Don’t Forget Your Armor
Reading God’s Word with Purpose
Ephesians 6
What spoke to me?
Ephesians 6: 11, 13-14 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.” (NIV)
Why did these verses speak to me?
The word "stand" stood out to me. The definition of stand is: to take a position or place; to remain firm or steadfast; to take up or maintain a position or attitude with respect to a person; to resist change... God wants us to stand against the devil and his schemes...to hold our position in Christ that God has given us when Satan attacks us....to remain firm in our faith and belief in God when the attacks make us question everything we know to be true about God....to maintain a godly attitude when we are going thru a spiritual attack from Satan because that is what God has asked us to do and we want to respect His commands... to resist throwing our hands up and just giving up the fight when the attacks are hard and seem like they never end....If we are a Christian and we are following Christ and trying our best to live out our faith, Satan will come after us. John 10:10 states, "The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy" and that is precisely Satan's mission against us here on this earth. He wants to steal your joy, your peace and your hope...he wants to kill your hopes and dreams...he wants to destroy your marriage, your family and your witness to others and he is relentless. This passage states that our defense is to put on the full armor of God. Part of that armor is reading and knowing God's word so that we really know God's truth and won't be deceived by Satan's schemes or lies.
How will this truth change the way I live my life?
I need to make sure I put on the full armor of God everyday thru prayer and reading His word. Satan is watching and waiting for any and every opportunity to mess with my mind and take me down. If my heart and mind are totally saturated with His truth, then Satan is going to have a much more difficult time deceiving me or taking me away from whatever God has given me to do at that time or season in my life. The more I focus on Jesus, the more peace and joy I will experience and the less stress and anxiety I will have no matter what my circumstances may look like at the time. There really is no way to continue to "stand" when Satan attacks us if we have failed to use what God has given us to win this battle…
My Prayer
Thank you God for your word and for clearly telling us that there is a spiritual battle going on all around us. Thank you for showing us how to stand our ground when we are under attack and for giving us the armor of God to cover us and protect us from the enemy. Help me to be more intentional to put on my spiritual armor as I prepare to face each day so that Satan cannot steal, kill or destroy anything you have for me. Amen