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,
– Ephesians 6:13-14
Oh boy!
When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was play
dress up.
As I would put on each piece of jewelry, each fabulous dress,
the wonderfully grown up high heels and make up, I would think about what each
piece would do.
The tiara represented that I was the princess of my make-believe
world, the dress and shoes determined if I was going to a ball or afternoon
tea, and of course, depending on the event this princess was attending, her
jewelry marked the occasion.
It is the same with the armor of God.
In today’s world, there is chaos and danger and we have to wrap
ourselves in His word.
Start with the belt of truth.
In the days that the Bible was written, the belt of the Roman
soldier was the centerpiece of his armor, holding his tunic and his weapons.
In other words, make sure that the truth of God’s word is at the
center of your life.
To simply quote Scriptures is not enough; we must live with
truth at the core of our day to day life.
We live in a culture of personality, but the Bible tells us that
living with integrity is what allows us to move quickly and hold other weapons
within reach.
Do you want to dress in the armor of God?
I do!
Have a blessed day!
One of my friends that receives my daily bread email responded to today's message with this GOLDEN follow up:
ReplyDeleteI love this scripture. God gave us imagery to help us remember; just as we are taught in the Dale Carnegie courses.
I saw people just saying this scripture as if they were physically putting this armor on. They would pray this scripture multiple times a day and tell me that it is not working. Several people have stopped praying this because they said it was not working. I found out they were just saying the words. I prayed and asked God to show me more to help them and below is some of what God showed me.
The helmet of salvation is where we are to remember that we are saved, thank Jesus for what He did and is still doing. Tell ourselves and commit to God that we will not allow the enemy to tell us we are not saved, no good, etc.
The breastplate of righteousness is where we, as in Jesus’ outlined prayer, are to ask for forgiveness and forgive others. Then, thank Jesus that we are in right standing life with the Father because of the finished work He did and based on our confessions.
Belt of truth is where we thank God for His truth in our lives. Ask for Him to search our hearts, know our ways and remove any lies, anything that is not of God and to help us to speak and live out truth and recognize lies (old tapes we have allowed to be played over and over in our heads).
The shoes of peace is where we ask for God’s peace that passes all understanding to guard our hearts and minds, for us to be at peace in our hearts, with our loved ones and everyone around us. And thanking God ahead of time for His peace. Also, to see the opportunities to witness that day.
Shield of Faith is where we mention to God those things we are doubting because we are walking by sight, confess, repent, ask God to help us with our unbelief and tell him that we choose to walk by faith today and not by sight.
Sword of the Spirit is where we ask God for the Holy Spirit to remind us of those scriptures that will help us fight our flesh and the enemy today and thanking God for preserving His Word.