Use Your Weapons
The Armor of God
10 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 saints.
Bee's Thoughts:
I woke up early this morning automatically without the alarm clock. Decided to made a wakeup call to a friend and wanted to do my devotion in the morning after that. However, I was distracted by small little things here and there and forgotten about my devotion till evening. Now I know why... 'cos the devotion today is on the "armour of God"... teaching me how to have warfare with the devil.
I really need to be on guard all the time and don't let the devil lure me away from what is important. How to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power"?
I need to "put on the full armor of God"... for the devil has lots of "schemes" to draw me away from God.
What is the "armour of God" then?
1. waist ... "belt of truth"... to help us "stand firm"
2. chest... "breastplate of righteousness"
3. feet... "gospel of peace"
4. protection... "shield of faith"
5. head... "helmet of salvation"
6. hand... "sword of the Spirit", which is the "word of God"
7. be alert... "pray in the Spirit on all occasions"
Hmmn... this reminds me of what my Japanese friend once told me about "kendo" (Japanese sword-fighting). He has learnt this art of self-defence and told me that in defending himself, the "standing" position is very important. If one cannot stands firm, one can be attacked easily. To stand firm one has to stay cool and concentrate.
Aha...no wonder the Bible keeps telling us to stand firm.
It's very natural for us to grow weary after a while and lose our concentration. Therefore, the Bible reminds us to always "pray in the spirit"... for only with the Spirit empowerment can we continuously stay alert and be on our guard. That's why Christians have to read the "word of God" (Bible) everyday... it's is our "sword". How can we fight without our weapon?
Thank You for the reminder, Lord. Help me to put on the whole armour of God, not half, so that I can fight in the spiritual warfare and win. Amen.
Tommy's Thoughts:
Paul talked about this fight that is not from the outside world or with other men, but within our self; the spiritual battle. It’s a battle that will really ruin and destroy our bodies and souls in the eternal darkness. The battle can be in the form of temptation, serious illness, self-pity, anger and grudges of others, coveting, and addictions like alcohol, drug, pornography, even pride.
I realized whenever a person comes closer to walk with God, the greater this battle will be; as it happened to me. It is somehow when we devote our life for God, Satan will be dead setting against us; we become a threat to his plan. He will use all kind of ways to weaken and cause us to fall.
Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and Your promise to be with us, that we will not fight this battle alone. I pray for all our brother and sister in Christ, to be always aware of all the critical elements in the armour of God needed for us to win this battle. May we all remember to put on faith, righteousness, and salvation; using the Word of God all the time and most importantly through constant prayers. Thank you Lord again for giving and teaching us ways to stand strong and be victorious in all our battles. Amen.
.......the devotion of Bee & Tommy
