Putting on My Armor

Hello again.  It has been forever since I've seen you!  I've missed you.  I had no intentions of being away so long, but God had other plans.  This has been a hectic year.  In March and April I battled the flu for a month and in May our daughter got married.  In my last post I told you that God had me in a place of quiet rest to recover from all the excitement.   I really didn't expect my rest to be an extended one, but in July I came down with what the Doctor thought was bronchitis but turned into pneumonia.  The symptoms lasted over a month and then I was diagnosed with asthma.  That explains why it was so hard to get over the flu and pneumonia.


I have to be honest with you, while I was going through the flu I began to feel so defeated.  I don't think I had ever felt that bad and it got to the point where I wondered if I would ever feel better again.  And even though I knew that it wasn't the truth, I even felt like God had forsaken me.   Those were lies straight from the enemy himself. When I got sick with pneumonia I briefly entertained those lies again.
Both times when I was sick, I was unable to sit up and just generally felt lousy, not even like reading.  So I let my Bible reading and my Bible study lapse.  Big mistake.  One that I will never make again. 

Today in my Bible study on Covenant,  I read Ephesians 6.  I have read this passage many times, but today God showed me something new.   Kay Arthur says: "  The word "struggle" in Ephesians 6:12 is the Greek word pale.  It is a wrestling term - meaning to throw to the ground and hold there.  Could this be why so many who profess Jesus find themselves pinned to the ground by the Enemy?"  That is exactly how I felt!  I realized that during my illnesses, I had not put on the FULL armor of God.  I had select pieces on, but not the full armor.  My feelings were due to something that I had not done.  God had not forsaken me, I hadn't done my part.   Listen to me my sweet sisters, we cannot function at all unless we are FULLY armored!  We cannot stand firm against the enemy's schemes without God's complete suit of armor.  We cannot resist his lies unless we are fully armored.   It is impossible to stand against his evil ways without His complete armor. 

Ephesians 6:10-17 (New International Version)

The Armor of God

 ¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore 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 have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.