Ephesians 6: 10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
After all the instructions on how to live together in our families and our daily lives, in a manner that is supernatural; now we're given the armor that will help us do exactly that in the battles we face every day.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Armor is protective and defensive. Our flesh is weak, and we are not to face our enemies defenseless, but we have been given the supernatural means to have victory in the supernatural battles we must fight through on a daily basis.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the World forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.
We are not fighting against people. The people who are fighting against us are just being used by these supernatural, spiritual forces. These are in the World around us, and they are also in the heavenlies above us. And they are very wicked and evil, fighting against everything good, because they rebel against God, who is good.
So these rebels take the good gifts God gives us and twists them into unrecognizable monstrosities: putting dark for light, bad for good, hatred for Love, death for Life, persuasive lies for Truth.
We cannot win against them in our flesh, we must arm and protect ourselves supernaturally.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Only by taking up and using God's supernatural armor will we be able to resist and still stand.
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with Truth,
The very first piece of armor we need is to protect our loins, our chastity and purity. This is a picture of the belt that the Romans wore, that had a "skirt" of heavy leather flaps intended to protect the soldier to his knees. And the belt itself was where he hung all his equipment. This is the first and basic piece we need, to be able to use all the rest.
and having put on the breastplate of Righteousness,
This piece protects our heart. When we renew our minds to think God's thoughts, then our attitudes and feelings will go in accord with God's Righteousness. This will protect us from the negativity and deception of the World and the enemy. And our own flesh, too.
These are the two most important, most crucial and fundamental pieces of armor we are to use, to apply to our everyday living and working with others.
Then:
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace;
Our boots that must trudge through the mud of this World is the Gospel. The Good News. These boots are high-top, steel-toed, indestructible shoes. They can tread on nails, they protect from heavy stuff dropped on them, and will stand up to all the acid of the enemy's attacks.
This is the message of Salvation and Reconciliation that we proclaim to those in the World who are seeking. And also to those who know Jesus, but need to be strengthened.
In addition to all, taking up the shield of Faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
This shield of Faith is our bulwark behind which we are protected from all the flames and acid and explosives our enemy hurls at us. It puts out the fire, neutralizes the acid, and extinguishes the explosives.
Our certainty of what our Father has told us is rock-solid Truth, imperviable to all the deceptive lies and twistings of thought our enemy uses.
And take the helmet of Salvation,
The Helmet protects our head, our brain, that processes all our thoughts. This is the control center of our body, and it must function properly for our bodies to be healthy.
God's saving us from the power of sin right now, today, where we live, enables us to defeat the enemy's lies and run from all the temptations we face.
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God
This is our only offensive weapon. It is a very dangerous, two-edged sword, that we must wield with much training and skill, with great care.
Too often we swing it and lop off someone's ear (like Peter did!). God wants us to know Him and to study His Word so we will have an understanding of His ways. To do the training and skill-building to be able to wield this Sword with grace. As Jesus did.
When we haven't done our homework, but we know some of what He said, then that little knowledge is dangerous, and can do much harm.
I invite you, dear Reader, to go back to my previous posts, and work through this blog. I try to give you my source of each concept I expand on; but I want you to be noble, like the believers in Berea, who searched the Scriptures daily, [to see] whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).
If you take exception with any of my pronouncements anywhere here, please tell me about it, leave me a Comment, and I will investigate your sources, and will get back to you.
My prayer for each one of you is that you may grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope reading my blog will help you do that.
O my Father, You are so great. You are so good to tell us everything we need to know and practice in this life here, and how You make us fit to live with You in Eternity Future.
Help each one of Your children to learn to know You and Your ways. Help us all to help one another in our needs and our sorrows and troubles.
Teach us all to put on our Armor every day, and to gain skill in the use of our Sword, to spread Your Good News over all the World and find all Your lost sheep.
Strengthen our families and our neighborhoods and our work situations, so that the society we build will be a civilization that brings You the glory You deserve.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess in every language, that King Jesus, our Lord and Christ, is God Almighty; to the glory of God the Father!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
