Tag: Armor of God

Naked

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, SpiritualLeave a comment

Do you ever laugh at yourself?  I do.

Today, as I got out of the shower, I thought about the day ahead and wanted to prepare myself.  As I usually do, I went through putting on the armor of God, and then chuckled.  There I was with nothing on except the armor of God.

Ah, but isn’t that how it should be?

My t-shirt will not clothe me in His righteousness.  My sneakers will not carry His gospel to my broken world.  My sweat-shirt will stop no fiery darts of the enemy.

And, spiritually speaking, my clothes are not worthy of consideration.  Even if I was dressed in battle fatigues with flak-vest and kevlar helmet, it would not protect me in the realm where I do daily battle.  But satan and his forces quake before a man (or woman) of God clothed in righteousness, armed with God’s word, shielded by faith.

And God notices too.  If I was dressed in Armani, He could not send me where He needs me.  But, armed and ready, He can send me anywhere.

Just so no one gets worried.  I did put clothes on, too.

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Salvation

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, WorshipLeave a comment

Ephesians 6 and 1 Thessalonians 5

“I just got saved!”

“Are ya saved?  Are ya washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

Those who aren’t “saved”, who don’t attend church regularly or listen to Christian radio, podcasts, television, or get flyers in the mail don’t know what we’re talking about.  I don’t think many of us do.

Our thought goes like this, “I was lost in sin, dying – no, already dead – separated from God.  Then, I accepted Jesus into my life and was snatched from the fires of hell, cleaned up and given to God.  Saved.”

Whew!  I am so glad that this is true.  But it isn’t the end.

It is interesting to me that over and over again in Psalms David praises God for salvation.  He was saved from many disasters, his own bad choices, enemies, betrayal.  In Ephesians 6, Paul talks about the Helmet of Salvation.  Then, in 1 Thessalonians 5, he talks about the helmet of the HOPE of salvation.  We are admonished to work out our salvation.

I am not arguing for either side of the eternal security issue, whether praying the prayer of salvation seals you for all time.  I’m talking about what do we do with the fact that God saved us.  It is apparent to me that it is not a one time event as we suppose.  I’m saved, check it off the list.  Our salvation is a defense and, I would suggest, a weapon that we are supposed to use every day of our lives.

Are you stressed?  Remember, wrap your mind around your salvation.  Are you attacked?  Think on, meditate on your salvation.  Are you depressed?  Let the salvation of the Lord renew your mind.

God didn’t save us and then leave us.  He walks with us every day.  Our salvation wasn’t just a one time gift (though what a gift it was).  It is ours for eternity to use, to hold on to, to rest in.  To GLORIFY God for!

The Armor

On By hawkinsm6In Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, Worship2 Comments

It’s not that I want to degrade what scripture says or think that my wisdom supersedes the truths of God’s word.  I just want to make it personal….

So, I cover my head with the gel of salvation.  Not as an ornament, a decoration, but as a protective layer between my mind and what is shouted at me from the world.  My feet are fitted with the boots of the Gospel so that I run and dance and move to bring the Light of Jesus to a lost and broken world.  All that I am, all that I carry is held by a buckle that proclaims God’s truth, whether I like it or not, in the face of the lies of the enemy.  I plug in to my amplifier of faith that stand between me and the voices of doubt and fear.  In His truth, by His word, I can declare that He is to be trusted, His promises do not falter.  And I raise up my guitar of the Spirit, my voice that proclaims what God has declared in His word.  I fight against the hosts of hell with God’s gifts and armor.  And through Him, I can not be defeated.

Saul tried to clothe David in armor that did not fit him, tools that would only hinder him as he stood before the giant.  God does not clothe us this way.  He fits us uniquely for our calling in this world and we stand ready, not because of formulas or cliched ideas but because He has made us ready.  It is by His power, His Spirit that we stand under the weight of the world, the weight of our weakness and fragile souls.  We stand and say, “WE CAN NOT BE MOVED.”

And the hosts of darkness run in fear because it is God who shines through us. 

“Though a thousand fall at your right hand and ten thousand fall at your left, it will not come near you…”

We can not be defeated!

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