The Armour of God

This blog post was written by my aunt. I am so glad to be able to share her words. Thanks, Ella, for letting me share your words.

THE ARMOUR OF GOD

HELMET OF SALVATION
The mind is where the enemy attacks. Salvation is the beginning of our walk with God and the beginning of concentrated attacks on our mind. When we put on the helmet of salvation we are protecting our mind from the lies of the enemy.

BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
The breastplate protects the heart. From our heart flows love and praise to God. If we do not walk in His righteousness then we open the door to the enemy to fill our heart with things of the earth that take us from the throne of God.

HAVING OUR LOINS GIRTH ABOUT WITH TRUTH
There is only one truth, His name is God, and His Word is Truth.

HAVING OUR FEET SHOD WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF
PEACE.
The wording of this part of our armour is very significant. We do preparation towards the completion of fixing a meal for the hungry. In this case are we required to prepare ourselves in the knowledge of the word of God to share the gospel with the spiritually hungry?
Also, the word “shod” is important. A horse has its hooves shod. They are not covered, but attached. Our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, to “walk” to those who do not know Jesus. We are to go to them, not wait for them to come to us.

THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD
Do we use the sword in offence, or defense, or both? As we begin our walk of salvation we use it in defense to protect ourselves as we fill our mind and heart with the word of God.
As we grow in God and begin to walk the path He has set before us, we also use the sword in offence as we stand in the gap for others.

ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE
ABLE TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED
This is such an awesome part of our armour. Why does God tell us “above all”? Does it have something to do with the word faith, and the importance of faith in our lives? Is it because the shield is something that we can move at will and cover that which is in danger at any given moment?
I once heard an evangelist from South Africa speaking. His name is Mr. Barnard. He went by Pastor Barney. One night in September of 2004 he was talking about the verse, faith cometh by hearing, by hearing the word of God. I had often wondered why “by hearing” was repeated. Pastor Barney explained it beautifully. He said faith cometh by hearing, and then he pointed to his head. Then he said by hearing the word of God, and he pointed to his heart. There is such truth in that. We have to allow the word of God to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge.
As you read the word of God do you ever have one word or a phrase kind of jump out at you? Then you read it again and it is like it has been buried in your heart, like it has become a part of you?
Or maybe you were reading Gods word and something you didn’t understand suddenly became so clear, and you know that you have seen the truth that God was trying to impart into your heart?

That is what happened to me when I was reading this portion of the armour of God. He led me to read it over again, and the word ALL [the fiery darts of the wicked] jumped out at me. And then that wonderful word went from head knowledge to heart knowledge. The enemy knows each one of our individual weaknesses. That is where he will attack us. God was showing me that it doesn’t matter how big the attack, or how often they come, that we have everything we need in our armour to defeat the enemy. The shield of faith that God has given us can quench ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED.
Look at the word quench. We quench our thirst with water. Jesus is the water of life. It is through him that we have received our salvation. What better way to quench FIERY darts, than with the very water of life? It is through salvation that we have the right and authority to defeat the wicked.
Ephesians 6: 10-18