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December 2015 • SR
Put on the Full Armor of God
Continued from previous page..
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FAITH
When Jesus said,
“I came that they may have life and
have it abundantly”
(John 10:10), He wasn’t talking
about the pursuit of happiness. He was talking about
God’s design for us to live by faith. Romans 1:17 says,
“The righteous will live by faith.”
The best way to live is
to act in accordance with how our Creator designed us –
to live by faith.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived with unconditional
trust in the Lord. That trust was broken when the seeds
of doubt began to take root. They began to question
whether or not God had their best interests in mind. Was
God keeping something from them? So they disobeyed,
and we all found out that they chose the wrong answer.
When we doubt God’s character and His love for us, the
arrows of the evil one can potentially penetrate our
hearts and cause much pain and suffering. These arrows
are not the bad things that happen to us. Bad things
happen to us because we live in a world marred by the
consequences of sin. The arrows are the temptations
from Satan to not put our complete trust in God.
When Job suffered the tragic loss of everything he had
(all his possessions and children), it says,
“In all this,
Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
(Job
1:22) The evil one had told the Lord that Job would
“curse you to your face”
(Job 1:11). Instead Job placed
his trust in the Lord.
When Job’s health was taken from him and he was
afflicted with painful sores all over his body, still he did
not turn away from trusting in the Lord. It says,
“In all
this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
(Job 2:10) Satan
had said to God that if Job’s health was taken from him,
he would
“surely curse you to your face.”
(Job 2:5) Job
placed his trust in the Lord.
We, like Job, face the temptation to blame God for not
caring about us when we go through difficulties. It is at
these times we need faith in order to shield us from the
temptation to accuse God of doing wrong by us. James
1:13 says,
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast
under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive
the crown of life, which God has promised to those who
love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being
tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil,
and he himself tempts no one.”
SALVATION AND GOD’S WORD
The helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit are
gifts which are given to everyone who trusts in the Lord.
Just like with all gifts, there must be a giver. The Lord
gives salvation because it is His to give. He earned it
through His life, death and resurrection. By faith we can
receive it.
The helmet of salvation must be firmly in place because
Satan sows weeds of doubt about our salvation. These
weeds include not believing that you are good enough for
God and that He would never forgive you. The reason
why this is so deceptive is because there is truth wrapped
up in this lie. The truth is that no gift we can give God and
no sacrifice we can make to God will ever make us good
enough for God. Only Jesus’ sacrifice will do. Once we
settle this truth and cease our worry or our efforts at trying
to measure up, then we will become secure and protected
in the knowledge of our salvation.
The sword of the Spirit is also a gift which has been
given. The emphasis here is not so much growing in our
understanding of the Word of God but using it. It is
called the sword of the Spirit because we rightly use
God’s word when the Spirit is directing us. Without the
Spirit leading us into all the truth, we can turn God’s
word into a club to beat people over the head. However,
if we properly understand it as His Word under the guid-
ance of the Holy Spirit, it can provide strength to stand
firm against the strategy of the evil one.
The Word of God is a sword which cuts down the advance
of evil. But it must not simply be on our lips — it must be
in our hearts. Psalm 119:11 says,
“I have hidden your
word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
It is
not only memorizing Bible verses which is important —
allowing God’s word to become a part of the core of our
being is part of what it means to become like Him.
James 1:21 says,
“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth
and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the
word planted in you, which can save you.”
This is not
the salvation kind of saving. It is being saved from the
power and influence of the evil one.
PRAYER
Prayer is not a part of the armor. We are not instructed
to put on prayer. We are told to pray. To pray is to follow
the orders of our commanding officer. Once we have
