TAKE HEART: Take Up the Whole Armor (Week 8)
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TAKE UP THE WHOLE ARMOR
Ephesians 6:13-17 ESV: 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
Recognize the Real Enemy
Ephesians 6:11-12 ESV: 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
I Thessalonians 2:18 ESV: 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
“Since the first hour in which goodness came into conflict with evil, it has never ceased to be true in spiritual experience, that Satan hinders us. From all points of the compass, all along the line of battle, in the vanguard and in the rear, at the dawn of day and in the midnight hour, Satan hinders us. If we toil in the field, he seeks to break the ploughshare; if we build the wall, he labours to cast down the stones; if we would serve God in suffering or in conflict--everywhere Satan hinders us. He hinders us when we are first coming to Jesus Christ. Fierce conflicts we had with Satan when we first looked to the cross and lived. Now that we are saved, he endeavours to hinder the completeness of our personal character. – Charles Spurgeon
Recognize the Real Armor
“To undermine the power of those ideas and images that structure life away from God, we must use our ability to think. What is thinking? It is the activity of searching out what must be true, or cannot be true, in light of given facts or assumptions. It extends the information we have and enables us to see the larger picture, both clearly and wholly. It reveals falseness, inaccuracy, and error to those who wish to know. It is a powerful gift of God to be used in the service of truth.” –Dallas Willard
Taking up this armor will look more like divine humility than human strength. Return to truth, acknowledge and accept His righteousness, choose peace, hold to faith as a shield, fit your mind back into the saving gospel, remember and deploy—that is, wield Scripture into the fray of doubt, fear, anger, and control.
I Timothy 6:12 NIV: Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Every day of earthly life is a fight to take hold of eternal life.
