Armor of God

I know it has been a while since I posted, things have been very busy and during my study times I wasn’t feeling called to write. However God has moved in some pretty amazing ways these last few days, and revealed a lot that I feel needs to be shared. So today we will be looking at the armor of God in Ephesians.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I out to speak.” Ephesians 6: 10-20

I love these verses. We open with a call to stand strong in the Lord. And the rest tells us how to do that. We are no longer fighting against each other, but a spiritual battle, therefore we do not need conventional weapons and armor, but something different, something spiritual. I want to go through the pieces of armor one by one, and examine them.

First we are told to wear truth around our loins.

I know what many are thinking, and that is, why there? Why are we to wear truth around our waist?

I believe the answer to this comes in the very nature of that region of our body. That is a very secretive area, people don’t walk around with that exposed, it represents what we don’t want others to see. We are being told to guard our secrets, what others don’t see, with God’s truth.

This involves a lot. It is a call to be the same in public and in private. Our devotion to God shouldn’t be a face we put on for the sake of others; it should be who we really are, even when we are in the privacy of our homes or rooms. We should be living for God even when there is nobody else watching.

The next piece of the armor is the breastplate of righteousness.
We are to protect our heart with God’s righteousness. Remember that our bodies are now the Lord’s temple. He lives in us. 1 Corinthians 6:19
We need to keep God close to our heart, so that He can transform us. Whatever we hold close to us, the desires of our hearts, becomes what defines us. We need to hold God closest to our hearts, and let His righteousness define who we are. Let Him shape and mold us.

Then our feet are covered with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
This is a big one. We already have ourselves covered in God’s truth, His righteousness is transforming our hearts. Then we put on the preparation of the gospel of peace.
We need to dive into God’s word, know it, and be prepared to use it. How can we share His word if we ourselves have not read it? We need to be prepared by it. Whenever Jesus gets questioned He turned to the scriptures for His answers. We should do the same.
But why our feet? I think that answer rests in Matthew 28:19-20. We are supposed to GO and teach. When we have put on the preparation of the gospel of peace, we are carried forward and to those that need it. When we understand the gospel we can’t ignore it, and we naturally begin to live it. That is why we needed to put on truth and righteousness first. Because once we have on the preparation of the gospel we begin to move.

Now we pick up the shield of faith.
Once we have entered into the world, to carry the gospel to others we will be challenged, attacked, and face resistance. It is vitally important that we lean on our faith for defense rather than ourselves. Faith is of God, and when we rely on Him there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. This gives us a trust and reliance on God. Draws us close to Him.

Next is the helmet of salvation.
We wear this as a helmet because we need to keep this on our minds at all times. We need to let this transform us, and renew our minds. (Romans 12:2)

Next is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Our weapon is not a tool of destruction, but rather a tool to edify (Ephesians 4:29). We use the word of God to teach and instruct those we come across, and to build them up. Reveal God’s truth.

Now this last part isn’t a piece of armor, but it is vitally important. Prayer. After we put on all of this armor we aren’t asked to run and fight some big battle, we are simply asked to pray. The process of putting on this armor aligns us with God’s Spirit and will. This is what makes for powerful prayer.
Luke 11:9. We are told to ask and it shall be given to us. This passage has been used by many to claim that God will give you whatever you want, but that is only a partial truth. Jesus is speaking about those who are aligned with the Spirit of God. When we align ourselves with His Spirit, we want what God wants, and therefore we will ask only for those things that God wants to give, things to glorify Him, or edify others.

As many of you know, Joplin was recently hit by a powerful tornado and most of the town was destroyed. There are more than 160 confirmed dead and hundreds still missing. Rescue crews and relief agencies are sifting through the wreckage, trying to help whoever they can, but it is long, hard work. Last night another powerful tornado was heading their way. Word was spread among those I know as each heard about the storm and spread the word to pray for the people of Joplin. God moved last night and exact prayers were answered, the tornado dissipated, and the storm turned. Joplin was spared. When we align ourselves with God, we see powerful results to our prayers. We need to surrender to His will, and pray with confidence. Remember the centurion that asked Jesus to heal his servant. He knew that Jesus had that authority and had no doubt that even if Jesus didn’t go to the servant in person, what He said would come to pass. We have that same power living inside of us, and when we align ourselves with the Spirit, it isn’t our words that we pray. The Spirit will speak through us and we will see results. Believe this, trust this, and praise God. For all the Glory is His.

Shall Never Perish

“And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.”  Mark 5:21-24

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.”  Mark 5:35-43

I would like to start here, with one of the more spectacular miracles of Jesus.

This is a powerful lesson on what faith can do, Jesus simply asked the father to believe, and then He raised his daughter.

But there is something a bit deeper that I want us to look at, something I think is often overlooked.

“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying” Mark 5: 39-40

Jesus told them she was just sleeping, and that she was not dead. And they laughed.

Isn’t that how most of us, even in the church, react to outlandish sounding statements of faith these days? Here Jesus not only ignores those who doubt, but excludes them completely from what happens next. He sent them out, and took with Him only those who believed.

However, we all know the story, she is restored and everyone is happy. I want to look closer at the words: “The damsel is not dead”. She very clearly was. Death was not an uncommon thing in these days; people knew what a dead thing looked like. Yet Jesus says that she isn’t dead.

Perhaps they didn’t know what death was, and perhaps… we still don’t.

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26

Ah, here we find words in another resurrection story. This time it was Lazarus, again we all know the story so I just want to focus on the above verses. We know that Jesus spoke truth to us, and here we see Him clearly say that if we believe in Him, we shall NEVER die.

Interesting… but we have all lost people, been to funerals, or heard about the deaths of famous people, even “christians”. So does that mean none of us have faith? That we don’t believe in Him?

Or does that mean that we don’t know what death is?

Christ promised us this more than once, if you wish to see another verse just look here:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  John 10: 27-28.

So the natural conclusion is one of two things, either A, none of us, including the disciples, truly had faith. Or, we can’t tell the difference between dead and sleeping.

Paul discusses death and the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as in the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, bretheren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15: 42-58

Now this is a powerful piece of scripture. I could probably write a whole post just on this here (although at this point I have no intention of doing that, though who knows, maybe someday). What I want to focus on is the heavy emphasis here on the resurrection being a change. Whether we are alive or “dead” these bodies will not go with us into eternity, we will receive new spiritual bodies.

Note how Paul also uses the words “we shall not all sleep”.

This is seemingly random and put in where all other similar words are death, and dead. By all rights that word could easily read as die, yet Paul doesn’t say that. He says sleep.

Are they interchangeable? Is there a distinction? I can’t really say for sure. What I can say is that death has always been a statement of finality, and in Christ, nothing is final. I like this word sleep. We don’t have to mourn the passing of those we know and care about, or even of ourselves.

It is not final, simply a quick nap before being called home to Christ, refreshed and ready for eternity.