You are wearing it now!!!
I just completed a teaching on the armor of God less than a year ago. Yet, I was working on helping one of my clients with her armor and more bits of revelation came to me. Consequently, if you have seen the teaching and activation on my YouTube channel, this blog will expound a bit more on this subject.
Do you remember in the 90’s it was popular to memorize and quote Ephesians 6 every day? It was recommended that you put on your armor of God every morning. For some reason that never sat well with me. I don’t know why. I just didn’t understand what good it would do. Everyone used the quote “put on the armor of God.” That was the phrase. “put on.” But, scripture doesn’t say anything about putting on the armor of God. It says to take up the arm of God, or it says to take unto yourself the armor of God. The Greek word, Dia, is used in Ephesians 6:13. It means to place with or to place in. Regarding time, it means through or during. So, we are to place the armor of God with us and in us. We are to have it throughout time and during time. What does that mean? The end of the verse says, “to withstand in the evil day. “ The word for evil here is, Poneros, meaning pressed and harassed by labors, bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble. Our world is currently in unrest. Many countries are living through political turmoil. A plague has spread throughout the world. It’s affecting the economies of most countries. It’s been sixty years since we have seen protests and rioting over issues that divide us. I think that is what I would call evil days. Wouldn’t you? Could it be that we need our armor now?
Guess what? Most of us have at least some of it on right now. And some of us have all of it on right now. We have our armor on because of our choice to seek after God and become like Christ. Do you know the difference between someone who chooses to tell the truth and a person of integrity? There are people who have no problem telling truth or lies. What they choose to say depends on each situation. It’s actually called situational ethics. The person that has made truth a lifestyle lives in it. Making truth of lifestyle means they are always wearing their breast of righteousness. Now that’s a person of integrity.
I used to think of the phrase in verse 17, the helmet of Salvation, as solely eternal salvation. But that’s not true. It’s salvation from our troubles. It’s salvation from the onslaught of those who would do us harm whether it be a war or someone trying to break into your house. It can be temporal and well as eternal of salvation. The same verse then mentions the sword of the spirit. What spirit? Whose spirit? Well, it means Holy Spirit and your spirit. This is my opinion. But I have come to think of it as the combination of the two of us. If the Holy Spirit is a gas and I am a gas, then we mingle. Gases mingle. Somehow, we become one cloud. Scripture says that both the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit are the word of God. What is the word of God? Most people would answer “the bible.” To be more accurate, it is revelation. When you have a relationship with God, He speaks truths and mysteries to you. Think about it. Have you ever had an “Ah Ha” moment? It’s God making know to you what his word truly means. The people who wrote the bible first had revelation. If they didn’t have revelation, nothing would have been written. Simply, when you make living in His presence, receiving His truths, and revelation a lifestyle, you always have your sword and helmet with you and in you.
Are you starting to understand why quoting the scripture every day back in the ’90s caused me concern? Because no amount of memorizing the scripture or imagining dressing in it made the armor effective. When you carry truth, justice, God’s word, love, peace, and faith, with you and in you. Your armor is on!
Keeping short accounts helps keep the armor on too. Do you have peace with all men? Did you get angry and hateful recently? Did you choose fear over faith about an event in your life? Take a moment to give all of that to God and receive his forgiveness. Just like that! Your armor is on!
I would then recommend meeting with some friends and taking a look at each other’s armor. Its fun and you will learn a lot about your friends. Here’s the link to a video when we did it together.
Here’s the link to my video about your armor. I hope you enjoy it. https://youtu.be/yU74LaZoVz8
Blessings,
Anna
