THE CHRISTIAN ARMOUR
2Cor 10:3-6
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of strongholds.
We destroy imaginations, arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
We see from the text that our minds is the first battlefield.
The devil builds strongholds in our minds, and give us intellectual arguments and opinions that are contrary to Christs.
We must take every thought captive and bring it to the obedience of Christ.
The devil attacks us from our minds. We must learn that not every thought that comes to us is from God. God always told His people not to fear, therefore, every thought of fear, and discouragement is from the devil and you must reject them.
The devil has successfully built fortresses in people's minds and they take it as the reality or as the way they should live, for example, you hear someone talking about a weakness they have saying, "this is the way I am", "this is what always happens in our family ", "I cannot reach such heights", "the bible is for the preachers", "I can't make it ". These fortresses must be destroyed; instead of saying "that's me", say "I am going to be better tomorrow", "instead of saying there is no way out, say that God will make a way for me. Whatever fortress you have built in your mind, especially from prejudices and those that have been formed by the surrounding you have been brought up with, you must destroy those speculations.
Rom 12:2 tells us we can only discern Gods perfect will, which is good and acceptable only if we allow our minds to be transformed in the way it thinks.
This is why the devil works to make us think in a certain way, for He knows that if he captures your thought life; you have already overcome you. Let's God's word instruct your mind. Fill your mind with God's word everyday day. Meditate on God's word and orient your mind to God's way of thinking.
Guard your mind. There are two gates to the mind. The eyes and the ears. What you watch and read and listen to goes to your mind. Guard those gates and filter what goes in, what you watch, what you read and what you listen to.
Reject every thought that is contrary to God's.
James 1:14-15
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
We see here that before birth to sin, there is conception that takes place. This conception takes place in our minds. If you don't want to give birth, don't conceive. If you don't want to give birth to sin, don't entertain sinful thoughts but reject them. If you entertain those thoughts, be sure that you will give birth to sin. It may take time, but at the end you will have a child called sin which you gave birth to.
Eph 6:10-18
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 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 full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, 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.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
We learn here that the devil has many tricks he uses to cause believers to fall but God wants us to stand firm even in the evil day.
The devil is always scheming and that is why we must put on the whole armour of God.
It is not our ammunition but it belongs to God. We stand in the strength that comes from God.
On our own, we are helpless against the enemy, but with God, we will defeat the enemy.
We must put on the belt of truth. Belt holds the clothes together. Without a belt , you will need to use one hand to prevent the clothes from falling but that hand is supposed to hold something else. Learn to speak the truth, speaking lies opens a way for the devil to attack and overcome us.
The helmet of salvation. The helmet protects our minds. Guard your thoughts.
Breastplate of righteousness. It guards of hearts. Living in righteousness makes the enemy reach our hearts.
Shoots from the gospel of God. They help your feet as you walk from thorns. Keeping your conscience clear and pursuing peace with all men helps us in our daily walk to avoid the devil's trap along the way.
The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the enemy. A shield moves in all directions to quench the attacks from all the directions. Your unshakable trust in God, to fulfill what He has promised acts as a shield.
The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Jesus told the devil it is written. Gods word is the sword. In fact the others are protective, only the sword is offensive.
You don't win by only protecting yourself, but by protecting yourself as you fight. It's is only God's word that is for fighting; if you want to fight the enemy, you must make up your mind to soak yourself in God's word everyday.
Dig out the wells and find treasures in God's word.
He concludes by saying praying at all times, in all occasions and never ignoring any promptings by the Holy Spirit to pray.
If you have an urge to pray, never postpone it, don't say you will pray in the next hour, but pray that time you have an urge. No matter how busy you are, you can pray in your heart, you can speak in tongues under your breath as you continue with work.
Wherever you are, have the attitude of prayer. Be always communing with God in your heart. However busy you are, let your heart be communing with God. The devil will not wait for you to finish what you are doing before attacking, He will attack any time, therefore, be very vigilant, be very watchful, be sober, for your enemy like a roaring lion is seeking who to devour. But resist him steadfast in faith. Don't sign for a peace treaty with satan.
What I say to you is, WATCH. 1Pet 5:8-9, Mark 13:37
You are blessed to be a blessing
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@Blessed Mshindi Mambo
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