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If your armor is not of God, it is not good. Armor: 1 covering worn to protect the body against weapons 2 any defensive or protective covering, as on animals or plants, or the metal plating on warships, warplanes, etc. 3 the armored forces and vehicles of an army; tanks, reconnaissance cars, etc. 4 a quality or condition serving as a defense difficult to penetrate The 4th definition best serves in this case because we are referring to spiritual or soul armor. The correct spiritual armor as described in Ephesians 6: Eph: 6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Let’s see what God’s armor does. First it protects us from powers and rulers of darkness of this world--spiritual wickedness in high places. We all have evil days--days or times when we are under attack from the enemy of our souls. The soul is the mind, the will, and the emotions. That’s the area where Satan was able to defeat Adam and Eve and all their offspring, except Jesus. Why couldn’t the powers of darkness defeat Jesus? Because He walked by the spirit and not by the flesh. One must be spiritually alive to have power and understanding in their spirit. Adam and Eve were spiritually alive before the fall, but they died when they disobeyed God and all their offspring was born spiritually dead until Jesus. He was born of the Spirit of God so that He could be born spiritually alive. When one repents and asks Jesus into their heart, they are ‘born again’ of the Spirit of God and are spiritually alive. This is why James says in James 1:21: 21: Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. The battle is in the mind is a true statement, but actually it is in the soul, because the will and the emotions respond to the mind and greatly affect its decisions. Having established those truths, we will go on to see what God’s armor does. Eph: 6:14-15: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; First notice that after you’ve put on the full armor, you are to stand. That means do not move away from the hope of the gospel. Do not be moved away from what you are trusting and believing God for. The first piece of armor is body armor. Have your loins girt about with the truth. The loins are the part in the hip area--all those vital organs. The stomach, kidneys, liver, bladder, and intestines. These are vital organs, they must be protected and only the whole truth written in God’s word can do the job. Spiritually speaking, these organs, digest the spiritual food that you eat, sort it out, and deliver it to where it is to go--is it waste or energy? Put another way, do the things you feed your soul give you power to do right, power to stand against the wiles of the enemy or are you starving your spirit and feeding the carnal nature which is at enmity with God and vulnerable to the devil? Have your loins girt about with the truth. The second piece of armor is more body armor, the breastplate which protects the rib cage, lungs, heart, esophagus, etc. Righteousness will protect these vital organs, nothing else. Vs 15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. So our spiritual boots will enable us to walk, having peace within and seeking peace with others. Vs 16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. We need a shield. The enemy is always firing fiery dart at us--saying things like: Did God really say He would do that? Or If you really are a child of God... Or anything to cast doubt on what you are believing God about. He is always ready to puff us up or shoot us done. Faith in the written word of God is the only defense against his onslaught. Vs 17: And take the helmet of salvation, (The helmet protects you from the fear of death. It protects you from a lot of the enemy’s mind games.) and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Those who have on God’s armor are ready to use the word of God either in self-defense or in aggressively attacking the lies of the devil.) Vs 18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; If a person is not relying on God’s armor and weapons, they will used their own. If they are fighting against the lies of devil, they will end up defeated. They will flee or faint. If they are fighting a spouse, teacher, fellow laborer, sibling and such they may use intimidation tactics such as scowling, growling, barking, and or biting. Many people use lying to get out of trouble. People use cheating and sneaking to get what they want. Think about it, there is no good armor except God armor. He way of dealing with mankind is to love them no matter what--just make sure that you love them with His kind of love--whatever the situation calls for. There’s tough love where firmness and insisting that the party do right is called for. There is killing them with kindness when it’s a case of the other party wanting a conflict. There is loving them anyway--love takes no account of suffered wrongs. Love never fails. What weapons are you using? And who are you fighting? And what are you fighting for? And did you know that there is a war going on between the spirit and the soul--whose side are you on? © Sylvia Huffnagle
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The Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit
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