Our Victory Outfit Part 3

These weekly devotionals I will be posting come from and are copyright to Pam Iannello, my pastor's late wife who went home to be with the Lord on June 18, 2008.


How do you protect yourself from danger in the spiritual realm? The only way to dress for spiritual success is with the armour of God, as found in Ephesians 6. Are you sure you're wearing it??



This devotion is part of the "Our Victory Outfit" series.
Ephes. 6:14, "Stand therefore..."

According to the first two words in this next verse in our continued study of the armour of God, Christians should be an immovable group of people, amen?  They used to be....  Think of the character of the Christian men and women this great nation was founded upon, they were immovable as they struggled to build a new life founded upon the truths in God's Word...

"I sought for the greatness of America in her harbors and rivers and fertile fields, and her mines and commerce.  It was not there.  Not until I went into the churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the greatness of her power.  America is great because she is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."  (Alexis De Tocqueville 1805-1859)

What makes America good and great is the Word of God when it is honored and obeyed.  Considering the overall state of affairs in this country, even in the body of Christ today, what kind of shape would you honestly say we were in?  Good shape?  Great shape?  Poor shape?  You see, we have been equipped by God with all of what we need to succeed in the Christian life, yet there are many Christians whose lives are utterly destroyed by sin. Clearly the scriptures prove that what happened is that somewhere along the way, individuals loosened their grip on and eventually let go of the truth altogether and began to be led away from God with a lie.  As Christians, we lose our steadfastness, our ability to stand against Satan without the truth!  

2 Peter 3:17 says, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness."

Did you catch that warning, ladies? "Beware lest ye also..."  None of us are exempt from falling away from the truth! How then, can we prevent ourselves from being led away with the error of the wicked?  Let's go back to verse 14 of Ephesians 6 for the answer...

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth..."

Truth is the first piece of the armor of God listed in the Word of God.  It is the girdle - which holds all the other parts of the armor together.  It also holds the sword, the Word of God!  Truth is what God has spoken.  It is a light from heaven and dispels darkness.  Once a lie gets into the life of a believer, everything begins to fall apart!  But truth is a force that keeps us standing and fighting and unable to be moved by the enemy.  You and I can take our stand bent on victory only with our loins girt about with truth!  Are you holding tightly to it dear lady, or has your grip loosened?

Proverbs 4:13, "Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life."  

When I think about being led away, I think about being slowly baited with something that catches my eye and appears to be good.  We must use truth found in God's Word with which to measure everything that comes into our lives by, so that we are not easily led away by the subtil enemy we are up against!  Satan slowly leads us away from God with error, with lies...  

You really begin to understand spiritual warfare through studying and looking closely at each piece of the armor of God!  You get a clearer picture of how and where our enemy will attack...  You see ladies, what God places emphasis on, Satan will go after.  Truth is what God has chosen as the foundation for the rest of the armor to be layered upon, so guess what that means??  Satan will attack the truth!  What is truth but the Word of God...  How is Satan attacking the truth but through the various Bible perversions that are coming out.  He is attacking the Word of God!  If He can get the truth out of our hands, hearts, and homes, then He can get us to fall!  Then He can destroy this nation... Has it already happened??

Many Christians have been led to believe that the new translations, such as the ASV, NIV, RSV, NASV etc. are just revisions of the old King James Bible.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Many of these new versions of the Bible are guilty of subtly distorting the truth of God's Word, subtracting many verses and rewording them, making it easier and easier for the enemy to lead Christians away with error.  Satan knows He can't get the Bible out of our hands completely, so why not just change the one we are holding to begin with, subtracting from it little by little until eventually it contains no truth anymore!!  Beware ladies!!

I know I may get some unhappy comments directed my way for touching on this topic, but nevertheless, it is the truth and I would be glad to send you any info you might need to understand this issue more clearly.  

Romans 1:25 says, "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever."

A new Christian had been attending church services for a good while, and the pastor noticed that he had a rather confused look on his face during the sermons.  After a message one Sunday, the preacher asked the gentleman if there was a problem.  The new Christian showed the pastor his Bible and stated that he just couldn't understand it.  After one glance the pastor knew why.  It was cut all to pieces!  Words, phrases, and even entire verses were cut completely out!  The pastor asked in shock, "Why, man, what have you done to your Bible?"  "Well", replied the Christian, "as I listened to your messages, I just cut out the words that you said were wrong!  This is what I have left!"

Consider this ladies;  Other books were given for our information, but the Bible was given for our transformation.  The Bible tells us the truth about ourselves and about what God wants us to do...  However, instead of letting it transform them into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, men are transforming the Word of God to fit their understanding, their lifestyle.  Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them!   

Proverbs 4:2, "For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law."  

I do not think we as the body of Christ have our loins girt about with truth as God's Word stresses we should. The Bible has always been attacked by Satan and Christians have been unaware of just how much they have been led away and deceived.  Do our pulpits really flame with righteousness, with truth, with power, with preaching against sin like they once used to??  Are we standing (as we should) for righteousness sake?  Are we found steadfast and immovable against the enemy in our personal lives?  If so, why haven't we haven't fought the battle better to keep the Word of God a priority in this nation?  How come God's people stood by and let the schools in this great nation kick out the Word of God and prayer?  How come we have been led to believe that there is something wrong with Christians who defend the true Word of God, the King James Bible??  I agree that if this country ceases to be good, it ceases to be great but if it is not girt about with TRUTH, it is neither!  

"Stand therefore, having YOUR loins girt about with truth...."

God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000  Pamela A. Iannello Meet Ms. Pam

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