The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-11 (NKJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

I love studying the armor of God! We are fully equipped for battle against our enemy. God is not looking down upon us from Heaven laughing at our struggles. God sent Jesus to die for us, we have the victory now! Then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us so we would never be alone and we are full of power!

If you want to hear from God, start by reading His Word. Take your time and study the scriptures. Verse 11 above uses a word that isn't common in our language, wiles. So when we come across verbiage we aren't familiar with, we need to look it up. Here are my findings: Wiles comes from the Greek word, methodeia. This means cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery. Some versions may use schemes or strategies, it's the methods of the enemy. So the Lord wants us to put on the armor, that means we have to do something. Then, we can stand against the tricks and deception from the enemy.

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We are fighting against demonic powers, PEOPLE are not the problem! They aren't the root of the problem, they may be the fruit, but not the root! The physical world is manifesting what is happening in the spiritual world! We are seated in heavenly places in Christ, our blessings are also there, angels and demons are there. There is a spiritual battle for your soul! Trying to fix a spiritual issue in the physical realm, you are going to run around in circles constantly failing! But the good news is you already have all you need and the battle you are fighting is from victory! We are more than conquerors!

Ephesians 6:13-17 (NKJV) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

All of these items have meaning and purpose. The belt of truth - belts hold things in place and keep things together. When you know the Truth you won't believe the lies of the enemy. The breastplate of righteousness - the standard God requires based on the Truth. The truth tells me the right thing to do. God's truth is the standard, not our own human standard. The world has lowered their standards on every level. We see this with dress codes, respect for elders, employee ethics, tv shows, etc. When you are not living according to God's standard of righteousness, and you choose to live by unrighteous standards, you are giving the enemy legal ground in your life because his standard is unrighteousness. Of course, we cannot live up to God's standard without JESUS! Jesus is the standard so we need Him all day! The problem comes when Christians don't want to live God's way, they want to continue living in a little bit of sin, but a little bit of sin just welcomes in a whole parade of sin.

Galatians 5:9 (NKJV) A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Shoes of the gospel of peace - This peace from Jesus will keep you standing firm! This is inner peace, peace in your spirit flooding into your soul & calming your body. We need to walk in peace. The worlds peace is temporary. You are trying to experience peace from the outside in but Jesus gives peace on the inside and we must allow it to flow out.

James 3:18 (NLT) And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Take up the shield of faith - faith is acting on God's word! It's trusting in Him fully. You don't have to see proof of anything but you know God's word is Truth and it will never fail you! It is your shield of protection against the lies of the enemy (the fiery darts).

Faith is going to dip in the Jordan river 7 times to get healed - it's obeying God's word even though your natural mind cannot fathom a positive result. (story of Naaman) Faith without works is DEAD! If you aren't putting the Word to work, your faith is dormant! Wake it up! It has nothing to do with feelings or senses. You are accessing your promises in the spirit realm when you operate by faith!

Take the Helmet of Salvation - a helmet protects your head that houses your brain. Your brain must tell your body what to do. When the brain stops functioning as designed, the body will not do all it was designed to do. You must protect your mind - keep it renewed by reading of the word of God. If your mind is not thinking like God thinks, you are going to do things God wouldn't do. If you think negatively all day long about your spouse, you will act negatively toward them when they get home. You must get rid of stinking thinking.

Take the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) - The sword is the Word of God. It divides the invisible realm, it separates your soul (that is still being sanctified) from your spirit! Jesus fought back against the enemy by quoting the scriptures. He was the LIVING word and He used the WRITTEN word against the devil. What are you using? If you can't seem to get the devil off your back OPEN YOUR MOUTH TO TELL HIM WHAT IS WRITTEN! After 3 times of this the devil left Jesus. You don't have to put up with his lies & garbage. Laugh in the face of the enemy! Experience the freedom He died to give you.

John 8:31-32 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”