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How does putting on our spiritual “Armor” help get us through some tough times when our faith is stretched?
Well, 2 Thessalonians 1:7 offers these pearls of wisdom:
And so I would say to you who are suffering, God will give you rest along with us when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels, bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, life is gonna get rough sometimes, but as Paul goes on to say, even when you suffer, your sufferings will be used for God’s glory in the long run.
No matter how tough life may get, we have the ability to face life strongly – with the “Full Armor of God” and with Jesus at our side!
Ephesians 6:10-18 says:
Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.
But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval. Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.
Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.
If you pay attention to these verses, you’ll find that while life is rough sometimes, we can overcome whatever hits us.
So, what exactly is faith?
Hebrews 11:1-3 lays out a definition for us:
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. Men of God in days of old were famous for their faith.
By faith—by believing God—we know that the world and the stars—in fact, all things—were made at God’s command; and that they were all made from things that can’t be seen.
But there’s a difference between belief and faith.
First off, even the demons believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but they don’t have faith that God will actually do all that He says.
Faith is different because through it, we change our decisions and allow the Holy Spirit to change our lives, based on our certainty that God will, in fact, do all that he promises.