Patti Burris

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

John 8:32

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

My ex-husband is a former Marine and decorated Veteran. He received the Bronze Star Medal of Valor when he returned from the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He has shared many war stories from the time he spent in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and I understand that his survival depended on his preparation.

We are in a spiritual war. The devil is lurking around every corner, in every doorway and under every rock, trying to trip us up. He will stop at nothing to get us to turn away from God. He has declared war on God and wants us to join him. It is a real spiritual battle and we need to be prepared!

How do we prepare for spiritual warfare? We put on the armor of God.

The first step is to put on the belt of truth.

John 8:32 tells us that the truth will set us free. What is the truth?

John 14:6

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus said that He is the truth. Without Jesus, we don’t have access to the Father. We need to know Jesus, really know who He is. We need to communicate with Him, serve Him by serving others, and love Him by loving others. We need to read the Gospels until we exude the heart and soul of who Jesus is.

When a weight lifter is preparing to lift weights, he girds his waist with something that gives him strength and support so he won’t hurt the core of his body. When we put on the belt of truth, we are providing support and strength to our spiritual core.

Jesus is that strength and support that we need in our spiritual core to survive the attacks of the enemy. When we buckle the truth of Jesus around our waists, we will be prepared to deflect the arrows of Satan.

I am challenging you to gird your waist with the belt of truth every morning, carrying Jesus with you wherever you go. Do this and Satan will have to flee!