My ladies Bible study group has been doing a study by Priscilla Shirer on the Armor of God. Because we will be moving away (next week) I decided not to pay for the book. Having made that decision, I am studying the armour of God in other ways. He leads, I follow. It has actually been a pretty sweet deal for me, thus far God has shown me many interesting things.
Ephesians 6:10-19
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
Vs 10 to 12 are clear that we cannot fight this battle - and oh boy is it a battle - on our own strength. It is God's armour. Also, the devil in all his butt headed-ness is scheming. He literally is out for our destruction. What a butt. Seriously. But we CAN stand against it, with GOD'S STRENGTH AND MIGHT! Praise the Lord!
Vs 13 Gold! Let me repeat it for you... Therefore [what's it there for? Because we know the devil is plotting against you and wants to take you down] take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Verse 14 is where I want to park myself for a while (probably because that's as far as the study has gone so I have not done much more - yet!). We need to be standing, not sitting, not watching from afar. We are in a battle whether we want to acknowledge the reality or not. We can hang out in the field of complacency and the devil is totally cool with that. He doesn't want us growing, or listening, or fighting. He wants us to just block out any form of spiritual growth. In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us to move. Ephesians 5:1-2a Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love... Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called... Ephesians 5: 15 -16 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
We cannot sit on the sidelines and expect to win.
In our meeting time we talked about the belt of truth, but right now my focus is the breastplate of righteousness. So I'm skipping to that to share my two realizations...
1) The breastplate... it is in no way a weapon. A breastplate holds you tight, it covers you and protects you. There is nothing the breastplate can do to hurt your opponent, it's only purpose is to protect. How often do we... no... I... how often do I use righteousness as a weapon? I am nothing, without Christ I am absolutely nothing. So why would I try to pump myself up to others and use anything "good" I may have done as a weapon? Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
It is all because of Christ, and I am useless. That leads me to my second ah-ha moment.
2) The breastplate of righteousness, it is God's righteousness. Nothing we can do or will do, it is all His righteousness protecting us. It is in salvation, through Jesus Christ, that we are saved.
There has been a whole lot of rambling here, and I will admit it is hard to follow. But I need it. I need it as a reminder for myself of the many things Christ is teaching me.
Back to the first verse. Satan is trying to attack, and he is going to use the place that hurts the most. Don't give him a foothold. Be so prepared that he can't get a grip on your life. We have the tools, we just need to get up and stand firm and fight back.
We cannot sit on the sidelines and expect to win.
In our meeting time we talked about the belt of truth, but right now my focus is the breastplate of righteousness. So I'm skipping to that to share my two realizations...
1) The breastplate... it is in no way a weapon. A breastplate holds you tight, it covers you and protects you. There is nothing the breastplate can do to hurt your opponent, it's only purpose is to protect. How often do we... no... I... how often do I use righteousness as a weapon? I am nothing, without Christ I am absolutely nothing. So why would I try to pump myself up to others and use anything "good" I may have done as a weapon? Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
It is all because of Christ, and I am useless. That leads me to my second ah-ha moment.
2) The breastplate of righteousness, it is God's righteousness. Nothing we can do or will do, it is all His righteousness protecting us. It is in salvation, through Jesus Christ, that we are saved.
There has been a whole lot of rambling here, and I will admit it is hard to follow. But I need it. I need it as a reminder for myself of the many things Christ is teaching me.
Back to the first verse. Satan is trying to attack, and he is going to use the place that hurts the most. Don't give him a foothold. Be so prepared that he can't get a grip on your life. We have the tools, we just need to get up and stand firm and fight back.
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