SPIRITUAL WARFARE 3
KJV:Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
KJV:Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
KJV: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.
KJV: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.
KJV:Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
KJV:And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
KJV:Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
KJV:And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
KJV:Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Good morning dear reader. I hope you had a good and peaceful night rest because I did. I want to appreciate you for visiting this blog every time despite your busy schedule. We also thank you for following up this series and I hope that you have been blessed with this series. In part 1 and 2, we talked about what the true spiritual warfare is, we also started looking at the weapons of our warfare and how they help us in winning this war.
Let us now look at the remaining weapons:
3. Belt of truth :
A belt serves two purposes in a soldier's attire. Firstly it helps to keep the soldier's breastplate and sword sheath in place. Secondly it prevents the soldiers clothing's from falling off when fighting so he can fight comfortably. Verse 14 says, "having your lions girt about the belt of truth". To explain this I will have to take our minds through certain things. Firstly, Jesus tells us that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Then apostle Paul says in one of Hus epistle that if Jesus wasn't the son of God, if he didn't die and resurrect from the dead, if he hadn't wash us clean from our sins and made us children of God. Then our Christian living and our life will all be for nothing. So when the apostle says girt your loins with the belt of truth. He is saying, remember that you can only study the word of God when you focus on the person of Jesus. Remember that Christ is your solid foundation. Remember that the word of God is Jesus personified. Remember that Jesus is the truth. So when the devil brings temptations, difficulties and you begin to wonder, Is there still God?, Is Jesus truly the son of God?, Hold on to the Truth, which is Jesus the Son of God. Hold on to the truth that there is only one God and His name is I AM WHO I AM. Despite all these philosophies and theories that claim there is no God. Dare to believe otherwise. It is wise for us to hold on to our belt of truth because if it falls off that means the sword of the Spirit falls, the breastplate of righteousness falls. Then you are exposed to the attacks of the enemy. He won't even need to take off your helmet of salvation, with you down, he will just chop your head off.
D. Sword of the Spirit :
The sword is used to kill, destroy, defend or fight. See how apostle Paul likens the word of God to the sword of the Spirit. The word of God is also liken to a sword in Heb 4:12. He tells us to study the word of God to the point where we are filled with the word. So when the devil hits with sickness, you have a word for it, then the sword of the Spirit swings into action. When he strikes with unbelief, poverty, failure, barrenness, death etc, you have a word for it, then you speak it and the sword of the Spirit swings into action. We need to be filled with the word to fight and win the battle with the devil. Jesus overcame his temptations by speaking the word. That's how you win. Remember a sword isn't just a weapon for defensive attacks. It is mostly used for offensive attacks. Get on the offensive with your sword and enforce the victory God has already given you.
E. Shield of faith :
A soldier uses his shield to ward off attacks. Its serves primarily as a protective covering for a soldier in the heat of battle to prevent maximum injuries. This gives us a hint as to why the apostle likens faith to a shield. In the heat of issues or problems after you have made sure that your helmet, breastplate and belt are in place, the devil then picks on the offensive. He is saying, don't expect that when you speak a word, the devil won't react or if he was the one who started attacking that he would just stop. Take Jesus' temptation for example, after the devil tempted him on his identity, he answered with the word, the devil replied back with the word. But because we have spoken God's word we can be rest assured that the word will work because God's word always works. Just know that any other reaction you see is a sign of weakness and failure on the part of the devil. He says use faith to silence the attacks of the devil even before he comes close. Let me share this story, a brother was driving a vehicle, he was travelling for a convention. On the way, he heard the devil whisper, "you will die now". Immediately the he shouted, "God forbid, I cannot die now". Immediately the next vehicle to his had a flat tyre and it had an accident. A lot of persons in the vehicle died. That brother used the shield of faith to block that arrow of death and it deflected. Use your shield of faith.
F. Shoes of the gospel of peace :
Soldiers wear shoes in battle so that they can fight comfortably without injuries. Some shoes are even specially designed to give soldiers good stamina. The word Peace is translated in Hebrew as "shalom". Now the word shalom means peace, harmony, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. Do you see that, it means that the apostle is saying fight those battles not with fear. But rather with confidence because you know that you are already victorious and prosperous. No matter what is happening, no matter if it seems you are losing, be confident because you have the shoes of shalom which is an assurance that your peace, wholeness, completeness and prosperity is sure. Nothing can take it away from you.
G. Prayer:
This is one very underrated weapon of warfare that we have. Most of us do not even know how to pray. We talk to God sometimes as if He is our mate. There are a lot of good books on prayer. Buy one and study it. Space will fail me to talk extensively on this weapon. Hopefully the Holy Spirit will cause me to one day.
I hope you have been blessed by this series. Join us again tomorrow on this blog post as we study in depth the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is going to be an eye opener. Read, be blessed, comment and share to your friends. The world is dire need of the word of God. Help us spread this word. God bless you and do have a wonderful day and weekend ahead of you. Shalom
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