We are in a battle. I am sure no matter where you are in this world, you feel the physical effects of this battle. It’s time we learn who our real enemy is. We can no longer afford to sit back and just wait for Jesus to come back for his bride. We must suit up and stand firm in the truth of what God says. 

Let’s take a look at our spiritual armor and see what hidden (in plain sight) gems we discover. 

You Are A Warrior

Ephesians 6:10-17 (ESV) tells us all about the armor God gives his warriors. It says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

Yes, you are a warrior. I know this because regular citizens are never given armor and weapons to fight against an enemy. Those are reserved only for the warriors. Since you have been given armor by God, that makes you a warrior, even if you don’t see yourself as such. 

The Belt Of Truth

The first part of our armor is the Belt of Truth. Why is this first? The belt holds up the rest of the armor and is like a foundation. We need to place our foundation on truth. John 14:6 (ESV)  says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” Jesus is the truth. His words are truth. We must wrap the truth of Jesus like a belt that holds up all the rest of the armor given to us. 

Psalm‬ ‭93:1‬ ‭(ESV) tells us, “The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.” Strength is the Lord’s belt. Jesus is the belt of truth and he puts on strength as his belt. That means that when we put on the belt of truth we are actually strapping on God’s strength around our waist. That’s how we can hold up the rest of our protective armor and not get tired when in the middle of a battle. It’s his strength that holds everything together and keeps us upright for battle. 

Breastplate Of Righteousness

Our next piece of armor is the Breastplate of Righteousness. The righteousness mentioned here is not self-righteousness. This is the righteousness that comes through Christ. Philippians 3:9 (ESV) tells us, “and [to] be found in him [Jesus], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

It’s God who declares us righteous, not by our own doing, but by the doing of Jesus. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV). With the gift of salvation comes righteousness. We are seen and declared righteous in the eyes of The Judge, God the Father. When he looks at us he only sees right living, right choices, right words, even when we didn’t choose those things ourselves. We are forgiven completely and wholly. 

In fact God himself puts on a breastplate of righteousness. In Isaiah 59:19 (ESV) we read, “He (the LORD) put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.” If God thinks it’s important to wear a breastplate of righteousness, how much more important is it for us to do the same?

How The Breastplate Protects Us

What area does a breastplate protect? The heart. Why is protecting the heart so important? Well, for starters the heart is essential for life. If our heart stops beating, we die. 

In a spiritual sense the heart is like the soul of a person. It is the mind, will, and emotions. We can know the true person when we know their heart. Are they truly a kind and loving person or a hateful and harsh person? Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19 (ESV), “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” We must guard our hearts from becoming evil, murderous, adulterous, etc. How do we guard our hearts?

We find this answer in Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV), “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It’s through prayer and thanksgiving that opens us up to allowing God to give us his peace, which will guard our hearts and our minds. 

We put on the breastplate of righteousness, knowing that our righteousness comes from Christ. He will protect our hearts with his peace. 

Shoes Of Peace

The peace that guards our hearts in the breastplate is also the same peace our feet have when we put on the shoes, being ready with the gospel of peace.  

We carry the good news of peace wherever we go. Wherever we walk, we are meant to promote peace. And notice it’s the “gospel of peace.” It’s good news of the peace that comes from Jesus! It’s being a mobile bringer of peace. Whenever we enter an environment, we should affect it by bringing in peace.

Shield Of Faith

Have you seen the movie, “Risen”? The opening scene shows a group of Roman soldiers fighting an enemy. They carried large shields that they could put together and protect themselves as well as use like a battering ram and a launch pad. 

We are to take up this shield of faith. It’s our responsibility to take it up, just like we take up the whole armor of God. It does us no good to own all of this armor if we just let it sit in a spiritual closet, so to speak. We must pick it up and put it on for it to do its job of protecting us. 

How do we know if we haven’t taken up the shield of faith? Well, we get hit by the flaming darts of the evil one. 

Notice how many darts or arrows are extinguished by the shield of faith: “ALL.” Using our faith, every flaming arrow of the enemy is defeated. And what are these flaming arrows or darts? They are lies. The devil is the father of lies, and all he knows how to do is lie. He will lie to you, tell you that you’re a “no-good, low-down, worthless sinner saved by grace, gum on the bottom of his shoe.”

But what’s the truth? Romans 16:20 (ESV) says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” 

You are the body of Christ, and it’s Christ’s foot that stands on the neck of the devil. He is the scum on the bottom of your shoe!

It Takes A Step Of Faith

When the Lord tells you something, or you learn a new truth, something that you’ve never thought about before, you have a choice: believe it by faith or disbelieve it by faith. Your faith activates the truth.

If you feel like the Lord is calling you to something, you step out in faith. When you step out in faith, instead of being out in the open, taking pot shots from the enemy, you will actually extinguish all the flaming darts of the enemy. 

We experienced this when we came out to Austin. We felt like the Lord was calling us here, and we stepped out in faith, having no job, no house, no cars, no phones, no friends, no safety net. Yet through it all we were able to say, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him” Psalms‬ ‭28:7‬ (‭NKJV‬‬).

We Saw God Move

We experienced God provide for us in ways we would have never seen otherwise. Even since then we have seen how patience paid off. When it came to Brett’s job, we only wanted the best. We wanted God’s best. Although it took almost a year for God to open the door to the job he literally created just for Brett, it has since paid off in dividends. Brett has seen how God placed him in the exact perfect position in his company. God has surrounded Brett with the exact people God desires for him to lead from a spiritual sense. People at work know that Brett is a strong Christian. They often ask him questions about the Bible or for prayer. It’s been amazing to see Brett grow in this area. He is like the chaplain of his company. 

Helmet Of Salvation

What part of the body does the helmet cover? The head and the mind. Why is the mind important to protect? It is important because we have been given the mind of Christ. “‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV).  We must ensure we protect our mind because it’s where the enemy loves to attack. Our enemy knows that if he can attack the way we think about something, he will have more control over the rest of us. 

For example, if he can convince us that gender is fluid and we can decide what gender we are (even if it’s not a real word), he can convince us that anyone who doesn’t agree with us hates us. He can convince us to isolate ourselves so he can fill our minds with more and more of his lies. His end goal is to have this person kill themselves. Remember he only knows how to kill, steal, and destroy. 

Your Enemy Will Distract You

He will destroy our future by stealing our true identity and ultimately kill all the goodness God desires to give us by convincing us that life isn’t worth living. 

The enemy may not go to that extreme with you. His goal is to simply get you to think about anything that doesn’t align with the word of God. If he can distract you, he will take that as a win. 

We must put on the helmet of salvation. It saves us from allowing the enemy to have access to our minds and all of his lies. It’s like putting up a wall that interferes with the signals of the enemy. Or it’s like a lead vest that blocks our bodies from x-rays. The enemies’ signals cannot penetrate it. 

The helmet is what saves us from going down a deep, dark path that only leads to depression, anxiety, loneliness, and eventually death — death of a God given dream, death of anything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a complete physical death, though Satan really loves when that is the end result of his attacks. 

Sword Of The Spirit

Which part of your armor is the only part that will slay the enemy? The sword of the Spirit. What is the sword of the Spirit? The word of God. If you have read this blog for long, you know that I am a huge fan of using Bible verses to combat false thoughts and identities. A great example is a post I wrote based on a dream I had. How do you slay enemies you can’t touch? If you haven’t read it, I recommend you go back and do so. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:12‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” God’s word is the only weapon we need to fight against the enemy. When your enemy says you aren’t good enough, you tell him, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:13‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬. Does your enemy tell you that you aren’t qualified to do something? You reply, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭(ESV).‬ If God equipped you, then he also qualified you to do whatever it is he asks you to do. 

Even Jesus Has A Sword

We see Jesus using a sword in Revelation to decimate the enemy. ‬“He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength” Revelation‬ ‭1:16‬ (‭NKJV)‬‬. Remember that John tells us that Jesus is the word. It is his word that is our sword. We must use it with confidence. 

We Must Wear Our Armor

Yes, we are in a battle. It’s true we can’t fight this battle and win in our own strength. We absolutely must rely on the power that comes from God to win the battle, and eventually the war. It is essential that we take up our spiritual armor every single day. We must put it on so that it can be used in the way God intended for it to be used. Armor doesn’t do anyone any good if it is just laying there collecting dust.

Check out what ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:8-9‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) says, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are destined for victory through Jesus. It is Jesus who gives us our armor and wraps us up in his breastplate of faith and love. Jesus puts the helmet of the hope of salvation on our heads so we can always remember the gift he gave us on the cross. Now we can boldly go out into the world as warriors, knowing we are fully protected!