Part III: Spiritually Strong
Part III: Spiritually Strong
by Pastor Kent Munsey
October 25, 2020
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place . . .
Ephesians 6:10-14 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God. Paul encourages us to go against the dark forces that are unseen so that we can stand in the day of evil. There is a battle between the forces of good and evil, but we have tools and weapons like the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness to help us in the fight.
We are often misled because the enemy finds a way into our hearts. We must set our heart, soul, and mind on the things above. The enemy wants to take ground in our hearts so he can hurt us. He wants to harden our hearts so he can then have them. But, we have been equipped to resist the enemy.
We are commanded to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We must do so in order to live a life fully surrendered to the Lord. The word of God, his plans, and purposes will change the way we live. Our heart is essential in our faith and when it comes to our salvation. We are made righteous through our faith, through a believing heart. That’s why the enemy is working to take ground in our heart, to deceive or mislead us to harden our heart, to hurt our heart, to break our heart so that he can have our heart for his purposes.
God has given us everything we need so that we can stand strong and resist the enemy. The Bible says we are to guard our hearts for out of it flows the wellspring of life. There are three ways we can protect our hearts.
1. Have you set your heart?
It is important for us to set our hearts on things above. Our hearts can be set on so many things. It’s easy to go on Instagram and get our heart set on somebody else’s home or a vacation. David said I will hide my word in my heart that I might not sin against you. We must set our hearts for the plans and purposes of God. When we do that, it changes the way that we live our lives. When we set our hearts on God’s word, we learn that there are things God loves and things that he hates.
In scripture, we see that God hates the double-minded. James says that a double-minded person is unstable in all his ways. Honesty is how we confront our double-mindedness. We need to tell the truth to ourselves when we go off course. We may try to get relief from other activities, but they take us from God. We have to be careful and not love what can destroy us. Sometimes relief from stress that does not come from God can be a temporary fix but does not make us whole. We need to trust God for our desires and wants and seek what is good for us long-term. We must walk paths of righteousness; a righteousness that is not our own but comes from God himself. This grace empowers us to be successful in our battle. When we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we can fight the battle successfully.
2. Where does your heart go to hide?
In Psalms 119, David says to the Lord, you are my hiding place. The older we get, the bigger our sin is, and the harder it is to hide. Even as adults, we find hiding places. Where do our hearts go to hide? Is it comparison, do we hide on social media, scrolling through and comparing ourselves? Do we hide in addiction? Whatever we do to hide from our worries, our stress, our fear, it’s available. If we set our hearts on God, on things above, we have a hiding place. The Lord is a strong tower we can run to and not be afraid of.
Often hiding is seen as a sign of weakness, but in war, hiding is a strategy to confuse the opposition. When we run into the arms of God and abide in his shelter, then we can confuse, frustrate, and exhaust the enemy. When we rest in God’s arms, fear cannot be there, darkness cannot be there. Often in our hiding places, we’re running from our fear or stress, but when we hide in the presence of God, we are running to something stronger than our fears. When we run to God as our hiding place, we are putting on the breastplate of righteousness and infusing ourselves with spiritual strength. No matter how strong we are on our own, we need a place where we can go to rest and find peace, and God has provided that to us in himself.
3. What are you hoping for?
Are we exercising hope in our lives? In the NKJV, Psalm 119 says, “I hope in your word.” The Message says, “I wait for your Word to renew me.” When we set our hearts on the things of God and hide in the arms of God, then we’ll begin to hope for his word to be realized in our life. Scripture says hope deferred makes the heart sick, and if we faint not, we will reap a harvest. But oftentimes we give up. It doesn’t matter how long we have been waiting; those who put their hope in God will never be put to shame. It’s just a matter of time before we see the promises of God come to pass in our lives. The Bible says that the righteous will never be seen begging for bread. We have hope and a future. We tend to stop hoping so that we don’t have to step out in faith. Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. If we want to strengthen our hearts, we must begin to hope again. We must believe we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. When we exercise hope, it brings strength to our hearts.
Reflection/Discussion Questions:
1. What have you set your heart on?
2. Where do you hide when fear or stress overwhelms you?
3. What are you hoping for?
4. How do you plan to build your spiritual strength and put on the breastplate of righteousness today, this week, and this year?