Thanksgiving

In a day and age where there doesn't seem much to be thankful in, we must look through the pain and suffering of this world and remember and purpose of this day.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 as a day of thanks to God for blessing them with their first harvest.  They celebrated with their new friends and brothers the Wampanoags.  A tribe of Indians that could have easily wiped them out during their first winter in America.  But they didn't because the Pilgrims didn't come to to plunder and pillage; they came to have religious freedom.  The feasting and games lasted three days!  That's awesome to think about; they didn't even let the sun go down on their celebration.

However times change and a vast majority of them have been good.  But the changes that get the most attention are negative.  How can you celebrate Thanksgiving if you're grumpy and miserable?  It's not possible.  I know some circumstances might make Thanksgiving hard to celebrate.  But that's when we can trust in God and be thankful that He is faithful in all things.  Even if it doesn't seem that way at times.

And I say this to conclude; I am truly thankful to Jesus for coming to take my sins upon himself.  Even though I spit in his face by still sinning even after He redeemed me.  It's been a tough year of spiritual highs and lows, but God has remained faithful through it all.  And for that reason I celebrate Thanksgiving with a joyous heart.

Battle Ready Armor

In ancient times during times of war the warriors from either side would protect themselves with some sort of armor.  The ancient Greeks used hard durable leather, the Romans used metal armor.  Other defenses used by the warriors were their shields, varying in different sizes.  Sometimes warriors (like the ancient Thebans) decided to forgo these defense commodities and fight the enemy using only their wits and speed.  It didn’t end well for them.

As Christians we are on the front lines of battle every day of our lives.  But if that’s the case then where’s our armor?  Well, the battlefield that we are on is a spiritual one and the armor that we put on is spiritual, and that would be The Armor of God.  Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 6:10-17.  The first two verses of the passage say, "A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil." The first defense we have is by standing “Strong in the Lord.”  Sometimes that seems impossible to do; believe me, I’ve been there so I know.  But we must remain strong in order to defeat the enemy of our souls.  So what I’d like to do is go over each piece of armor and explain what each piece is designed for. 

1^st Piece: The Belt of Truth: Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14a).  What do you suppose a belt is designed to do?  It’s designed to keep your pants up, and to be able to hold items such as a phone or a knife.  They’re quite a handy thing to have.  So why is this piece of clothing mentioned as part of the armor?  Back during Paul’s day belts were mainly fashion statements, but I’m guessing that a soldier’s belt was for added protection.  The breastplate of a soldier covered a majority of the torso, but in order for the soldier to bend easily it ended just above the waist.  This provided a vulnerable gap which the soldier could easily be killed by.  So wearing the belt provided extra protection and while it may not stop the soldier from being wounded it would however, in most cases, stop him from being killed.  So how does that parallel in the spiritual form?  As mentioned previously, it protects your lower torso from being severely gouged.  The devil will look for gaps in your armor in which to attack.  So if you don’t put on the Belt of Truth you're opening yourself to the devil’s lies that he’ll shoot at you, causing doubt, depression and fear to enter and take over your life.  Wearing the Belt of Truth protects you from the devil’s gut shots that could easily cripple you.  For when someone is gut shot or stabbed they’re mortally wounded and crippled beyond hope, that’s what the devil will aim for.  Therefore, keep the belt on at all times.  It’s not something you take off at the end of the day, if you do that then the devil will most certainly attack you at night with such veracity you won’t know what hit you until it’s too late.

2^nd Piece: Breastplate of Righteousness: the body armor of God’s righteousness (Eph. 6:14b).  The breastplate was the best form of protection for a soldier back in those days.  In my opinion, the breastplate that was being described was the Lorica segmentata, a type of metal armor that covered the torso of a soldier.  This type of armor could repel arrows and at times even sword thrusts.  In the spiritual realm, the breastplate of righteousness stops the foul darts that are fired at our hearts by the evil one.  If we ever walk out into battle without that piece we’re basically committing spiritual suicide, for the enemy is a clever marksman.  So even if you were to take your shield with you for protection he would find a way to hit your heart without much difficulty.  The breastplate of righteousness keeps your heart righteous and from desiring evil things.  Like all the other pieces of armor, it’s typically forgotten or not put on correctly, so before you walk out the front door for the day make sure the breastplate is firmly secured.

3^rd Piece: Shoes of the Gospel of Peace:  For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared (Eph. 6:15).  Sandals were the shoes of the day back then.  Now that might raise a few eyebrows (even mine slightly), especially when you think about it.  A soldier going to war wearing sandals sounds a little crazy.  But sandals provided many benefits; they were made of durable leather and laced around the soldier’s feet and lower legs providing support for them to walk many miles during the day.  They could easily run in them if necessary and if the soldier was wounded they could easily cut off part of their sandal strap to tie off the wound to staunch the bleeding.  But in the spiritual aspect I believe it’s a bit different.  In my opinion, the peaceful shoes are to help keep you from walking down a dark path.  Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."  The Bible is there to guide our everyday footsteps, at times it doesn’t feel that way but God always knows what’s best for us and constantly strives to steer us towards a better life.  So often we want to walk our own roads, even though we may know that road to be harmful.  Yet if you put on the shoes of the Gospel of Peace you’ll realize that walking down God’s lighted path is far better than walking down a dark trail filled with roots and spider webs.

4^th Piece: Shield of Faith:  In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil (Eph. 6:16).  The shield was a soldier’s best defense besides his sword.  He could block sword thrusts or swipes; stop an incoming spear or javelin; even help repel an enemy soldier by thrusting it into his attacker.  Our spiritual shield is prayer!  If we don’t pray we are basically dropping our shield.  In ancient Sparta if a warrior lost his shield he was disgraced, for the shield not only protected the carrier but the man next to him in the phalanx. They believed that every Spartan soldier should either come home holding his shield or be carried home dead upon it.  In the spiritual sense if we drop our shield we’ve stopped praying and if we stop praying the enemy can just come right in and kill us without difficulty.  But that only happens if you give up, and if you give up then why call yourself a Christian?  You can’t be a Christian if you aren’t willing to fight and put on the armor that God has provided.  So why do we as Christians struggle so much to remember to put on the armor of God?  The answer is within the question: Consider the words “we as Christians.”  The enemy will never stop his assault on us until one of two things happen, you either give up and join forces with the devil or you finish the race and get your eternal reward.  So that is why the shield is so important to us as warriors of Christ.  If we have faith in Christ and are always prayerful we can overcome anything the devil tries to throw at us.  Paul says in Eph. 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”  I don’t believe there’s any clearer way to say it.

 

5^th Piece: Helmet of Salvation: Put on salvation as your helmet, Eph. 6:17a.  The helmet is what kept a soldier’s head safe.  If his head was not protected it could get split open by an enemy soldier’s sword.  But when the soldier had his helmet on it could stop a slicing blade from applying too much damage.  In our spiritual walk, the helmet of salvation is critical, for it protects our souls if we put it on.  When we do, we are accepting God’s love gift to us, which is Jesus Christ.  However, once you put it on it will change your life completely, it will let you see things through God’s eyes in a sense.  For example, if you once thought ogling over an attractive person of the opposite sex was okay, you can now see that it is not.  If you thought that listening to something that is full of foul or dirty language was okay, you can now sense that it is wrong.  The Helmet of Salvation also protects our minds from impure thoughts.  As Christians we will be bombarded with those, sadly most of them come as appealing little bubbles floating towards us that look innocent enough, but once you pop them they’ll explode sin on you and knock you for a loop.  But when you wear the helmet you’ll be able to sense when temptation is coming and know how to combat it.  And when it comes time to combat sin there’s only one thing you can do that with.  So let’s move on to the last piece and prepare for the war that is already being waged!

6^th Piece: Sword of Truth: And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:17b).  A soldier would be in a bad spot without his sword.  The sword most often used by Roman foot soldiers was the Gladius.  The blade was sharp on both sides and had a sharp point at the top of it.  The sharpness of the blade could easily allow a soldier to cut off an opponent’s arm or leg in order to maim him and then kill him.  It was grisly business but no one has ever said that war was pretty.  That’s the way we as Christians should look at our spiritual battle.  Too often we look at sin non-combatively or brush it off, instead of pulling out our spiritual sword to wage war on the sin that is oppressing us.  The sword that we have been given for that purpose is the Sword of the Spirit, and that for us is the Bible.  The Bible is what we can use to battle the enemy.  Remember when Jesus went out into the desert and was tempted for forty days?  The devil himself came to tempt Jesus and he even used Scripture to try and get the draw on Christ, but Jesus retaliated by quoting Scripture right back at the devil.  This I believe to be the first time the Sword of the Spirit was put into practice.  Jesus used it and won the battle that had been waged upon Him.  If we think of this and other instances in Scripture where the Sword is used we can take courage from them when we start to get beaten down with sinful oppressions. 

The war is already raging, the battlefield has been prepped and the two sides are already in the thick of battle.  We must stop observing from the top of the hill, we must put on our armor and race forward to join our fellow Christians, and we must meet the enemy and engage in the fight!  God is calling you to come and fight, but it’ll be up to you whether or not you do so.

So my brothers and sisters, let’s go to war!