Ephesians 6:10-20
10 — If our strength and power aren’t from Him and in Him, we are weak and powerless. The Christ life can be lived no other way.
12 — Never forget the identity of the real enemy! If you’re a Christian, it isn’t your comrade-in-arms.
14 — This is the third time we’re told to stand. We can only do this “in the Lord.”
18 — Behold the armor for your back and your fellow soldier’s back! Who said we don’t have protection for our backs?!
20 — In bonds but bold. Amazing! May I as an ambassador for Christ speak as I ought to speak.
Are “the wiles of the devil” a real threat to me personally?
Am I a viral carrier of peace wherever my feet take me?
Every time I leave home — am I supposed to go out as an ambassador? Why or why not? How about every time I am at home?
Ephesians 6:11 conveys to us one of God’s commands for His people: “Put on the whole armour of God.” In the interest of being obedient to God and thus experiencing spiritual success and victory, we must ask the obvious question: How do we put on God’s armor?
How can we as humans put on something as physically intangible as spiritual armor? By exercising ourselves in those areas highlighted by the armor. Still not sure of my meaning? Let’s look at each piece of armor mentioned in today’s lesson.
GIRDLE. This particular piece of armor is identified as truth. As we love, learn and practice truth, we are “girt about with truth” — we have put on the girdle as God has commanded. Thus we see that truthfulness protects us spiritually; untruthfulness leaves us vulnerable.
BREASTPLATE. What does the Bible call this? Righteousness. One definition of the term is simply choosing what is right. Every time. All the time. This is the mind set to live after God’s ways. Each time we live righteously and choose righteousness, we put on the breastplate. Wrong choices and less-than-righteous decisions are the spiritual equivalent of an ancient soldier chucking his breastplate…right in the thick of battle!
Read the rest: Strength for the Conflict
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