Are You Wearing Your Armor?

There is a very interesting passage of scripture in the Bible that talks about the armor of God and is found in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 to18 (KJV), “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

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. 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 therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”.

There are certain key points of the utmost importance in this passage of scripture that I would like to point out if you may permit.

First of all I would like to make it abundantly clear that this passage does not refer to any “physical” armor. Many times people read this text and associate it with something they can actually touch with their hands when in fact it’s talking about attributes we should clothe ourselves with.

Secondly we have to notice that this armor allows us to stand against the wiles (tricks or stratagems) of the devil. There again, to clarify the fact that this is not something physical that we wear, we are told in verse 12 that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. Yes you may tell me that at times this fight may become physical, true, but at the end of the day it is spiritual in origin.

Practical Guide of the 7 items the armor of God is made up of:

1. Truth
2. Righteousness
3. Preparation/Readiness that comes form the gospel of peace
4. Faith
5. Salvation
6. The word of God
7. Prayer

These are all very powerful tools that we should use in our daily lives as we fight this battle. You may ask yourself though “How can I use those tools in a practical way?” so to answer this question I would like to share seven points with that will hopefully enlighten you on the matter.

1. Truth

Do like Christ, when the enemy comes at you with his lies trying to lead you astray, fight back with the word of God. You need to ensure that you know God’s word for yourself so that you won’t fall for it.

2. Righteousness

Live an exemplary life above reproach by faith in Jesus Christ so that you may bring glory to God in everything you do. Remember, your righteousness comes from Christ!

3. Preparation/Readiness that comes form the gospel of peace

As a “soldier” of the gospel be ready for action, for service, for obedience etc. Be watchful, the enemy always looks for easy preys.

To put it simply: Always be ready!

4. Faith

There is no way I can overemphasize the importance of faith in the Christian walk. To put it simply, there is no way in this lifetime that you will be able to live a life that is pleasing unto God without faith. To take God at His word you need to have faith and believe that He will do what He says He will do.

Believe without doubting!

5. Salvation

You can’t take part in the most important battle of your life and have doubts about something as fundamental as salvation. I will simply quote Romans 10:9 which says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (American Standard Version). So the big question is “Are you saved?” This question must leave no doubts in your mind because you can’t enroll in this army or be victorious if you don’t meet this condition.

Remember, you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

6. The word of God

You have one guide on the battlefield: the word of God.

This guide gives you vital information such as:

1. How to use the weapons;
2. Your allies;
3. The enemies and their strategies;
4. It provides you with your orders from the commander in chief: Jesus Christ;
5. It is needed to know the terms of engagement;
6. Etc.

Don’t underestimate its importance; your life depends on it!

7. Prayer

Many of your battles will be won in prayer. You must also realize that not only it is important to pray for yourself but also your brothers and sisters as they depend on you to do so also. It’s a team effort where fellow soldiers pray for each other.

Pray throughout the battle according to the leading of God’s Spirit.

Finally I would like to say that the better you know your orders, the nature of the battle, your weapons, the enemy's etc. the greater your chances of victory and total success. You battle guide is the Bible, God's word to us.

So now, put on the armor of God my friend.

Reference: #PRW0000004

Learn How You Can Live A Successful Life

Are you struggling with sin, bad habits, a temper etc.? I know for a fact that there are things about ourselves that we would like to see changed. Are these things destroying you, your family, your marriage or hurting those around you?

You may have tried several times to keep things under control? Maybe what you tried worked for a while but after a few months things went back to the way they were before. Well there is hope and I have some good news for you.

There is a place in Jesus Christ, a place in God, a place in our Christian walk that, when we get there, we are able to let go of the things that we struggle with and that stop us from fully serving God. When we get there, we allow God to have full control of our lives and direct us as He pleases.

When we focus only on trying to solve the problem(s) we have, it’s as if we were trying to block a whole in a sinking rusty ship with duct tape. We must understand that because of the rust we may just end up with more holes later. The better thing to do is to repair the entire ship (body), remove the rust and make it waterproof so that it will no longer sink. We must not focus on just one area of difficulty but rather on the bigger problem: our walk with God.

We keep sinning or remain stuck in our sin because there is a problem with our walk with Christ. The Bible tells us to walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. The Spirit of God wants the opposite of what the flesh wants, Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 and 17 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (King James Version).

When we get to that place in our walk with Christ, we will be able to set aside the sin(s) that so easily traps or entangles us as we see in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1, “[…] let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us […]” (King James Version) and get rid of the thing(s) in our life that hold us back, without focusing on it (or them) per say but rather by focusing on our walk with God.

We can only do so by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, through Jesus Christ, not in our own strength. Will power is not enough, we are told by Christ in John chapter 15 verse 5 that he is the vine and we are the branches, if we remain in him we will bear much fruit and apart from him (or without him) we can do nothing. Even the strength to say yes to God and no to the world and the flesh comes from God. Read Philippians chapter 2 verse 13, “for God it is who is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Young's Literal Translation).

How can we get there?

In order for us to get there we need to make up our mind to live for God at 100% (to be totally committed). We often want to obtain the results we read of in the Bible but the problem is that we live our Christian lives one-foot-in-one-foot-out or at 50%. We can live something that on the outside looks, feels and sounds like the Christian life but in reality isn't.

We must take a bold step and have faith in God because it is impossible to please Him without faith according to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 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.” (King James Version).

We find the strength to do so in the person of Jesus Christ and we can tap into that strength at any time, all we have to do is call upon God with faith.

We must also understand that God is a god of righteousness and that's what He wants, nothing less! We can't claim that we live the Christian life unless we are totally committed. There is no such thing as “lukewarm-Christian-living” as we see in Revelation chapter 3 verse 16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (King James Version).

Finally, let’s keep in mind that the enemy is out there trying to cause us to fall as we see in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (King James Version). He likes to attack us in our areas of weakness but we must stand our ground as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13, “Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.” (American Standard Version).

Let us bring up the word of God on that very matter just like Christ did in Matthew chapter 4 verses 4, 7 and 10 “[…] it is written […]” (King James Version). The word of God is the sword of the Holy Spirit and we need it to fight, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (King James Version). What happens if we have nothing to fight with? For this reason, it is very important that we know and learn God's word for ourselves. Psalm chapter 119 verse 9, “With what doth a young man purify his path? To observe -- according to Thy word.” (Young's Literal Translation).

Practical Guide:

1. We must focus on our walk with God rather than trying to make a list of everything that is wrong in our life and see how we can deal with them one at a time.
2. If we do not want to fulfill the desires of the flesh, that is, sin against God, we MUST live our lives according to what God’s Spirit wants us to do.
3. When we put God first, we can put the things that caused us to stumble, even fall, behind us.
4. For us to live the Christian life we must be like Christ (take him as our example).
5. We must put God first and keep him there no matter what.
6. We need to stop trying to do everything in our own strength and depend on Jesus Christ’.
7. We need to understand that God cares for us and trust him with ALL our heart and believe that he is going to lead us the right way.

One last thing, you can do it!!!

Reference: #PRW0000003 

A Light For Our Path

Dear reader,

I would like to invite you to take a moment to think about life and to be more specific, about yours.

Picture your life as a journey from point A to point Z and the way that you choose to live your life, the decisions you make etc. as your path.

We read in Psalm chapter 119 verse 105  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (King James Version).

If you were to consider your path you would realize that throughout your life you have to make many decisions. Some decisions were good and others bad; some were pleasing unto God and others not but at the end of the day we chose to do certain things over others.

I want you to consider the word of God as “a lamp unto my feet” (or a lamp for my feet). Picture yourself in olden days walking in darkness from point A to point Z (see figure above) using a lamp (a lamp that used oil of some sort) as your source of light. Your lamp would only provide light that would cover a small area around you, allowing you to see potential dangers like rocks etc. but you would not be able to see far ahead (my guess is a few feet).

Having traveled from point A to point Z, that lamp would have given you light every step of the way. Your path or journey would have been made up of a whole bunch of little steps put together. Now, if you used the lamp the entire way, though it may only have provided light to a small area at a time, at the end it would have been the light that you used for your entire path.

In a similar manner, if we use God’s word as our guide in all the situations that we are faced with it will be the lamp for our feet, meaning, it will be our guide when it comes to the way we live and the choices we make. If we do so everyday in all the situations that we face, it will be more than just the “lamp for our feet” but it will be the “light for our path”, meaning, it will be the guide for our entire existence, for our journey from A to Z.

May God’s word be the lamp for your feet and the light for your path.

Don’t wait, get into God’s word!

Reference: #PRW0000002

Why is God's word Practical?

We all face difficult situations that cause us to react one way or another. We are also faced with tough choices at some point or another. The question that I have for you is the following: "What determines the choices you make or the way you react?"

You may say to me that the choices we make are determined or influenced by several factors like: the way were brought up, what we saw your parents, siblings, family members and friends do, our education or mood at the moment and the list goes on.

One may say that the aforementioned reasons are totally legitimate but I have a question that I would like you to ask yourself: "What about God in all that?" Are my decisions influenced by God’s word? You see the problem is that we claim to be children of God, followers of Christ etc. but when it is decision time we tend to do what want.

A very popular phrase that illustrates this is "What Would Jesus Do?" or for short "WWJD?" Basically, the idea here is that before I act--which may be based solely on self--I ask myself what would Jesus do or how would Jesus have reacted in such a situation?"

While this is a very good principle, it is only relevant if you actually have in depth knowledge of the life of Christ and His ministry. The only way to gain sufficient knowledge of the life of Christ--who is the word of God according to John chapter 1 verses 1 to 18--is to get into your Bible and read it, study it, memorize it and meditate on it daily.

We are encouraged to do so in Joshua chapter 1 verse 8 which says “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (King James Version).

So my friend let’s encourage each other and carefully study God’s word, putting its principles into practice and as we rely on Christ (the Living Word) to see us through all our endeavors, we will live a successful life by God’s standards.

You will see for yourself that the Bible is full of very practical principles for our daily living...

Don’t wait any longer, get into God’s word!

Reference: #PRW0000001