Prayer
Jesus prayed for us, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" John 17:15
There are 6 key pieces to The Armour of God:
- The Helmet of Salvation
- The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Sword of The Spirit
- Belt of Truth
- Shield of Faith
- Sandals of Readiness and Peace
Do you know that the Lord wishes to put on our armor for us? God wishes us to be ready to receive them – but he wishes to outfit us.
Today I would like to share about the first piece of our spiritual armour. The Belt of Truth. God knows that with this alone, truth helps us to deal with every battle that comes our way, and it can actually help avoid battles — or even better, end them before they start. Most battles are the consequences of lies and confusion, or rumors unchecked, or of fears that aren't truth. (Demons using gossip and bullies are great examples)
One of Satans most successful plans is when we're deceived by lies. To counter this deceiver, we must find ways to discover truth, to accept the truth and to share that truth. How can we do this?
Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his day,
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
One of Satans most successful plans is when we're deceived by lies. To counter this deceiver, we must find ways to discover truth, to accept the truth and to share that truth. How can we do this?
- -We use the Bible as a mirror, pray regularly asking God to search us.
- -We ask God what’s going on in our homes, work, mind, our hearts.
- -We ask God, search me and know me, and help me to know my self.
- -We ask God to heal the blindness of our eyes, so we are not deceived.
Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his day,
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
John 8:44
In today's culture it is becoming more and more acceptable for the little sins to slip by. As we do this we are slowly accepting the larger ones too. It's too easy for us to say a little white lie to help someone out or to cover a co-workers butt to their spouse or your boss. But what if it later was found out that the same person was stealing? Would you talk to them about the office supplies they took home or the personal phone calls they were making during office time? Or would you not say anything unless it was more serious?
What about putting yourself in this little situation? It's easy to overlook the little things but they can quickly snowball into a serious situation. Unhappy at work? Do you go to your boss and tell the truth? Or did you take a ream of paper, or play solitaire when you should've been working because you felt it was owed you?
The Belt of Truth is for us to recognize just how those fiery darts can distract us and that even small temptations can lead to sin. We must practice acting in truth as well as speaking it.
I have noticed that talking about spiritual warfare can be confusing and intimidating to some but if we don't start accepting Gods Armour and letting him put it on us, we as a culture, will not be in the future. We must be participants and encourage others to wear the Armour too.
Peter says we should not be surprised at the "fiery trials" or the "something strange feelings". God is testing us so that "He may know all" that is in our hearts. 1 Peter 4:12, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 chronicles 32:31
Applying truth to any situation sets us free! Jesus used truth when satan tempted Him and set the example for us in using this weapon. He stood firm in the truth and applied God’s Word to each temptation… thus the battle was won.
Temptation leads to sin but with the Belt of Truth we can use Gods strength to resist it and confess it.
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Questions
- Is there any unconfessed sin in your life? Reflect on 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 28:13
- Are you honest before God about where you're at right now? Reflect and tell God about any fears and/or doubts in your life right now. The Lord knows them but you need to let God put on your belt of truth and declare yourself
- How will you discover Truth?
- Are you willing to surrender your thoughts and feelings to God? Reflect on Isaiah 59:1-2. Even the smallest sin is separating you from God
- How can you maintain Truth in your life?
- Why is it important to yourself and others around you, that you have on The Belt of Truth?
Source 1 - learn more here-- http://keepingitpersonal.com/2014/02/belt-of-truth/.
source 2 - http://ca.100huntley.com/video.php?id=qSE5EcCfptU
The Belt of Truth
Hi Val: Thanks for the study, I checked out the2 sources you listed. Question for you: You say "Do you know that the Lord wishes to put on our armor for us?" -where do you get that from. V11 says "Put on the full armor of God" -thats something that WE have to do. God provides the armor, but we need to apply it to our lives.
ReplyDeleteIts something that Pastor George said. Yes, we need to accept the Armour, but without God placing it on us and us holding on to it, we couldn't be properly outfitted.
ReplyDelete