Don't forget your Armor!

Armor of God
Ephesians 6:12
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.

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

A majority of spiritual warfare is fought in the mind. It’s kind of like a fish swimming up stream…As you watch a salmon swim up stream against the current it seems to do so with ease. As the salmon comes to the base of the falls the water neither the rocks, nor the incline stop it from battling forward. I have even heard of salmon jumping out of cannels and into the original area of a stream after man changed the flow of the stream.

If we are walking in the Spirit, we can expect opposition. If it is against God’s word it is opposition. This shows us the responsibility of reading the Bible so we know what it says.

The Holy Spirit and God’s word are what leads and guides a Christian. God shows us our path in His word and even gives us light and lets us know where to step. He gives us armor to use in this battle. Are we using it?

The battle is won or lost in the mind. Put on the whole armor of God! Each piece is important! These are not just verses to memorize to earn points with God or Bible bucks!

Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
(Truth and righteousness protect the very core of you, put it on!)
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
(as we walk in peace toward others we can share the gospel with them and should be prepared to do just that)

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
( above all, walk in faith! Wear it like a shield that can be held and moved about you to repel the darts of the enemy..that means this is an active motion, always on guard)

Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
(A helmet protects your head against injury…if you are a child of God, a helmet of salvation reminds you of your salvation and that you can stand in the promises of God. Do you know the abundance of promises that are written in the word to encourage you?…NO? Start digging!)

(The sword of the Spirit is the word of God! It is sharper than a two edged sword and can cut to the core…use it wisely. It is our only offensive weapon)

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
(The prayer of the saints…God bends down low to hear you pray! Is that awesome or what? If God hears us, and we know He does… and we are abiding in Him, then if God be for us than no one can stand against us! KNOW THAT.
TRUST JESUS to battle for you. You can trust Him. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer even if all we can do is groan out a prayer…He interprets our groanings.
Barnes commented…. “The Spirit greatly aids or supports us in those deep emotions, those intense feelings, those inward sighs which cannot be expressed in language, but which he enables us to bear, and which are understood by Him that searcheth the hearts.”

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places!
Be Strong and courageous, put on the whole armour, remember who your enemy is.

Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

STAND!

Blessings, Lady

EPHESIANS 1

Ephesians
Author: Some deny it is Paul
BUT…His fingerprints are written all over it.
It is filled with his style of writing
Not to mention the greeting in verse 1 from Paul himself to the church in Ephesus and to the faithful in Jesus Christ.
That includes the faithful of today.
The letter was also circulated among the churches of Asia Minor at the time.

Verse 1&2
Paul, who used to be known as Saul, was fanatically devoted to persecuting what he thought were heretical Christians,
until one day he encountered
“The Jesus whom he was persecuting”
This encounter changed his life forever.
Saul now known as Paul surrendered his life completely that he might “Preach Jesus among the heathens” (Galatians 1:16)

He also sends a greeting of grace and peace to the believers in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. That includes the faithful today.
Verse 3&4
Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow because he has already blessed us with
“spiritual blessings” “In heavenly places” “In Christ”
Paul writes that God is worthy to be praised for he is good to us! God gives us all that we need and blesses us with spiritual blessings such as…
Grace and Mercy…Comfort and Peace…
Light and Love…Redemption, Justification, Sanctification
and the Holy Spirit.

Because of Jesus we have been given blessings which also allowS us access to the Throne of God through prayer, and the opportunity to be made more and more into His image; to be molded and shaped so that one day, when our Savoir returns,
we may stand before Him, holy and blameless.

…Before the foundation of the world, before time itself, you were on the mind of God.

Verse 5-6
Because of the foreknowledge of God…His being able to see the future, the end from the beginning, God knew those that would believe in Him and accept the free gift of Salvation offered through His Son Jesus.
Jesus says in Rev 3:20
Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me.

Jesus is that door and if you choose to walk through the door into eternal life and turn around and look at the sign above that same door You just walked through, you would see written Predestined...
Because of the foreknowledge of God.
With our limited knowledge of the present we cannot "see" the future of a decision such as this until we have walked forward in faith.

Adoption, under Roman law was a means of appointing an heir. Those in Christ Jesus have been adopted into the family of God. It is not because there is anything good in us, but because it pleases our Father in heaven to make us his children.
…Almighty God, the maker of Heaven and earth, the one who sent His Son to die for us, because of our sin…
is pleased to make us His children.

We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19


We must remember that God has given us free will.
We may choose to love and serve Him or not
The choice is ours, but if we do …
#1 we will bear fruit… John 15:16
You have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
#2 We will become more like Jesus…Romans 8:29
For whom He did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the first born among many brethren.
#3 We will do good works…Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them.
(It is important to remember that faith without works is dead
and also that good works follow salvation, they do not precede it, we cannot work our way to heaven)

Verse 7
We have been bought with a price
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

Our sin caused the high price to be paid…
Death on a cross, of God’s only son

It is our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross and
Yet he chose to go to Calvary willingly
It wasn’t the nails that held Him on the cross
It was His love for you and me that held Him there.
You were the Passion on his heart when He chose to
leave heaven and come to earth as a man.
You were the Passion on His heart.


Through Jesus’ sacrifice, and our repentance
We have been forgiven of our sins
God forgave all our sins by placing them on Jesus
As God forgives us, we to ought also to forgive one another.

Verses 8-11
God in his wisdom and understanding planned for you and I to live in the age in which we live. A time when through His Holy Spirit the “mystery” of the church has been made known.
The Bible speaks here of the dispensation of the fullness of times.
A time when Christ will gather all his together, a time when Isreal will be saved. It will be the end of the Age of grace that we the Gentiles are living in now.

We have obtained an inheritance. We are the treasure of God, we are the apple of his eye, the object of His love. The Passion on His heart.

Verses 12-14
Those who first trusted in Christ were the Jews, and then the Gentiles trusted in the good news of the gospel.
What a wonderful promise we have fulfilled with the “down payment” of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
He indwells us, contrains us, sanctifies us, convicts us, baptizes us, and comforts us.

In verses 15- 16
Paul tells the Ephesians that he had heard of their faith in Jesus, the evidence being the love shown unto all the saints, and goes on to tell them that he makes mention of them in his prayers, and thanks God for them. It is a high calling and priviledge to pray for others. Some may consider it of no value, or beneath them, but with the power of the Holy Spirit all things are possible. So pray for your families, your relationships, your church, and your country, and stand in awe as you see what God will do.

God has loved you with a everlasting love, He is calling you…wooing you closer to His heart. That you would love Him, with all your heart, all your soul and all your might; that your will, might be abandoned, and the will of the Father be on the throne of your heart; that you come to understand that you are your Beloved’s and that His desire is towards you.
You are the object of God’s love. Is God the object of your love? Of your devotion?

Verse 17-23
God longs for us to commune with Him. Nothing less than the power of God can work in us an eternal weight of glory. As we partake in the sufferings of Christ, as we live a life that is holy and set apart unto Him, as we commune with Him in prayer, the deep things of God are revealed to us by his Holy Spirit.
As saints we have a heavenly inheritance through Jesus.
Every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He has done great things and He is worthy to be worshipped.
As a believer in this race, in this war, this spiritual battle do you find your life filled with…
Worry? Whining? Or Worship? Or do you just watch others as they worship Jesus?
I think of David in II Samuel Chapter 5 when he was bringing the ark to Jerusalem. His heart was so filled with joy and gladness towards his God that he danced before the Lord with all his might.
But Michal, his wife,(verse 16 of II Samuel 5) looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart. (verse 23) Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
David rebuked his wife because of her critical spirit, and left her barren.

Are we devoted to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
As in Hebrews 12:2

who for the joy…the passion…

that was set before Him ...you and me…His Bride,

on his heart…on his mind

endured…bore, persevered, suffered, on the cross

Despising the shame…thought nothing of the disgrace for our behalf

And is set down…tarries in prayer for you and me at the right hand of the throne of God.

Are our hearts spiritually shallow like Sauls daughter Michal?
Do we just watch as others worship?
Are we spiritually shallow… or do we hunger and thirst after righteousness?....Do we fall on our knees in prayer to seek after the deep things of God?
If we are running in this race to win, we cannot run in glass slippers. If we are fighting the good fight of faith, as Paul writes later in the book of Ephesians, we must put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles (schemes) of the devil.
Jesus’ love and deep devotion to the Father and His will gives us the standard by which we are to live our own lives, by the grace of God and in His power and might.
May we as children of God find our hearts deeply devoted and in love with Him who made us saved us, loves us and adopted us.
May we abide in Him at all times, remain in the shadow of His wings, seek Him intimately in prayer and in the reading of His love letters to us, that our understanding might be enlightened.
May our hearts be filled with an overflowing love of our Almighty God, our Sovereign Lord, our Jesus who is the head over all things for the benefit of His Bride.
May we utterly abandon ourselves in worship of our Jesus.

Blessings, Lady