Wednesday, October 5, 2011

My Life Verse

Alexis is here :)

Ephesians 6: 11-17:
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against [e]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. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist inthe evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the helmet of salvation, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [f]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.


This past year I've had many opportunities where I have need to put on this armor. This armor will help us in every aspect of our lives consuming us in peace and joy. I want to break each piece of the armor down in the way that I see it so people can see why I use it as my life verse.



~Belt of Truth: That thing that keeps your pants up? Really? To explain Truth? Yet don't think of it in a physical sense, think of it in a sence of a invisible clothing that goes over your day-to-day clothing. Truth is what I feel everyone needs. When you continually lie to someone their understanding of what kind of person you are slowly fades. They don't see you as someone who walks in the light and in truth because they simply don't believe you can. I picture the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" story popping into mind right here.

~Breastplate of Righteousness: The breastplate was the piece of armor that covered your chest. The part that guarded your heart. I know my heart can be just as confused as my mind can be sometimes. Righteousness should be the thing guarding our hearts and luckily it is. We are called to be righteous people. Righteousness is defined as: "characterized by, proceeding from, or in accordance with accepted standards of morality, justice, or uprightness".

~Shoes of Readiness: I'm a runner. So this part of the Armor stands out the most to me. I picture myself right before my race is about to run. My feet are in the blocks, my mind is on the path before me, and all I'm waiting for is that gunshot to sound. That thing to make me jump and focus on running my race to the best of my ability. I feel those jitters. Most girls see it when they see a guy they like... Oh no. I have those butterflies right before the gun fires. Picture that with your day each day. Those butterflies to do God's will. Ready to run to the best of your ability and all He has to do is say the word. He opens that door to expanding His kingdom unexpectedly sometimes and this is one of those cases when you have to "Expect the Unexpected."

~Shield of Faith: Our main defence. A shield. Our beliefs and faith are what protect us from the "fiery arrows". What else do we have to defend what we believe? We have that question thrown into our face a lot, don't we? "Why do you believe in something you can't even see or touch? How can you be wasting your life trying to be perfect when you already know you aren't?" Yeah. I hate those questions too. Though this is where our shield comes in. "My faith." Is the simplest answer to keep them studdering. Your faith. The confidence in knowing that God is there even though there is nothing your eyes can see.

~Helmet of Salvation: I know with this piece of Armor I instantly feel comfort in the fact that I know I am going to Heaven someday because of Christ's sacrifice to allow me to be there. The knowing of my Salvation is the most calming thing to believe. Salvation must be known and represented through our actions everyday. Show people why we are different. I remember God gave me a clearing of mind one day. I keep telling people that I don't want to be an average person. Have I ever said I don't want to be an average Christian? I want to be different from everyone else and I want it to show so much that when someone tries to find out who I am all they can see is Christ.

~Sword of the Spirit: Oh, the most brilliant and valiant of all the pieces. I see this piece of Armor instantly as an attack. As a way that I can show people that they are living in sin. It's my powerful piece. My strong piece, but have you ever thought of it as a defence? Swords weren't just used to slice people in half they were also used to defend the soilder. The Spirit does the same for us. He protects us and gives us the choice of right and wrong. We just have to follow His voice because that is the biggest part of God in our bodies. I think that is worth protecting.