Living According The Will of God: Being Made Strong In The Lord

 God's Will: Getting Dressed

Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light: Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Romans 13: 11b & 14.

A Brief Review

As we continue our journey regarding living according to God's will, we remember it is God's will we are to get up, give up our lives to the Lord first thing: We are to do this intentionally, and on purpose, everyday. We are to not even allowed to give any thought to the temptations that potentially lead to sin. We are to bring every thought captive in obedience to Christ. This sets the stage for us to be empowered to do what we cannot do own our own. And that is behave decently.  Key to all this is getting dressed, as we see in Romans 13: 11b -14. This putting on our heavenly clothes is called "clothing ourselves in Christ." How do we do this? We do this by Putting on the Armor of God. That's right. When you put on the Armor of God, this IS clothing yourself in Christ.

Don't Go Outside Naked: Get Supernaturally Empowered

None of us would get up and run outside naked.  It wouldn't bode well for us if we did; however, when it comes to practicing God's simple spiritual practice for  being able to have  God's Supernatural Power to have abundant life,  to defeat Satan, and his minions, and to stand against the chicanery of the father of all lies, all too many don't take seriously the clear Heavenly spiritual direction God gives us about clothing ourselves in Christ: The end result is spiritual weakness and defeat. I call this anemic spirituality.  So, how do we get dressed. Good question. Check out the verses below.

Ephesians 6:10-20

T h e   H o w:

Here is the How of It All:

Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

 (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 

(12) For we do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

(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 breast plate 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. 

(18) 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 Lord's chosen holy people. (Saints.) (19) Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may begiven me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 

(20) for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

W H Y   ?

To keep this blog short, we will attempt to unpack each part of the armor in the coming days, God willing. In doing this today, we want to look at the following question: Why do we want to follow this instruction, which I hope you read prayerfully. Here's why:

1. This makes us strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. (10)

2. This empowers us to stand against the devil's schemes. (11)

3. This identifies our true enemy. (12)

4. This gives us grace to take our stand against our true enemy. (13)

5. This empowers us to walk in the truth and not be deceived. (14.)

6. Focuses us on walking in the right way each day. (14.b)

7. Establishes our steps walking in the Lord's path of peace. (15)

8. Receiving the gift of faith, we stand against satanic lies (16)

9. We reaffirm our God given salvation. (17)

10. We take our stand on the authority of God's Word. (17b)

The Last Part:

Besides these 10 empowering actions that give us all we need to stand against the Devils schemes, and that empower us to stand, we are given another eternal "Great Commission." We are called to be prayer warriors, who pray in the Spirit, and who pray all kinds of prayers, for all the saints of God (or God's chosen Holy People.) the Church. Our brothers and sisters all over the world need our prayers. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in your prayers, but be sure to pray. 

Paul also asks us to pray for him, to pray the mysteries of God be given to him so that he can fearlessly proclaim the gospel even as an ambassador of Christ "in chains."  Well Paul is in Heaven, but we have Evangelist, Pastors, Teachers, Disciple Makers, who need our prayers.  Plus, we need to be praying for God to fill the vacuum left by Paul and others; therefore, let us pray "to the Lord of the harvest that He will send for laborers into His harvest." And let us pray that He will hear many crying out, "here am I , Lord, send me."

Your Challenge:

The challenge to you is simple: Will you live according to the will of God? When you get up, will you clothe yourself in Jesus. Will you put on the Armor of God? Will you allow this passage of scripture to guide you in doing so? Will you spiritually practice praying according to the instructions of Ephesians 6:10-20?  I hope so. For this IS the will of God.

SoJourner