Do You Have All Your Armor On???

For many of us when we read Eph 6:10-18, we sort of pass through the armor of God quickly and say to ourselves "I got that." The question is do we really understand the importance of each piece? Each piece of armor is vital to our success as a warrior for Christ. Let's look at them from the top down.

We start with the helmet. The basic thing is that a helmet protects our brain. Satan begins to attack us in this area almost immediately. He realizes that if he can start making us question our salvation then he can make us falter and eventually get us so confused that we will give up. That is why scripture tells us that God is not a God of confusion.

The next piece is the breastplate of righteousness. In our heart, we are supposed to be like Jesus always doing things that are right and directed by the spirit. We are supposed to have our hearts tuned into the lost. When we allow Satan to attack the heart, he tries to get us to stop acting upon the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our heart and act out of emotion. He also tries to dilute what actual love is and tries to make our hearts fickle and wavering. The neat thing here is that Breastplate really of no back on them. As Christians, we must realize the army that we fight in never retreats so a back is not needed.

Next we have the belt of truth. The belr of truth is what holds all the armor together. Without it, we can hear the word and even believe the word to some degree, but when we try to act on the prompting of our heart we trip and fall on our clothing. Many argue that truth is relative and it is exactly that thought process that allows Satan to obscure the truth and thry to blur the lines of truth. We many times can put our own thoughts in to what we believe is truth and that compromises the truth and makes it have an air of the truth but not truth at all.

The gospel of peace on our feet is the next piece. This armor piece is often attacked by Satan using fear and apathy. Satan knows that if we get motivated and actually start going and proclaiming the gospel of peace he is in deep trouble. So, he begins to attack the believer with fear. HE then tries to persuade us that it is someone else s problem or job to reach the lost.

The shield of faith is often attacked many times by Satan pointing out times when God supposedly did not answer our requests of Him. He points out sadness and hurt and pain and suffering with the hope of getting us to question our faith when we pray and stand on the front lines. We simply must not allow it.

So how do we keep our armor on? We pray and ask god to show us our weakness. Then, we pray for God's help to strengthen us in that area. Thirdly, we pick up our weapon and learn how to use it. God did not leave us with just armor so we could stand and be Satan's punching bag. He equipped us with a manual for the greatest weapon known to mankind. It is bigger than the biggest aircraft carrier, stronger than an atomic bomb, and more portable than an iPod. Simply put it is the Bible and we should read it to find out how to tie all our armor together and activate the best weapon ever. God's word is the sword of the Spirit. That means that when we use it the Holy Spirit is the one who is doing the fighting, we are just telling him that the battle is his.

God has equipped us for a battle that is far bigger than we could ever imagine. Are you ready for war? Ready or not it is raging in society to day and all around the world. Will you be ready to stand on the front lines and fight?

Breaking The Chains

When we think about links in a chain, we get an image of the oblong rounded rectangle metal link. As we walk through life we are constantly getting handed links or picking up links that are laid out in front of us. Satan is not an idiot as some have said rather he is intelligent and very deceptive. If he came at us with a chain and started trying to chase us and bind us then we would run and not be caught. His plan is more sinister than that. He give us small links that we place in our pocket. Those little links are just little things that don;t weigh a lot. We pick them up and think they cannot harm us and before you know it you have a chain of sins and events that begin the process of binding us so we are of no use.

I went around with a ten pound chain wrapped around my hands and feet for about ten minutes revently. What I found is that at first I fought against the chain and then I learned to cope with the chain. I changed the way I walked and performed tasks with my hands. This is just exactly what Satan is trying to do to us. If he can change the way we walk and perform tasks daily then he can dictate how we act. John 8:34 says that if you sin you are a slave to sin. In the very loosest sense of the word slave this rings true.

Jesus Christ wants to take all of the problems and struggles. He wants to loose us from the chains by breaking the links. Those "pet sins" or secret sins are known by God and by Satan as well. We must make Jesus center and give him everything and remember that he sees us as beautiful even if we see ourselves as a mess.

The love and power of Jesus Christ is so much bigger than what we can imagine and he is only limited by us and our hang ups in our minds. What chains are on you? Is it fear, doubt, depression, discouragement, anger, rebellion, hurt, pain, or something else? Will you let Jesus take the chain and then once you give it to him and then not pick it back up.

How do you do that? Find accountability. Find someone that can pray with you and can help you when you struggle. Read the word of God. If you are a new believer or just curious about God and his love, read the Gospel of John. Pray and ask God for forgiveness and help. God wants to break your chains.

A New Season

There is a song that I love that begins "it's a new season. It's a new day." I find myself singing and thinking about that song more and more each day. Many of you who read my blog or know me personally know of our journey these past few months. My friends I can tell you it is truly a new season.

Seasons come and go in our lives. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter come and go and we seem to have no control over them. As I look at the past three months I can truly say we were in a winter point in our lives. We could not see outwardly what God was doing, but we just knew we had to hold on a bit longer. Many time the winter season is harsh and cold and brutal and does not seem to be conducive to life in general. Here is the thing we need to keep in perspective. If not for the winter, spring would be over ran by insects and eventually without winter the results would be desolation. The winter makes us stronger as individuals and affirms our faith and catalyzes our faith.

I am happy to say from all accounts we are now entering the spring season. Granted it is still in it's infancy, but I am seeing life, vitality, and experiencing both refreshing and renewing. If you find yourself in a winter season understand that winters seem to go on forever, but in actuality there is no season where God is any more with you than in the winter. Take heart and know that God is going to make this season yield a new season that is bigger than your imagination.