Ephesians 6:11 I will put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavily-armed soldier which God supplies], that I may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and deceits of the devil.
My Thoughts
This says that "I will put on" God's whole armor. That means that we have to make a choice and do the work it takes to "put on" the armor of God. Verses 14-16 tells us what this armor is..... Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Truth comes from the Bible, righteousness comes from doing what God ask us to do ...and from asking forgiveness of our sins. Readiness comes from knowing what God's word says. Faith is believing...the more we know the more we believe. Salvation comes from believing Jesus is the Son of God and asking Him to live in our hearts. The Spirit...the Holy Spirit which Jesus sends to live inside us ... who reminds us of God's word and prompts us to act on what God teaches us.
We have to make the effort to know God's word...we have to learn and study the Bible... we have to know God through prayer... we have to make a conscious decision to live as God would have us live... we have to ask Jesus into our hearts... we have to pay attention to the Holy Spirit. We have to "put on" the armor of God. This takes work!!
I imagine the armor of soldiers of long ago was very heavy.. it took time to put on... it took knowledge of just what piece went on first... it too strength to be able to even walk once you had it on. Another words, it wasn't easy to do...but it was necessary in battle. Putting on the Armor of God takes time and effort... takes time and energy...sometimes using it takes strength of soul.... but it is what protects us against all that our enemy, Satin, plots against us! When we know God's word we are better able to fight against our enemy.
A soldier practices the same things over and over and over and over and over until it is so much a part of him, that when he goes into battle, he can automatically do what it takes to do what he has to do to win. Talking to God, knowing God word is essential in our battle against our enemy. It needs to be so much a part of what we are use to doing that when Satin wages an all out battle against us we automatically talk to God, we automatically call on the scriptures we know that make us strong. That is how we defeat the devil!!
We can't call on God's word in times of trouble... in times when we need to think fast on our feet.....if it is not a part of our every day lives...we can't hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us while blood is rushing through our ears if we are not use to hearing his voice.... we won't call out to God to help us when we have to think fast if God is not someone we talk to on a regular basis...someone we talk to about everything. To be a good soldier we must be prepared...and being prepared takes work every single day. If we we rely on God one day out of 7 we are probably only going to think to call on God only 1 out of 7 times we face the enemy. If we rely on God every day... if we spend time with God every day...then we are more likely to call on God 7 out of 7 times that the enemy comes against us. I like those odds of winning much better!!
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