An overview of the Whole Armour of God

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV)

This verse demonstrates to us that we are not powerless in our struggle against sin and the enemy. On the contrary, God has blessed and provided us (His children) with spiritual body armor and weapons of warfare that allow us to completely defeat the enemy when we learn to appropriate, master, and use these powerful defenses God has put at our disposal.

We are in a war and as is the case with all battles and wars, we need to go into combat fully prepared, properly dressed, and armed with superior weapons and firepower.

In the natural world, our weapons of warfare include; helmets, body armor, camouflage clothing, boots and equipment, knives, bayonets, rifles, missiles, handguns, and hand grenades. The list of modern weapons is endless and they are getting more sophisticated by the day.

In the spiritual world, we often face more subtle attacks from our enemy the devil, who is the master of cunningness, temptation, lies, twisted truths, subtlety, and the power of suggestion. We need to know how to deal with these attacks when they come, and how to prepare ourselves beforehand so that we are always ready, prepared, and on-guard when we face the temptations, assaults, and the fiery darts of the devil in our daily life.

Just as the natural soldier has an array of armor and weapons at his disposal, so we also have a fully comprehensive array of body armor and defenses against the enemy; And, while we have many defenses as described in the Whole Armour of God below, we have only one weapon, but Oh what a weapon!!!

God’s kids have been provided with a weapon so powerful the enemy cannot resist it and cannot defeat us once we have mastered its use and harnessed its power. In the hands of the skilled soldier of God, this weapon is more powerful than a neutron bomb and is a weapon of mass destruction to the enemy. It is The Word of God.

The problem is, many of us have no idea of the awesome power that is contained and harnessed in the Word of God, that can be unleashed to defeat and destroy all and every attack the devil throws at us; and, this power is released simply by speaking the Word of God into any situation we find ourselves in and using it in conjunction with the Armour of God.

Some might ask: OK, but how powerful can the Word of God really be, and, what difference can it really make in my life and my situation?

How powerful is the Word of God? Well, let’s just check out a few examples.

In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-5 (NIV).

As we see in this passage, God’s words created everything that exists so let’s consider that for a moment. We can do this best by looking at the sky on a clear night. By looking at its majesty and size, and then try to get our heads around just how big it really is.

In recent times, NASA scientists discovered a tiny square black spot in space that appeared to have nothing in it and not knowing what it was; NASA trained the Hubble space telescope on it for more than 4 months to let as much light as possible onto the image they were trying to capture. What they found absolutely blew their minds. In this tiny black square in space which from the earth is less than one-tenth of the size of our own moon, NASA scientists discovered more than 10,000 entire galaxies, the closest of which is more than 13 billion light-years from Earth. Impressed yet? One of these galaxies is more than eight times the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy and scientists say it should not even be possible for such a large galaxy to exist, but it does. Each of these more than 10,000 galaxies has up to 1 trillion stars within its system and the nearest point of this newly discovered window in space to our own earth is; More than 76,440,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles from earth.

We are talking about a 23 digit number which is way outside the capability of most calculators.

That’s, 76 sextillions, 440 quintillion miles;

Or: 76,440 quadrillion miles;

Or: 76 million, 440 thousand trillion miles.

Let’s look at the big picture to see how huge this number really is:

Sextillion quintillion quadrillion trillion billion million thousand hundred

76 , 440 , 000 , 000 , 000 , 000 , 000 , 000 miles

Besides the sheer enormity of our universe that just like our Creator has no end and no beginning, we see that the Word of God is so powerful; God speaks entire galaxies into being with nothing more than His Word. He created the entire universe, simply by speaking it into existence. We can see in this picture that God’s word is powerful beyond our ability to comprehend it. We see that His Word is bigger than any situation, any temptation or trial we face, any mountain we climb, and any valley we need to cross. Harnessed within God’s Word is contained everything we will ever need, the victory for every trial and difficulty we face, every tool we need for daily life; and, the full expression of God’s grace and love we need to reach a lost world for Christ.

How did Jesus defeat Satan when He was tempted after 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness; With the Word of God? How did Jesus become so accomplished in the Word of God and harnessing the awesome power contained within it; by daily meditating on it, taking it into His heart, then storing it away in the vaults of His heart and mind for the times He would need it? He did this by speaking God’s word when He faced temptation, when He healed the sick, raised the dead when He turned water into wine, and in countless other miracles He performed.

Reading and meditating on the Word of God helps us to understand the mind and heart of God and shows us the God-given authority we have when we use and apply His word to any need we have or any situation we find ourselves in. Simply put, the Word of God is as vital to us to live a victorious life that is pleasing to God, as breathing is to keep us alive.

How do we defeat Satan when he tempts us? With the Word of God!

How often should we read the Word of God? Every day!

How should I read the word of God? In an organized and strategic fashion!

There is no absolute way to do this, but here’s what works for me.

Daily Devotions:

Morning:

I like to start the day with 2-3 chapters of the New Testament in the morning over breakfast when it is quiet. For me, this is my favorite time of the day because it is quiet and without interruptions or unwanted distractions. I love to start the day on a healthy diet of God’s Word to sustain me through each day’s trials and tests. This is something I look forward to every morning. I have found that the more we get into God’s word and make reading it a daily practice, we develop a love for spending time in His Word. So much so that on rare occasions when I have to rush off in the morning and have no time to read God’s word, I feel like I have missed a meal; and in a sense that is exactly what it is because God’s word is the most important food we can consume and take in. It is the food of the spirit and life that provides us with the strength to get through all manner temptation and spiritual exercise.

While my daily reading is very important to me and is the central point of my day, I don’t get legalistic about it. So, if some days I only have time for one chapter, or, on the very rare occasions I have to be somewhere early and don’t get a chance to read in the morning at all, I don’t beat myself up over it.

Before reading the word I like to give thanks over it in the same way I give thanks over a meal. I ask for God’s blessing on His Word, that He will use it to speak right to my heart, mind, spirit, and soul, to etch His word in my heart to help me walk in His ways all day and so that I might have an opportunity to bless others.

Evening:

I like to finish each day by reading 2-3 chapters of the Old Testament at night in bed, so I go to sleep with the Word of God on my mind, in my heart, and in my dreams.

Using this system I get through the Old Testament in around nine months, and the New Testament around two to three times per year. Once I have read right through the Old Testament, I like to switch these around and read the Old Testament in the mornings with my study bible; and the New Testament at night with a bible small enough to read in bed. This works for me, but you might have an approach that works better for you. Regardless of your approach, the important thing is, to read and meditate on our bible every day and make it a life-long habit that becomes a part of our DNA.

Taking Notes:

 

A great way to get the word into our hearts is to have a notebook handy as we read the bible. As various passages of scripture speak into our lives and touch us, write these verses down as this helps to cement the Word into our hearts and minds for future recall. If we can afford a good study bible, so much the better so we can look up the original Hebrew or Greek meanings of words and phrases and written commentaries that help us get a better understanding of the intended or deeper meaning of these words or verses.

Be disciplined

to read the Word of God every day if you can, because it is life-changing. As we do this we allow God to speak into our hearts and lives, equip us for battles to come, and help us to better understand God and His plans for our lives. The more we read His Word, the more we begin to love and understand God; and, the more we know and love Him, the less we want to do anything that will grieve Him. The more we get to know Him, the more we will want to spend time in prayer at the throne of Grace in worship and praise for our creator.

In no time at all, all the former junk in our lives that weighed us down and heaped condemnation on us as we gave the devil license to dump guilt on us, simply falls away. It is a progression that changes us over a relatively short time of a few months to a year or so; and, once we have allowed ourselves to be transformed by the word of God and prayer, we can look back a year or so and not even recognize the person we used to be. It is a process that brings joy, life, and the peace of God as we let the Word and Spirit of God do its work in us.

This is my story; it has transformed my life and I am nobody special. These principles work for everyone if we follow this simple formula and make it a way of life.

Above we have looked at the Word of God, how to use it and the incredible power it provides to ward off and defeat all attacks of the enemy.

Below we will look at the whole armor of God as a complete package: We will look at each part of the armor individually, and how these parts provide us with a complete and impenetrable defense system when we use them correctly, in conjunction with each other and master their use.

The Whole Armour of God:

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God; that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:10-13 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, (Go to Truth page)
having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (Go to Righteousness page)
¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. (Go to Peace page)
¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (Go to Shield of Faith)
¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation. (Go to Helmet of Salvation)
¹⁸ and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (Go to Sword of the Spirit)
¹⁹ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints  Eph 6:14-18 (NKJV)