God's Armour part 2

Part 2

I must take what I am now about to say a lot more seriously than I have over time, I think we all should. Why? Our design fills our minds with so much of today’s appetites that we have to dig deep in order to appropriate the truth of eternity as our reality. We live for today with possibly some thought for eternity. We give a lot of thought about tomorrow, but for the wrong reasons; "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34) – Our concern should then be for today and how we will combat the trouble of the day, tomorrow will arrive when it arrives and then we must learn to combat its troubles. The KJV translation of the bible is a lot more specific with what we need to battle; “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” – So then it must be about each and every one of us learning to combat the evil we will all face today, tomorrow will come for some and it may come for others but we will address that tomorrow.

What must I do today? “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.” (Ephesians 6:10-11) - I will confess this is not part of my daily routine, most days I will give some thought to the work of the Lord Jesus in my life, but I am certainly not vigilant when it comes to the wearing of God’s armour. I ask all who read this and have it upon their hearts to pray for me about seriously dressing for battle; I certainly need your prayers. As Christians we are all part of the same army, God’s army, we all wear His coat of arms, with Jesus Christ as the Admiral. We are our “brother’s keeper” and we must look out for one another. I am weak in this regard and I pray that the Lord would reignite a new spirit in me, I once was a watchmen but have now become somewhat complacent, which is simply unacceptable, please pray for me to once again be more than vigilant in this area of my life.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16) – it is the work of your prayers that I seek out, not that I may spend their powers on my lusts but rather it would cause the name of our great God to be praise and exalted.

So it should be clear by now that we are influenced by the evil forces in the unseen realm; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) 

To combat them efficiently we must follow the Apostle Paul’s instruction to the letter, which is; “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:13-20)

There is much to discuss with regards to the specific apparel mentioned here in this portion of scripture. To give it the attention needed to help us with the effectual working of each part I think it would be prudent to spend more time studying the value of each and every part; “the belt of truth”, “breastplate of righteousness”, “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace”, “shield of faith”, “helmet of salvation”, and “the sword of the Spirit”, “praying at all times in the Spirit”, this will keep us alert and we will not be like the foolish virgin that fell asleep and if we have fallen asleep, we will wake up.

Until the next time,

Signing off

Tyrone