The Armor of God

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

Well, good morning, Awakening Church.

Great to be with you.

You can go ahead and have a seat.

If we're new, if you're new, I haven't met yet.

My name's Ryan.

Thrilled to have you join us today.

When I was in high school, I remember being over uh at a girl's house I was trying to impress one evening.

And um not my wife.

I met her later.

Someone were like, is that Jenny?

No, it's not Jenny.

Um but I remember being at this house, it was probably around 10.30 or so, and in her garage, um, she had two like mopeds.

Um we like, I think Vespas, but souped up and not cool.

Uh, you know, so these things were street legal, they could go like 80 miles an hour, and I look at them like, can we take them out?

You know?

And she's like, Yeah, of course, but uh you need to wear helmets.

Now, whatever in my you know, teenage, like 17-year-old brain, I was like, no, helmets are not cool.

And I I have a helmet right here.

I borrowed a helmet, which is so cool.

Like, this is like probably the coolest helmet I've ever seen.

This thing's amazing.

So visualize something uncool.

Uh that like you, you know, like the big dad helmet.

But the reason I didn't want to put it on is like if I put it on my head, um, it's gonna mess up my hair, you know.

I'm like, I don't want to do that.

And she insisted.

She's like, no, no, no.

If we're gonna take it out, you have to put on the helmet.

So reluctantly, I take the helmet, I put it on, and uh we begin to zoom through uh the Santa Cruz Mountain, you know, on these little um, you know, windy roads.

It's a you know, it's middle of the night, pitch black.

And I'm trying to impress her, as dumb guys do.

And so we're driving, and I'm like swerving like this, going like 40 miles an hour or so around it.

And like like that impresses anyone.

It doesn't, it's just dumb.

Okay, and then I didn't see it, I didn't notice it, but I hit a gravel patch on one of my swerves.

And I move from riding to sliding, and I'm all of a sudden on my side, and my leg is scraping, my shoulders being ground, and my head, thank God, in the helmet is on the street.

Sorry, Andrew, I I'll buy you a new helmet.

Um, and it's grinding against the ground.

I can literally remember hearing the sound of the helmet grinding against the ground.

And in that moment, I remember thinking, because it felt like it was probably just a couple seconds, it felt like forever.

I remember thinking, I'm so glad she made me wear that helmet.

I slid into the opposite lane of traffic around a blind curve, pitch black.

I'm like, oh my goodness.

I I hop up, pull that up, get back to the correct side.

In my mind, I'm like, I could have just died there.

But because I was wearing a helmet and thank God no cars were coming, I was able to stand up and walk away.

I had some hamburger meat stuff going on to the side of myself, but it could have been a lot worse.

And that day I learned and remembered a valuable lesson.

Protection only works when you put it on.

It only works like it doesn't matter that they had the helmet.

If the helmet stayed in the garage, it would have meant nothing to me.

It would have meant nothing if I carried it on the bike with me.

Protection only works, is only valuable the minute you take that helmet and you put it on.

So let me ask you, as we continue in this supernatural series, what can't you afford to leave home with?

What is the supernatural protection?

Think about this.

God has provided supernatural protection for us.

What can't you afford to leave home with?

Or said another way, how do you stand strong in the battles of life?

Uh today we're going to be talking about the armor of God.

That's the sermon title today.

Would you say that with me?

If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13?

Ephesians 6:13

Ephesians 6, 13.

We're spending all month uh in this uh section of Scripture.

The Apostle Paul, who is literally in chains, uh in prison, tethered to a soldier, writes this.

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.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God.

We said this each week.

I just want to remind us that you are in a real spiritual battle with a real spiritual enemy.

Every day we wake up and it's not, I love how Steve said it last week.

It's not a playground, it's a battle field.

Umtice that the Apostle Paul says, when the day of evil comes, not if it comes.

When the day of evil comes, speaking of opposition, temptation, or spiritual attack, when it comes especially strong.

Uh I grew up in Santa Cruz.

I grew up as a son of a pastor, and Santa Cruz is a very spiritual town.

Uh, Wiccan, witchcraft, uh, seances, all those are very commonplace, and so uh spiritual attack often in our home looked overt.

Uh I can remember in high school having visible like manifestations of the demonic and things that you think are only made for movies actually happening.

I, as a 17-year-old, was afraid to sleep with the lights off.

There's a reason I don't watch horror movies because I've seen some of that and I don't want to put any of that in my mind or open myself up to that.

Um Silicon Valley.

The opposition tends to be less overt, it's more covert.

The God of materialism, consumerism, and comfort and apathy so dominate in our life.

And so as a result, we're we're often unaware, blind that we're in a spiritual battle.

And here's what's interesting though, friends, is today we're seeing the merging of those two worlds where a younger generation is now turning to tarot cards, is now turning uh to manifestation and psychedelics and uh the astrology and all the rest.

Uh, and it and it's it's couched as to find healing, to find peace, because we live in an uncertain, chaotic world, and you need something to anchor it.

And unfortunately, we're seeing a generation open themselves up to the demonic realm unaware.

You're in a spiritual battle, and you have a spiritual enemy.

We must be aware, and as a result, God has given you supernatural armor to stand at your crown.

Put on the full armor of God.

Notice that the apostle Paul says, the armor of God.

In fact, he's actually drawing from the prophet Isaiah, where the prophet Isaiah talks about these armaments and that it's actually God's armor, the Messiah's armor that he wears himself, the armor of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, these things are God's Himself that He gives to you for your protection that you might stand in the face of opposition.

And so and so when you go out, you get ready.

When you go out, you get ready.

Think about this, okay?

So you have a spiritual enemy, we live it, have a spiritual battle, you have spiritual armor, all the rest.

But when you must know is that when you go out, you have to get ready.

We have to be aware of the enemy, but we need not be afraid of the enemy.

What I want to teach us in our time is what my dad taught me was how to put on the armor of God as a high school student so that I didn't need to be afraid, but I could take my stand and how to practically do that.

And so I want to do this together.

And the very first thing we must know is like the thing that you did today.

What did you do today coming to church?

Think about the very first things that you did this morning.

You woke up, yeah, your alarm went off.

Um, I bet you did you take a shower?

Yeah, some of you did, some of you didn't.

Apologize if you're sitting next to them.

You brushed your teeth.

Have you ever gone out and forgot to brush your teeth?

You're like, oh my goodness, like you stand further away from people.

Like you put on deonor, maybe you put on makeup.

You got ready for the day.

Before you go out, there's things that you do every single day before you go out.

This is what the apostle Paul is telling us as followers of Jesus.

There's things that you must do that we must do, that I must do before we go out.

And no one thinks that brushing their teeth is a chore, do you?

You're like, oh my goodness, I gotta brush my teeth again today.

Oh whoa, I can't believe it.

Why?

Because yesterday's preparation doesn't help for today.

Just because you brushed your teeth yesterday doesn't mean today, like, oh, I don't need to do it.

I did it yesterday.

I'm good.

I did it last week.

I put it on deodorant last week.

Yeah, it's nasty.

I can I saw some of your faces.

You're like, oh, how do we get ready?

Ephesians 6 14, the Apostle Paul says this.

He says, Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, there we go, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

The Apostle Paul, like I mentioned, is in prison at this moment, dictating this letter, chained to a Roman guard.

Some theologians have like posture that he's just looking at the armament, but probably not, because this is like the full battle-ready armor.

In fact, I got a picture, chat actually helped me put it together.

Thank you, chat.

Uh, the armor of God.

We got the belt of truth, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, uh, the shield of faith, uh, the gospel of peace, the sword of the spirit.

Paul gives us six pieces of spiritual protection to put on each and every day.

What I want you to see in your notes is they're actually designed to be a resource for you to take with you, to put into practice.

For each piece of armor, you'll find a definition, a practice, and then a question to help you process and apply.

So, how do you practically put on the armor of God each and every day?

We're going to begin with the belt of truth.

The belt of truth, uh, the definition here is that which corresponds to reality.

That's what truth is, it corresponds to reality.

Truth is revealed perfectly in Jesus and made known through the word of God.

The picture Paul is painting is a Roman soldier fully dressed and ready for battle.

The belt secured his clothing and helped the hold the whole rest of his armor in place.

It was foundational.

Without it, everything became loose, cumbersome, and ineffective.

Jesus said, I am the way, the help me out truth.

Not a truth, but the truth.

And the life.

We're living in a world where it's becoming increasingly difficult to discern what's real and what is fake.

In the age of AI, images can be manufactured like the one I just did.

Voices can be replicated, videos can be manipulated, lies spread around the world.

And Steve last week shared this great image.

He said, experts who identify counterfeit money do not spend all of their time studying every possible counterfeit.

They study the real thing so closely that when something false appears, they can recognize it.

The best defense against counterfeit is an intimate knowledge of the real thing.

Jesus said, I am the truth, the belt of truth.

Get to know Jesus so well that you recognize what doesn't sound like him.

Know God's word so deeply that when lies enter your mind, something inside you says, That's not true.

That doesn't align with his character, that's not who God says I am.

Romans 12, 2 says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed.

Do not allow, literally, that word conform is the word to be molded.

Don't allow this world to mold you, and it will.

But be transformed.

Greek word metanoia.

It's where we get, you know, our English word metamorphosis, is what happens to the butterfly, that transformation process.

How do you experience the transformation of God in your life?

By renewing your mind.

By dwelling on the word of God, what's true.

Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

To put truth on is to bring my thoughts and my life in alignment with God's word.

So what do we do?

What is the practice?

Daily renew your mind on God's word.

Daily.

Well, you say daily with me.

Daily.

Okay, let's go back to our illustration about brushing your teeth.

Is brushing your teeth optional?

Yes.

You know, when my kids were little, it was.

It really was.

It was definitely optional.

And it was something that we made them do.

It's a fascinating thing, is when they hit junior high and they get a little more smelly.

Um and the very beginning, I was a youth pastor.

I remember like sixth, seventh grade, like those grades for boys especially, is like, wow, they're stinky because they don't understand how bad they smell and how much they need a shower, deodorant, and brush their teeth.

But eventually they realize it, and all of a sudden they become deeply motivated.

They want to impress girls too.

And so they begin to do all those sort of things.

And today you brush your teeth every day.

It's a habit that you do that you would not do, uh, you wouldn't leave the house until you do it.

Getting into God's word must become a daily rhythm habit for us.

When the apostles Paul says, put on, it's a command.

Do this daily, daily renew your mind with God's word.

We have to put it on every single day.

We get into God's word and we allow God's word to get into us.

We renew our mind with TikTok, we renew our mind with Instagram, we renew our mind with Netflix, we renew our mind with conversations, we renew our mind with so many things that are bombarding us, telling us this is who you are, this is what's true, this is what's right, this is how you should live, this is what success means.

And yet then we just kind of dabble with God's word every once in a while, or maybe like you get a deluge on a Sunday, and you're like, oh, I really needed that this week.

Would you get into God's word every single day?

Not an option for your soul.

So the question what am I believing about God, myself, or my circumstances?

That isn't true.

You're like, how do I know?

All you have to do is to get into God's word.

And you'll begin to see, like, oh my goodness.

I'm more than a conqueror in Christ.

I have his very righteousness.

Oh, we're gonna talk about that next.

The belt of truth.

Then he says, the breastplate of righteousness.

Righteousness means you're clothed in the very righteousness of Jesus and learning to live out this new identity.

Key passages, 2 Corinthians 5.21, Philippians 3, 8 and 9.

The visual, I got this from a buddy.

Um I couldn't find an actual breastplate, so I got chain mail here.

I'm not gonna try to put this on.

But it no, no, I don't.

Good night.

Oh boy.

Oh gosh, no.

All right.

The hair, not the hair! The breastplate was durable, metal armor that covered the soldier's chest and back.

It protected his heart and other vital organs from potentially deadly blows.

When we talk about the breastplate of righteousness, there's two act, two parts of it.

Positionally, what's true of you already because of what Christ did uh and accomplished on the cross through his death and resurrection.

Positionally, what's true of you is right now you are righteous.

You are clothed with the very righteousness of Christ.

So that when God looks at you, he does not see you, he sees his son Jesus.

So when he's looking at you, you are clothed in the garment.

I should have put that on, that would have been better.

Clothed in the garment of Christ.

You are righteous, not trying to be righteous, not one day hoping to be righteous, not somehow eking your way, maybe getting in.

Because of his work and what he accomplished, you are a saint.

But you're standing, and the enemy wants to cast accusations that penetrate the heart.

That's not you.

And because of that righteousness, now you are practically learning how to live out a right life.

In fact, the apostle Paul does this.

Oh boy, I broke my mic.

The apostle Paul does this beautifully.

He does this through his guy uh through his letters.

I'm gonna preach like three of these with my time, by the way, so we'll see how far we get through these.

Uh, Ephesians 1 through 3, uh theologians call this um the imperative.

Uh and Ephesians 4 through 6, theologians call that chapter the indicative.

The imperative is um, or sorry, flip that.

Ephesians 1 through 3 is the indicative, indicating what's true of you.

Paul always begins this way, Romans, Ephesians, Colossians.

He already starts with your right standing in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1.

Therefore, you know have every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

You have been forgiven, you've been adopted, you've been redeemed, you've been bought by the blood of the Lamb, like your identity as a daughter-son of the Most High.

Ephesians 4 then begins this.

Therefore, live in a manner worthy of the gospel, of the calling that you've been given.

Because this is who you are, walk this way.

Live out your new identity.

And so, righteousness.

First and foremost, the breastplate of righteousness is understanding your right standing in Christ.

This is who you are, and then learning to live that out.

The practice is choose integrity over hiding.

Choose integrity over hiding.

Integrity does not mean you're perfect, it means you're no longer hiding.

Shame doesn't get to write your story anymore.

Jesus already paid for it.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8.1.

And so out of that, I don't live condemned.

I live in the very righteousness of him who gave his life for my sake.

And so now I can step into the light.

I am fully forgiven, fully free, and I'm learning to live out this new identity.

And hiding keeps me stuck, so I will bring it into the light.

And so as I begin to live out this life of integrity, God, would you help me to walk in the way that honors you?

In a way that corresponds with what you've already and who you've already made me to be.

Reflection question: What part of my life am I tempted to hide, excuse, or compartmentalize?

Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the gospel of peace.

The good news, this is the gospel of peace, the good news that through Jesus we have peace with God and are called to carry his peace to the world.

I have peace with God, and therefore that gives me traction in life.

The soldiers' feet were fitted with sturdy sandals reinforced with metal studs for stability and traction.

It's a lot like cleats.

They helped him stand firm and move confidently across difficult terrain.

I have been given peace, I've been made at peace, and as a result, I carry his peace.

2 Corinthians 5.17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.

The old is gone, the new is here.

All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Every time I step outside my door, every time you step outside your door, you step out as a sent one of the gospel of peace.

You already are in full-time ministry, and you've been placed at your workplace, at your campus, as a minister of the gospel of peace, as an ambassador of Christ, as a minister of reconciliation.

The practice is be a carrier of peace.

Changes the way you view your work, the way you view your interactions, your purpose.

And we blew them out in that game.

I just remembered the animosity just this morning.

I was like, oh, that's right.

We did play them before.

I we blew them out.

It was it was bad.

Um they played us in a summer league game and they beat us by three in a gym that was about 95 degrees on a Wednesday or Tuesday afternoon, and it was an intense game.

It was chippy.

There was like um a lot of shoving, a lot of stuff going on there.

I don't know why I was so I totally forgot all these things, you know.

And at the end of the game, this mom, and I won't say the name of the school because maybe you're from here, um, this mom gets up, turns around, gives all the Wilglen parents the bird with both hands, and says, F you, F you, like three different times, but didn't use the full word.

You know what I'm saying.

I'm not gonna do that.

Uh, and like turn, like I'm like, this is a summer league game.

It doesn't count, nothing matters.

There's two other boys that are um, I'm losing this mic, I don't know where it went.

Two other boys that um are a part of our church that go um that are on Miles' team.

Good night.

What is going on?

Anyway, um and the father of one of them walks over with a smile and says, Hey, I'm Jason, extends his hand, says, it's a good game, and just walks off.

That is like such a beautiful example of being a person of peace in an antagonistic world.

Or we you might feel justified to like respond back and like, how could they?

Or maybe just talk really bitterly or badly about them behind their back.

But no, I'm gonna walk up and I'm gonna smile and I'm just gonna introduce myself and I'm gonna speak life into a moment where you spoke death.

Be a carrier of peace.

The diagnostic or practice the question is where am I called to carry peace, the peace of Jesus?

So you got a microphone for me?

Thanks.

Yeah, Glenn.

There we go.

Shield of faith.

All right, Ingram, let's get going.

You got a few more to go.

Shield of faith, the confidence that God is who he said he is, and he will do what he said he will do.

What'd I do with my glasses?

Good night.

I got too many props.

This is one of my favorite ones, so I'm gonna I'm gonna sit with this one a little bit.

The shield of faith.

We go back, Marnie, to the the the Roman centurion, the Roman person.

The the shield of faith was uh this shield right here, it was roughly two and a half feet wide and four feet tall, protecting nearly the soldier's entire body from arrows, flaming projectiles.

In fact, this last week we watched um, not in preparation for this, but we watched gladiators twice uh this last week, and then saw on Friday night um the Odyssey.

So I feel like I'm swimming in this land right now.

And so if you've seen any of these movies, you actually get a pretty accurate representation of the shield of faith, and that there would be these arrows that they would dip in tar and light and shoot.

It was an effective form of uh wiping out the enemy, and they'd have these shields that would have uh leather on the front, they would soak them, and so when they got into battle, uh the arrows would hit it and it would quench the fire from the arrow.

It was effective on its own, but it was nearly impenetrable when connected to others.

And they would lock these shields together in the front and over the top to protect themselves.

One of the things we miss with Paul's description here in our translation, sometimes it's hard, is the pronouns here are plural.

We apply this individualistic, and that's important, but it's he's saying, you all.

Y'all.

Right?

Y'all put on, take up the shield of faith.

The apostle Paul would say it in Romans: I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.

That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

Faith is a team sport.

We need one another.

And so often we try to do it on our own.

I love as we shared about um uh Mexico and the trash ministry.

You know, two of my kids are in coming back from the college trip right now.

A few years ago, Ryder uh was there, and what I love about our students going there is gosh, the mission there, it's like you can't help but walk away from time feeling like built up in your faith.

Like they believe God is gonna work and they step out and trust him, and you just want to get around people, and you come back and you want to be that kind of person because there's something about a community of people that are building one another's faith up.

He was out on one of those trash ministries and asking someone for prayer, and they had a lame hand, and they prayed for this person's hand to be healed, and in that moment the hand was completely restored.

Yeah, God still does miracles.

And I'm telling you, that moment expanded his faith because he was in a community and with the people that like, well, gosh, we're gonna actually believe that God is who he says he is, and he will do what he said he's due.

And so I'm gonna come to believe with my whole body what I say I believe with my mind.

I'm gonna step out and follow him.

And so the practice here is stay close to people who strengthen your faith.

You want to grow in faith, get around people of faith.

Get around people that you just go, man, they encourage my faith.

I want to know Jesus more like they know Jesus.

I want to respond the way Jason responded to be a person of peace.

And so I'm gonna get around them.

Like with our, as my wife and I, we did this so much.

We got around people that were 10, 15 years ahead of us in parenting and how they did parenting with their kids because we saw the way they love Jesus and loved their kids and built their faith into their family.

Like we want to do it the way you do it.

You know what's popular today?

Cynicism, apathy.

And so we just go, like, uh, it's easy to be negative, it's easy to be critical, it's easy to just talk about other people.

Stop hanging out with cynical, epathetic people.

Get around people that stir your faith, pursue them, run after them, carve out time.

People that encourage your faith, that strengthen you.

So let me ask you: who strengthens your faith in Jesus?

And who is close enough to know where the flaming arrows are landing in your life?

Alright, I got two more.

Let's go.

Let's go.

We can do this.

The helmet of salvation, the settled assurance that Jesus has rescued you, is rescuing you, and will bring you safely home.

Salvation is the settled assurance that Jesus has rescued you, is rescuing you right now, no matter what you're going through, he is your rescue and will bring you safely home.

A Roman soldier's helmet was made of iron or bronze and often include cheek guards for protection.

It was designed to absorb blows that could disorient or kill in close combat.

In the same way, the helmet of salvation guards your mind with assurance that your past is forgiven, your present is secure, and your future is guaranteed because of the finished work of Jesus.

Hebrews 4, 15 and 16, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who's been tempted in every way just as we are, yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The enemy wants to use your past to accuse you, your present to destabilize you, and your future to frighten you.

The helmet of salvation says, My past is forgiven, my present is held by Jesus, and my future is secure in him.

And the practice of the helmet of salvation is when the battle rages, run to Jesus.

When the battle rages, just run down.

Jesus, I need you in this moment.

Jesus, I'm overwhelmed.

My heart is anxious.

I'm feeling so discouraged.

I don't know what to do in this relationship.

It feels like impossible.

It feels broken.

Jesus, I need you.

When the battle rages, run to Jesus.

Don't be your salvation.

Look to someone else to be your salvation.

Let Jesus be your salvation.

It's his rescuing work that is actively rescuing you right now.

Turn to him.

And that will bring you safely home.

So when question, when am I trying to handle the battle?

Where am I trying to handle the battle without Jesus?

And finally, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Okay, I did bring this, I don't know.

Um, but yeah.

Woo! Yeah.

You know what's I never mind.

I'm I'm already, yeah, that's fine.

You know?

The sword is the only weapon Paul lists that allows us to strike back.

It was a short design short, it was a short sword designed for close hand-to-hand comment.

In other words, the word of God is not meant to be admired from a distance.

It must be known, carried, and ready when the battle comes.

The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is uh here, it's the spoken word of God to combat the attacks and the lies of the enemy.

There's a couple words in the Greek for uh word.

Uh one is lagos that we've hear of, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and this is uh the word lagos.

Um here the word is rhema.

Uh and rhema most often talks about the spoken word of God.

I want to encourage you to not just know the word of God, but when the battle rages, speak the word of God.

What did Jesus do when he was tempted?

Every temptation of the enemy that came to him, he spoke back the very words of God.

Not his words, the very words of God.

It's powerful and effective.

Hebrews 4 12 says the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.

Uh, it penetrates even the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Like God's word is powerful.

Speak the word of God out loud.

Pray the word of God back to him out loud.

You find yourself in a place of temptation or a place of opposition with night tears or something going on, speak the word of God in the name and the power of Jesus and command you evil spirits to leave.

You have no right.

Go wherever my Lord and Savior sends you.

Put on worship music and begin to speak the word of God aloud.

The practice is put the word of God to memory.

As a church, we've been memorizing.

We every week we have a memory verse.

This is powerful.

Memorization, some of you are like, I'm not a very good memorizer.

Take some key ones that you need to know.

Memorization is for preparation, meditation is for transformation.

We meditate on God's word.

That's just thinking on it over and over and over, allowing it to renew our heart and mind.

That's where we started this.

Renewing our mind.

Memorization allows us then when the battle rages for the Holy Spirit to draw on the sword of God, which we're now carrying with us, and he says, you know what, there's no temptation, which is common to man, but God is faithful and he will provide a way out.

Oh my goodness, I got that ready for me.

I know that greater is he that's in me than the one that's in the world.

I got that ready, so I'm I'm ready to go.

Get God's word into your heart and mind so that he can bring his word.

The Holy Spirit will bring his word back to your mind when you need it most.

So let me ask you, what scripture do I need ready for the battle that I'm facing?

How do you put on the armor of God?

Daily renew your mind.

It all begins with God's word.

Getting, we begin and we end with God's word.

Choose integrity over height, be a carrier of peace.

Stay close to people who strengthen your faith.

When the battle rages, run to Jesus and put God's word to memory.

Protection only works when you put it on.

Jesus, thanks for my friends.

Thank you that you have not left us helpless.

But you have given us your very word, which is powerful.

You have given us your spirit that indwells us and empowers us to live out the life that we cannot.

And you've given us your very armor to face whatever we come across each and every day.

You've given us all that we need for every moment of every day.

And so make us a people who look to you.

Experience your power and presence.

And we see an entire generation come to know you.

That we would be carriers of your peace, your hope, your gospel to a hurting and broken world.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

We hope you are blessed by this message.

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