God’s Uniform Part 2

  In the second part of the Blog series, God’s Uniform we are going to look at the three  remaining pieces of armor.  The first three we discussed were the Belt of Truth, The Breastplate of Righteousness and the Shoes of the Gospel.  You can read about those HERE. 

  Today were going to look at the rest.  Let’s take a second and reread Ephesians 6:10-18.

¹⁰Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. ¹¹Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. ¹²We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. ¹³So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armor. ¹⁵Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. ¹⁶Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit.

¹⁸Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people.   Ephesians 6:10-18  (Contemporary English Version)

  So the next piece of armor is the …

Shield of Faith–

   The shield being referred to here is the large oblong oval door-like shield of the Romans, four feet long by two and a half feet wide.  It was used to hide behind when arrows were launched by the enemy.  When in the crouched position the entire body is covered and protected.  The Shield of Faith gives the same protection, especially when the Christ-Follower is in the knees bent position such as when one is on his or her knees in prayer.  Your faith is only as strong as the one you have faith in.  So what one do you have faith in?  Is it any one or the One?  Faith in God wraps us in a cocoon of love and protection.  Evil still happens and arrows of doubt, envy, lust and sin are still streaking toward us but faith is enough to quench and stop any arrow our enemies can throw.  But faith requires effort; constant prayer, Bible Reading and worship of God. 

The Helmet of Salvation–

  Let God’s saving power be like a helmet.  The head is by far the most important part of a soldiers body.  The head directs and controls the entire body.  Other than the Headless Horseman we all are dependent on our noggins.  The eventual result of salvation is a place in Heaven with God, this hope gives a soldier all the courage He/She needs to continue to fight.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”   The hope of salvation is tied into our faith in God.   You can’t have one without the other. 

The Sword of the Spirit–

   The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, or in other words, the Bible.  Who has herd that old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”?  What a load of crock.  Words hurt.  Words slash and cut and tear us apart.  The Word of God also cuts, it cuts like a sword.  It divides and gets to the marrow.  Sharp as a scalpel and long as a sword, Gods Word gets to the heart of the matter.  Never gray, always black and white.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness He used God’s Word as His sword to defend Himself from Satan.  Read Matthew 4.  The problem for most of us is that we have no idea what God’s Word says.  We think we do but most of out “Bible Knowledge” comes from “Touched By An Angel”, “7th Heaven” and “Jeopardy”.  “I’ll take Bible Trivia for $200 Alex.”  First of all, most of those shows are nice but about as far from good biblical theology (study of God and the Bible) as The Andy Griffith Show is from life today.  To be able to swing the Sword of the Spirit you need to know what is actually in the Bible.  That’s why I give you Bible verses to back up what I am typing in this blog. 

The Final Piece–

  I know I told you there were only three more but that’s because most people don’t mention the final one.  It isn’t written out as clearly as the others.  Can anyone guess what it is?  OK, here it is.  The Spear of Prayer.  Disclaimer- This is MY interpretation.  This is NOT in the Bible.  But like the rest of this chapter I am attempting to give you a word picture for prayer.  Prayer is both a defensive and offensive weapon.  When we are hurt, confused, alone, sad or sick we use prayer in it’s defensive form.  “God help me!”  But when we are praying for someone else it is an offensive force beyond compare.  God moves on our prayers.  He waits until WE pray to act on certain situations.  Why?  Because He wants to.  Our prayers have power.  Our prayers have substance.  When you throw a spear you intend to hit a certain point.  When you throw a prayer for someone you intend it to hit that person.  If you are praying for someone’s salvation or for their healing you are aiming at that person.  You are praying TOO God but aiming those prayers at that person. 

  So there you go, Truth, Righteousness, Prepared to share the Good News of Jesus, Faith in God, Salvations Hope, The Word of God in your Mind and Prayer.  The Armor of God.  Everything you need to stand against the evil and temptations of life.  If you have any questions or I wasn’t clear on something leave a comment. 

Craig Groeschel, the Pastor of LifeChurch.tv said- “We aren’t fighting for victory, we are fighting FROM victory!”

There are plenty of books out there for further research, here are a few I recommend.

 

The Bondage Breaker®: Overcoming *Negative Thoughts *Irrational Feelings *Habitual Sins by Neil T. Anderson

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ   by Neil T. Anderson

When the Enemy Strikes Workbook: The Keys to Winning Your Spiritual Battles   by Charles Stanley

The Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil   by C.S. Lewis (the writer of The Chronicles of Narnia)