Armor

Ephesians 6:13-17 NIV

13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Each part of the armor of God is directly related to Jesus Christ - the Word made flesh (see John 1:14). The following shows how the armor is having Christ as our Lord and savior and knowing His word.

Breastplate of Righteousness - We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (see 2 Cor. 5:21).

Belt of Truth - Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Light (see John 14:6).

Shield of Faith - Faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the Word of God (see Rom. 10:17).

Sword of the Spirit - the Word of God (see Eph. 6:17).

Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of Peace - Jesus is our peace (see Eph. 2:14).

How do we "put on" the armor of God and how does that look like practically? Spending time with God in prayer, in praise and thanksgiving is the first step. When we enter into His presence we find strength through the joy (see Neh. 8:10) He gives us in the secret place (see Psa. 16:10). The second step is to open up God's word and soak in the truth. We must know the truth in order to combat the lies of the enemy. When Jesus was in the wilderness (see Matt. 4:1-11) 40 days and nights, the enemy would tempt Him. Each time Jesus quoted the scriptures. (He was also fasting which is a great tool to separate yourself further from the enemy's grasp.) Memorizing scripture is the best way to have the Word easily accessible when you are in the heat of the battle, and to be able to immediately recognize a lie and deflect it.

The Word says in 2 Corinthians 10:4 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds". This is describing how we fight the enemy of our souls spiritually in battle - not through our human effort. When we firmly stand on what God's Word says we fully activate the whole armor- not by fighting in the natural - whether physically or verbally. Therefore, resting (not striving with others) and being completely convinced God's Word is true, and Jesus is who He says He is, and being fully convinced of who we are in Him, IS putting on the full armor of God.

The more we know Christ and what His Word says, the more we will become successful in employing the benefits of the armor of God. We must have more of Jesus in our lives to live victoriously. When we engage in deep study and meditation on the Word of God we are, in fact, drawing closer to Jesus and He is becoming more a part of us in the process. More of Him and less of us is the ultimate "putting on the armor of God".

TLC