Day 17 - Put on the Whole Armor of God
Before we go out each day, we prepare ourselves by grooming ourselves to ensure that we look and smell good. We may even prepare our lunch, and if not, we make sure we have our wallets or purses so that we can buy breakfast or lunch for the day. If we have a presentation at work, we have done the necessary study or preparation to ensure the presentation goes well.
That’s our worldly preparation which we do without fail.
When it comes to preparation for encounters that the Lord may place in our paths, many of us are woefully unprepared. Why? Because we fail to put on the "Whole Armor of God” as described in Ephesians 6:10-17.
In my study I ran across this interpretation of the "Whole Armor of God" by Daniel Kolenda who wrote this for Christ for All Nations.
“In Ephesians 6 Paul talks about the "Armour of God,” which includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (verses 14-17). I want you to notice that we have no offensive weapon in this list. Now you will invariably disagree and point to the sword, the Word of God, but look carefully. The Word of God is not called “the sword of the Christian.” It is called the sword of the Spirit. In other words, it belongs to the Spirit.”
“He alone can wield it properly. Without the illumination that the Holy Spirit brings, the Bible is just black ink on white paper.”
I found his words to be enlightening.
We don’t need man made weapons to fight evil and sin that is all around us. We need the Word of God and a relationship with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Think about Martin Luther King whose birthday was just celebrated. What made MLK who he was, was his trust in the Lord to let the sword of the Spirit fight his battles. MLK stressed non-violence because he didn’t need it. His words always cut like a sword. To many, they were fighting words. They were immersed in biblical principles. The Holy Spirit was always with him and engaged.

The Holy Spirit who lives in us doesn’t sleep (Psalm 121:3-4). He is the Spirit of God. He’s always present. He doesn’t need to get ready when we get up in the morning. He stays ready. We just have to have a deep and personal relationship with Him and take Him with us wherever we go and not grieve Him when He prods us to move. He’s going anyway, we just need to let Him "take the wheel" and lead us daily as we put on the "Whole Armor of God”.
The study of God’s word (the sword) "when illuminated by the Holy Spirit" can do more for us than we can imagine if we just let go and let God do what only He can do. On this fast and after, make it a habit to study the Word to be as prepared for each day as you are when you go to work or other worldly events. The Holy Spirit is waiting for us to radically love Jesus with a burning fire so He can enable us to make a difference in this world. If you want change, real change, make Jesus a priority and He will make you a priority. He's waiting on you.
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