“Putting on Your Spiritual Armour” (Armour of God)

Disciples of Jesus Christ realize we are in a spiritual battle. God tells us in Ephesians 6, starting with verse 11, “to put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Our mind is the battlefield where most of this spiritual war is fought. God tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 key insights to this spiritual battle:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, [which is given to us in the Word], bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ [which is obedience to the Word]. Because our mind is the primary area Satan intensifies his attacks, is it any wonder why God wants us to learn “how to take our thoughts captive that are not Christ-like? It is our protection!”

Our loins are the secret parts of the body and are described as our “waist girded with truth.” The Greek for truth is alētheia meaning verity. As seen the most important uses of the word truth are found in Paul His concepts of truth are in (Romans 3:1-7). The truth of God is described in the words "faithfulness" (Romans 3:3) and "justice" (Romans 3:5). God's commandments grow out of the fact of His truth (faithfulness or reliability). The truth of God is reflected not only in His commandments; it is to be reflected in human life. (1 Sam. 12:24) When we fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all our heart: then we abide in Him. Samuel reminds the People to take time to consider of great things God has done. The entire Old and New Testament is the written Word of Truth (see John 17:17).

The Breastplate of Righteousness.

(Romans 5:18) Our Breastplate of righteousness is our justification our right standing between God and people. Jesus Christ is the main character who affected this divine plan and our identity is in Him. The Breastplate of Righteousness is something we do with out thinking, when we come to know who we are in Christ Jesus. As the breastplate was a defensive weapon to protect roman solders from the enemy. So is our Breastplate of Righteousness, is our defence the battle field is in our thoughts and mind. The enemy wants you to think that God is not interested in you and will bombard your mind with thoughts (II Cor 5:21) When we trust in God we make an exchange He takes our sin and makes us right for we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Integrity, holiness, purity will keep our heart in perfect peace. (Romans 5:17) “Tells us righteousness is a gift” from God and is absolute faith in and commitment to God. (Isaiah 51:7-8) His righteousness will be forever. When we walk in right standing with God, it is a powerful weapon of defence, against the strategies of the enemy. The breastplate protects first the heart and soul all that flows from it.

Sandals of peace.

The Roman shoes had 1 to 3 inch long spikes on the bottom so they can dig in and stand their ground. So it is when we face the enemy when we have done all to stand, then we stand our ground. In relation to our sandals, our peace is both an offensive and defensive weapon which will keep us and protect when we walk through rough places. (Phil 4:7) "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds". The peace of God is different from worldly thinking true peace will stand watch over you, as well keep us from all anxiety, worry. (Phil 4:6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; so where does this peace come from our peace is from Jesus. This peace is not come from the world as you see every day. In (John 14:27) "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." So defensively this peace will not let any circumstance or situation harm you. As we fix our eyes on Jesus who is our defence. Offensively our peace will help us stand with our feet planted firmly on the Word of God, as we speak out in what we know. (Phil 4:7). Defensively Gods peace will keep our hearts and minds with understanding against the Devils threats and lies. In (Romans 16:20) says "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet." That is God using His peace and your feet.

Shield of Faith

The solder’s shield and lionbelt are both linked and unseparated from each other; we cannot live on past experiences with God. (Habakkuk 2:4) The just shall live by faith. We need every day experiences growing, developing, and keeping our faith alive and active. (Hebrews 11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That is absolute trust in Christ. (Romans 10:17) say’s “So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." our shield is our main defensive weapon.

There are two shields a small one and a large battle field shield, which is the one we do battle in. (Romans 12:3) says God has dealt to each one of us a measure of faith. He has given us enough faith to make sure we are completely covered. Our problem is that we often forget to take up our faith. We drop our guard and we lay it down. When we do Satan will try to fire darts into our emotions. And this will throw our emotions into rage, anger, anxiety, unbelief, or worry. This is why we need to continue to live in the presence of God; we must keep our shields in good shape so we can extinguish those darts. (Eph 6:16) say’s in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

Helmet of Salvation

The Helmet is form to protect us such as in sport, riding a bike, horse riding, and sky diving; the helmet comes in different forms it’s for our security. Failure to have the helmet on will cause injury. There is a difference between wearing it and owning it when things start to fall, you can tell witch one is wearing the helmet, he goes head first; they are covered with scares and bruises. Our most critical “helmet” is what we put on in Christ Jesus it is absolutely essential for combat we presently engaged in! It’s the helmet designed by God: it protects us from lying thoughts and fiery darts of the enemy.

The helmet of salvation gives us supreme hopeas we do battle against the enemy as you see in (1 Th 5:8). But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, as the helmet of hope and salvation. We need to realize who we are in Christ that He paid the full price for our sin Ephesians’ 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. We already have eternal life. No one can take that away from you. Satan's darts can't reach you. Nothing, by any means, can hurt us. (Rom 8:38-39)

Sword of the Spirit

“Logos” identify’s the written word of God; given to people under inspiration. “RHEMA” is quickened to us by the Holy Spirit, and speaks directly to whatever our situation we are dealing with. Both are the Greek words for the sword of the spirit. In Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double–edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. As you see it is our hope! And we should not disappointed, (Rom 8:16).The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are Gods children. The word we speak is spirit and operates in the Spirit. The Sword of the Spirit is God’s Word countering spiritual deception and accusations. In (1 Pet 3:15) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; “we need to watch our THOUGHTS they become words, and our WORDS they become actions, and our ACTIONS they become habits, for our HABITS they become CHARACTER, (Psa 19:14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

Prayer

Prayer is a WEAPON to fight against demonic powers that wage war against Christians who believe in Christ? We need to pray at all-times when thoughts come into our mind. (2 Cor 10:4-5) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, {5} casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And those thoughts become words of prayer that will do battle in the spirit. There are many forms of prayer; prayer is simply talking to God with all kinds’ utterance as you would talk with a friend in all occasions. (Eph 6:18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; The enemy wants to discourage us in our prayer lives? Such as to bring confusion as to what kind of praying is correct or incorrect?

Why we have little confidence in our prayer life

Prayer is a weapon and Satan does not want you to realize how important a weapon is used against him. Prayer is the bottom line How many times has thoughts crossed your mind in a day since you became a born again believer? It is a cry for help to ask God to move on our behalf. This cry for God's help exposes our own insufficiency to meet our own needs. As in (James 5:15) And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.