The Full Armor of God - Belt of Truth

"Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth..." Eph. 6:14

I have failed as a mother.

No matter how hard I try, I can't get my teen-aged daughters to wear a belt.

It really has little to do with the fact that empty loops around one's waist is rather annoying, and a lot to do with the functionality of holding one's pants up. But for some reason, they would rather complain that their pants don't fit right, than put on a belt.

Belts can be fashionable and an "accessory," but they also are functional.

When Paul writes to the church at Ephesus to gird their loins with truth, this growing church knew exactly what Paul was talking about. To gird your loins, you would gather the access fabric from your clothing, pull it between your legs and up through your belt, and then yank it back down again. You could go from a flowing robe to pants that would allow you to move more efficiently. Your belt was key.

Now, some think that girding was for running, as if Paul was saying, "Be prepared to run away from Satan and his fiery darts." But this is not what Paul is suggesting. To gird was to prepare yourself to engage in the battle, to increase your mobility and agility, to provide protection for your "loin" and put yourself in a ready stance. It was the first thing a soldier would do - gather his skirt and tuck it in place, so that he was able to move more freely and aggressively.

Note the item that is holding our spiritual armor in place is truth. It is a belt of truth. We know that Jesus is truth (John 14:6), that God's Word is truth (John 17:17), that Jesus testified to the truth (John 18:37), and that truth sets us apart from the world (John 17:17).

So when we gird our loins in truth, truth is what is holding everything together. It is what is making us agile and mobile. Because we have truth, we are prepared for the battle. Without truth, without our belt, we are unable to protect ourselves and stand firm.

So what exactly is truth? Well, here's a taste:

*God exists

*He is the Creator of all

*Man separated himself from God by choosing to disobey

*God's holiness requires perfection

*Hell is a real and eternal destination

*God chose the nation of Israel to bring salvation to mankind

*Jesus is God and man

*Jesus fulfilled the Law and became the perfect sacrifice

*Jesus bore the wrath of God on the cross by taking man's sin upon His perfect Self

*There is no other way to eternal life but through Jesus Christ

*In giving Him your life, you exchange one master for Another

You get my point. The Bible is God's revealed truth for mankind and is what holds our faith together. Paul is telling us, "Don't go into battle without knowing Jesus. Don't go into battle without the Word of God, because that is what allows us to stand firm."

When you get up and dressed in the morning, do you gird yourself with the belt of truth? Do you have a sincere and genuine relationship with God? One that believes that what He says is divinely inspired and given to you to enable you to stand firm against the enemy?

Knowing God's Word is where we start and I think you will find that it is the foundation of the other items given to you for your battle gear.

The Full Armor of God - intro

Ephesians is a great book. So much practical teaching in six little chapters. Probably the most familiar is the full armor of God passage in chapter 6.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the individual pieces that we are instructed to wear. I think I may have blogged on this before, so if this is old news to you, sorry about that. But I have found that I could sure use a reminder, so as usual, I'm taking you along with me.

Before we get into the meat of the passage, I want to look at the verses that lead up to it. Ephesians 6:10-13 says:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm."

So much in these verses - here's a few observations to get us started:

*Our strength comes from God, so we need to be IN HIM - what does that mean? What does that look like for you?

*We have to PUT ON the armor of God - this takes effort. We don't just wake up with it on.

*Our struggle is so much greater than what we can physically see - do we forget that we have a very powerful and wily enemy? Yes, I know, God is stronger and will always get the victory, but let's not forget that in our flesh, we are not only targets, but we are pretty weak in comparison. That's why we have to PUT ON the armor.

*We put on the armor so that we can RESIST - there is a suggestion of temptation here. Do you see it? We can battle against a foe but we are also called to resist - Satan's attack usually strikes at our weaknesses, often where we stumble the easiest. So the armor not only defends from outside blows, but also from inside urges. Does that make sense?

*And finally, STANDING FIRM is really the reason we put on the armor. Do you want to be tossed to and fro, be wishy-washy in your thinking and stumble often? Of course not, we are called to stand firm because we have a firm foundation. The armor is going to help us do this.

So, here's our next series...please feel free to comment, answer questions, etc.

God of Reversals...again

Interesting story. Here are the basics:

Paul and Silas share the gospel in Philippi, a Roman colony where Roman citizens have the same rights as if they were in Italy. A demon possessed slave girl, who is used by her master to tell the future and make him money, follows them around, telling everyone that they were from God and had the way of salvation. After a few days of this, Paul got annoyed and cast out the demon. When that happened, the slave girl's owner got mad because when the demon left, so did her ability to tell the future. He complained to the town magistrate who, thinking they were Jews, threw Paul and Silas in prison, only after having them beaten.

Now here's where it gets interesting. The jailer is told to "guard them securely" so he takes them into an inner part of the prison and puts their feet in the stocks. There was no way they would escape.

Around midnight, while singing hymns and praying, Paul and Silas find themselves freed from their chains due to a supernatural earthquake. Not only were their chains off, but the doors were all opened as well.

You would think at this point, Paul and Silas would have left the prison, thus changing their circumstance from prisoners to free men and that is the point of my God of Reversals story today. But no...they are not the subject of my post.

When the jailer realized that the earthquake had freed his prisoners, he knew his life was over - literally. That was the penalty for allowing an escape. He drew his sword and was ready to kill himself, when from within the cell Paul cried out to him. The jailer could not believe they hadn't left and he immediately asked what he must do to be saved.

Interesting, huh?

Why that question?

He must have known the charges. He must have heard the prayers and songs. And he must have concluded that the driving force behind two men who would choose not to run, must be worth asking about.

Immediately his eternal destination was changed. He was literally seconds away from eternal damnation, but God stopped him and saved him. Not only him, but God saved his whole household that day.

And right now, they are all with Jesus.

Think about it.

Hmmm...He is the God of reversals. His timing is perfect and His love is never ending.

Speaking of ending...the end of the story goes like this. The next morning the magistrate decided to release Paul and Silas. But Paul had an ace up his sleeve. You see, Paul and Silas were beaten because they were Jews, but in truth, they both had Roman blood. Their Roman citizenship had been violated because there had not been a public hearing, plus Roman citizens were not allowed to be scourged and beaten.

So Paul sent a message to the magistrate that instead of having the police give them the message of their release, he'd prefer to have the magistrate come himself, considering he was a Roman citizen and all.

It's just kind of funny that Paul felt it was necessary to make his point, but then again, just because he was a follower of Christ didn't mean that he had to be a patsy and let the magistrate break the law. He had rights and he was smart enough to demand them.

So the jailer had his life turned around.

I thought it was a good story - just one more person I want to look up when I get to heaven...

Driven by Love

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word and with tongue, but in deed and truth." I John 3:16-18

At first glance, the call to lay down our lives for others seems a bit absurd. Isn't that what Jesus did? Why do we have to do that as well?

I John is really the love book. I am looking forward someday to meeting John, because his gentle spirit and kind heart flows from every word he penned. I am sure he is a unique man. His book is not that long - it can easily be read in one sitting, but the overriding theme of love is unmistakable.

In the middle of chapter four he says this, "We love, because He first loved us."

With that one phrase, we get the answer to our questions above. When you truly understand the love that was shown to you through Jesus Christ, it is so all encompassing that can't help but be a loving person as well. The sanctification process (growing, maturing) produces love in the believer and this love is not based on warm fuzzies, but on the reality of the love we've already experienced.

At the moment, one of my responsibilities with our church plant is organizing the assimilation process - the path of taking a visitor into the church and leading them into a deeper relationship with Christ and the church. This process has many steps, with many volunteers and thankfully I have lots of help, but I am learning that assimilation is so much more than just moving people from one place to another. It's really about loving people enough to come alongside them and help them.

Why should the parking lot attendants and greeters be warm and friendly? Is it because they are trying to sucker people into feeling accepted and then maybe they'll come to the church?

Why should the nursery workers consider their responsibilities discipleship rather than baby-sitting?

Why bother with coffee and sweets? Are we trying to woo people through their tummies?

Why ask people to fill out friendship registers? Are we playing Big Brother?

The reason we do what we do in church needs to be love.

Harvest has a saying: You Are Loved. They use it a lot and it can be an empty saying if it is not backed up with actions. That's why you have greeters and treats and assimilation processes. The motivation is to be loving, to let people know that you care about them and want to encourage them in their walk with Christ. It is by this love that men will know that we have been loved by Jesus.

So, yes. We need to be willing to lay our lives down for others because of love. It's not something that should be hard to do, because as we grow in Christ, that love should be growing as well.

If you have time, give I John a read through today. It's worth it.