knows exactly who we belong to.
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." Job 1:10
God has done this. He has put our spiritual armor on for us. In today's terms, He has placed around us a forcefield of spiritual safety. If we forget these things, though, then we are at risk. There is power in our thoughts, and there is even more power in our words. We need both of these to agree with God. We need both of these to know what God has given us.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32
Jesus said that hearing the truth is not enough. We need to know it! We need to know it and agree with God. Once we come into His knowledge with renewed minds, that's when the truth is activated in this world. That's when we are able to be made free. Once we confess with our words and know in our hearts (Romans 10:9), that's when our spiritual armor becomes more of a reality than this present life.
So, we agree with God that we have on His Armor. We take up the shield of faith, and use it to deflect and deny every message that satan tries to send us. And we surround our heads--our minds-- with the helmet of salvation, which is the Word of God. We meditate on the Word and think about God and His faithfulness.
This is how we resist the enemy. This is how we never lose the joy of our salvation. This is how we position ourselves for going from Glory to Glory! He wants to keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and with this armor He's made a way. God never gives any promise that we are unable to fulfill.
Confirmed: Last Sunday a church friend was led to share with Vanessa and I the importance of putting on our spiritual armor every single day. That was God's reminder to me!
Confirmed: Another reminder came through Rick Warren's daily devotional. I'm no longer subscribed via email, but these devotionals still manage slip through to my inbox occasionally. God's timing is so perfect! I received one called, "Fighting the Enemies of Good Intentions". The pieces were put together for me. The enemies here are the devil and his spiritual forces. We fight them with God's armor! It is our spiritual armor that allows us to retain good intentions. It is God's protection that allows us to seek Him and stay covered. It is His Armor that equips us to fight the enemy's evil with good.
"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."
Ephesians 6:13-16
The truth is that God has equipped us with our spiritual armor since the time we first believed--and perhaps before then, too. Heaven's reality says that our armor has been, is, and always will be in place. Why, then, do we need to constantly apply and reapply it? Why do we need to continually pray for something that has already been given to us?
The answer lies in renewing our minds. We need to come into agreement with God and the Light. Spiritually, we need to identify with Him. We need to clothe ourselves with His protective covering so that the enemy knows exactly who we belong to.
“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." Job 1:10
God has done this. He has put our spiritual armor on for us. In today's terms, He has placed around us a forcefield of spiritual safety. If we forget these things, though, then we are at risk. There is power in our thoughts, and there is even more power in our words. We need both of these to agree with God. We need both of these to know what God has given us.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32
Jesus said that hearing the truth is not enough. We need to know it! We need to know it and agree with God. Once we come into His knowledge with renewed minds, that's when the truth is activated in this world. That's when we are able to be made free. Once we confess with our words and know in our hearts (Romans 10:9), that's when our spiritual armor becomes more of a reality than this present life.
So, we agree with God that we have on His Armor. We take up the shield of faith, and use it to deflect and deny every message that satan tries to send us. And we surround our heads--our minds-- with the helmet of salvation, which is the Word of God. We meditate on the Word and think about God and His faithfulness.
This is how we resist the enemy. This is how we never lose the joy of our salvation. This is how we position ourselves for going from Glory to Glory! He wants to keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and with this armor He's made a way. God never gives any promise that we are unable to fulfill.
Confirmed: Last Sunday a church friend was led to share with Vanessa and I the importance of putting on our spiritual armor every single day. That was God's reminder to me!
Confirmed: Another reminder came through Rick Warren's daily devotional. I'm no longer subscribed via email, but these devotionals still manage slip through to my inbox occasionally. God's timing is so perfect! I received one called, "Fighting the Enemies of Good Intentions". The pieces were put together for me. The enemies here are the devil and his spiritual forces. We fight them with God's armor! It is our spiritual armor that allows us to retain good intentions. It is God's protection that allows us to seek Him and stay covered. It is His Armor that equips us to fight the enemy's evil with good.
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