TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK
MEMORY VERSE
Put
on the full armor of God, so that
you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes.
EPHESIANS 6:11
Have you ever felt that it's you against the world? Has God put you in a situation that you think you're not strong enough to overcome? Sometimes it's hard to remember that 1 Believer + God = Winning Team every single time!
King Saul's son Jonathan knew this well. Even though his
father had lost favor with God, Jonathan was a good man who loved God and who even became best friends with David.
One day, during Israel's war with the Philistines, King Saul didn't know what to do. God had stopped talking to
him and so had Samuel the Prophet. Jonathan saw that something had to be done. So Jonathan and his armor bearer sneaked away from the camp without telling King Saul in order to find some Philistines.
Jonathan knew that if God was with them, it didn't matter that there were only two of them and many Philistines. "Let's show ourselves to the
Philistines." Jonathan said to his armor bearer. "If they say 'Come here' then we will know God wants us to attack them. But if they say 'we will come to you' then we should not attack them." Then the armor bearer said to Jonathan, "Do all that you have in mind. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
So they showed themselves to the Philistines who saw them and said, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” Knowing that God was with them, Jonathan and his armor bearer attacked the Philistines and killed about twenty of them. This caused the Israelites to
become brave and fight harder.
So why did Jonathan have an armor bearer? Is having armor that important? Should we wear armor today? The answer is a resounding YES! Paul says in the Bible that we should
wear the Armor of God. It is not physical armor but Spiritual armor. Each piece represents something that we need in order to do battle with the Devil every day.
The first piece of armor is the Belt of Truth. The belt is an important piece because it not only holds everything
together but also carries our sword. We need to base everything we say, do, and believe on the truth of God's Word.
The second piece is the Breastplate of Righteousness. This over over your chest and protects
your heart. We must fill our hearts with righteousness: living and thinking as God wants us to. If we protect our hearts, we will live lives that please God.
Third are the Shoes that are the Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace. Good shoes anchored to the ground will make sure
we cannot be pushed back. If we stand on the Gospel, we will not be moved by the lies of this world.
Fourth is the Shield of Faith. A shield is made to block arrows and other dangers that come from
enemies. If our faith in God and His Word is strong, then we will be able to block the lies (fiery darts) of the Devil. The Devil is constantly telling us lies trying to stop us from being effective soldiers of Christ. If we only have a little faith, then we can only block a few of the lies. We must have a big faith to keep us safe.
Fifth is the Helmet of Salvation. A helmet protects our
brain/mind. When we guard our minds with the knowledge that we are saved and that we are new creatures in Christ, we will know not to return to the ways of the world.
Finally we have the Sword of the Spirit, our only
weapon. Our sword is the Word of God. When Jesus battled Satan, He used Scripture. We must know our Bible so we can use it to defeat the Devil when he comes against us.
So we have learned two things this week: With God we can overcome any obstacle, and that we need to put on
our Armor of God every day to do battle with the Devil.
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