Belt of Truth

 

    The belt in armor protects your core which is what connects all of your body.  Without your core no other muscle would matter.  The Belt of truth is God's Word.  God's Word is what makes you a warrior.  It connects the spiritual together to make you stronger.  

    When the armor of God was written, the armor was put on in a specific way to give maximum protection.  The first item to go on was the Belt, then the breastplate, sandals, shield, helmet, and sword.  In the armor of God the belt of truth is the foundation of your armor.  Everything builds the same way, but add on prayer to basically the glue that seals the protection.  

    The Roman army also went out in legions (thousands of warriors) to be strong.  Your fellow spiritual warriors is the church.  You need fellow believers to be strong.  Not everyone who claims to be Christian is Christian.  Do not allow a few people in a church keep you from accessing the strength you need in fellowship, prayer partners, wisdom, and more assets that can be found in a community of believers.

    The belt of truth protects your most vulnerable parts of your spiritual body: mind, heart, and soul.  The protection comes in the format of righteous living and choices that honor God.  The stronger your core belief is the stronger the protection is.  Faith in God's Word makes you more durable in the world because there is power in the truth.  The Truth is strategic in how it protects you.  It is the only thing that can fight deception.  

    The truth is what God says it is.  There is no personal truth that can change with what you want, how you feel, or the direction society decides to take.  There is only God's truth that can be found in the Bible.  The Bible is what will hold you together in spiritual warfare.  It is your core protection.  

    You use the belt of truth as protection by allowing the Bible to build and affirm your standards in life.  It is the source of boundaries.  You commit yourself to God's way of living.  You align your attitude and expectations in life by what you learn in God's Word everyday.   You allow your character to become like Jesus even when it makes you unpopular.  God's Word will only protect you if you are in it and use it everyday to direct your physical and spiritual life.  You decide how much protection you want.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 119:153-160, Ephesians 2:11-18, 4:14-23, 6:13-14, & James 1:2-4

Prayer Stategy

 

    God has a plan for you.  Satan has a plan for you.  Do you have a plan?  Prayer and faith is your defense against Satan's plans.  It also makes it more clear of what God's plans are for you, even if He may only reveal one step at a time.

    Satan is the original schemer.  His plans are full of manipulation.  He is systematic on how he attacks your habits, activities, hobbies, mindset, and goals.  He will use discouragement to disarm you.  He will sabotage you in your blind spots.  He fights dirty.  You can't afford to be blind and hope for the best.  You have to be active in your spiritual life that carries into your personal life.

    It starts with faith and prayer.  The more precise and thought out your prayer life becomes, the more you are in the fight.  If you are not blind, then you can be prepared.  You may be deep in the fight, but you are still better off than the blind.  

    Your prayer strategy needs to be using the name of Jesus not a ward, but as your protective power.  His name activates your spiritual armor.  It provides the ability to have victory.  You have to be grounded in prayer to be grounded by Jesus.  

    Your strategy also needs to include thanksgiving, gratitude, intercession for others, direction, protection, future, dreams, request, and recognition of who God is.  When you are reading God's Word, use what you are reading to pray over your day.  There are many scriptures that are prayers, but you can create your own from what you got out of your Bible Study. 

    Do not pray a general or vague prayer.  Be specific with what you want, need, or whatever else is going on.  Keep it authentic and true to your heart.  Do not try to pray like someone else or the way you think you need to pray.  Keep it real with God.  It is okay to be messy.  God will work it all out.

Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 26:1-6, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Ephesians 6:10-19, Philippians 4:6-7, & James 1:5-8

The Target

 

    Satan is the master at deception.  He can't read your mind or know what you will do, but he can bait you to do what he wants.  He studies you and has a good idea of what you will do.  He also knows when you are more vulnerable.  That is normally when he will attack.  If you are strong, then he will try to wear you down.  You are his target.

    Satan is not above hitting below the belt.  He plays dirty.  He will go after past trauma that he caused to hurt you more.  That is why it is important to allow God to heal you completely.  If you are healed, then Satan does not have that trauma to hurt you again.  This is part of spiritual warfare: God trying to heal you and Satan trying to destroy you.

    Do not live in fear or anxiety because Satan will target it as weakness.  Trust God to take care of you and He can protect you.  If you refuse His protection, then you are facing evil on your own.  The more you lean on God the more clear Satan's tactics become.   You are able to start seeing his intention which gives you time to prepare.

    In spiritual warfare prayer is how you can be proactive and alert.  It makes Satan work for you to stumble.  You don't have to make it easy on him.  The more you mature in your Christian walk the more you become a threat to his plans.  He will come after you, but you don't have to allow him to affect your mind or heart.  

    Satan wants to make you insecure, doubt your faith, and cripple your walk with God.  When you know to expect it, then you are able to prepare for it.  He will hit you where it hurts most.  He goes after what you care about.  He tries to twist your passions, interest, and curiosities into something ugly.  If he can keep you vulnerable or beat down, then he wins.  

    Fear is a strong weapon in his playbook.  Fear will drive you to do things that you normally would never do.  Give it over to God and he can make you stronger.  He can help remove your fear and vulnerabilities.

    Remember Satan comes after your identity in Christ.  He will use your passions, focus, and relationships to trip you up.  He wants to break up the family leaving soul wounds.  He attacks your confidence and your calling to cause you to doubt.  He attacks your resolve to stay pure for God.  He interrupts your sleep and rest to weaken your resolve.  He will try to manipulate your heart to self-sabotage relationships or put ungodly people into your life to cause you to stumble.  This is His playbook to target you, but God has placed blockers in place to keep you safe.

Genesis 3:1-7, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Joshua 14:6-9, Isaiah 59:1-3, Luke 10:18-20, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, 11:12-15, Ephesians 1:15-23, 6:10-20, 1 Timothy 2:8, Hebrew 12:14-17, 1 Peter 5:8-9, & Revelations 12:10-12

Being Alert

 

    God and Satan are both real.  They both have an agenda.  God brings light and life into you.  Satan brings devastation and darkness into you.  They are both intent and active, but the motives and ways are different.  Satan attacks and tries to control while God loves and tries to direct.

    If you are a Christian you can't be destroyed, but you can get distracted, discouraged, disable your testimony, or get confused.  Satan wants you miserable so that you do not help God's Word spread.  He may even let you become comfortable so that you become complacent.  

    God commands that you stay alert, aware, and avoid Satan's attacks.  It keeps you clear headed and on your guard.  This means that you may have to spend seasons of your life being uncomfortable to be able to walk with Jesus faithfully.  It does not mean that you can't find comfort in God's presence.  

    Being alert is fighting against becoming apathetic, disinterested, spiritually lethargic, or run from fighting for what is good and right.  You fight for your pure relationship with God.  It means you live differently than the world and resist sin.  You fight to keep your passion for God burning bright and armor of God holding strong.  

    Embrace every spiritual blessing that God gives you because it makes life worth living.  God gives you gifts and responsibilities, but they are blessings.  You are already victorious because you abide in Him.  You know this because you know that He is victorious, so don't let the right now keep you from growing in your relationship with God.  

    Be strengthened by God's armor.  It comes from being intentional in your relationship with God.  You are consistently pursuing Him and faithfully spending time in His Word and prayer.  There is no retiring or days off from spiritual warfare.  You also don't have to be beaten down by it.  You just need to be aware, so get rid of your vulnerable spots in your armor.  Your Christian walk is strategic and intimate.

Matthew 24:42-44, Mark 13:32-33, 14:37-38, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, Ephesians 6:10-18, Philippians 2:12-13, Colossians 4:2-6, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, & 1 Peter 1:13-16, 5:8-9

Satan's Darkness

 

    Satan is a liar.  He is the one that makes sin look pleasant, but it leads to death.  Wherever he is there is darkness.  However, God is light.  Light uncovers the truth.  It destroys the darkness as it touches it.  If you are with God, then you do not need to be afraid of the dark.

    Stand firm in your faith to be able to see Satan's tactics for what they are.  Only then can you fight against them.  Satan's darkness is deception, manipulation, and lies.  His goal is to break the fellowship you have with God through breaking you.  Hurting you, hurts God.  If you don't trust God and put your strength in Him, then you are vulnerable to Satan's plans for you.  He will stay hidden while his darkness attacks.

    Flee from temptation so you can protect yourself, your family, and the truth.  Satan's goal is to discord, disharmony, calculated deception, and other forms of subtle ways to destroy your life slowly.  You have to be alert or he can get in your head without you realizing it.  You know he is in your head when your thoughts become darker.  

    It is your mind that is the spiritual battle field.  When you are confused, then that means that Satan is trying to influence you.  When things are clear, then you are in God's light.  Remember, if you belong to God, then Satan can't take you.  He can tempt you, he can deceive you, but God has your soul.  If you are not with God, then all you have to do is believe, confess, and turn from the darkness to His light.  Your soul never was meant for Satan.  He does not have ownership unless you give it to him.

    You live in a dark world.  Things happen that are beyond your control, but that does not mean that Satan has control.  His darkness tries to hide the truth, but God's light brings life and truth.  Life may be hard, but eternity can be simple and good.  Do not let go of your hope in Jesus' victory.  Do not give into doubt, insecurity, intimidation, fear, discouragement, or despair.  God is fighting for you, so hold onto His truth like a life raft. 

John 8:42-51, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 10:3-6, Ephesians 1:3-23, 2:4-7, 3:10-11,6:10-17, Philippians 2:9-11, Colossians 2:13-15, Hebrews 2:14-15, 1 John 3:7-10, & Revelations 20:7-10

Spiritual Warfare Revealed

 

    Spiritual warfare is real.  There are angels and demons.  There are good and bad spirits working in your life.  It is not magic, Syfy, or an illusion.  It is real.  God knows everything which automatically makes Him stronger than Satan.  Satan doesn't know everything, but he is smart and very cunning.  He has studied you and knows how you think and react.  However, if you do not speak it, then he doesn't know it.

    You do not need to live in fear of Satan or his demons, but you do need to be aware of what they are capable of doing in your life.  He is not someone you should go against on your own.  Rely on God and your church to help you through spiritual attacks.  Never try to do it on your own or he can destroy aspects of your life.

    It may surprise you how Satan's attacks may come.  It could be interfering with your focus, loss of a job, relationship issues, loss of sleep, health, and more.  He really loves attacking relationships because if you are alone, then you are easy to pick off.  His presence may not be easy to detect because of how he schemes, manipulates, and conspires.  He may enter into your life through something that looks really good and innocent, but he twisted it into something evil.

    You need to pray for discernment and wisdom to know how you are being attacked.  Pray that you see the truth.  Pray for Satan's plans to be revealed, seen, or uncovered.  Once you see where his tyranny is affecting your life, then you can faithfully pray and work with God to shut the door to Satan.      

Acts 19:11-41, 2 Corinthians 11:12-15, & Ephesians 1:19-23, 3:10-11, 6:10-12

Open Your Eyes

 

    It is time to open your eyes to spiritual warfare.  It is real.  If you are a Christian, then you are in it.  Your battle is in the spiritual world, but it is affecting your life in many different ways.  Jesus gives you strength to follow Him, but Satan is doing everything he can to distract you, trip you up, or turn away.  Your soul is in a battle.  If you are Christian, then it belongs to God, but that makes you a bigger threat to Satan.  His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy you.

    You need the armor of God to fight and be victorious.  You need prayer to know how to proceed.  God is your general.  If you obey, then you will not be in danger.  If you veer off just a little, then you can be wounded.  Trust and obedience is so simple, but sometimes it seems to be so hard to do.  

    As you grow in your relationship with God, your prayer life will mature.  It will become more strategic as you start to see the world through His eyes.  You do not need to pray for blessings.  They are yours to have as you walk with Jesus.  You need to pray over the battle you are fighting.  Do not pray to have it removed, but pray on how to get through it.  

    The first step in preparing everyday for spiritual warfare is opening your eyes that it is real.  Go to your Bible and prayerfully read to have what you need for today.  You will not succeed if you do not learn how to prepare for battle.  Use what God has given you and take advantage of your access to Him.  He will reveal the abilities of your enemies, so you can fight with better skill and wisdom.  

    Take your eyes off of the people you deem threatening.  Stop the tunnel vision on your problems.  Pray for God to open your eyes to the bigger picture.  Ask Him to show you what you are really fighting.  The deeper you go into your prayer life, the more aware you become of what God is giving you, preparing you for, and the empowerment that He provides to do good.  He will give you the confidence you need everyday.   

2 Kings 6:15-17 & Ephesians 1:3-23, 3:14-19, 6:10-20