Covered

Ephesians 6:10-11

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

     The basic meaning of the word armor is a protective covering. Natural armor is made of a material that is strong and tough. It's purpose is to cover every area of the body that is open to attack by an enemy. Still, the best armor that is available to naturally protect man today, is unable to protect him from the thing that hurts him the most, sin. This is because sin works from the inside of man. Man alone can never protect himself from what is naturally inside him.

     Enter the Lord Jesus Christ. His shed blood paid the price for all our sins. This makes it possible for the sin inside us to be made powerless. Through Jesus Christ we can now be protected from sin from the inside out, in the spirit and the natural. This means that if the sin inside us is powerless, then the only way our enemy satan can effect us is from the outside in. This is why he attacks the children of God day by day, night and day, with what the bible clearly calls the wiles of the devil.

      What are wiles? Wiles are devious or cunning tricks used to manipulate or persuade someone to do what one wants. In our case the devil is trying to trick us to do the things he truly wants us to do. He knows if we are fooled by these wiles it could lead to our death both in the natural and the spirit. 

     As children of God, how do we protect ourselves from these consistent attacks of our enemy the devil? The bible says that we protect ourselves by putting on the whole armor of God. What this means is we first accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This gives us access to the Father who supplies his children with his armor. His spiritual armor that he makes available to us has a two fold purpose. It protects us during our transformation from the worldly way of life to the kingdom way of life. Most of all it gives us balance to stand for the kingdom of God in the middle of a world system run by the devil.

     The bible says that we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We must understand that we can never move forward under our own power using our own natural weapons and armor. The reason for this is because the weapons that the devil is using on us are spirit in nature. Spirit weapons will cancel out natural weapons every time. 

     The bible says that we are fighting against spirit, not flesh and blood. It says that these spirits are contained in principalities, powers and the rulers of darkness of this world. These spiritual assaults are coming from wickedness in high places. These attacks are coming from above nature to pervert nature. This means protection from these attacks must come from the highest place in the heavens. The highest place in the heavens is the throne of God. 

      This is why God has given us his armor. It is spiritual in nature, from the highest place of power that exist, his throne. From the throne room of God comes his armor that if received will protect us from any thing the devil can throw at us. God says that we are to take unto us his whole armor that we may be able to withstand in the evil day. This means we must choose to take and put on his whole armor leaving no part of us exposed to the enemy.

     What then is the whole armor of God? The whole armor of God consists of five spiritual pieces of armor in the following order, the truth of God, the righteousness of God, the peace of God, the faith of God and the salvation of God. Five is the number that represents the grace of God. With these five pieces of God's armor completely in place, the enemy has no chance of winning any spiritual battle he has engaged in to destroy us because the grace of God comes with his armor.

     The truth of God covers us with what is truly real. The devil will attack us with lies designed to rip us apart. The truth of God covers us from the lies and keeps us free on the inside from the effects of the lies pushing on us from the outside. The bible says that our loins need to be surrounded by the truth of God. I believe this to be true because every thing that we reproduce must be done in truth. This means the things that are coming out of us should be based in truth and not lies. We must reproduce truth and not lies. The truth of God helps us to speak truth.

     The righteousness of God covers us from wrong actions that are designed by the devil to decrease life. God gives us his righteousness in the form of a breastplate to protect our heart from the ways of the world. When we put on the righteousness of God we behave in ways that bring glory to his name because we were created in his image. We walk in ways that bring true life, even while being surrounded by the evil that is causing so much death in this world.

     The peace of God is designed to cover the feet. Our feet is shod with the gospel of peace. Why? The feet represent the foundation on which we stand. In the natural where you stand, is where you are. The problem is this world is filled with fear. We live in a fear driven world. There is no true long lasting peace. The peace of God covers our foundation with perfect peace that cancels out the fear of this world. We can stand in the peace of God no matter where we are positioned in the world. God makes it perfectly clear, that he has not given us a spirit of fear. He has given us a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind. This Spirit source of peace is generated by God on the inside of us. It can never come from the world outside of us. 

     The faith of God is the greatest faith possible. There is none greater. God gives us a measure of his faith in the form of a shield. Why? This is because if a shield is to be effective, it must be picked up and positioned for use. In order for God faith to work for you, you must choose to use it. You must trust the truth, righteousness and peace of God to activate the faith of God. It is the faith of God that cancels everything the devil throws your way. This is why you must receive the measure of God faith that he gives you so that it becomes your faith. When God faith becomes your faith you can stand against the wiles of the devil. You don't have to fuss and cuss in the middle of the battle, you just stand and see the salvation of the Lord.

     The salvation of God comes in the form of a helmet. Why? This is because the salvation of God is designed to save the soul of a person. The soul is the mind, will and emotions. The soul is the center of where all our choices are made. This is the place where the enemy directs all of his attacks. A direct hit from the enemy to our soul can totally destroy us. He assaults us with the cares of life so that we make our satisfaction more important than God. We think on ourselves more than we think on God. We put our needs above the plan and purpose that God created us for, which is to give him the glory. The helmet of salvation is used to protect our thought life so that we can make choices that will glorify God. Jesus Christ is our salvation. When we think on him, he helps us to focus on what is important so that we can make the right choices. We can choose good or evil. The helmet of salvation frees us to choose good.  

     The five pieces of God's armor covers us from the attack of the enemy. They give us the grace or power of God to stand with perfect balance. Now with perfect balance to stand, we can use the only weapon God has given us to resist the enemy, that is the sword of the Spirit. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. God is a spirit. Our enemy satan is a spirit, therefore the Spirit word of God is like a two edge sword that when used correctly will cause satan to flee every time.

     The armor of God gives us the power to stand the effects of the devil and his sword of the Spirit or the word of God causes the devil to retreat. When we are covered by God's armor and equipped with his word we are now prepared to be his ambassador in the earth. We no longer have to be afraid of the world because God has covered us through Jesus Christ to overcome the world. 

     Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God today, right now and stand confidently with perfect balance in Jesus Christ. Know this, with or without Christ we in this life are in the middle of a war zone. What we see in this life gives us very little or no hope. Hope in Christ and the tools that the Father has given us and we will be covered forever in the glory of God. It is our destiny to stand. May his grace be with us always. 

                                                             Apostle Henry      

     

  Please use the following scriptures for bible study. Please address  any comments or questions to oneaccordmin@gmail.com. If you desire to follow this blog, please do so by connecting thru blogger.com. We would love to hear from you. Know that Jesus is Lord and he lives in you! Amen!

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally children of God, put on the whole armor of God. It is by trusting in his armor through his son Jesus Christ are we truly fully covered and have the grace to withstand the attacks of satan.