Prepare for Battle! Day 5 ~ Truth, Righteousness and Peace
Weekly Manna for Memory
Ephesians 6:10-13
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Additional verses if you’d like a memorization challenge 🙂 …
Ephesians 6:14-18
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Manna Snack
Recap of Armor of God Week One:
Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Feet Fitted with Readiness from the Gospel of Peace
So, who has memorized the entire passage already? Keep working on it! It’s a great reminder of how God has equipped us for every challenge the evil one can throw our way.
As moms, we’re often confronting the challenges of our loved ones as well, so it’s great to know we have God in our corner and His armor available to us!
This week has been a bit heavy with introspection. I want to remind you of the first lesson of the week…
This battle is all on HIM! We are battling in HIS strength and in HIS mighty power!
It is NOT for US to come up with battle strategies and armor without His sovereign wisdom and guidance.
But sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it? WE need to solve our marriage problems. WE need to protect our child from the long-term consequences of being bullied at school. WE need to dig our friend out of their pit of depression.
Nope, WE don’t. At least, not on our own.
But we DO need to PUT ON the armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the evil one.
When we PUT ON the truth of God’s Word and PUT ON the righteousness that God desires and PUT ON a readiness based on the gospel of peace, THEN we will be able to stand firm and gain ground on our common enemy.
THEN we can stop fighting each other and rather strategize ways we can overcome our indifference, our bitterness, our unforgiveness, our impatience, our pride, our general lack of love for each other. We can strategize with our kids to overcome sinful tendencies and replace them with Godly attributes that will glorify God and gain ground in the battle. We can work together with our spouse to lay out a battle plan to protect our marriages.
Dear Jesus, thank You for giving us tools, pieces of armor, with which we can battle against the schemes of the evil one here on this earth. So often I feel at a loss as to how I can actually make a difference in the lives of my family and friends. But You have the answers, Jesus. Thank You for Your true words found in the Bible that I can base my life around. Thank you for giving us a way to live uprightly before you and for guiding us into ways of living that are good for us and glorifying to You. And thank You so much for your sacrifice on the cross that gives us and our loved ones a hope of a beautiful eternity with the one true God! Jesus, help me to use these pieces of armor effectively each day and take my stand against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. I will not stand by while Satan destroys my marriage or claims my kids! I will not allow spirits of despair, grief, captivity to destroy the lives of my friends and family! I choose to prepare for battle and be sure to put on the pieces of Your spiritual armor each day so that I and my loved ones can be victorious. Thank You for Your guidance. I pray these things by the power of Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen!
Meal of Manna
Go back over your journaling for this week and pray through the things God has been showing you. Thank God for His armor that can help you face—and overcome—the schemes of the evil one. Catch up on any days you needed to rush through and be sure to apply the Meals and Take-Aways for each day if you haven’t already.
Take-Away for Today
Next week we’ll be looking at the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). Ask God to prepare your heart for whatever He wants to teach you through the continued study of His armor.
