Weapons of Warfare II

“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 omes 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 6:10-17

Another aspect of our Spiritual weapons is the defensive component that God intends us to use for our protection. An interesting observation is how some of them can be seen in an offensive light as well.

I’m thinking of the shield of faith. When we dig into God’s word and begin to let it transform our minds’ DNA, (through reading, memorization, praise, declaring, etc.) our personal faith grows stronger and STRONGER!

I’m a morning person and like to ease into my day. I also like spending time with the Lord in His word (Sword) and listening for his whispers to my heart. It is in the knowing that He is building and preparing me to be the woman of God that He sees that makes this an enjoyable and yes, vital time for me. I choose this time because it helps me start my day out strong by remembering who I am and how he sees me. Don’t let it overwhelm you! Just pick out the best time for you to put aside for God, but start somewhere!

When you begin your walk with God, you will start noticing how the shield and sword work together in tandem a lot which will also begin to increase your understanding of their importance and necessity in a warrior’s life. The Belt of Truth joins in this tandem procession as well and is another critical part of the armor of God. As you may have perceived, we also get this from His word (Sword).

What is truth? Webster’s dictionary defines it as the body of real things, events and facts, the state of being the case : FACT. In a world where “the truth” seems to change with public opinion daily it is easy to understand why true truth should be measured from God’s viewpoint. Want to know what His viewpoint is? Read the word of God, The Bible. It is everything we measure anything against. Any decision, any thought, any action, should all be measured against this truth (His word) and then buckled around your waist so tight that the winds of public opinion, popularity, or especially self do not influence it.

Don’t leave the Breastplate of Righteousness lying on the floor forgotten about either. This is the thing that makes it possible for us to even wear the armor and expect it to have an effect in our lives. It is the right standing with God that we have because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Actually, this should be addressed before you even begin to wield the sword of the spirit. Please take a look at the page in this website titled, “What do I do?” before going any further. I guess I never realized how EVERYTHING depends on this.

Totally makes sense how it covers close to every essential organ of our body, our heart being the most essential of them all! No wonder it is the first one mentioned in the scripture that is above describing the armor of God. This Righteousness is not based on anything about us. It is all about the work that Jesus did on the cross and the heavy price he paid for every single one of us.It is His Righteousness!

This would be coupled along with the Helmet of Salvation which I will use my life to illustrate. I was a hot mess before I came to Christ. No, I didn’t do drugs, kill anyone or steal big, but I was pretty close to thinking that I was good enough. Good enough to call myself a Christian and definitely “good enough” to think I would go to Heaven if a speeding bus would kill me.

I didn’t understand the price of it all. My finite, small mind hadn’t even heard that, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 NIV This is talking about Jesus and the great exchange he made for us. So yes, I will definitely make sure I have my helmet on before walking out the front door!

Last piece of equipment to put on when suiting up would be to make sure that my feet are “shod with the readiness that comes from the gospel”. Ready to go where he wants me to go, talk to who he wants me to talk with, help who needs to be helped, show love to all and point the way to Christ for them.

I’ve heard of people that actually say they put on the armor of God before they leave for work naming every piece and making it part of their prayer in the morning. Am now being convicted that I too will start to do this from now on! :0)