Dress for Success Part 3

Looking at where we left off in Part 2, we are still talking about the different pieces of the Armor of God. Just as a reference point, the scripture is taken from Ephesians 6: 11-18.

Looking at verse 15, Paul tells us to put on peace as our shoes so we can be fully prepared. Not just any peace though. Peace that comes from the Good News. To put it differently, would you rather walk outside and have on peace in a chaotic world and not worry about what trials you may walk through? Or would you rather walk bare foot and take the chance of stepping on some problems and not having the peace to deal with it? I don't know about you, but I'm trying to step out in my "Stacey Adams" of peace. The reason why we need the shoes of peace to be prepared is because if you put on everything except for peace, then you aren't fully prepared to go out into the spiritual battlefield. Just like if you have on all your clothes but not your shoes, then you're not ready to go out the house. And the thing about these shoes, you don't have to take them off at all. I'm sure people will appreciate it if we all keep on our peace shoes.

Going on the verse 16, it tells that we will need faith as our shield. We need this to block the "fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan." Now let's look at the word faith. Some synonyms for the word faith are confidence, reliance, trust, or assurance. We have to have to have all these things in Christ when we are going in to our spiritual battle. We have to have confidence in what God can do. We have to rely on God to take care of the things that need to be taken care of. We have to trust that God will provide for us. And as sure as Christ is King and has defeated death, we have assurance that we have victory in our spiritual battle. The thing about using faith as our shield (along with all the pieces of the Armor of God) is that we must have it on or with us at all times. In every spiritual battle we face, Satan is going to fire his arrows at us relentlessly. We have to constantly have our shield of faith up blocking the doubts, fears, misconceptions and everything else the enemy is trying to hit us with.

Going into the last couple pieces, Paul tells us to "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (verse 17). The word salvation means to SAVE somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure. When we go into spiritual battle, the enemy has put a price on our head and he is trying to take us out. If you are to put on salvation as your helmet, then you must first be SAVED by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Once you're saved, then you have received salvation. Now that you have received salvation, you can wear it as your helmet to protect yourself from the the tricks the enemy tries to play on your mind.

Now Paul also tells us to take the word of God with us. We must use this to cut down any surmounting trials that may come against us. I know from personal experience, there are Bible verses for whatever you are going through. There is so much wisdom in the word of God that we can use when were faced with a situation. We just have to know how to use it. How you learn how to use it is by first reading it. If you can read this blog, then you can read the word of God because this is no way a replacement for reading your Bible. That's why I put the Bible verses on here so that you can reference them when you're reading your Bible. All I'm saying is that if we are to use the word as our sword, then we have to know how to use it. I'll put it like this. Let's say you just downloaded a new program on your computer, but aren't quite sure how to make it work. If you have an instruction manual, then you're more than likely going to read how to use that program. The same things goes with reading the Bible. If you don't know how to use it as your sword, then you should take the time to read because it is our Instruction Manual on life.

Now that we have on the full Armor of God, the last thing we must do is pray (verse 18). There is no secret to this. No analogies or synonyms. The fact of the matter is that we have to pray in all things that we do. Beyond reading our bibles, this is our way to stay in constant conversation with God. Through Christ we have a direct connection with God and we have to stay intimate in our relationship with Him. And when we pray, it doesn't have to be all formal or wordy. We can talk to God. Remember, He knows us better than we know ourselves. We might as well keep it real and just talk to Him. By constantly praying/conversing with God, this makes sure that all of His armor is on right and we are prepared to go our on that spiritual battlefield. So let us all dress for success, getting suited and booted for the Lord, and put on the full Armor of God.

Thank you for bearing with me for this 3 part series. I thank God for giving me the mental patience to put this all together. I again hope that this has been a blessing to you and yours. Please leave a comment and let me know you came by or what you think. God Bless.

Dress for Success Part 2

Last post, I left off talking about putting on the whole Armor of God. As a reminder the scripture is taken from Ephesians 6: 11-18. Again, this is where the apostle Paul is telling us to dress ourselves with the Armor of God.

Picking up where we left off last time, we are going to start at verse 14. Here we see the first couple pieces of God's armor, which is the "sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness." First let's look at the words sturdy and truth. When you think of sturdy, you might think of other words like durable, strong, solid, secure. That's exactly what the truth is. It's solid, secure, durable, strong. What the truth does is gives us a solid ground to stand on by putting whatever it is "out there" and showing that we aren't worried about what people will say. What a lie does is try to put up a front. A front that will inevitably fall and leave us exposed anyways.

Now this verse also mentions putting on the body armor of God's righteousness. When we put on the body armor of God's righteousness, we are putting on morality, justice, decency, and honesty. This goes hand in hand with the sturdy belt of truth. I'll use decency as an example. Say you're wearing a pair of pants that are just a little too big. If you don't wear a belt, then they might fall off or slide down. Either way, you're going to be showing your backside. But if you wear a belt to hold up those pants, then you're making sure that you stay decent. The same thing applies with the body armor of God's righteousness and the truth. To make sure we're not exposing our self in a spiritually indecent manner (or showing our backside) we use the truth to help hold up the righteousness we are putting on.

For example if we are truthful about having issues but praying that we continue to live right, then we are more likely to continue living righteously. The Bible even tells us how the truth can help us continue to live righteously. It can guide and lead you to God (Psalm 43:3). It can guide and teach you, bringing you to hope in God (Psalm 25:5). It also has the power to set you free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31-35). If we are not truthful about having issues, then we are less likely to continue living righteously. Take a look at these verses from the Bible. It says that some people were lead astray from God as a result of others distorting the truth (Acts 20:30). It also says in Romans 2:8 that "...he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness." That's why it's called the STURDY BELT of truth. Based on the scriptures above, that's how the truth will hold up the body armor of God's righteousness.

I'm going to stop there for now. I will talk about the remaining pieces of the Armor of God later today (2/4/09). I pray that Part 2 has been a blessing to you. Come back for Dress for Success Part 3 as I bring it all together. Thank you for coming by again. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless.