No matter where you stand on the events of our world right
now, one thing is certain: there is so much more going on in the spiritual
realm than we could even begin to imagine. The battles that we face day in and
day out on this earth are all part of a bigger, spiritual battle that we can’t
see. Now, more than ever, Christians need to be on guard, dressed and ready to
fight. Ephesians 6:12-13 reminds us, “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. 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.
Today I want to take a look at the armor of God and what
that means for us today. All of this is taken from Priscilla Shirer’s study, The Armor of God if you want to go check
it out (note: this study was so rich. She spent an entire week on each of the
pieces of armor. Below is only a teensy snippet of what you will find in her
study.)
The Belt of Truth
“Truth—which we could basically define as God’s opinion on
any matter is our standard. Truth is who God is and what He says it is, which
is best summed up for us within the person of Jesus Christ. God’s truth.
Biblical truth. Without concrete allegiance to and affirmation with this truth
–with real truth—you’re left weak and susceptible to things that may look right
yet aren’t right. But with the standard of truth in place, you can adjust
everything else in your life—your ambitions, choices, and feelings; you mind,
will, and emotions—until all of it is “tuned” correctly. When you have a
strong, stable, well-supported core, you can’t easily be led astray by the
enemy’s clever lies. Gird yourself with truth and you’re on guard from the word
go.”
The Breastplate of
Righteousness
“Righteousness literally means justice—the quality of being upright, fulfilling the expectations
set in a relationship. In our case as believers, this relationship is with God
Himself. Righteousness, then, is upright living that aligns with God’s
expectations….Wearing the belt of truth, putting on the shoes and the helmet,
using the shield or sword- they’ll do you no good if you leave your heart open
to a full frontal attack by the devil. You must intentionally protect the organ
that pumps vibrancy into your spiritual life. So pray fervently. Seek God
fully. Ask Him to reveal anything “spoiled” in your life that’s attracting the
pesky fruit flies of demonic activity. Then confess it and repent of it,
defusing the accusations of the enemy.”
The Shoes of Peace
“Of all the things the enemy seeks to steal, kill and
destroy in your life, peace is almost always near the top of his list. He
intentionally stirs up discord, division, disruption, and disturbance, both
within you and around you. He is the lord of chaos and confusion, using every
opportunity to upset your sense of wellbeing and stability. He wants you
uneasy, unbalanced, filled with anxiety, worry and turmoil. Lacking peace….any
time you feel worry or anxiety creeping into your heart, take it as your cue to
turn your attention to God. Pray. Trust Him. Be grateful. And watch His peace—a
peace you cannot even begin to explain—swell in your experience…When God sees
this type of prayerful, grateful faith, when our mind is squared on Him, the
peace of God expands within us. It stabilizes our runaway emotions, centers our
minds, guides our footsteps and even overflows into our experience with
others…”
The Shield of Faith
“Simply put, faith is acting like God is telling the
truth…It is the process of adapting your behavior, your decisions, and
ultimately your whole lifestyle so that it accords with what God has asked you
to do—without needing to see the evidence that it will all work out in the
end…Faith is acting like it is so, even when it is not so, so that it might be
so, simply because God said so…. With the belt, breastplate and shoes, he
conveys them as a spiritual uniform that should be worn by believers at all
times. Minute by minute. Day by day. But he approaches this piece of equipment
differently. With the shield, he commands for it to be “taken up.” Look at it
this way. A nurse might wear scrubs to work every day because it’s her uniform.
But when the need arises, she will pick up a stethoscope, blood pressure
machine, thermometer, or any number of tolls to use on her patient. Likewise,
we must always wear our daily, divinely given uniform, but also be prepared to
“take up” the others when required.” The first of these pieces of armor is the
shield of faith. The moment when we first sense a flaming plumbata infiltrating our life in some way, we activate faith as a
shield of protection over our lives. So don’t miss the irony here. The enemy
sends flaming arrows into your life specifically when you are being called to
walk in faith. Those arrows are deliberately intended to disable you from doing
the only thing that has the power to extinguish them: walking in faith!...He
knows that if you’ll ever push past the insecurity or doubt or fear that’s
burning in your soul, choosing instead to believe the truth of God and walk in
accordance with it, you’ll erect a shield of protection that will smother his
plans.”
The Helmet of
Salvation
“…part of what it means to wear the helmet of salvation is
to live every day in light of eternity and the promised future that we have.
Doing so will, without a doubt, change the way we live in the present…
Receiving salvation is not the same as applying salvation. The first redeems
us; the second restores, protects and shields us daily from the attacks of the
enemy…Understand that living in light of this salvation inheritance enables you
to not only stop living below your spiritual station in life, but it also
protects your mind against the enemy’s attempts to cripple your thinking, to
convince you that you are worth less than you really are. The ripple effect of
this protection will be a change in your mind set, lifestyle and the choices
you make. All of that will now be based on your wealthy spiritual income
status…. This helmet of salvation, positioned to a snug fit, is representative
of the high value items that are ours “in Him”—our inheritance in Christ.
Choosing not to wear it means leaving our mind exposed, unprotected, like
people who don’t even own a helmet…what the brain is to the body, your mind is
to your soul. It is the spiritual expression of your brain. The control center.
If your mind doesn’t send out healthy impulses, your soul will not respond in
healthy ways. This is why the enemy works so diligently to cripple you through
negative thoughts and unhealthy patterns of imagination.”
The Sword of the
Spirit
This was the only piece of armor that Shirer did not spend a
week on in the study. But it is interesting to note that this is the only piece
of armor mentioned that is actually used for fighting. And what is it that we
fight with? The word of God. Take a look at these verses:
“and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”
(Ephesians 6:17)
“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword…” (Hebrews 4:12)
Knowing, believing and living the Word in our lives is what
will keep us alive. It is our only defense against the schemes of the devil. It
contains the truth we need to know to build our lives on and will provide us
victory for whatever battles that we may face.
Whatever battle you are facing today, suit up---with the FULL
armor. Victory is promised to those who believe (Ephesians 6:13; 1 John 5:4). Have
a great weekend!
Jennifer
Crafty Details
For this page, I started by stamping all the images from
Armor of God onto cardstock and coloring them with my Prismacolor pencils. I
cut them out and laid them aside and then stamped the words for all the armor
pieces (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, etc) with Tattered Rose
distress oxide.
I then stamped “Put on
the Full Armor” with both Armor of God and
County Fair Alpha. I added some
texture with
Texture Tiles 1 and then glued down my armor pieces around the page.
