Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Belt of Truth


Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH… Ephesians 6:14a
As we have been studying about the last three days, Paul has set the scene for us in the spiritual war that is being waged against Satan, his advocates, God and His soldiers.  We are fighting a war, and the stakes are higher than they have ever been in human history.  Satan and his troops have one main objective: to obliterate God’s children.  t
One thing: This battle in which you and I are engaged is first and foremost the Lord’s battle, not ours. We are his troops and we are really not to battle Satan but to simply withstand the attacks of the enemy.  The battle is won already.  The victory is already God’s.  But the enemy continues to attack. The Armor of God will protect us. 
We have learned about the weapons we are to use in this battle.  Now let’s explore the armor we are to don - God’s perfect provision to protect His children against Satan. 
The Belt of Truth
Girding your loins with truth means to be firmly established in the word of God.  Reading the bible and meditating on the word allows it to become a part of your mind set.  Saturate your being with God’s truth and make it a fortress to keep out the lies of Satan.  God’s word is truth and therefore makes it foundational to all other pieces of armor. 
What does a belt do for a soldier?  It holds everything important.  A holster, a scabbard, it allows for freedom for the soldier. It keeps everything in place.  Real Truth is immovable; non-truth does not stay in place.  Truth is eternal and unchangeable, regardless of what people think.  The Bible is God’s truth that is unchangeable.  It is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  We are not talking about “truths” as in principals, but the truth upon which all other truth stands. There are multiple “truths” in the world. Above them all is the Truth, which is that which God says to be true, in which He graciously allows followers of Christ to share. That Truth inevitably conflicts with all other “truths.”  Any so-called “truth” in conflict with God’s Truth is no truth at all; it is a lie, a manifestation of the one great Lie that tells us the God of the Bible is not the one God and King over all. The war between the Truth and “truths” is really the war between Truth and the Lie. But the Lie doesn’t come to us openly announcing, “I’m false, I’m deceptive.” It comes to us pretending it is true.
Satan attacks with lies.  As we said yesterday, he is the father of all lies.  When we gird ourselves with the truth we are able to withstand his attack.  He especially zeroes in on discrediting God’s promises, just like he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Are you sure that’s what God said…  He only has to be successful in getting us to believe one lie, and then it snowballs into discouragement, confusion, and defeat.  We must know what we believe and cling to it.  Satan even uses other believers at times to try to get us to compromise a standard and then once that is done, it is even easier to do it again.    We have to be strong. Bring security to your life with the unchanging word of God.   It is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18) and His truth offers steadfast and sure hope for the soul. (Hebrews 6:19)
Satan will also try to make a strong Christian believe lies about themselves.  These lies may come in the first person like My life is not worth living, or God does not care about me at all.  He knows that we are more likely to believe his lies if we acknowledge them as our own thoughts and speak them from our own mouths.  That is exactly what Satan wants.  He knows our weaknesses, he knows where our confidence wavers and he will attack to cause us to be less useful for the purposes God has for us.  1Corinthians 10:13 tells us  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.  This is a truth of God we need to gird ourselves with! 
Scripture to Claim:
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13  "

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