...having put on the breastplate of righteousness...Ephesians 6:14b (NKJV)
Accessorize--it’s what we women do best. Belts, vests, scarfs, necklaces, earrings: every piece can fashion an outfit and every piece is optional. But wearing the armor of God is not optional; we must put on the belt and the vest (better known as the breastplate of righteousness). Dressing up in the armor of God is not about style. Putting on the armor of God is about being covered in the righteousness of God and standing firm on His Word, ready to fight our enemy.
The belt of truth shields us from vulnerability and prepares us for action. As God’s people we should always be prepared to defend ourselves aagainst the powers of darkness; we don’t want to be caught unaware. After putting on the belt, we assemble the breastplate of righteousness around our chest. These two pieces of armor together increase protection around the vital organs. The breastplate protects the heart and lungs and that is crucial for life, a life full of joy. Our hearts hold all the matters of life, good and bad. Read what Proverbs 12:25 (NKJV) says about our hearts and what we store in them:
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
Hear what God says through King Solomon in Proverbs 4:20-23 (NKJV):
My son (and MPS), give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Our hearts, full of feelings, determine the looks we carry on our faces. Therefore, we must continuously replenish our hearts and minds with God’s Word, then protect them with His armor.
A mother’s heart not only contains her own emotions, but also the concerns for her family, her children. How often do we mothers worry over our children and all the problems of life? God commands us not to worry about anything. Listen to Him speaking in Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV):
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
Do we have great faith or little faith? Hear what God says about Abraham to us and how the promise is granted through faith.
God speaks of this faith to us through Paul in Romans 4:16-22 (NKJV):
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
God works; His Word, our prayers, and our lives are proof. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Romans 3:22 (NIV)
What miracles has Jesus performed in your lives? Forgiven you, comforted you, sustained you, blessed you: whatever He has done for you, someone has seen His works through you, and He has been glorified. R.A.Torrey says, “The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.”
Does the world see God’s glory through your life? Even though your heart is hurting, do people see joy on your face? Put on the breastplate of righteousness, having faith in Jesus Christ, and face our enemy without fear. Stand firm and know that...the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV) The world will see Jesus when your prayers honor Him, and that happens when His glory and your needs meet. Praise God!
What miracles has Jesus performed in your lives? Forgiven you, comforted you, sustained you, blessed you: whatever He has done for you, someone has seen His works through you, and He has been glorified. R.A.Torrey says, “The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.”
Does the world see God’s glory through your life? Even though your heart is hurting, do people see joy on your face? Put on the breastplate of righteousness, having faith in Jesus Christ, and face our enemy without fear. Stand firm and know that...the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV) The world will see Jesus when your prayers honor Him, and that happens when His glory and your needs meet. Praise God!
Praise God because our faith will triumph in trouble. The Bible says so in Romans 5:1-5 (NKJV): Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hurry up, MPs, and start getting dressed. We’ve got work to do, children to pray for, a war to fight, and a God to glorify. May the world see the “Living Glory” through our lives.