Stand (Part 2) Having Done ALL….STAND!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the FULL armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV

Ever begin something you can’t wrap your head around , so you procrastinate finishing it until you realize the nagging voice inside won’t stop until you just dive in whether you are ready or not? That’s me. Nine times out of Ten that is so me!

Praise God He meets me in the midst of all that and reassures me I am able. Funny thing is I think I come across as someone who has it put together, but all it takes is a condemning, belittling, or disparaging word sent my way to shake the very core of my being.

UNTIL…

That inner voice of the Holy Spirit reminds me of who I am! Snap out of it girl, you are the daughter of the Most High God! (Galatians 3:26-29) He is the one who equips me to do all that I am called by Him to do. (Psalm 54:4, Psalm 109:26-27, Psalms 28:7) I am more than able to do it all because of Him. (Philippians 4:11-13, 2 Corinthians 2:14) Thank you for letting me take this time to give myself a pep talk

So we will finish exploring the other parts of the armor of God He has given to us beginning with the belt of truth. Truth. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as: (1) the body of real things, events, and facts: actuality. (2) the state of being the case: fact (3) often capitalized: a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality. I am so glad that he makes mention of the transcendent and spiritual reality.

Realized I might have to remind everyone what transcendent means. It is something beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience. Amen! God is totally transcendent and I guess this is why it is so hard for some people to worship Him or even believe in Him. If I can’t see it, taste it, hear or touch it, then “It” doesn’t exist. What a small, stifling, world is that to live in?

This is a place of bondage we are called upon to try our best to free those who have this viewpoint. Ask God to use you and enable you in this endeavor. He can help you to lead a life that makes others question, “Why are they so happy, joyful, peaceful, calm at this moment when they should be falling apart?”, “What makes that person never give up?”, “How can she be so patient and loving?”, “How could he forgive that?” These are questions every Christian can answer with a shout of, “Because the Lord helped me to do it!” You didn’t see all the crying, praying, pleading surrendering that happened before this “moment”.

I can’t forget to try to put in words the biggest truth we should be buckling about our waist and that is the Truth of who God is. He exists, He protects and He loves us all so much that He sent His only son to be a sacrifice for us.

Now to put the Gospel in the simplest language I can:

We were born in a fallen world. (It was good, but the enemy came and deceived Adam and Eve to forfeit their ownership of this world by believing him instead of God by going against one of the things He told them not to do.

Because of this fallen world, our nature turned into a sinful one no matter how hard we tried, and we needed a savior who could redeem us and buy us back for the Kingdom of God.

God sent Jesus to be born of a virgin because our redeemer could not have any bit of sin in him passed through the ages from Adam and Eve. Jesus then became the payment by sacrificing his life for ours and for our sins as long as we acquire the faith to believe this and act upon it through repentance of our own shortcomings “sins” and ask for His forgiveness.

That is the truth we are to have bound about our waist. Always reminding us who we are, who we became and what was done for us. Our feet are to be covered, prepared and ready with this truth to share with everyone we come into contact with. God help us! Help us see that we are able to do this with your help. Help us to see our true purpose for being here.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eye on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” NIV

Finally, I get to speak about the piece of armor that gets me very EXCITED and its the sword of the spirit! The word of God, Holy Scripture, living word. These are just a few titles of God’s holy word. So precious and every bit worth of our adoration, appreciation and thankfulness that words fall short describing.

Think of it, a book packed with many other books that have been shared through the ages and still gives comfort and strength to people living now. That’s amazing just thinking of it! Have you learned to wield it in times of need? Have you sensed it’s strength and peace in personal times of sorrow? I want to suggest learning how to do this.

This is one of the few times I am thankful for technology. Okay, I am really thankful for it even though it drives me crazy at times! Our little personal computers (aka Phones) help me out so much with this through the microphone. All I have to remember is a short phrase and it will find it for me so I can confidently shout and proclaim it’s truth for my life situation at the moment. Now how convenient is that?!

Yet again, I would like to share the importance of declaring God’s word over your life and the one’s He has put in it. It is His word that brings wisdom and insight into all the matters of our lives. His word allows us to boldly confess that we are strong in Him. His word is capable of changing things. We have to be patient and confident in the waiting. Don’t shy away from memorizing His word too. Start with little bits and then add the other bits. You’ll get it!