Now that you are wearing your garment of praise, God offers you a complete set of armor to put on over it. In case you have not yet realized it, you are a soldier in a war. You need all the armor God has provided for you.
The items of your equipment are listed in Ephesians 6:13-18 as follows:
- The girdle [belt] of truth
- The breastplate of righteousness
- The shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace
- The shield of faith
- The helmet of salvation
- The sword of the Spirit-the word [Greek rhema] of God
- All prayer
We will go through these items of armor in order.
The Girdle [Belt] of Truth
In biblical times men usually wore loose clothing that hung down below their knees. Before undertaking any strenuous activity, they would gather up their loose garment above their knees and fasten it with a belt around the waist. Hence the phrase that occurs several times in the Bible: Gird up your loins.
Likewise you must gather up ans fasten out of the way anything that would impede your freedom to follow Jesus. The “belt” that enables you to do this is God’s Word, applied in a very plain and practical way. You must become totally sincere and open and put aside every form of dishonesty or hypocrisy. You must love the truth.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The breastplate protects your most critical and vulnerable area: your heart. This righteousness is not mere intellectual assent to a doctrine: “With the Heart” -not with the head- “one believes to righteousness” (Romans 10:10). Saving faith in the heart transforms a life of sin into a life of righteousness-not a righteousness that comes from following a set of religious rules, but from Christ dwelling in our hearts and living out His life through us. “The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). This kind of righteousness transforms timidity into boldness, doubt into confidence.
The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace
Your shoes make you mobile. You must be available to God at anytime or place to share the Gospel with those God puts in your way. In a world of strife and tension, you must be a vessel of God’s peace.
The Shield of Faith
The shield alluded to in Ephesians 6 was big enough to give protection to a soldier’s whole body, but it was effective only when he had learned how to use it.
You, too, must learn to use your faith as a shield to protect your whole person-spirit, soul and body-from Satan’s fiery darts. Remember, the shield will merely ward off the flaming darts; it will extinguish them!
The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet protects the head-that is, the mind. Satan will direct more attacks against your mind than against any other area of your personality. The helmet is also called “the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8)-not mere wishful thinking, but attitude of steady, continuing optimism based firmly on the truth of God’s Word.
The Sword of the Spirit Word [Greek rhema] of God
Rhema means primarily a spoken word. The Bible on your bookshelf will not protect you. God’s Word becomes a sword when you speak it through your mouth in faith. Remember how Jesus used that sword against Satan, answering every temptation by quoting Scripture: “It is written…”You must learn to do the same.
The sword is provided by the Holy Spirit, but it is your responsibility to take it. When you do, the Spirit provides supernatural power with which to wield it.
The Final Weapon: All Prayer
With the sword you are limited by the length of your arm. But “all prayer” is your intercontinental ballistic missile. By this kind of prayer you can reach across oceans and continents and strike the forces of Satan where ever they are at work. You can even reach out against Satan’s headquarters in the heavenliest. But it takes discipline and maturity to learn to use such a powerful weapon.
Food for the unbelievers:
The Bible applies to all man-kind. God is loving and gave us these scriptures to follow by. Of course, we are human and not perfect. But we must strive to walk in the foot steps of our creator.
Clearly the scripture states in 1 Corinthians 6:8-10 we “will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven” if we are fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drunkards, reviles, swindlers, effeminate. However, if we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and repent from our wicked ways and begin our new life trying to appease by God, then we will go to Heaven.
Anyone and everyone can be saved! It comes down to our heart, and desire to please God.
Bottom line, We all can be delivered from our sins. Yes, fornication, idolization, adultery, homosexuality, thieving, alcoholism, fowl language, cheating, self-indulgent. Ask and you will receive!
May God’s grace and blessings be with you all.
Love,
Ezekiel
Ready to take the next step?
The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” To give your life to Christ, pray the following prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior:
What to Pray
Dear Lord Jesus,I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God. So now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Did you pray?
If you just prayed the prayer of salvation, congratulations! We would love to hear about your new commitment and provide you with some resources that can help you begin your relationship with God.
January 2, 2009 at 5:06 pm
We do not need to send any man such Bishop Bernard Jordan $300, $500, $1000, or even $20,000 to receive any miracle. We just need to have faith the size of a mustard seed. Not the size of your financial seed offering. Bishop Bernard Jordan is in this for himself only.
Mark 11:22-24
22 And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.
23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
Kenya, Africa is Starving, Let’s think of others beyond ourselves!
I am planning to knock on the doors of every church throughout the USA. And if those doors close on my face, I will knock on the next door… I am compelled to succeed in this mission. I eat fine and this makes me cry even harder. I so badly want to help Kenya. I love everyone there. I feel Gods grace and love for Kenya and it hurts my heart so much to feel the way I am feeling. The Lord will bless this mission. He guarantee’s victory in Faith. I have faith. This mountain shall be moved in Kenya!!!!!
Think about the living conditions in Kenya, the famine in Kenya, the orphans in Kenya, etc…
The USA is Blind!
The people in the USA are blind to anything but themselves. If I have to, I will go door-to-door with photos from Kenya. The Lord has already won Kenya.