God's Will Continued: Be Strong In The Lord, Part #2. How?

 Put on the full armor of God in order to overcome the Devil's strategy. 
Ephesian 6:11

It seems very clear that it really is God's will to be strong in the Lord.  As a matter of fact, there is no question about this. The big question is, "Why is it important to be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power?" First of all, one answer is obvious: Who wants to be weak? I doubt anyone wants to be weak; therefore, it's also obvious our Heavenly Parent probably wants you and me to be strong as well. If you gaze a little closer, at our passage, you will also see a second vital motive: God want's us to "overcome." The only way to do this is to be strong enough to be an overcomer.

This takes me back to my boot camp days. At the very beginning of this basic military training, we were taken to a place called "The Confidence Course."  This place, we were told, would be something we could easily "negotiate!" To negotiate this we were told we would climb some unbelievable obstacles.  Some of them, we would go under and over high up in the air.  There were water barriers we had to cross by running, jumping, and hopefully grabbing a rope. Then if we didn't drown in the water, but actually held on to the rope, we could swing to the other side. We were told falling in the water was not acceptable. Crawling through a "mine field," with explosions going off, while crawling under barbed wire,  also wasn't something I wanted to do as a 19 year old. I can tell you that I was NOT confident that I would successfully "negotiate" these challenges. I felt way to weak, and I was.

However, by the end of boot camp, I was significantly stronger. I could run further, and faster, jump higher, shoot better -- I actually never missed a target -- and I could  do anything far better than when I began. The day came for this "Confidence Course." When I got there, I was surprised to believe, I had the confidence to "negotiate" this thing.  And I did so with relative ease. After I completed this course, I understood why the course has it's name. Completing it, with more than satisfactory ease, really boosted my confidence.  I felt like I could do anything! It was good that I had this confidence because the next six months of advanced training were far more difficult.

Now, when it comes to becoming strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power, there was, and there is, a huge obstacle in the way. This obstacle is the Devil, himself, who has a strategy for defeating us. But we don't need to be afraid. Nor do we need to lack confidence, for God has a way to make us strong and to give us the stuff to be enough to defeat the Devil himself. It all begins with one simple task:  God wants you and me to simply get dressed. He wants us to cloth ourselves in Jesus. He wants us to "Put on the full armor of God."

None of us would get up in the morning and walk out the door without preparing ourselves for the day. None of us would go out the door without getting dressed.  It would be absurd to even consider doing such a thing.  Well, our spiritual well being, and our ability to be strong, and our ability to overcome all the strategies of the Devil begins when we intentionally do one thing: Get dressed! To do otherwise, as Christ-Followers, is insanity, and such poor behavior leaves us unnecessarily vulnerable. One of the reasons so many children of God are weak, and they sadly testify, "I come up short regularly," is because they don't "get dressed." They are not even close to being strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power." Therefore, it is absolutely vital to determine each day to put on God's full armor.

More to come:

SoJourner