Tag Archives: full armor of god

September 20, 2023 · 5:46 AM

Dressed For Battle

The Landsnechts were German speaking mercenaries hired for battles in the 1400’s – 1700’s. You couldn’t miss them on the battlefield. They wore oversized, flats berets to battle with amulets and ostrich feathers attached to it. Their shirts were baggy with puffy sleeves of vibrant colors. Their pants were also colorful and baggy. They were a sight to be seen on the battlefield. Emperor Maximilian said they should be allowed to wear whatever they wanted to battle because their lives were so short and brutish. Could you imagine seeing someone wearing something so vibrant to a battle? These days wear camouflage and ghillie suits to blend in with the environment. What you wear to a battle should give you a competitive advantage rather than place a target on you.

In 1 Samuel 17 we see young David show up to the battlefield. The army is dressed for battle, but the other side has a formidable giant whose mouth was just as big. He called out to the army for 40 days taunting them and challenging them. No one rose to the occasion. Instead they cowered in fear. When David heard it, he got mad and wanted to fight. The king heard about it and decided to send him out to fight Goliath rather than to continue the stalemate. He placed his own armor on David, but he couldn’t walk with all of it on. Instead he grabbed his shepherd’s staff, five smooth stones and his slingshot to head out to the battle. The giant laughed that they would send someone out without armor and so seemingly I’ll prepared. Goliath walked toward David, but David ran to him, put a stone in the sling, killed the giant and then cut off his head with his own sword.

Ephesians 6:13 says, “So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground” (GNT). You and I are in a spiritual battle every day. What armor are you wearing for it? Do you even have any on? If we’re going to hold our ground we must wear the armor that God made for us. Someone else’s armor won’t do (see the story of the seven sons of Sceva). God gives us a helmet to protect our mind, a breastplate to protect our heart, a belt that reminds us of the truth over the lies, shoes that carry us to help others, a shield to protect us and a sword to advance. Without these, we’re I’ll prepared for the battle we’re in and can be easily defeated. Paul tells us to put on the armor now so don’t wait. He’s given you everything you need to stand through anything and hold your ground.

Photo by Andriy Boechko on Unsplash

Fighting The Unseen

When I was around 16 years old, I had invited a kid I barely knew over to hang out for the day. My parents were gone, but had the foresight to have a family friend stay with us. We were in my room playing video games when his eyes rolled into the back of his head and they came back down looking different. He looked at me and said, “Fight me!” I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I knew if we got into an altercation, I wasn’t going to make it. I responded in a whisper that I wouldn’t fight him. He got angry and began repeatedly asking me to fight him. Our family friend sensed something, opened the door, noticed I was upset and got me out of the room. I began praying for about 15 minutes while I was locked in the bathroom. When I came back out, he had changed back to normal.

Spiritual battles present themselves in the physical realm all the time. In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath was dressed for battle and called out to the Israelites to come fight him. They were terrified. How could anyone beat such a man? Saul offered money, his daughter, no taxes and more, but no one was willing to fight Goliath until David came around. He recognized it as a spiritual battle immediately. They tried to dress him up in Saul’s armor, give him a sword and instructions, but David knew better. In verses 45 and 47 David called out to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted…And that this entire assembly may know that the LORD does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will hand you over to us” (AMP). David won the physical battle because he had won the spiritual battle first.

In your life, there may appear to be people who are attacking you, your character, your work, your calling or something else. Understand that it is more than likely a spiritual attack to produce fear, anger or doubt in you. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” If you fight a spiritual battle in the physical, you will lose the battle that matters. Spend time in prayer, put on the full armor of God and fight on your knees praying against the spirit that is guiding the other person. The enemy will use whomever he can to immobilize you and to keep you from living the life God created you to live. Stay strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

The War Of The Mind

This weekend, I heard the song “Courageous” by Casting Crowns. It had been a while since I heard it. There was one part that resonated in me. The line said, “In the war of the mind I will make my stand.” I forget sometimes that there is a constant war going on in my mind to decide who gets to control my thoughts. I’m the type of person who can get caught up in my thoughts so much that I don’t hear anything going on outside my mind (my wife can attest to this!). I can be looking right at you and not hear anything because of what I’m thinking.

The war of the mind and the battle for your thoughts is important. Your thoughts determine how you feel. When you first wake up, what thoughts go through your mind? That determines how you feel about the day. Then, the way you feel about things determines how you act. If those feelings are negative, you don’t want to get up, so you hit the snooze. If they’re positive, you get up ready to face the day. All of your actions, both positive and negative, begin with your thoughts. That’s why Satan usually attacks there first.

Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, Eve was minding her own business and satan came to her in the firm of a serpent. To create doubt, he asked, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?'” When she explained they could eat from all the tress except one or else they would die, he went after her thoughts again. He said, “You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” With those attacks on her thought process, she changed how due felt about the tree.

Verse 6 says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” Can you see the pattern? Her thoughts changed how she saw the tree. At first it was untouchable because God said. Thorn it became suitable and pleasant. Her attitude changed toward the tree. Now it became delightful and desired so she acted on those thoughts and ate. What was once off limits and she would have never considered became desired all because she lost the war of the mind.

I think that why Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 about the necessity of the Full Armor of God. In verse 11, he wrote, “Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which
God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and deceits of the devil.” As he listed out the different pieces of armor, salvation was a helmet. The helmet protects your head. It was symbolic of protecting your mind against the thoughts that come from the enemy to get you to do wrong.

If you’re struggling with the war of the mind, go to Ephesians 6:10-18 and read it. Put on the Armor of God so you can withstand the attacks of the enemy. God did not leave you helpless in this battle. He gave you this armor and the Holy Spirit to help you. Don’t buy into your thoughts that give you negative feelings and cause you to do things that you would have never considered before. Be honest with a close friend to have them pray for you and to hold you accountable. You can win this war by protecting your thoughts. You can stand up to the strategies and deceits the enemy brings. You don’t have to repeat Eve’s mistake.

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as adam and eve, adultery, battle of the mind, change your life, change your thoughts, cheating, Devotion, full armor of god, guard your thoughts, helmet of salvation, sin, suicide, the serpent in the garden, thoughts become actions, war of the mind