Do you have YOUR armor on?

I have a friend who is going through a heavy-duty season of "spiritual warfare". If you think that's weird or just something that doesn't happen anymore, think again! And, read 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 that says,

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our WARFARE are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds."

There is a WAR going on. The question is, do you even care? And, are you engaged in the battle or simply on the sidelines? My admission to you is that there have been times that I have sat on the sidelines because I just didn't want to deal with the "heavy" stuff. Thankfully, my God is so patient with me! And in His sovereign-like way, He simply orchestrates my life such that I am confronted with things that stretch me.

As Neal and I have been made aware of the situation in our friend's life, the Spirit has used it to remind me of some very important spiritual skills that I need to be practicing daily. And, even though I had a godly Mom who lived this very principle out before me, I had foolishly discarded what is a fundamental & foundational skill for every believer/follower of Jesus...which is:

PUT MY SPIRITUAL ARMOR ON INTENTIONALLY & DAILY!

The way God made me aware of my neglect of this skill was through a recent conversation with my friend who had also been asked the question, "Did you put your armor on today?" To which she answered, "What do you mean? I always have my armor on?" To which the response came, "No! You must put it on daily." He then instructed her and her husband to have a specific time each morning in which together they put their armor on. As my friend and I talked, the Spirit reminded me of the passage in Ephesians 6 that outlines all the armor but even more signifcantly the words, "PUT ON..."

I've studied this passage many times, but being the "DUH-sciple" that I am, I tend to forget many important truths! And that is, "put on" is in the PRESENT tense. In other words, when Paul penned these words, the Spirit who lived in him and was doing the inspiring of the words he was penning was intentional when He prompted Paul to write "put on" which means keep on putting on. It is NOT a one time thing! So, now I have my Biblical basis for putting my armor on daily. What next, Lord?

He gave me the opportunity to have a conversation with my youngest daughter on Mother's Day as we were driving back from Atlanta to Charlotte. She was having a tough moment...well really weekend. She's newly married, and....well enough said. As she and I talked, the Spirit prompted me to issue Haley a challenge and one that I would join in with her to do. I told her I wanted her to be intentional about putting her spiritual armor on everyday for the next 30 days and I would also be doing this with her. I told her I would text message her every morning to remind her. So, since the Monday after Mother's Day, she and I have been dressing ourselves for war.

Yesterday's text to Haley that the Spirit gave me said, "Cover my Haley today, Lord, with all You have given to equip her...her S helmet; her R breastplate; her T belt; her F shield; her W sword...all to READY HER FEET TO SWIFTLY SHARE YOUR GOSPEL OF PEACE WITH THOSE YOU BRING INTO HER LIFE."

If none or very little of the above makes sense to you, maybe it's time you read or re-read Ephesians 6:10-18.

I dare you.