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The Armor of God
Let me try and describe the situation many Christians, including myself until recently, are in.
Many Christians are either trying their very best to live a godly life, or they are on the point of giving up hope of ever achieving this, or they have already given up, thinking that it will probably not happen until they arrive in heaven (all the while hoping that they will, and that God will be so gracious as to allow them in anyway, although they may not have been very successful as Christians down here).
This may be a harsh way of putting it, but if it is the truth, acknowledge it. Changing your way of life starts by acknowledging the truth about your present condition as a Christian.
The question is: what to do?
The answer is: put on the whole or full armor of God, and become fully satisfied with what God has for you!!!!!!!
Get a good taste of what He has for you, and you'll never want to change back to your old defeated lifestyle of sinning, and sinning again and sinning again and again.
How do you put on the full armor of God?
Read that portion of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10-18. Taken from the New International Version, it reads as follows:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. 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 whicht 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. 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 saints."
As you carefully study this portion of Scripture, you will find that, in verse 10, Paul starts out by describing the necessity of the full armor, but he starts his detailed description of it in verse 14.
And very interestingly, the first detail of the armor is tied up with the last: the sword of the Spirit (verse 17b).
Before you continue you should notice something else. In verses 13 and 14 we find the word 'stand' three times. Nowhere does this portion of Scripture talk about attacking. You can bet your last dime that you will be approached and attacked once you take your stand in Christ.
But why is that you do not have to go out there and conquer? Simply because it has all been won for you already! All you need to do is plant your feet firmly on your inheritance in Christ and claim and possess it.
Now why is the girdle or belt of truth so important?
Simply because it keeps the breastplate in place!
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