text: Perspective: Full Armor | RELOADED...
  Posted: August 27, 2015 in Perspective
  Tags: belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, ephesians 6, full armor, helmet of salvation, sandals of the gospel, shield of faith, sword of the spirit
  Ever been frustrated trying to do all the right things, but it seems like 'two steps forward, three steps back'? Yes, me too!
  The frustration comes when we feel like we're doing everything we're supposed to be doing, yet still feel 'naked out on the battlefield'. Often I have found, when I feel like this, it's because I'm missing some pieces to my 'armor'.
  I love the section in the Bible, in Ephesians 6, where Paul is addressing life's battles. He speaks about how the enemies we face are not necessarily our neighbors, our boss, gangs, governments, foreign countries… the list goes on, but the 'root' of the battle is the enemy we can't see… the spirit realm that has a very strong evil hold in certain 'circles' of our world. This is why Paul writes in verse 11, 'Put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand safe…' Imagine being sent to the battlefield, where the enemy is fully 'armored up', but all we have on is a helmet, or maybe a sword in hand, but nothing else. It doesn't quite work. In verse 13, he goes even further by saying, 'Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy…so when it's over, you'll still be standing.' So, what's the significance of each piece? Here's a brief:
  Helmet of Salvation – battles often begin and end in our minds. Knowing and being secure in our Salvation thru Jesus will go great lengths in protecting us from the negative thoughts.
  Breastplate of Righteousness – finding the balance between knowing we are only 'righteous' through Jesus and at the same time making decisions that are pleasing to the Father.
  Sword of the Spirit – the Bible. Simply put… it's our only weapon against the 'unseen' enemy. But we have to learn it to use it.
  Shield of Faith – faith is our 'shield' against the brutal sting of the enemy's lies and deceit.
  Sandals of the Gospel – this world is a hard, rough place where 'bare feet' are quickly cut, bruised and battered. Let the 'sandals' of the Gospel protect the 'feet' by which everything else is carried.
  Belt of Truth – no matter what is said to try and tear us and our world apart, the truth of God's Word will always hold us together.
  It surely takes consistent effort, training and practice to be able to 'put all of these on' at the same time and then use them to stand strong in the face of our daily battles. But the time doing this is well spent. We cannot opt out of the daily battles. They are simply a part of life. Our choice, the decision we get to make is whether we are going to fight them to win or are we going to 'roll over' and let the enemy take us out. If we believe that we are fighting against things we cannot see, we also can't be fooled into believing that we can fight against and defeat what we can't see ourselves… in the flesh… in our own efforts. We just simply don't have enough. To sum it up… Paul states in verse 10,'Let your strength come from the mighty power of God that is in you.' It's the only way to ensure victory!