Its Only Werds...

First, I thank God for the message that helps me grow. Second, I thank God for friends in this blog community that share life experiences as believers, using the message as our guide. This post is dedicated to a post put up by one of you. Thanks, Brother Farley, for the jump-start!

Let me help you get dressed in the morning.

I've got this GREAT outfit -- got it quite some time ago, but I've gotta tell you about it! It's one I LOVE to wear and one I don't mind if anybody else wears one EXACTLY like it. As a matter of fact, I WANT everybody I know to have one and WEAR it! That's why I'm telling you where to get it...but first: 

You are never fully dressed without the full armor of God. Before you step out of the room where you think you are dressed, pause a few moments and finish dressing in your garments for the day. I am blessed to have someone in my life who is like-minded, heart toward heaven, eyes on The Father, who will pray this with me EVERY morning as we prepare for our day.

Put on your belt -- the belt of truth. The belt of a soldier, as observed by Paul, who had occasion to see MANY soldiers, held the armor together. The Word of God is our belt of truth as we apply it to our daily lives. If we make sure we deal in biblical truths throughout our day, we not only walk the walk He intended, but we spare ourselves the griefs that come from consequences of un-truths...even little ones. More on that in another post, but the belt was the first thing put on by the soldiers, as other things connected to it. Read on...

Cover your breast -- put on your breastplate of righteousness. In a soldier's attire, the breastplate was designed to protect the heart -- go figure. The breastplate hooked onto the belt. See? Truth is part of righteousness! As a spiritual warrior, our heart is so vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. The heart is where we are hurt by slanderous words, attacked by guilt, debilitated by wrongs done to us...IF we do not have our protection in place. Our physical heart pumps blood through our bodies, keeping us alive. Our spiritual heart is likewise, pumping the life-blood of the love of God through us. 

Put your shoes on -- the shoes of "the preparation of the gospel of peace". How else can we walk the walk? How did Jesus walk? He did not walk in condemnation of those in sin; He did not walk in groveling and anger. Jesus walked in peace. Jehovah Shalom -- God IS PEACE. Our shoes of the gospel of peace help us stand firmly (right Frank? STAND?) on the Solid Rock and stay there, unable to be turned to the right or to the left at the enemy's urgings. (this all makes me want to DANCE!) How much gain is in store for those we come in contact with who do not have peace in salvation if we walk in peace? And readiness? Don't, PLEASE DON'T forget the "preparation of" part. Read, study, meditate, memorize, pray. THAT is preparation and you will be full of that peace to walk in.

Pick up a shield on your way out -- not just any shield, my dear sisters and brothers. Pick up your shield of FAITH. The shield of soldiers in Paul's day were so unique -- they were HUGE! Their shields were from chest to knees! That would add protection to the vital places, as does our spiritual breastplate. When we carry that shield, we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Hmmm, does anybody out there get darts of fire launched at them from the enemy? I know I do and it's in the shield of faith in God that I make them useless against me. Make sure you realize that the value of faith is not in us as we exercise it, but in the One Whom we put our faith in. And just to reinforce the shoe thing -- FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD, AMEN? Get in that BOOK and read, study, meditate, memorize, pray! Oh, and one added bonus: the soldier's shields were (honestly, I studied this long ago) fitted with hooks on one side and slots on the other. This was so they could advance as one unit, shields hooked into one another's, preventing enemy artillery from penetrating the mighty row of shields! Put THAT into the Christian walk perspective! MAKES ME WANNA SHOUT!!! We're all HOOKED TOGETHER against enemy fire!!! Ha ha!! INPENETRABLE!!!

Cover your head with the helmet of salvation. I believe, as do others, that the greatest battlefield is our minds. The enemy can break us down with lies if we allow them in, even causing us to doubt our very salvation. As we don the helmet of salvation to protect our thought life, we want to realize the mind of Christ in our lives. We will easier think on things true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue and praise. Wearing the helmet of salvation will keep us guarded from what we allow to run free in our minds. Think of the subtle ways of the enemy. I know there's some television commercial out there where a random scraggly guy pulls up beside a driveway in a nice-ish neighborhood, announcing to the homeowner that as soon as they leave for vacation he is going to break into the home and steal things. The punch line of the commercial is, "don't you wish these things were this obvious?" (not exact quote). The enemy works the same way. Temptation does not come to your front door saying, "I'm going to come into your brain and wreak havoc with your thoughts now, tempting you to sin." No, the enemy is sneaky and one stray thought can roll around in our minds until we are almost looney over it...unless we cover our heads with our salvation helmet.

Finally, grab your sword on your way out, ok? That double-edged sword that is sharper than any two-edged soldier sword, that can even divide asunder the soul from the spirit. Yeah, THAT one. Remember Jesus was tempted too. Remember how he battled that temptation? With the word of God. Jesus quoted scripture to the enemy instead of arguing or debating with him or instead of lashing out and getting even for being tempted. Likewise, we are armed for the daily battles we face in life with the sword of the Spirit. We have authority to use the words God gave us! We are all His kids! There is not power before, now or will there ever be power that is greater than God. We harness that power with our sword of the Spirit.

Do you see how each of these armor garments protect us from the enemy? Our war is not with the guy who cuts us off on the highway; not with the boss who slighted our pay; not with the person who would tempt our spouse away from us; not with our children's "friends" who barrage them with drugs, alcohol and sex. NO. Our battle is "...against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let HIM help you get dressed in the morning. Put your full armor of God on EVERY DAY and cinch it down! Don't let the enemy get one grain of the ground under your feet. Stand firm. Check it out. Print it out. Memorize it. Own it. Live it. Shop where I shop for this amazing outfit!!! THE BIBLE!!! Oh, and how much will this outfit cost you? HA HA! NOTHING! It's FREE!!! All you have to do is PUT IT ON!

Be well.

In His AMAZING UNENDING UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,

loree

Ephesians 6:10-17; Romans 10:17 (cool coincidence, yes?); 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; Philippians 4:8 [sorry -- random order, but please go read the references?]

First and foremost, i am HIS kid! A born-again, baptized believer, walking in HIS Amazing Grace. I am a daughter to my (still-living) parents, a sister to four siblings, a mother to three of THE MOST AMAZING young adults on this planet, a friend, a co-worker, a singer for the worship team at a Vineyard Fellowship \o/ and at this amazing time in my live, believe it or not, I am a nursing student! I love my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and I love to write. I hope to make new friends "here" to talk about HIM and the wonderous things we have seen and know.
~Loree~

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