Relationship Remix - 3 C's That Sabotage Relationships Copy

Friday, December 5th

To finish our week out I wanted to leave us with an incredible passage giving further instruction and preparing us with spoken expectations of having courage and taking courage.  We are in a spiritual war whether we like it or not, meditate on this passage, prepare your heart and mind for what is already at hand.  We NEED to armor up!  I’ve mixed in two different versions of the bible so check out below, I used the NIV (New International version) and MSG (The Message).

A Fight to the Finish
Ephesians 6:10-14 (MSG)
10-14 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.

Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV)
13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I found this graph below from one of my study Bibles and wanted to also share it with you with hopes of us grasping more of our calling!

Piece of Armor	Meaning	Application
Belt	Truth	The devil fights with lies, and sometimes his lies sound like truth. Believers have Gods truth, which can defeat the devils lies
Breastplate	Righteousness	The devil often attacks our heart, the seat of our emotions, identity and trust. God's righteousness is the breastplate that protects our hearts and ensures his approval. He approves of us. having sent his son to die for us, because He loves us
Shoes	Readiness that come from the gospel of peace	The devil wants us to think that telling others the gospel is a worthless and hopeless task- the size of the task is too big and the negative responses are too much to handle. But the shoes God gives us are the motivation to continue to proclaim the true peace that is available in God- news everyone needs to hear.
Shield	Faith	When we see the devils attacks in the form of insults, setbacks, and temptations. But the shield of faith protects us from flaming arrows. With God's perspective, we can see beyond our circumstances and know that ultimate victory is ours!
Helmet	Salvation	The devil wants to make us doubt God and doubt salvation. The helmet protects our minds from doubting God's saving work for us.
Sword of the Spirit	Word of God	The sword is the only offensive weapon in the list of armor; all the others are defensive in nature. There are times when we need to take the offensive against the devil. When we are tempted, we need to trust in the truth of God's word.

The Lord is continuously reminding us of his love for us; he is reminding us to armor ourselves instead of walking through life passively.   What will you choose today?

May you sit with the song “Lion of Judah”! Declaring HIS glory!!! Celebrating Jesus Christ as both gentle, sacrificial Lamb and mighty, authoritative Lion who conquers sin and death and His power and Glory rules forever!

LION (feat. Chris Brown & Brandon Lake) | Elevation Worship