“THE ARMOR OF GOD”

Good Evening to All!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

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, (all you can do) to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in lace, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  (Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV)

When I read this, one of the first examples I thought of was David.  One, because he is one of my favorite people in the Bible, but the other is because he showed unwavering faith  in God by going up against Goliath.  When all of the “soldiers” were hiding behind rocks, and cowering down, David knew the power he had behind him.  He knew that God was there and would not let him down. 

I am reading a book right now that talks about Jesus, being talked about in the Old as well as the New Testaments, but I think it speaks of other types and shadows as well. 

 The reason I say this is because the Armor of God is specifically talked about in Ephesians, yet even though David didn’t have a Bible to read about God’s Word, he knew that as long as he had faith in God, as long as he put God first, as long as he was girted with the truth of God, and did right in the sight of God, God would bring Him through with a victory. 

Of course I know that this may not be the “Full” Armor of God, because at that time the “helmet of salvation could not have been in place, nor the Gospel of peace, because there were no disciples to spread it as of yet.  They had prophets, though, so I guess in a way if  we want to stretch it we could include the prophets as having the shoes of the gospel, as they did bring God’s Word to the people. 

Comparing this to a more modern example, I like this little example I came across.  There was once a girl who loved to roller-blade.  For Christmas and birthdays she had always received all of the proper gear from her parents in order to do this sport safely which included pads for everything. 
 
Of course as young people do sometimes, one day she was in a hurry and grabbed all of her gear except for her wrist guards.  Sure enough, she rounded a corner too quickly and went flying, landing and breaking her wrists. 
 
It goes the same way with the Armor of God.  We cannot live victorious lives without having the Full Armor of God on.  It won’t work with having everything but faith, nor will it without knowing or telling the truth, or neglecting to obey God with a righteous life.  Not only that but we certainly will have no protection if we are not saved in Jesus Christ. 

What about peace?  How many times have we been saddened because we know someone who says they love the Lord, yet they spend time gossiping, or stirring up trouble instead of carrying a message of peace?

The devil knows our weaknesses.  He knows that we are not perfect and fall short of the glory of God, so he figures all he has to do is wait and he will find a “chink in the Armor”.  It doesn’t even have to be a big one. 

Once he gets in, his deceit and negative thoughts can spread like wild-fire.  We HAVE to daily clothe ourselves completely in God’s Spiritual Armor, because when we hit the curves and the rough spots in our road of life, we will come crashing down and the  weak spot in our armor will be dented or badly broken. 

God is our Spiritual Parent.  He knows what is best for us.  He teaches us  what to do for our own good, but we have to dress ourselves COMPLETELY in His Spiritual Armor, pray, listen to Him, then abide by what He says and obey Him. 

The answers to the Trivia questions of Monday are as follows:

1.  Who was hung on a
gallows fifty cubits (about seventy-five feet) high?  Haman--Esther 7:9, 10

2.  What were the names of the first and last judges of Israel?
  Othniel--Judges 1:13; 3:9; and Samuel—1 Samuel 7:8

3.  Who was the individual who watched over Baby Moses while he floated in the bulrushes?
His sister—Exodus 2:4

4.  What was the name of the mother who made a little coat for her son every year? 
Hannah for Samuel—1 Samuel 1:20; 2:18, 19

5.  What Bible prophet spoke of the killing of the children?
Jeremiah—Jeremiah 31:15

6.  What type of bird did Noah first send forth from the Ark? 
A raven—Genesis 8:6, 7

7.  The name of David’s first wife was___________.
Michal—1 Samuel 18:27

8.  The title written above Jesus’ cross said, “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Name the three languages that the title was written in.
Greek, Latin, and Hebrew—John 19:19, 20

9.  Because of Achan’s sin, he was stoned in the valley_________.
Anchor—Joshua 7:24-26

10.  What was the name of the sorcerer who was struck blind by Paul the apostle?
Elymas—Acts 13: 6-12

I hope each of you who took the time to take this Trivia Quiz did well and enjoyed looking up the scriptures.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!