Armed And Ready

Ephesians 6:10-18 – 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, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 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 Lord’s people.

James 5:7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

It’s interesting that these passages were both in my personal reflection time with God yesterday and in the talk that our pastor gave yesterday. I take that as a cue that God wants me to listen closely and then write about what I learned.

I love the visuals of the armor. Vivid images of things we can picture in our heads that have very specific purposes. All things that, if we know the King, we have at our disposal as warriors for the King.

It also put a picture of David and Goliath in my mind. David, the youngest of eight brothers, the son dismissed as a mere shepherd who spent his days tending sheep. David, a simple boy whom God chose to kill a giant, a fierce enemy of the people, with a small stone. David, a songwriter and musician, who was destined by God to one day rule the nation. Youth and inexperience at first glance, but with the heart of a warrior going into battle.

King Saul tried to put David in the full garb of armor. David chose to take them off because “he was not used to them”. He chose, instead, what he knew. “So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” And why could he do this without fear? Because he was already clothed in the armor listed in Galatians. In his words, “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with the sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied….for the battle is the Lord’s…” David was fully armed for his battle. Because his struggle was “not against flesh and blood”.

It says that “as the Philistine (Goliath) moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.” He was ready. He was confident. He didn’t shy away or turn his back. He faced his enemy fully knowing Who was on his side. The God of the universe had his back. And there was no way that he could lose, no matter how big and fierce and ugly that enemy was.

Remember the outcome? With that stone and that sling, David took down that nine foot giant, Goliath. One stone. One stone that normally wouldn’t have made much of a dent in such a huge enemies face. But, “the stone sank into his forehead and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.” I think the stone had very little to do with that giant falling that day. David was fully aware of his inner protection, his armor, given to him by God. He was also aware that as God used an unlikely boy to go up against a giant, He could also use an unlikely stone to take that giant down. And He did.

And now, back to Galatians 6.

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 Lord’s people.

The first thing we are to do is to put on the armor that is at our disposal as warriors for the King. The second is to stand firm. To be ready and aware of what can and will be coming against us. Like David, we need to be ready at the battle line in full confidence. And not a confidence in our own strength, but in the King we serve and in the armor He has so graciously given us. We need to remember that this battle “is the Lord’s” and so we are on the side that will prevail.

Belt of Truth – A belt is worn at our core, the middle of who we are and all we do. If our “belt” is truth and all that we know is true of God and his character and promises, that will be the starting point and the center of all of our other armor.

Breastplate of Righteousness – The breastplate covers our hearts. And our hearts are covered, not by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God. He covered us in that when He sent Jesus to die for us. His heart bought ours. Our hearts are protected by His perfectness, His purity. The accusations of the enemy cannot get past the “breastplate”. We are covered.

Feet Fitted with Readiness – Our feet are ready for action. To go into battle. To be prepared for opportunities to fight and to walk forward in confidence. To “stand firm”. To put our faith into action.

Shield of Faith – We have a shield of faith, of trust, that we can carry. If we trust in all that God is and does, we will actively use that trust to ward off the arrows of fear and doubt and uncertainty. In my case, anxiety. If we place ourselves behind the protection of that trust in our King and the fact that He has our back, then even though those attacks come, they do not have to harm us or defeat or disable us. We have a defending shield.

Helmet of Salvation – Our confidence in knowing we are saved beyond all battles and will one day win the final battle when we get to heaven and experience fully the presence of God, our King. The “helmet” protects our head, our thoughts, our minds, from the lies the enemy wants us to believe. We are saved. Period. Nothing that the “giant” tries to hit us with can change that fact.

Sword of the Spirit – “Which is the word of God”. God’s words to us are our only offensive weapon. It’s all we need. It’s the weapon that Jesus used when Satan tempted Him in the desert. Our words don’t carry much weight, but God’s words pack a punch. And our enemy can’t stand up against it. He has no defense against God’s promises and declarations of love and forgiveness. Of grace and mercy. Of strength and hope.

Prayer – “ be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” A warrior is always aware of his surroundings and what he is dealing with. And we are all in this battle together. So we need to be praying for each other and supporting each other in the fight. We all need to know that we are not the only ones fighting.

This was a long post, I know. But the word pictures and the correlations with David got me all worked up. I could go on all day, but duty calls me to the battle of the day. Just know that I am in this fight with you and that Jesus and I are right here if and when you should need any encouragement along the way 🙂 We are more than conquerors…Romans 8:37 – “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” Yippee!!!!