Our Victory Outfit Part 4

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.

Before we go on studying the next piece of the armor of God, I want to park here on truth again today.  Not a bad parking spot, is it?   It's a safe one, for sure!  Yesterday I touched on truth on a somewhat larger scale in the way the lack of it is obviously affecting our nation and the body of Christ as a whole.  But what I want to look at today, is how the lack of truth in our personal lives affects our view of ourselves, our husbands and our children and the damage it can bring to our homes.  Are you really girting yourself up with truth?

First of all, in John 8:32, the Bible says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Would you consider yourself a woman who is free?  Free from guilt, condemnation, anxiety etc.?  What is your view of yourself?  You see ladies, if you don't have the proper view of yourself from the point of truth as found in God's Word, you will not be free from the 'father of lies' and the oppression he uses to personally defeat you with!  Our identity or sense of worth as women must first be found in Christ, rather than in worldly accomplishments or pursuits.  Seeing ourselves as God sees us is the most important perception we will ever have! We think we are of value if we are built like a Barbie doll.  We think we are of value if we can work outside the home as well as inside the home and juggle both lifestyles successfully.  Some of us may think we are valuable because we bake bread, homeschool and have babies every year.
Some of us may think we are valuable because our children grew up to serve the Lord successfully in the ministry or somewhere on the mission field... But is all this what we are to rely on for our self-worth??  Are we to base our identity on such external guidelines?  Is this the truth??  Are we guilty of playing the "How do I look?" game instead of standing on the truth of God's Word of who we are and how we are really doing?  

Psalm 51:6 says, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."

God wants us to girt ourselves about with truth, completely surround ourselves on the outside and the inside!  Why?  Because our enemy, the devil, the father of lies, Satan himself, will whisper subtil lies to your heart and mind to subtract from your security as a child of God.  A person who knows he is a child of God is a person who does not struggle with an identity crisis.  When you realize that Christ is actually living within you, and you are in Him, you can be free from those lies that attack your self-worth, significance, acceptance, and security as a woman.  There are many different areas in our hearts that the enemy tries to get into and destroy with lies, but as Psalm 86:11 puts it we can pray,

"Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name."

God's truth in the inward parts will reveal those hidden places that we are believing lies about ourselves - perhaps even the lie that we are doing fine, that we are holy based on our performance.  Then there are also the areas of our hearts where we are under continual unwarranted condemnation. God's Word will unite both places, cause them to meet together at the point of truth exposing the lies and adding internal wisdom to our hearts about ourselves, about who we really are and how we are really doing.  As we properly respond to the truth,  we become secure in our identity, in who we are in Christ.  Satan can't stand seeing a secure, joyful child of God!  He would prefer to mess up our thinking with a lie....  Has that happened to you, dear lady?  Any hidden places in your heart that the truth needs to be applied to?  John 3:21 says,

"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Ladies, don't be afraid of the truth, it has a freeing power!  Be afraid of the lies, they are enslaving and more damaging, not only to you personally, but also in your relationships.  It is a natural response for a true child of God to bring everything in life to God and lay it at His feet, asking Him to make your every deed manifest, whether they are good and whether they are right.  

Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  

Once you have a grasp on your identity in Christ, you need to express your godly character to your family, live out who you are in Christ beginning at home.  As the truth molds and shapes your character and behavior, you then will be able to respond to your husband properly as a wife.  Chances are if you didn't have a proper view of yourself, you don't have a proper view of your husband either!!  What is your perspective when you look at him?  When you speak to him?  When you think of him?  When you pray for him?  Is it a Biblical view?  Is it a view looking through the eyes of truth?  The truth is, he is your head....

Ephesians 5:22-24, "Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

Once you read the truth, you can see where you need to adjust your view, amen?  Your husband's authority as your head is established in God's Word.  Many women make the mistake in viewing other men as their head and willingly submit to them, without a problem.  But the truth is ladies, we need to submit to OUR OWN HUSBANDS.  This is where Satan's lie comes in and distorts our view of our husbands - and ourselves, as we begin to think we are better than them!  Ladies, we need to cultivate a better view of our husbands, a higher view - GOD'S view!  God's view is that
submission is a positive thing, yet the devil whispers that it is a negative one.  The truth in God's Word exposes the lie and we are left therefore with the choice to respond properly by submitting, or respond sinfully by rebelling.  How have you been doing Christian wife?  Have you been girting your loins with the truth in regard to your husband?  When you do, you will find yourself living in a home where truth reigns supreme and fills the atmosphere with peace.

Psalm 33:4, "For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth."  

By the way, your children will share God's view with you as they view their father with the same respect that you do - or don't!  You never lose esteem in your child's eyes when you do what God requires you to do.  You gain esteem because you are a truthful person, and in the process are modeling what they need to do.  How do you like your modeling career?   You might not be able to model perfection, but you can model growth, amen?  Ladies, your precious children need to see how you handle failure as well as success.  Own up to your wrong doings and ask for forgiveness if the situation calls for it.  That is DOING truth!  You in turn teach them how to have a healthy spiritual identity as you show them by your life that God still loves us when we fail because of who HE is, not because of who or how we are.  Yes, God hates sin, but not the sinner.  Real love is not based on performance....  The truth is, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)  It's the grace of God in our lives that should enable us to properly love our husbands and children the way Christ loves us, amen?  We can love the unloveable.  What freedom can fill our hearts, homes and relationships -all because of truth!  Surround yourself with it and enjoy security in the Lord.


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

Other Rise and Shine Devotionals
New Beginnings Baptist Church Website