The armor of God

Ephesians 6: 14-17

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.


This is easily one of my favorite passages form the scripture. Every day is a battle. Each and everyday we make choices that will effect the rest of our lives. It is only by using all of the tools the God provides that we can stand firm. For moving forward with half measures guarantees that you will come up short when the time of need arises. God has promised to protect his children, however how close you get to “falling off the edge” might well depend on how well prepared you are.

I know that I can think of times in my life that I have been very close to heading off down the wrong path. We all struggle daily with demons in our life. The opportunities that pop up that are so tempting. The times when we think no one is looking. I do not pretend to think that Christ will make my life easy, or the devil will give up on me if I have enough faith. Actually it seems the stronger my faith, the harder the ole’ devil tries to beat me down. The more opportunities arise that would lead me to stray. I know we can all think of times that we have walked right up to the edge and for some reason we stop, and are pulled back. We are saved, by no action of our own; unexplainably we are pulled back safely from the edge. That my friends is when the Lord is working his hardest to save us. It is only when we get suited up fully, that we can withstand the barrage that each day brings us.

Notice how it is the belt of truth, it will hold you and keep you together, the breastplate of righteousness, for your righteousness is your heart and your heart will be protected. Fit your feet with the gospel of peace, at the last second it will be your feet that will move you away from danger. Lastly The shield of faith will protect you, the Helmet of salvation, will help you keep your head when the world around you is crumbling, and the sword of the Spirit will strike its target straight and true.

We should all be striving to fully know the Lord. As I always will say, we are all sinners, we all make mistakes, and we all fall short of the mark. When we put on the full suit of armor that God provides, we can stand strong in faith and know that while we might stumble, the Lord will not let us fall.

Peace,
Rev. T