Skilled At War

 Never make the mistake of assuming 

the person of peace is 

unskilled at war. 

The Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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 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. 

What does it mean and how do we use it? 

Belt of Truth- Satan is a liar, and he fights with lies. He is cunning and sometimes he can make a lie seem true. God's Truth defeats Satan's lies!

Breastplate of Righteousness- Protects our hearts and assures us of God's love and approval of us, defeating the attacks of Satan on our trust, emotions, and self-worth. He goes for the heart, but God is the keeper of our hearts. We must protect it. 

Feet of readiness- To motivate us to tell others of the true peace that is available when we trust the Lord, even when Satan tries to convince us that it's too hard or too big of a job and that it's a hopeless, negative task. We must stay in peace even when we feel shaky, because we know God is peace. 

Shield of Faith- This is our faith that protects our hearts from Satan's attacks with temptations, setbacks, and insults. When we see with God's perspective, we see beyond our circumstances and know we will have ultimate victory when we stay with God. 

Helmet of Salvation- Satan wants us to doubt everything-God, Jesus, and even our own salvation. But when we protect our mind from doubting the Lord, His saving promises continue to keep us focused on eternity.

Sword of the Spirit-We can always trust the Word of God. We can always trust in the truth of what it says. It is always our first defense against Satan's attacks. We simply say, "Here's what God says about that," and the devil flees. 

I know this felt a little like Sunday School or Wednesday Night Church today, but I've had to keep my armor on lately, and a good brush-up of why we need to do that is always important. The world and people are not getting any easier, and it's getting more and more difficult some days to keep our eyes on God, but that's exactly what we need to do. Stay focused, and stay geared up for the attacks that are sure to come when we claim to be on God's side. My armor is polished up and pink. We've got this! 

Blessings!