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10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20 NRSV)
A happy Tuesday to you, ConCafe Family. May God bless your life, dear Reader. with rich and wonderful blessings. Pray for one another and for yourselves.
The greatest example of the right equipment for battle is a comical one we studied not too long ago,when the chilld king-to-be David accepted the challenge from the giant Goliath. David, to his credit, was prepared to fight the giant without any armor, but King Saul insisted that it would be necessary, and to see the boy in the king's armor was funny. An XL helmet, breastplate, sword, etc. on at-best a Medium-sized boy. Saul's thinking was from his years of war experience. He knew and saw what an unarmed soldier would go through and that was usually a painful death. The developers of armor for the times it was invented knew what purpose each piece served; to protect and keep safe. Years later as the Apostle Paul sat under house arrest and under Roman guard, he noticed the armor and was inspired by God to use that as example for every Christian believer. Paul knew from personal experience the personal challenges that came his way, and as he traveled when he was free, from church to church, he heard about those diffiulties and obstacles the believer was facing. But Paul also knew the strength of the Lord and how he himself had been blessed with that strength. Then, Paul begins his analogy of the armor of his Roman guard and the strength the Lord offers to you and me.
First, the truth. Verse 12 is it; "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." When we become believers, the alarm goes off in the dark places and alerts the enemy of our now being on God's team, and will stop at nothing to get us back. And, unless we are clothed right, the battle might already be over, and the scoreboard will say Devil 1, Chritian 0.
Paul says, "Let's arm ourselves with what God offers so we can defeat that old devil." And he outlines the armor that will not only protect us but defeat the enemy. His command is adament about believers standings firm, emphasis on standing. As believers we should take pride in our Lord and Savior, and we stand as an example to others. Paul begins with the belt of truth around your waist. The ancient version spoke of our loins being girded. And I should note the order of these items are in the order in which the soldier put them on. It was also the belt that held the other items in place. The older version speaks of the honesty and righteousness with which one approaches the most vulnerable areas of the body. Without going further into detail, think back again to David and his life and his error in regards to another man's wife.
The breastplate of righteousness is what protects the heart and other vital organs. Our emotions, our feelings; we are vulnverable creatures. Cover your heart and your breath with righteousness, meaning we seek to do what pleases God in al things.
For your shoes, wear that which allows you to share the gospel of peace. We take that to mean the kind of shoes that will take you wherever and whenever you need to be to share the gospel of peace, love, and hope with those who need to hear it.
The shield with which you can protect all of you from the "flaming arrows of the evil one," meaning that the shield should be faith, that which counters what the devil hits us with. If he says be down, faith says be up. If the flaming arrows says you're lost, faith says, no you're not; you're on the right path.
To protect your thoughts and mind, put on a helmet of salvation; that which says you belong to God. You are in the right relationship of your life and you should not deviate from it.
The sword is the word of God. This is the offensive weapon; the others serve as more defensive weapons, this one allows for our attack against the enemy. The word of God contains the truth and the life we need.
And we cover everything with prayer and supplication; prayers of protection and wisdom and the direction that we need to move forward towards God. Paul says we should also stay alert and never stop from being the ones who prays for the other believers. And Paul asks that the readers pray for him and the work he does. And for the end that Paul was aware would be his.
Nothing in life can defeat a person fully dressed in the armor of God, for they will have all they need to defeat the enemy and win others over for the kingdom.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, empower us with wisdom to seek and put on all that will bless us with Your armor. We want to be strong, wise and every vigilant for all we can do to win the wold for Jesus. We can indeed win the battles we face. And we pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Show the joy of hope that we have in Jesus with someone today.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
