Day 80
Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Paul exhorted the church of Ephesus to put on the whole armor of God. That statement denotes responsibility on our part. Everything is not automatically in place. We must willfully take what has been provided for us and use it according to the instructions given.
Armor and soldiers work together. The armor cannot work without the soldier, and the soldier cannot be protected and equipped for battle without the armor. Too many Christians have new armor that works well, but is unused. They are unprepared when attacks come.
If the enemy bursts in on a soldier, and he is in his pajamas, he can become frantic, because his attacker is ready for battle and he is not. If we are dressed for war when our enemy bursts in, we are expecting him, and he is a loser. Furthermore, when we get dressed, we are not just waiting for him (unless all we have on is defensive armor). We are the ones doing the bursting in. He can scarcely take us by surprise, because we are always the aggressor, the attacker. We are surprising him most of the time.
Something must be done to remind us to stay dressed. There are so many distractions for us. We are tempted to switch pieces of our armor for harmful clothing. We are tempted to put on cares, fears and worries; lust, pride and covetousness; jealousy, envy and strife; complacency, pleasure and lasciviousness. How do we get tempted to wear improper clothing? Situations, circumstances and audio-visual aids bombard us. Let us understand this and "tempt" ourselves to stay dressed with God's clothing. Let us create situations, circumstances and audio-visual aids that will bombard us with reminders to wear the proper clothing - the full armor of God.
Remember, the main weapon we should use for gaining ground is the sword of the spirit-the Word of God. Let us go forward! Concentrate on the sword, because the Word takes care of all the other armor. The Word gives us our helmet, breastplate, girdle, shoes and shield. So, as we focus on the Word, all else will fall in place.
I will create situations, circumstances and audio-visual aids that will bombard me with reminders to wear the proper clothing - the whole armor of God. I will particularly focus on the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. The Word will produce everything else.