Tuesday, March 20, 2018

KEEP YOUR ARMOR POLISHED!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! God is great, and greatly to be praised!! I can truly say that I have been tested these first few months of the new year. Most recently was when my wife had surgery. We had one vicious attack that really put us to the test. It took a lot of prayers to get to this point where I can even share it with you all.

Actually, I'm going to share what God taught me concerning this incident, and that is the importance of keeping your armor polished and not to let it get rusty. The devil is constantly on the lookout for holes or soft spots to get in. Of course, I'm talking about the full armor of God. Paul talks about it in Ephesians 6:11+12 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.

We see here Apostle Paul telling us about the importance of putting on the Armor of God so that we will be able to stand up to the many tricks of the enemy. He stresses the point of putting on the "whole" armor of God, not half or two-thirds of the armor but the 'whole" armor, because when your dealing with the enemy you can't face him half-naked, you must be fully covered.

It is not only important that we put on our armor but that we also take care of it. We must keep it polished and clean because as with most metals they tend to get rusty and become easily compromised. The enemy is constantly probing our armor for weak spots, so we must not let our armor fall into disrepair. "How do we keep our armor polished?" you might be asking yourself. First, we must make sure we have a "whole" set of armor on. Paul goes on to tell us what that is in Ephesians 6: 13-18  13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The first thing Paul mentions is the belt of truth, and how we keep it polished up is by keeping ourselves bound about with the truth. The truth must be with us and in us always. We can never take it off because everything else is held together by the belt of Truth. Ephesians 4:25 states 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Truth is one of the pillars of our faith. Jesus says in John 14:6  6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He also states in John 4:23 23 But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

The next piece of armor mentioned is "The Breastplate of righteousness". This piece of armor guards the chest and abdominal areas on a soldier. It guards the heart and other vital organs against the fiery darts of the enemy and the finality of death. Proverb 11:4 states 4 Riches profit, not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. What is righteousness? It means to be living holy, according to divine law, justified, free from guilt or sin. In order to stand against the enemy, we must be living a righteous life, righteous does not mean perfect. We must be walking upright before the Lord, confessing our sins and repenting with Godly sorrow whenever we fall short of the mark. That is how we keep our Breastplate clean and polished. Matthew 6:33 states 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Self-righteous destroys, Gods, heals and delivers.
 Psalms 34:15 also tells us 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The next piece of armor mentioned is the footwear, "the preparation of the Gospel of peace." There is a saying in the world that "an army travels on its stomach" But the army of the Lord travels on its feet. The bible states in Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Our feet carry us and we carry the Gospel of Christ, as we prepare the world for His coming. The Gospel will take you places you never dreamed you would go, I am a witness. To keep our feet in good shape, clean and healthy we must always be ready to bring the good news of Christ to people everywhere we go, always remembering we are Ambassadors of Christ, always prepared, in season and out of season. We might be the only Jesus some will ever see.
Next is the "Shield of Faith." Paul says "above all" to take up the shield of faith because it quenches every fiery dart of the enemy. What is faith? some might ask. The bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It also tells us in Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The bible also says in Romans 10:17 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We must keep our shield polished by staying in Gods word and trusting in it, living it, and hiding it in our hearts. Like it says, "without faith, it is impossible to please God," and if we don't please Him, what can we expect from Him? 

Next is the "Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." The Helmet protects the brain/mind. Our brain controls our thought process, our decision making, and our bodily functions, and our salvation should do the same thing. The word of God tells us in Philippians 2:5 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: It also says in 2nd Corinthians 10:5 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. 
That is how we keep our helmet polished and fully functional. The main battlefield is the mind, and our minds should be in sync with the mind of Christ at all times. Lastly, we have the "sword of the spirit" which really is the only part of our armor that acts as an offensive weapon. we know from Gods word that says in Hebrews 4:12   For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word of God can "cut you down to the white meat" as they used to say back in the day when it was used to bring about repentance or change. Jesus used the word of God against the Devil while He was being tempted by him in the desert for 40 days and nights when He told the devil in Matthew 4:1-4 1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.


The word of God has power and as Jesus pointed out, it is just as important that we live by it as it is important for our daily bread. Paul also states in  2 Timothy 3:16 states- All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Finally, I leave you with this from Isaiah 55:11  11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God wants us to know that He says what He means and Means what He says, and by faith, so should we. There is so much more to be said about keeping your armor polished that I could go on forever but let me just say this one last thing, Keep all your armor buffed and shiny with Prayer.

God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

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