The Belt Of Truth

Last week I started talking about the armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-20 but my ADD kicked in and I got distracted. Seriously…it did…oh look…shiny…

Other things had come up, like the porcine plague and I put the armor of God on the back burner. It’s my blog and I can do that.

So today I wanted to talk more about the armor God has equipped His followers with and how we can use it today. Not many of us have need for real chain mail or plate mail armor. It looks really neat but it’s hard to keep polished and really uncomfortable on the commute to work, not to mention all the weird looks you would get from the carpool at your kids’ school. No, the armor that the Bible talks about is figurative. I had never heard about the armor of God before until last year when I was trying to find something to speak about at the She Speaks conference. I am a very visual speaker, I move a lot and I like to have things for people to relate to. That way if they don’t remember what I said, maybe one of my visuals will lock in a thought or an idea that will simmer in their subconscious and God will use that as a trigger for how they can apply it.

In my talk about the armor of God I was equipped with what I pictured as my “belt of truth”. It was a tool belt that I blinged out with rhinestones and crosses (hey, I told you I saw something shiny). In my tool belt I carried my journal, my bible, my coffee cup and my pens and markers. But we are talking about the belt today. The belt of truth. Ephesians 6:14 states,

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist..”

Yes, there is more to it, stop rushing me. Truth. Truth is the key to everything. If you know the truth then nothing can come against you. Satan uses lies and misunderstandings, criticism and blame, to cause a rift amongst believers. If Satan can cause two Christians to come against each other, then he has won half the battle already. Think about this for a moment, how many times have you jumped to a conclusion, went with the wrong information, ran off at the mouth, spread gossip, or whispered a secret that caused pain or hurt to someone else? All action, all detrimental and all something you probably shouldn’t have done, but look back up at the scripture, “stand firm…” Don’t move, be still (and know that I am ...sorry, ADD moment again.).

Truth.

Jesus starts so many of his lessons with, “I tell you the truth...” John 14:6 states,

                          “ 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
                            No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So your belt, what holds it all together, what binds you, what ties all the rest of your armor together is truth. God’s truth, which can be found in His son, Jesus.

I believe that it’s listed as the first piece of armor because in order to have the rest of it, you have to have that piece first. None of the other works without the truth. I cannot have righteousness, or readiness, or peace, or faith and I cannot fight the Evil one without Jesus, without truth. If Satan is the king of lies, then who do you think is the King of Truth? The truth that God equips us with through His word is how we fight Satan but we can only fight when we know how to use the weapon. We have to learn God’s truth. Satan’s lies permeates everything, the television we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, conversations we have, conversations our kids have, Satan is everywhere, but the cool thing about that is, so is God and His truth works against every single one of Satan’s lies. Get out your tool belt, bling it up if you want to, and put it on. Equip yourself with the truth, God’s truth, so that you can fight Satan’s lies, the ones that come against you in your day to day battle, not only with the outside world, but with the lies that Satan whispers in your head.

Here are a few weapons for your arsenal.

Psalm 139: 13-16

Philippians 1:9-10

Romans 8:38-39

These are only a few of the wonderful truths that can be found in scripture. Read them, study them, and understand that they were written for us and for the battle that we are fighting every single day.

Extreme Makeover

Makeovers requires stepping out of what is known, comfortable, and safe, into the unknown, the uncomfortable and the possibly dangerous. It means stepping out of the boat like Peter did. Keeping our eyes on Jesus and knowing that what scripture says is true, and to own

“I am sure that God Who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again!” (Phil. 1:6)

Every Christian is a work in progress. No matter if you were saved when you were 2 or when you were 82, we are all on a journey that requires us to stop living for ourselves and give everything over to the Lord God Almighty. God says:

“For I know the plans I have for you, they are plans for Good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”.  (Jeramiah 29:11)

Plans, blueprints. A way of seeing the big picture. He gives us the big picture right there, He tells us His plans, for a future and a hope.

Hope, otherwise known as Jesus, real hope. There were many years that I didn’t have hope, and I really didn’t care what God had “planned” for my life. I was perfectly content to mess it up over and over again completely on my own. I would flirt with my faith for a while, but whenever I started getting more then a little interested in God, something would happen, infidelity, divorce, illness, that would make me turn my back on God all over again, .

Can’t you just picture God standing with His arms crossed, shaking His head at my antics, much like I did when my daughter was small and wanted to “do it herself”. I would stand back while she took those first wobbly steps or rode her bike without training wheels, but I would be right there to catch her if she fell or wipe her tears when she got hurt. Now, that's how I picture my heavenly Father.  He knows I am going to fall, He knows I'm going to mess up, and over and over again He is there to catch me.  Whe are all growing, and God is always there to catch us when we fall, wipe our tears when it just gets too hard, and listen to us when we cry out. But God knows the plans He has for us. He can see the big picture, and He knew that the time was coming when all the things of my past would catch up with me and then He could start my makeover.

This new life under contruction is an ongoing process. He has given us all the tools we need, with His word, prayer, worship, and grace. With only God’s help I have learned how to forgive, not only others, but myself. Satan loves to keep us spinning on that cycle of guilt and feelings of shame for the sins that Jesus has already died for. My continuous run on the hamster wheel of guilt for something that God had already forgiven made it seem as if My sin was bigger then Jesus sacrifice. We have to refer back to our blueprints, His Word, for understanding, we have to stay on our knees in prayer for His still small voice, and we have to allow Him to rebuild and renew our hearts, our souls and our minds. Like the great architect that he is, His plans are always right.

This new construction will also give you house warming gifts as well, your spirutal gifts that are put in place so that You can further His kingdom. God has also given me something else, an understanding of the passion that has been such a part of my life. I always had great passion, but never a healthy focus for it. Now I understand God’s intent for that, because I am passionate about Him and about His word. You can not be sold out for Christ half-way, you have to be passionate about it. It’s like a 90% sale at Tiffany’s, I gotta tell everyone about it because it’s priceless and only happens once in a lifetime.

As He is rebuilding the walls and putting on a new roof, he’s using the materials that I already have. The struggles that I went through and the horrors that I faced and the mistakes that I made. The body is still here, but he is tearing down the walls of doubt and self-loathing by His Word and His never ending grace I know that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” and He was waiting for me all along to stop trying to follow my own plans but to “be still and know that He is God” and he’s taken over as the general contractor of my life.

By following His blueprints for your life, His word and His love and His power can shine through the darkness into someone elses broken down, condemend life. He can be invited in to shine His light, roll up His sleeves and get to work on their plans. God knows what the finished product will look like, join Him on the journey in your extreme makeover, God’s way.

PS.  I'll explain the pictures in the next post, just know that I'm in both of them.  Transformation.