Armor of God

Welcome to today's episode of the Reflective Spaces Ministry podcast. I'm your Host and Evangelist, Tammy Toney-Butler. But we all know who the host of this show is and everything that we do. And that's Christ by way of the Holy Spirit, our Helper, the Spirit of Truth guiding us, guiding us, guiding us. so that we can fully surrender to the will of the almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our precious Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, our Helper, so that from the moment we're saved, we can be like Christ. We can take on His characteristics. We can have the heart of Christ and the mind of Christ. We can be renewed, new creatures restored. And today, let's talk about that. Let's talk about the armor of God. What is the armor of God that Ephesians talks about? What is the armor of God that Ephesians talks about? When we look at Ephesians 6:10, we're reading out of the NIV. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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've done everything to stand, stand firm then with a belt of truth buckled around your waist with a breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can distinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God 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 the Lord's people. For the Lord's people. For the Lord's people. When we look at the armor of God, we have to understand that we are truly wearing Christ, that we have put Christ on as a garment, that we are clothed with Christ, that we are clothed with his character, his righteousness, his truth. his righteousness, his truth, his peace, his love for man.

Truly the armor of God is us realizing that we are to embody Christ. literally dying to flesh, our own flesh, and wearing Christ as a garment, removing the garment of heaviness and putting on the garment of praise,

having the word of God written on the tablet of our heart so that we can use it as our sword of truth. truth like Jesus used it against the devil when he tried to tempt him in the wilderness after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and was hungry and thirsty. He was in a place of need. Many of us have needs. And it is in that moment that that test comes, that temptation comes.

That we fight the tempter, the devil, with our sword of truth. And we do that because we're equipped as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, as soldiers for Christ, because we actually wear Christ. And when we put on Christ, we're actually putting on the body armor that it talks about in Ephesians. We have to embody Christ. We have to have His character. It's not enough just to get saved. That's important. It's powerful. It's what we need. But it is the access point for more. We aren't to stop at milk. We are to move towards the goal of becoming like Christ. embodying Christ in His character, His heart, His mind, being righteous, being holy, striving to live a life free of sin, truly dying to self, dying to the world, truly wearing the holiness and righteousness of Christ,

wearing our shield of faith. Faith becomes a part of us. It's in us. It resonates in and through everything we do. Our words, everything that we do, it resonates with everything that we do.

We must get to a position of wearing Christ, of wearing the body armor, the characteristics, the character of Christ,

the character attributes of Christ. That's what the body armor is truly talking about. It's talking about moving from milk to meat, maturing as a body of believers under the Lordship of Lord Jesus Christ, surrendered so much to doing the will of the Father like Jesus surrendered to the point of death. us truly saying, "Abba, Father, I truly want to surrender and obey You like Christ did. He died on the cross so I could have eternal life. He was all about the Kingdom of God. I want to put on Christ. I want to wear Christ. I want to die to self. And I want to live eternally. to serve you, oh God. So I am becoming a humble servant like Christ, obedient unto death. And I want to be holy. I want to be set apart. I don't want to resemble the world, the world systems. I want to come out of the world systems. I want to truly be seated in heavenly places. know that I am, but let it be resembled in my character and everything I do. So that when I walk into any room and I speak, it's as if Christ is speaking himself and they see Christ that I am an embodiment of everything that Christ stood for and continues to stand for this day. So you see the body armor that it talks about in Ephesians is us truly wearing Christ, truly being in Christ. He is our Head. We are His body and we are truly submitted under the Lordship of the Head. wanting to be righteous, wanting to be holy, wanting to to walk and bring peace into a room, not chaos, not destruction, wanting to show His love, having the faith of Abraham, of Noah, having that faith like the centurion, like the woman with the issue of blood,

that faith like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo, we have to Christ. We have to put on our armor and we have to use our Sword of Truth, the Word of God against the wickedness, the spiritual forces in the demonic realms. We have to wear Christ. We have to wear His authority. We have to be armored up knowing who we are as a Christian that we have power and authority that we can bind and we can loose and that only comes through submission and us understanding that we're clothed in Christ with the helmet of salvation having the mind of Christ. Everything is rooted in salvation. But it doesn't stop with salvation. We have to move on and equip ourselves with the rest of the armor, the holy living, the righteous living, turning away from fleshly things, sinful desires, and moving towards maturity in Christ. That only comes through relationship, seeking Him, marinating in the Word of God, having God speak to you through the scriptures, having revelation, knowledge, asking Him, asking God, say, "Holy Spirit, help me. Help me to have Kingdom revelation, wisdom, and understanding of heavenly things. Help me to truly wear the armor of God. I don't want to just stop with salvation. I want more. I want more. I want more. I want more. I want more. Salvation is everything. And nobody gets to heaven but through the Son, Lord Jesus Christ, and believing on the Son. And we must be saved. And it starts with salvation, but it doesn't end there. And the problem is spiritual warfare is advancing. And we must truly equip ourselves with the armor of God this season, recognizing that we must wear the character of Christ, the attributes of Christ, which are depicted in the body armor. It is a way of life as a Christian. It as a believer, we are truly submitted and surrendered to God's will. Being led by the Spirit of the Almighty God. Not being led by man. Not being led by circumstances, feelings, but being led by the Almighty God as we mature from milk to meat and move from the foundation,

no building, the foundational building. Thank you, Holy Spirit. the foundational building that centers on our salvation on Christ coming in and living in us, making us fresh and new by His Holy Spirit making us fresh and new, equipping us for what lies ahead. We have to be equipped this season truly with the body armor, wearing it as a lifestyle, wearing it as a truly submitted and surrendered vessel to God. moving from a place

of being saved to a place of spiritual maturity to where we actually wear Christ and resemble Christ and we are the Light that enters into a room and changes the environment wherever we go. that we bring the Kingdom of God to earth as it is in heaven. And we bind and we loose.

We bind and we loose as it is in the heavenlies under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ who is given the keys to the Kingdom of heaven who ascended and He gave us as believers on Yeshua those keys to walk in spiritual authority

to declare the Kingdom of God, Truth

to a world that so desperately needs it. So, are you embodying the righteousness of Christ? What does your life say? Are you partnering up with sin and calling evil good? Are you truly repentant? Do you have a change of heart to where the things that grieve God grieve you to where you truly pray in alignment with his will? Are you truly wearing the full armor of God? Christ. Are you truly one with Christ? So when we look at Ephesians and we look at Ephesians 6 10 to 18. Thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you Holy Spirit. And I'm going to read it out of the Amplified Bible. The armor of God amplified. In conclusion, be strong in the Lord. Draw your strength from him and be empowered through your union with him and in the power of his boundless might. Put on the full armor of God. For his precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavenly armed soldier. See that? His precepts. We are to have his character so that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God so that you will be able to successfully resist and stand your ground in the evil day of danger. and having done everything that the crisis demands to stand firm in your place fully prepared, immovable, victorious. So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the white the wide band of truth. That means having personal integrity, having moral courage like Christ around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having that upright heart, that heart of Christ, and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace and preparation to face the enemy with firmfooted stability and the readiness produced by the good news of the gospel. You're to wear Christ. Above all, lift up the protective shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and the h and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition, pray with specific request at all times on every occasion and in every season in the spirit and with this in view. Stay alert with all perseverance and petition. Interceding in prayer for all God's people. For all God's people. For all God's people. For all God's people. For all God's people. And when we look at that word precept, it is a divine command, a rule or a guiding principle given by God to direct all human behavior. All moral conduct. All moral conduct. All moral conduct. All moral conduct. All moral conduct. Remember Remember we we've seen it in other places in in in scripture, but it's all centered. It's all centered. It's all centered. It's all centered on the moral character of Christ, wearing Christ and resembling Christ in action and deed. Truly putting on Christ as if you were putting on a robe. You start with the helmet of salvation.

And you let it come and truly embody you to where when you step into a room

and they touch your hand, they're touching the hem of His garment

or the power in Christ is coming through you like the woman with the issue of blood and healed. at the moment that person's faith meets yours because you just brought Christ into a room, into a territory, into a world. That's the full armor of God. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Spirit. And may His peace resonate with you today as you buckle on that belt of Truth. Wear that Helmet of salvation. Have the Sword of the Spirit to resist the devil. The Word of God.

Putting it on. Putting it on. Putting it on. Putting it on. Putting on the body armor. Putting on the body armor. Wearing the armor of God. Wearing the armor of God. Wearing the armor of God. Wearing the armor of God. The Belt of Truth. The Breastplate of Righteousness. The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace. Shield of Faith. Helmet of Salvation and Sword of the Spirit. equipped, armored, and ready for battle. And remember, victory is certain. Victory is ours. Christ already won by His death on the Cross and His resurrection. And when he ascended to the right of Abba Father, Christ did the work for us by His stripes. Every blow he was spit on, beaten, battered, bruised, pierced, shed His blood on Calvary so that we could have victory. no longer spiritually dead, but awakened to the Truth and the freedom that only the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ brings. It starts with salvation, but it doesn't end there. And I invite you today,

to know that Jesus, to want to know more of that Jesus, to strive for more, to become hungry and thirsty, for righteousness, for truth, for the Bread of Life, for the Wellspring of Living Water. Seek, knock, that door will be opened. If you want to go deeper, He's calling you deeper. If you want to move from milk to meat, He's calling you to know more to mature spiritually. And that starts with relationship. Getting along with God, drawing from the Holy Spirit teaching us, guiding us, telling us, showing us how to pray, helping us to know the will of Father. He's our Advocate or Helper. But do we call on Him? Do we use Him? Ask God to show you the way to more. Ask Him by way of the Holy Spirit to bring you into more and He will. And that's today's episode of the Reflective Spaces Ministry podcast. I'm Tammy Toney-Butler, but I want you to see Christ, not me. Hear Christ, not me. Resemble Christ, not me. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus. Glory be to Jesus.