The Armor of God

The Lord and I took a jog together the other morning. It never ceases to amaze me that we have some interesting conversations nearing the end of our time together. It reminds me that if I would have "cut out" earlier, I would have missed this talk (great motivator anyway). We got to chatting about what how to go into battles armed. Battles for me, the strong ones anyways, take place in my mind, many never even openly spoken about (my introspective side). Now, the one downside about this is that self-talk is limited, only one-sided. And, in this, you can become your own worst enemy. What I felt drawn to in looking more at these battles, is how I can stand equipped. I don't think the Lord leaves you unarmed for battle, so what is it that comes along with this Jesus territory stuff?

Armor. Yep, good ol' knights of the round table stuff. Well, let's take a look at the passage that gives the context for this so-called armor. It's found in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6. Starting in verse 11, it starts with the why:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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.

Wow, pretty deep stuff. 1 Peter 5:8 describes the devil as one who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. His goal is to destroy. Many times, I believe, this is done through our minds thoughts, which then follows through into actions. So what are we to do? Ephesians 6 goes on to say in verse 14:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

To get a little better understanding of the "belt of truth", I decided to flip to the back of my bible ( the Concordance) and look up verses pertaining to truth and here's a little of what I found:

Psalm 33:4 - For the word of the Lord is right and true.
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Revelation 22:6 - ...these words are trustworthy and true

So...the word (Bible) is true, Jesus (the way) is truth, and I can trust this truth. I think I can handle this. Something to stand upon in this world that is pretty unstable and fickle.

So what's the deal with this breastplate of righteousness? Let's save that for the next post... much more armor to explore AND I just found a neat parallel to the same armor the Lord dons found in Isaiah 59. Until then, fight with character!