Armor of God Bible Study

So, the Armor of God study was wonderful.  If you ever are looking for a Bible study, I highly recommend it.  It’s by Priscilla Shirer.  I learned some amazing things every day of the study, but here’s the jest of it, high level.

The enemy – we give him too much credit and we don’t give him enough credit.  He isn’t just the father of lies, he’s the father of almost-truths, which are lies.  He doesn’t say, “hey go rob a store” because you know it’s wrong and you’d never do that.  He says, “go ahead and claim that on your taxes.  Technically it’s true.”  When it’s really not.  Technically it’s true is my least favorite ever – that just means it’s really a lie.

Put on the armor of God – this is the armor God used himself.  (See Isaiah 59:17).  This means a lot to me.  Instead of simple, human armor, we get to use the perfect armor our God and Father used himself. 

Belt of Truth – worn more like a girdle, less like a belt.  It’s like undies.  It’s worn closest to you.  When you keep truth closest to you, your foundational garment, all else can be built on that.  (All pieces of the armor fit into the “belt.”)  Also, the belt strengthens your core.  When the Truth of God is at your core, you can fight the enemy.  When your physical body has a strong core, you can fight your enemies.

Breastplate of Righteousness – 1. There’s perfect righteousness that is only God’s perfect holiness and we will never be that.  That’s not what this is talking about.  2. There’s comparative righteousness where we compare ourselves to others to see if we are righteous – never compare yourselves to others, please God alone – comparing yourselves to other sinful humans is not true righteousness.  3. Then there’s imputed righteousness.  This is the key.  This is the one that we get.  Imputed righteousness is the gift Jesus gave you when He died on the cross.  “Perfect righteousness discourages you.  Comparative righteousness deceives you.  Imputed

righteousness defines you and declares you innocent before all accusers.”  Amen and hallelujah!  So, own it, keep it close to your heart, it’s an amazing gift.  Tuck that into the belt.  Into your TRUTH.

The Shoes of Peace – the shoes the soldiers wore had spikes that stuck into the ground.  That firm grip gave them stability.  That’s what peace does for us.  So, how do we get this peace?  According to Col. 3:15, peace begins with thanksgiving.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”  This makes complete sense if you’ll pray on it for a bit.

The Shield of Faith – according to like the whole book of James, faith and actions go hand in hand.  (Side note:  how much do you love the book of James?  It’s one of my favorites.)  Seriously, “faith is when you act like God is telling you the truth.”  So, do you believe God’s truth or not?  Whew.  That was a convicting week.  With the big things, I pray pray pray, seek seek seek, then step out on faith no matter what because I trust God.  Moving to Alabama.  Getting pregnant with Kara.  Marrying Michael.  Homeschooling.  But when it comes to the smaller things, I don’t act!  When I talk to someone on the plane, I don’t say, “hey, do you know God?”  Why am I such a coward?  Don’t I believe?  Of course I do.  So why don’t I act?  Disobedience.  Ugh.  I am working on it.

The Helmet of Salvation – according to Galations 5:1, salvation sets us free.  “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”  Not only are we saved from an eternity in hell, but when we continually apply our salvation, we are “restored, protected, and shielded daily from the attacks of the enemy.”  (Something I’m remembering from another study I did years ago:  When we are saved, we are sealed.  The Holy Spirit goes in, seals us, and demons can’t possess us.  I always imagined the seal was on the tops of our heads, like a helmet.  Does it say that in scripture, or is that a coincidence?)

The Sword of the Spirit – God’s Word.  The sword this passage of scripture is talking about is a small dagger that would be used for hand to hand combat.  “Sometimes we feel like the enemy is right in our face.”  Right?  Right.  The original word for the “word of God” they are talking about here is Rhema.  Rhema is the “utterance of God, the spoken Word of God to you in your life.”  It’s what has power.  Use THIS to fight the enemy.  Read it, study it, make it yours.  It IS yours.  And when the enemy is right in your face, use it to pierce him.

YES!  This study was amazing – these are just the highlights.

As a math nerd, I have a super appreciation for things that are complete.  Things that line up, add up, things that are symmetric, and equations that have one perfect answer.  It’s why I love polka dots – one perfect shape (the circle) all the same size, all in a row, lots of rows.  It’s why I love math – numbers are amazing – geometry too.  I see God in math!  Stay with me here.  I see perfection and completeness like a math equation in everything in the Bible.  The armor of God is no exception. 

God, you are so great!  We don’t deserve you.

Now that our study is done, we’re reading Fervent, also by Priscilla Shirer, which is a prayer guide that goes along with what we already learned.  I’ll talk about that another time.  J