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Remember, in pursuing God we must choose to put on His armor, not our own. | New Hope for the Week
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Remember, in pursuing God we must choose to put on His armor, not our own.

Today I will:

  • allow the Word of God to govern my thought life
  • take every thought captive
  • think like Christ

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:5 (NASB)

Ordering our thoughts by guarding our minds against ungodly imaginations is our first defense against the schemes of the enemy. The battle for our hearts and minds takes place in our thought life. We must purpose to think thoughts pleasing to God, filling our minds with scriptures declaring the promises of God.

In putting on the full armor that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6, we must wear truth like a belt around our minds. Peter makes reference to the same concept in his instruction to "gird up the loins of your mind." After girding our loins with the belt of truth, we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate is something that guards the heart. We can use the righteousness of God to guard our hearts by remembering we've been made the righteousness of God in Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21.) The enemy will do all he can to cause you to believe you are a failure, unworthy, and unacceptable in the sight of God. The truth (His Word), however, states otherwise.

In order to effectively wear the armor of God, we must continually be mindful of God, His Word, and His Holy Spirit at work in us. If we are girded about with the belt of truth, guarded by the breastplate of righteousness, shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, surrounded by the shield of faith, protected by the helmet of salvation, and wielding the sword of the Spirit, we will certainly be in pursuit of God's presence and in a position to be led by His Spirit.