“Our Daily Bread” http://odb.org

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by bruce r. mills for “God’s group”  @  www.Godsmanforever.com

       (revised from 1/27/2011)

        “God’s Armor, or Satan’s Chains”

Part 2 – (Day 11)

(For the first 10 days writing…type 4/02-4/11/2017, as separate dates into the search window of   www.Godsmanforever.com)

James 1:14-15… But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  (NKJV)

For new readers…Ephesians 6:10-20…is the scripture, where the apostle Paul wrote about “The Whole Armor of God”…  Here is the link for first time readers to read this important scripture for all Christians…  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians6:10-20&version=NKJV

I have spent the better part of the last year (back in 2011) trying my best to make up for 7 lost years of only sharing the gospel of Christ twice…   I was an ineffective Christian, and Satan was winning the battle with this child of God, because I was not living for my Lord and Master the way I should have been…  As Christians…we are living one of two ways…  We should be living a “Christ centered” life, with God being first in our thoughts all the time…as we do our best to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit…  Sadly, many of us (me included for a number of years), are living as we see fit…making choices without seeking the guidance of God’s permanent, live-in Helper, the Holy Spirit…  L

Salvation is all about giving up one’s life to the Lord, by admitting to our Father in heaven that we are sinners in need of a Savior…   One must want their existing life of sin and shame to be put behind them…  They must admit, by being brought to their knees in submission to the Lord, that they are sorry for their sinful life; and understand that there is no way they can earn their salvation through good works done in the name of the Lord… (See 1. below, for Jesus’ warning about this idea of works based salvation, in …Matthew 7:21-23)

The un-believer must seek forgiveness for their lifetime of sins, with a repentant heart, and godly sorrow for their life of sin, as they  seek Jesus Christ by saving faith and faith alone, to become their personal Lord and Savior…   At the moment of salvation, God fills us with the full power of the Holy Spirit…   [See 2. below for a presentation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…which must be understood and obeyed, before God graces the un-believer with salvation]

I can speak of my Father in heaven only now, because as an unbeliever, God is not your Father…  Satan is…along with all the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life that the Apostle John pens in…1 John 2:15-16…   These sins have control of the unbelievers life, with the chains of Satan securely fastened around their limbs; along with the blindfold Satan uses to keep sinners in bondage…

This opening scripture is the epitome of a lost soul’s fundamental problem about being tempted by Satan…  But God has revealed to me that being filled with the Holy Spirit, is something the born again Christian must desire, as they submit their lives to God…(James 4:7-8)…

I have spent the last 10 days trying to help all Christians learn about, and then understand that they must be wearing “The Whole Armor of God”, or they will diminish the full power of the Holy Spirit that was given to them by God, at the time of salvation…   I went the better part of 7 years wasting the benefits of this full supernatural power from above, that God wants all of His redeemed children  to take full advantage of…

After salvation, we must want to continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit… But any sins that creep back into our lives through the chinks in our armor, will grieve or quench the Holy Spirit…  When the new believer is first given the Holy Spirit by God, many are described as being on fire for the Lord…  They cannot get enough information fast enough to feed their desire to learn more and more about this unbelievable change in their lives…this supernatural filling by God, with their lifelong helper, the Holy Spirit…to combat the wiles of Satan and all of his demon fallen angels…

This fire for the Lord is something that can quickly be put out or “quenched”, if “The Whole Armor of God” is not systematically put on piece by piece, to protect the new Christian from Satan’s attacks…  Satan will use every trick in his book of evil, to keep this new child of God, who has been lost forever to our Father in heaven, from being kept filled with (under total control by) the Holy Spirit…  This will only make matters worse for Satan, by new believers telling others about this good news message of the gospel of Christ…

This is what happened to me for over 7 years…   The chink in my own armor was making Satan happy, as I was not sharing the gospel of Christ…  This is why I am driven to help educate fellow Christians about “The Whole Armor of God”…so that Satan and his successful attacks can be all but a thing of the past for the “God clad, Spirit filled” Christian…

I have admitted that Satan (for the most part), doesn’t get through to me…   Some people would say that what I am telling you can’t be true…  I am telling you, as I have written previously, that it is positively true…  Praise the Lord for His presence and power in keeping Satan in check in my life…  Do I still sin ??  Absolutely !!  But as we grow in spiritual maturity…our sins should diminish, and become smaller in nature…   The key here, to keep Satan in check, is wearing the full set of spiritual armor God avails to us, and wants us to put on…

The more effective a child of God becomes, as they live all of their lives for the Lord, the more important it becomes to keep all of God’s protective armor firmly in place…  It’s only after we finally put on the last piece of God’s protective spiritual armor, wearing all 6 pieces 24/7; and then finally submitting ALL of ourselves again to God, allowing the Holy Spirit to have complete control of everything we say and do…that Satan and his attacks can be resisted…

It is a daily procedure of putting on all of God’s armor; and then as I wrote about yesterday, oiling all of the armor with prayer…and confessing sins as often a they occur (1 John 1:9), to remain Walking the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)…  We must keep all of ourselves out of our thoughts…  There can be no self love…no self confidence in our strength…and no self-righteousness in our hearts, minds, or souls…  The Holy Spirit must be our only source of power to combat Satan’s fiery darts, along with the rest of his bag of tricks…  It is not, nor can it ever be, about our power…  It is strictly God’s power within us…Amen ??

Tomorrow, I will write on the grieving of the Holy Spirit, which will happen if Satan finds any chinks in our armor…   Being almost totally free of Satan’s attacks has to be experienced to be believed, as God is free to bless those who are living in obedience to His will for their lives…  But for us to be a well oiled, Spirit filled warrior, ready to battle anything Satan throws our way; we must be prepared for battle with all of God’s spiritual armor firmly in place, and remain walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)…as we walk in step with the Lord every minute of every day…

Heavenly Father, keep me ever so humble, as I am being used by You to help those who are still being tormented by Satan…  Protect me Father, 24/7…   Urge me with the help of the Holy Spirit, to maintain Your full protection from Satan, with Your spiritual armor held firmly in place through prayer…   Fill me with the right words Father, and then open the eyes of those in need submitting ALL of their lives to the leading of the Holy Spirit…   And Father, urge those who have never had the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation, to see that there really is a way to break the chains of Satan…  I pray for this awakening by You Father, for all of today’s readers, in Jesus’ most precious name, and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ, bruce

1. Matthew 7:21-23… https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+7%3A21-23&version=ESV

2. Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com/2014/10/26/the-truth-about-sin-10262014-by-bruce-reposted-from-7112013/

Picture credit:  https://www.google.com/search?q=Picture+Ephesians+6:10-20&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjuubix1ZrTAhVK8WMKHVkKAMMQsAQIGQ&biw=1126&bih=686#imgrc=r_zor7ER9hQBVM: