Annie
Scriptures:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Last week, we looked at how important it is to know who our real enemy is. Without this insight we can never truly understand the reason for the Apostle Paul going into so much detail about the Armour of God. We need to be confident in our assurance of whose we are, adopted as a child of God, and to know that our enemy will do anything to destroy this assurance. This is why it is vital we enmesh ourselves in this assurance and God Himself, so that we can fully understand why we need God's Armour.
Paul makes it clear in his letter to the Ephesians that we are not fighting physical battles. Therefore, we cannot expect to be able to use our own physical strength to be victorious. He also makes it very clear that our task is to stand; stand clad in the Armour of God, stand victorious in the Victory that has already been won for us by Jesus Christ at Calvary.
We will never win when we are focused on whatever the problem is or the issue that confronts us, and how we can fix it. We will only ever be victorious when we stand in the victory already won by God’s only Son, when we are clothed in God's precious Armour. And this Armour, which only has one piece that is offensive, provides the only defence that we could ever need, the only hope of victory against the real enemy, the devil himself.
The belt of Truth holds everything together. Without the Truth, everything falls apart. The Truth that is not a philosophy or an abstract, the Truth that is not an argument or a doctrine. The Truth that is not even a belief, Jesus Christ said “I am the Truth”. He is the only Truth that holds everything together.
In the Breastplate of Righteousness, we are covered in God's Righteousness alone. We stand with that precious Breastplate protecting the precious Life of God within us, keeping us safe, keeping our heart soft and open towards hearing our Father God’s comforting, strong words to us.
That Shield of Faith without which we will never repel the darts of the evil one, and whose Faith is it? It is God's precious Faith. We give Him our tiny mustard seed of faith and He gives us the most amazing Shield we could ever think of.
Those wonderful shoes. Protecting our feet from every niggly little stone that the enemy would put in our path as we walk, proclaiming the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Then that incredible Helmet. There is no way that the voice that would destroy our assurance, destroy our confidence, destroy our trust can ever penetrate this Helmet. The Helmet that keeps us within the joy of our salvation.
These are all defensive pieces of Armour. The only one that is offensive is the Sword, the mighty Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. When we are steeped in the Word of God. When we have absorbed His Word into ourselves, then we can use that Word to repel the enemy, not our own words, never our own words. Only the words that come from the Word Himself, the inspired Word of God given to us as the most effective weapon in defeating our enemy.
We don't have to jump up and down. We don't have to rage around the place frantically trying to battle in our own strength. We have to stand, our battle is learning how to stand in Christ’s victory. To stand, clad in the Armour of God Himself, the risen Christ, who gained that victory at Calvary for us.
Let us, always, always remember that it is God's victory, God's Armour, and His precious gift to us.
Prayer: Father God, help us all to remember that the Blood of Christ has already paid the price. He wears the Victor’s Crown, and our lives are hidden, victorious, with Him in God. Through the power of Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.