The Oil That Allows the Armor To Work Together

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(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's book, Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"Last, but certainly not least, are our prayers and petitions at all times--times of success, failure, ease, and attack.  By praying ahead of time, we are more alert to the attacks the enemy will bring against us.   By praying, we are able to put all the rest of the armor to work for our victory over the sin in our lives.  Do you see how interconnected the armor and constant prayer are?  Prayers and petitions to God are the oil in the oil can that the rusted Tin Man so desperately needed to move effectively in his 'body armor.'  Without the oil, he was destined to be immoveable forever!

With no desire to drive out the gods in our lives, we stand no chance of overcoming them.  When we have no desire to drive out the evil in us, we tend to walk in evil, leaving the sin in our hearts for the enemy to use against us over and over.  If we want to win spiritual victories, we must make the conscious decision to apply (put on) and implement (use) the every piece of the  armor of which Paul speaks.  It's not a gift that we receive that works all by itself!  The full armor of God becomes a useless protection and weapon to us when we allow our gods to keep us from fully following after God and all of His ways.  Laziness in our spiritual walk, including our prayer life,  not only renders the armor useless, but it also renders the armor-bearing soldier useless as well."

The Mind Protectos

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(Excerpted from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)

"So that our minds will be protected, we are called to put on the helmet of salvation and put the sword of the Spirit to use.  It is critical that we use these two together and necessary that we see the connection between the two.  To me, to use them together is to join the two major parts of the life of every Christian--our salvation and our sanctification.  To put on the helmet of salvation is to protect the mind from satan's lies by standing on the truth of our adoption into God' family by the forgiveness of our sins that Jesus offers us.  But we are also supposed to wield the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God, against the enemy and his lies.  It is by the Word itself that our minds become transformed, as we are washed by the water of the Word.  Then we can begin to walk in the Spirit, instead of conforming to the world and its ways.  Overcoming sin in our life is the result of our constant study of the Word and our surrender of those sinful parts of our lives to the rule, authority, and control of the Holy Spirit within us."

The true battle with our enemy takes place in our minds. The helmet of salvation is the protector of our mind, but the only weapon we can use in battle is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. The helmet and sword are vital in waging war against our enemy, satan. The helmet alone leaves us vulnerable because it cannot be used to attack the enemy.   It's time to dig out that dusty Sword and be armed with it!

Watchmen on the Wall

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Israel had completed the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the keen direction and leadership of Nehemiah.  They had overcome several discouraging moments by simply continuing on in the work God had brought to them.  Finally, after just 52 days, their wall was finished, with all the door and gates hung in their places.  It would have been tempting for Israel to let down her guard, now that the wall stood resolute between them and their enemies who still wanted to destroy them.  But Nehemiah's wisdom took them down the path of further protection when he laid out to the people how they should live within their walls.  

Nehemiah taught the people in simple practicality.  The gates were not to be opened to go in and out of until the sun was hot.  In other words, until the sun was very high in the sky.  Dawn would prove to be too risky.  The gates were to be closed while the guard were still on duty.  That simply meant that they would be closed long before the sun went down.  These two rules would, in large part, keep Israel's enemies out, and Israel safe inside except in the brightest daylight, when it would be unlikely that their enemies would attack them.  

Then Nehemiah offered on more sound piece of advice.  At all times there would be guards around the entire wall who were responsible for watching for the attacks that might come.  Though Israel had secured a sound victory in the completion of the wall, the wall could not protect itself!

In our lives, the same is often true.  Have you ever experience a great spiritual victory, say, over a particular sin?  You not only built at stone wall to keep it out of your life, but when temptation came you "stonewalled" it again.  Days passed and the temptation did not return, so you, in the pride of conquering your enemy, settle into that "safe" life.  Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, the enemy returns and tempts you quickly to sin.  Caught "off-guard" you instantly fall prey to it again.  The problem was not that you hadn't been victorious in building a wall to keep it out of your life; the problem is that you did not train your eye to keep watch for its return.

Israel needed men to watch for an enemy attack on Jerusalem.  In the same way we need to be watchmen on the wall who are scanning the horizon for any sign of our enemy who will come again and again to try to defeat or destroy our lives and testimonies.  Our enemy will never be defeated by our spiritual walls.  Quite the opposite!  He will look for more and more ways to re-enter your life, to take you as his prisoner, to lead you back to bondage.

Building a wall against sin through prayer, Bible study, and even accountability is only one part of the solution to sin.  You must add to those a discerning eye, a humble heart that knows how easy it is to be infiltrated by evil, and a reliance on the Holy Spirit that comes from surrender to His commands.

Are you standing on the wall 24/7?