Armor UP! NIV Ephesians 6 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 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. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. I’ve needed the armor a lot lately. Seems like the forces of evil are on overtime trying to steal my faith, kill my beliefs, and destroy my inheritance of the promises of God on my life. I think a lot about that helmet of salvation because it is so important. A helmet covers my head to protect it. In my head is my mind, my thoughts, my reasonings, choices to make whether I believe or not, whether I’ll do right or wrong, obey or disobey God’s directives. The mind is so powerful and it is where the battlefield of life and death takes place. My eyes are covered so they see with God’s perspectives, beyond the flesh and blood peopleand things of this world. I look at the real enemy of my soul and realize he is using people in their weaknesses to do his dirty work. My mouth is covered too. I guard my words so that I don’t authorize the enemy to use them to bring what I do not want into my life. Words are so important. God created everything with his Genesis “And God Said….” I can destroy everything he has promised and planned for me by a confession of doubt or unbelief. That’s major, so I’m glad the helmet helps me not to speak stupid things. The helmet also covers my ears so I am careful what I let go into my “ear gate” because what I hear generates what I believe. Faith comes by hearing and I want only to believe what is true as God has decreed in his written word. I thought a lot about the covering of my nose. I realized that I’ve been smelling a lot of stinky fumes around me. Things that just don’t smell right, like when you get a whiff of smoke and you know that there’s a fire somewhere. Or that stinky smell of something rotten in your refrigerator that makes you want to find it and get rid of it. I call that kind of smelling “discernment.” I can smell it and discern if something is just not right and that enables me to look a little closer and dig a little deeper to get to its source. It identifies an area and alerts me to address it in spiritual warfare. So, I am very thankful for that helmet God provides for my head, and for all the other pieces of his armor and spiritual weapons. Where would I be without them? Thank You, Lord. |
