DIG for Sunday the 8th of October……You are not your own saviour……Ephesians 6 v 17

The last piece of defensive armour that Paul uses to describe our Spiritual armour is the helmet of salvation.

When I see the word ‘salvation’ my first thought is usually ‘is that sozo?’.

But this ‘salvation’ isn’t sozo.

This word ‘salvation’ is from a word that suggests ‘the salvation that’s been provided by a Saviour’.

How wonderful that our salvation (our eternal security and the full provision for abundant life now) is not dependent on us, but is totally dependent on the actions and provision of our awesome Saviour.

What a relief that knowledge brings.

When we know that our relationship with God is not based on our performance, but on our Saviour’s performance, what can the enemy ever have to accuse us of, or lie to us about?

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8 v 1) because any condemnation due was placed onto Jesus.

There is nothing left in us that God is holding against us!

We are free from any accusation; the enemy has nothing left to bring against us (John 14 v 30).

The knowledge of Jesus’ finished work, and the revelation that our acceptance by God is based entirely on His performance and is nothing to do with ours is a powerful defence against the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12 v 10).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that You alone are my Saviour; I don’t have to do anything to add to what You have already provided for me”.

Ephesians 6:17…And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

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DIG for Saturday the 7th of October……above all; to believe is a choice…..Ephesians 6 v 16

Our Spiritual armour is an awesome defence against the wiles of the enemy, and Paul reveals the most important part of it, our shield of faith.

When the enemy strikes with his attempts at lies and deception we immediately have a choice to make.

We have the choice to choose either one thing or another.

We can either believe the lie whispered and the accusation made against us, or we can believe what God has already said about us and declared to be the truth about us.

When we choose to believe God’s Word over every other thing, and exalt His opinion of us over any other accusation, our choice is like a shield defending the soldier from all the arrows of his enemy.

And our faith does even more than just shield; it takes all the fire out of the enemy’s attack!

When we stand firm in the truth of who we are and all that we have in Christ any wiles and schemes designed to bring us down will be easily extinguished on that powerful shield.

Again, this is all about knowledge.

We need to know the truth of your righteousness because of the Gospel, put this knowledge above every other fact, and be determined to stand on those facts.

That is what Paul is describing as the shield of faith and it will deal with ALL the fiery darts of the wicked.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the arrow deflecting, fire quenching power of faith. Thank you that my knowledge of the facts about my position in Christ is a mighty shield”.

Ephesians 6 v 16…Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked

DIG for Friday the 6th of October…..You ARE prepared!…..Ephesians 6 v 15

Paul says that to be prepared with the Gospel of Peace is as effective as a good pair of army boots!

A Roman soldier’s sandals were designed for marching and for war.

They had hobnail soles to give stability in battle.

If any soldier is slipping about in the mud as he’s running into battle, and sliding around as he tries to fight, he is vulnerable.

What makes a Christian unstable?

The answer to that question is ignorance of the truth of the Gospel.

Without the knowledge of Jesus’ finished work we will be tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4 v 14), and we’ll be unstable in all our ways (James 1 v 8).

The knowledge of the Good News of Jesus’ finished work prepares us for battle.

The understanding that God isn’t angry with us prepares us for battle.

The revelation that the war between God and man is over and we have
peace with God (Romans 5 v 1) prepares us for battle.

When we know the Gospel, the TRUE Gospel, the Good News that He has done an awesome work, and that we are complete in Him (Colossians 2 v 10) that is a wonderful preparation for any fight.

Speak this out today……”Thank you Lord for the stability that the truth of Your Finished Work has given me”.

Ephesians 6 v 15…..And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace

DIG for Thursday the 5th of October….more than just robed; MADE righteous…..Ephesians 6 v 14

Paul likens our Spiritual armour to that of a soldier. Have you ever thought of righteousness as armour?

A couple of years ago I did a teaching on the Old Testament High Priest’s garments and how his robe is a picture of the righteousness that He has clothed us in.

Isaiah 61:10 says that God has covered me in a robe of righteousness, but in the New Covenant our righteousness goes deeper than that.

When we put on a coat or a robe we only cover up what’s underneath. Being clothed or covered doesn’t change us on the inside.

But the righteousness of God goes right to our core. We aren’t just covered; we are MADE righteous. Not through our own efforts and good works, but ONLY through Jesus’ efforts and His Good Work (2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

How is righteousness like armour? Righteousness is like truth. It is what it is whether we know it or not, and we only benefit from it when we know it!

Do you know you are righteous? If we know that we are right with God, not just skin deep, but right to our core, what can the enemy accuse us of?

‘Not good enough’…’failure’…’powerless’…’hopeless’…without His righteousness we are all these and more…but we are not without His righteousness, we have been made righteous…we just need to know it.

When we know that we are righteous it acts as a breastplate, and the enemy’s attacks of accusations and lies fall away, blunt and powerless against us.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I am righteous to my core because I have put my faith in what Jesus has done for me, and thank you for the protection that gives me”.

Ephesians 6 v 14….Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness

DIG for Wednesday the 4th of October…..truth is liberating and empowering…..Ephesians 6 v 14

Paul likens our spiritual armour to that of a soldier.

Like a well-equipped soldier, we too have all that we need at our disposal to face our enemy.

He begins by telling us to have our loins ‘girt up’ (Ephesians 6 v 14).

The expression to ‘gird one’s loins’ was used in the Roman era meaning to pull up and tie ones lower garments between the legs to increase mobility in battle.

Garments hanging loose would be a cumbrance and a constraint.

To be ‘girded up’ is to be liberated, unrestricted and set free for maximum effectiveness in battle.

Truth makes us free and truth is liberating and unrestricting.

But only the truth that we know will set us free (John 8 v 32).

Truth is always truth whether we know it or not, but we will only benefit from it when we know it.

What is truth?

Well, Jesus said ‘’I am the truth” (John 14 v 6).

He is truth and the knowledge of Him and of everything He has done (His finished work) will set us free.

Where we are bound up, constrained and restricted, the truth of Jesus and all that we are in Him will set us free!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I am set free from all constraints by the knowledge of Your truth, by the knowledge of You”.

Ephesians 6 v 14….Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness

DIG for Tuesday the 3rd of October…….our Armour of Thinking is our powerful defence……Ephesians 6:11

The Lord has given us tremendous armour against the enemy.

It’s not armour like Saul’s, the one that David rejected for his battle with Goliath
(1 Samuel 17 v38 and 39).

Our armour is not one that we wear on the outside of our bodies (2 Corinthians 10 v 4).

Paul uses the picture of a soldier’s armour to describe the defensive properties of knowledge.

It’s a protection that comes from within us.

As we grow more and more in knowledge, the more we will be able to stand and fight and win!

A soldier’s armour gives him protection from his enemy’s weapons.

The knowledge and understanding that we have of Jesus’ finished work, and of all that we are in Him, will protect us and defend us from the lies and deceptions of the enemy.

Paul says to ‘put on’ and ‘take unto you’ the ‘whole armour of God’.

This is not physical armour – it is the armour of knowledge.

Speak this out today…..’Thank you Lord for the power that I have through the knowledge of Your Word’.

Ephesians 6:11…..Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil

DIG for Monday the 2nd of October……our battle is not against flesh and blood…….Ephesians 6 v 12

Paul says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Corinthians 10 v 4).

We are not in a carnal, natural fight!

In the battle with our enemy we don’t use natural weapons and natural armour.

We don’t use natural wisdom and reasoning.

There is nothing in the natural, physical realm that we can use in our battle with the enemy.

We are in a Spiritual battle and so we need Spiritual weapons and Spiritual armour.

We fight by making the choice to change our thinking from carnal, earthly thinking, to Spiritual, Word, Kingdom thinking.

We fight by resisting the enemy, which means being determined not to think the way he wants us to think, but to submit to God and let His Word fill our minds and determine our actions (James 4 v 7).

In other words the battle is in our mind, it is on our thought life.

If we can control and alter our thought life the fight against the enemy can and will be won.

We fight by taking unto ourselves the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6 v 11).

Speak this out today……”Thank you Lord that as my mind is renewed by Your Word I am empowered to fight in this spiritual battle”.

Ephesians 6 v 12….For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

DIG for Sunday the 1st of October…..Be strong in the Lord, be strong in His might……Ephesians 6 v 10

As you know I’ve been preaching about the armour of God recently, so Nunsy reminded me that she wrote a series of DIGs in 2014 about this very topic, and suggested I bring them out, “tweak” them a wee but and then publish. So here we go!

Our enemy has no real power; all he has is deception, but the trouble is that he is very good at it!

He is scheming and wily, and he is doing all he can to deceive mankind.

His only battle plan is to try and win our minds for the purpose of stealing, killing and destroying (John 10 v 10).

He is after how we think, because our life follows our thinking. We go where we think (Proverbs 4 v 23).

If he can get us thinking his way, according to the world and the flesh, then our minds are diverted from the truth of God’s Word.

This is why guarding our hearts (Proverbs 4 v 23), renewing our minds (Romans 12 v 2), and being spiritually minded (Romans 8 v 6), is so important.

If our hearts and minds are full of God and His Word, the enemy can’t touch us.

Right thinking is our defence against the enemy.

Right thinking is our armour and our weapon.

Strength, power and might come directly from right, Godly, Word-based thinking.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord, that knowledge of Your Word gives me strength, power and might”.

Ephesians 6:10…Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might

DIG for Saturday the 30th of September…..finally has another meaning….. Ephesians 6 v 10 and 11

As I was preparing the message the other day I had another revelation about the word “finally” that we see at the start of this section of Scripture about the armour of God.

The armour is for us to stand and fight against the devil.

I think by using the word “finally” Paul is telling us that the enemy is the last thing we should be thinking about.

Too much credit is given to the enemy and we seem far too concerned about what he is doing.

Our first thoughts should always be about Jesus and His finished work.

We should give pre-eminence to Jesus and what He has done.

Our focus should always be on who we are in Christ and what we have in and through Christ.

The enemy and what he is up to should be the last, or final thing on our minds.

Yes, there are times when we are required to stand and fight him, however not everything is of the devil!

We should be thanking Jesus for His finished work first thing every morning, not focusing on putting on our armour to fight the enemy.

Let’s thank Jesus for healing and wholeness, joy and peace, abundance and prosperity rather than thinking about the enemy.

Jesus should be our first thought, the enemy comes much later, finally in fact!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus and thank you for all I have in the through Christ”.

Ephesians 6 v 10 and 11…..Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil

DIG for Friday the 29th of September…..finally is an important word…..Ephesians 6 v 10 and 11

I’ve been studying the verses associated with the armour of God recently for a series of messages I am delivering at church.

The first thing I noticed in this section of Scripture, and this was mainly due to another teaching I heard recently, was the word “finally”.

When we have a list of suggestions and actions, finally means the last thing to do, doesn’t it?

Yet for many in the church it seems that putting on the armour of God is the be all and end all of things.

Spiritual warfare seems to be of utmost importance to them; event though the phrase ‘spiritual warfare’ is not found in the Word.

I have known some people who ‘pretend’ to put on the armour every morning.

Now that may not be wrong in itself, however it is wrong to make this a doctrine to follow.

Paul wrote Ephesians to initially tell us about grace and the finished work of Jesus and then to show us how we can walk out our Christian life through an understanding of grace.

This I would suggest should be paramount in the life of the believer, not ‘putting on’ the armour of God in front of the mirror every morning.

An understanding of grace and the finished work of Jesus are the essential foundational truths a believer needs to focus on.

‘Spiritual warfare’ and putting on the armour of God is not as important as this.

Finally put on the armour of God is what the Word says; we could therefore say firstly understand the truth about grace and the finished work of Jesus.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your Word, and thank you for the truths within that can teach us about grace and about the finished work of Jesus”.

Ephesians 6 v 10 and 11…..Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil