18.854625 21.414625 - Well, hello there, Marybeth.
21.414625 24.854625 - Hello, Sarah, it's good to be here.
24.854625 27.294625 - Yes, it is always good to be with you
27.294625 30.494625 in the trustworthy podcast studio and listeners
30.494625 33.174625 were so thankful that you are listening today.
33.174625 36.214625 - And I don't know about you, Sarah,
36.214625 39.054625 but this can be true anytime,
39.054625 41.214625 but especially at the beginning of the year,
41.214625 47.174625 I feel an onslaught of shoulds and aughts
48.134625 52.654625 and things coming at me, telling me what's wrong with my life
52.654625 54.574625 and how to make it better.
54.574625 58.374625 And it got me thinking about which of those things are true,
58.374625 60.174625 which are those things are from the Lord,
60.174625 61.494625 which are those things are not,
61.494625 68.454625 which brings to mind the concept of spiritual warfare.
68.454625 69.454625 - You get it?
69.454625 70.294625 - Yeah.
70.294625 75.494625 So listeners, this is the topic that we are approaching
75.494625 80.494625 with some reverence as well as some light-heartedness
80.494625 86.854625 that comes from the knowledge that we have been saved,
86.854625 89.894625 redeemed and protected by the blood of Jesus.
89.894625 92.334625 And that while we may fight many battles,
92.334625 93.854625 the war is already won.
93.854625 94.694625 - Amen.
94.694625 95.694625 - Yes.
95.694625 96.534625 - Okay.
96.534625 97.374625 - End of episode.
97.374625 99.614625 - And there we go, that's the big takeaway.
99.614625 100.454625 - Yeah.
101.574625 105.534625 - So, yeah, back to spiritual warfare.
105.534625 112.334625 Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
112.334625 115.214625 but against the rulers, against the authorities,
115.214625 118.334625 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,
118.334625 122.014625 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
122.014625 126.894625 I think it's important for every Christian to understand
126.894625 128.894625 this is reality, Mary Beth.
130.614625 131.614625 - Yes.
131.614625 136.534625 Especially in a time where a lot of this seems to bleed
136.534625 141.534625 into no pun intended battles between actual flesh and blood.
141.534625 148.214625 And we are not here on this episode to talk about that.
148.214625 150.334625 No, we're not.
150.334625 152.454625 Just putting that out there at the beginning of the episode.
152.454625 154.694625 - Yeah, that's a different podcast, different channel,
154.694625 155.934625 different hosts.
157.414625 161.134625 - Yeah, no, we're here to talk about what we, as Christians,
161.134625 163.614625 need to be prepared to deal with every day.
163.614625 166.454625 And it's kind of interesting to me,
166.454625 170.694625 because when I was young, of course I knew about it.
170.694625 173.894625 I mean, it came to the Lord at a relatively young age.
173.894625 176.134625 And so it was definitely something that we talked about.
176.134625 178.374625 We sing songs about it and church.
178.374625 180.294625 And of course I knew about it.
180.294625 185.294625 But it wasn't something that was fixated on.
186.534625 189.974625 And I think that that is an important point
189.974625 192.654625 that I want to make also at the outset of this discussion
192.654625 196.254625 is that this is the sort of thing that is good to know about.
196.254625 199.494625 It's good to be prepared for and then fix your mind
199.494625 201.414625 and whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
201.414625 204.534625 whatever is good, as it says in James.
204.534625 209.534625 So our intention today is to talk about the armor of God
209.534625 214.734625 and how this idea of being prepared
216.414625 219.374625 for spiritual warfare can make a really big difference
219.374625 220.974625 in our lives.
220.974625 224.214625 Yes, and that it's a necessity.
224.214625 228.734625 You don't want to be out there in the world unequipped
228.734625 229.734625 and unprepared.
229.734625 233.134625 And just like a number of other things,
233.134625 235.854625 I'm thinking of how Sabbath was given to us as a gift,
235.854625 239.094625 how the family structure was given to us as a gift.
239.094625 242.854625 I would say that the armor of God was also given to us
242.854625 245.814625 as a gift to remind us of some really important truths.
245.814625 249.974625 Yeah, and as I was researching for this,
249.974625 253.814625 I learned or re-learned a lot of things,
253.814625 256.134625 which I think is the point, Mary Beth,
256.134625 257.854625 as we have this podcast.
257.854625 259.614625 The point of researching is to learn.
259.614625 260.454625 Wait what?
260.454625 266.214625 Okay, well, the point of doing the podcast is for us to learn,
266.214625 268.894625 but yes, yes, I'm glad you could point that out to me.
268.894625 273.934625 Well, maybe there are some people listening
273.934625 277.454625 who either haven't thought about this in a long time
277.454625 280.454625 or aren't really familiar with the armor of God,
280.454625 283.494625 and what that is, so Sarah, big question.
283.494625 286.134625 What is the armor of God?
286.134625 291.134625 I'm going to answer that question by reading Ephesians 6: 10-18.
291.134625 297.654625 "Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might,
297.654625 299.494625 put on the whole armor of God
299.494625 303.414625 that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
303.414625 305.974625 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood
305.974625 308.294625 but against the rulers, against the authorities,
308.294625 311.454625 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,
311.454625 315.014625 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
315.014625 319.294625 Therefore, take up the whole armor of God
319.294625 322.734625 that you may be able to withstand in the evil day
322.734625 326.574625 and having done all to stand firm.
326.574625 331.174625 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth
331.174625 334.414625 and having put on the breastplate of righteousness
334.414625 336.774625 and, as shoes for your feet,
336.774625 340.254625 having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace
340.254625 344.254625 in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith
344.254625 347.254625 with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts
347.254625 351.054625 of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation
351.054625 355.214625 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
355.214625 358.094625 praying at all times in the Spirit
358.094625 360.774625 with all prayer and supplication.
360.774625 364.774625 That was Ephesians 6:10-18 A.
364.774625 366.894625 Did that answer your question, Mary Beth?
366.894625 369.094625 It truly did, thank you.
369.094625 373.694625 And it also made me think, how do we use this?
373.694625 378.414625 How do we do this thing called being in the Lord's army?
378.414625 381.574625 Like the song I learned when I was little, not that song.
381.574625 387.134625 What does it really mean to put on spiritual armor?
387.134625 388.694625 Well, let's begin at the beginning.
388.694625 390.454625 Let's talk about the belt of truth.
390.454625 393.214625 What is the belt of truth?
393.214625 397.094625 The belt of truth is the word of God,
397.094625 400.974625 which in the scriptures as well as Jesus himself.
400.974625 403.294625 John 14:6, Jesus said to him,
403.294625 405.534625 "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
405.534625 407.814625 No one comes to the Father except through me.
407.814625 411.934625 So Jesus is truth.
411.934625 414.734625 And then also, it says in John 8:32,
414.734625 417.774625 "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
417.774625 421.974625 So we find in scripture that truth sets us free,
421.974625 424.614625 and that Jesus himself is truth.
424.614625 426.054625 And of course, we know that the scripture,
426.054625 427.654625 the word of God is truth.
427.654625 429.934625 And the more we know God and His word,
429.934625 434.134625 the more easily we can discern between truth and lies.
434.134625 436.574625 And we know that our enemy tries to trick us with lies.
436.574625 439.894625 So it's helpful to be able to discern truth from lie.
439.894625 443.814625 I think about what a belt is used for.
443.814625 446.974625 I am not a member of the military.
446.974625 449.454625 So maybe there's some other military significance to a belt,
449.454625 454.214625 but I think about how it kind of holds things together.
454.214625 457.974625 It anchors your outfit.
457.974625 462.974625 And you would want things to be wrapped and supported in truth.
462.974625 466.934625 All these other pieces you want it all to be grounded
466.934625 468.254625 and established in truth.
468.254625 471.654625 Because why would we want to go forth
471.654625 475.934625 and combat the lies of the enemy with anything but truth, right?
475.934625 478.494625 Yeah, I think it's very essential.
478.494625 484.374625 It's like this deep gut knowledge that's like down in your belly.
484.374625 488.614625 And to prepare yourself for that, often we have a lot
488.614625 493.334625 of exhortation in the scripture to gird your loins,
493.334625 497.734625 which I believe is kind of the same concept here.
497.734625 500.334625 Yeah, it's gathering up those pants
500.334625 501.854625 and tying it all together at the waist
501.854625 506.374625 so that you can run freely and run into whatever lies ahead.
506.374625 509.574625 Yeah, be prepared to fight.
509.574625 512.974625 Yeah, breastplate of righteousness.
512.974625 515.574625 This one is an interesting one.
515.574625 520.094625 I was thinking about how I've been helping my son lately
520.094625 521.334625 get ready for hockey practice.
521.334625 523.694625 And he has all these pads he has to put on.
523.694625 527.054625 And one of them is chest pad, chest protection,
527.054625 530.174625 which is sort of a similar but different role
530.174625 534.014625 than armor in the breastplate of righteousness.
534.014625 541.174625 And it really is a defensive piece of armor, right?
541.174625 548.334625 It is not offensive, which for me, I have in the past
548.334625 551.254625 and I still can weaponize righteousness.
551.254625 552.854625 And that is not what scripture is saying.
552.854625 556.454625 We should be doing with the breastplate of righteousness.
556.454625 559.614625 Wow, that's really profound.
559.614625 562.654625 Yeah, I see how that can happen to us.
562.654625 566.054625 We can easily slip into that weaponization
566.054625 570.614625 of things that are supposed to be there merely as defense.
570.614625 573.334625 That could be a whole podcast episode.
573.334625 578.854625 Well, as Romans 3 says, I think this is versus 22 and 23,
578.854625 582.734625 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
582.734625 585.054625 for all who believe that is what the righteousness of God
585.054625 585.894625 is for.
585.894625 588.174625 For there is no distinction for all have sinned
588.174625 591.134625 and fall short of the glory of God.
591.134625 595.454625 And so it's almost this picture of humility
595.454625 599.094625 that we have to be covered in Christ's righteousness
599.094625 601.334625 because we don't have it on our own.
601.334625 603.454625 Yeah, all of our starvings are filthy rags.
603.454625 605.334625 I mean, there's nothing, no protection
605.334625 607.934625 we can provide for ourselves.
607.934625 613.294625 I think of a breastplate covering our heart.
613.294625 617.894625 And that brings to mind my very favorite verse in Proverbs

617.894625 623.334625 which is Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart above all else
623.334625 627.774625 for it determines the course of your life."
627.774625 631.334625 I have a pop question for you, Sarah.
631.334625 634.654625 Uh-oh, go ahead, bring it on.
634.654625 638.054625 Since you grew up in church culture just like I did,
638.054625 641.414625 this phrase at least got thrown around a lot for me
641.414625 645.014625 in my teenage years of "Guard your heart."
645.014625 649.374625 How do you view guarding your heart now differently
649.374625 653.454625 than you did when you were maybe a child or a teenager?
653.454625 656.454625 Hmm.
656.454625 662.494625 I didn't understand the importance of it when I was a kid.
662.494625 665.374625 I think back to time in college.
665.374625 668.934625 And I was pretty sheltered.
668.934625 671.854625 And there was a movie that was popular at the time
671.854625 677.134625 that was rated R, and it was pretty graphic.
677.134625 679.694625 It wasn't something that I'd never seen.
679.694625 681.934625 And I happened to mention it at college.
681.934625 683.854625 My first year of college was at a Christian college.
683.854625 686.534625 And my friend, who was a year older and more wise in the ways
686.534625 689.294625 in the world, said, no, you don't want to watch that.
689.294625 691.614625 You should not watch that.
691.614625 692.934625 And I was like, oh, OK.
692.934625 695.814625 Which, of course, I took as a challenge.
695.814625 698.094625 But looking back on that now, I see
698.094625 701.894625 that he was trying to guard my heart.
701.894625 704.534625 And so when I was young, I didn't really
704.534625 706.094625 understand the concept.
706.094625 713.374625 And now I know that my heart can be tempted.
713.374625 719.214625 My heart can be caused to stray by things that are not from God.
719.214625 723.694625 And yeah, it has a much more serious meaning to me now.
723.694625 726.814625 I guess if that's a good answer, I just didn't take it
726.814625 728.574625 seriously enough as a kid.
728.574625 730.574625 Yeah.
730.574625 732.894625 And maybe what I'm hearing you say is, when you're younger,
732.894625 739.134625 you kind of see that as a challenge, as a threat of, you know,
739.134625 741.254625 why would I guard my heart?
741.254625 744.494625 I need to live my own life and figure it out for myself
744.494625 747.294625 and see what's out there and all those things.
747.294625 750.454625 But then we come to know the wisdom of restraint
750.454625 753.574625 and boundaries and all those things.
753.574625 754.654625 Yeah.
754.654625 756.774625 That was a good question.
756.774625 759.454625 Why, thank you.
759.454625 764.494625 OK, Mary Beth, what's the next thing that we need to put on?
764.494625 768.174625 The next one are the shoes of the readiness given
768.174625 770.854625 by the gospel of peace.
770.854625 772.974625 What does that mean?
772.974625 776.774625 Let's see, shoes are made for walking.
776.774625 779.294625 That's just what they'll do.
779.294625 783.694625 And peace is spoken about a lot in scripture.
783.694625 786.214625 Walk in the ways of peace.
786.214625 789.294625 The gospel of peace, the good news of peace.
789.294625 794.454625 John 14 has this to say, this is Jesus' words.
794.454625 796.894625 Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
796.894625 798.374625 Not as the world gives.
798.374625 799.774625 Do I give to you.
799.774625 801.254625 Let not your hearts be troubled.
801.254625 803.374625 Neither let them be afraid.
803.374625 806.374625 Mm.
806.374625 811.294625 You were looking Sarah into this idea of shoes
811.294625 814.534625 with actual historical armor.
814.534625 815.694625 Yeah.
815.694625 818.974625 Often the armor of God gets compared to the armor
818.974625 821.614625 that a Roman centurion would have worn.
821.614625 826.654625 And rightfully so, being that as this was being written by a Paul,
826.654625 829.054625 there would have been Roman centurions.
829.054625 834.614625 And not so far off, perhaps a little too close for comfort.
834.614625 838.974625 The Romans were, the Roman soldiers wore these sandals
838.974625 842.414625 called Caligae, if I'm pronouncing that correctly.
842.414625 846.654625 And they were a leather sandal that
846.654625 850.214625 were actually fitted for left and right feet.
850.214625 854.214625 And they were open to the air, but had a lot of support
854.214625 856.854625 by the use of really soft leather straps.
856.854625 859.174625 And they were designed so that the soldiers
859.174625 862.574625 could march 25 miles a day and not get blisters.
862.574625 866.574625 In addition to that, they had hobnails on the bottom of them.
866.574625 870.974625 So they were able to traverse any type of road
870.974625 874.614625 or terrain or obstacle that might come in their way.
874.614625 877.814625 And those hobnails were even used in battles sometimes.
877.814625 882.094625 So if you think about shoes that are ready
882.094625 885.094625 to go through this life of turmoil and fear
885.094625 890.294625 that are comfortable enough to wear all day long, 25 miles,
890.294625 894.934625 or whatever, it kind of helps me understand a little bit better
894.934625 899.294625 how Paul was thinking when he was writing this.
899.294625 903.254625 And shoes that are ready for anything
903.254625 908.974625 that you can move quickly, that you can encounter whatever
908.974625 912.254625 terrain and be bringing peace, which
912.254625 918.054625 was a juxtaposition to the strong military might
918.054625 919.974625 of the Roman Empire.
919.974625 922.174625 Of course, we've all heard of Pax Romana,
922.174625 928.014625 but that was just achieved through force and intimidation.
928.014625 929.854625 I was going to say intimidation is the way that keeps coming
929.854625 934.014625 to mind as a distinction here that the soldiers, especially
934.014625 940.214625 Romans, were using these specially crafted sandals
940.214625 943.374625 to fight actual battle and to intimidate
943.374625 948.054625 as they're marching information, as they're going forward
948.054625 950.174625 and doing all these things and contrasting that
950.174625 953.974625 with the gospel of peace that is carrying--
953.974625 958.774625 your shoes are carrying you forward with this message
958.774625 960.774625 of, do not fear.
960.774625 963.654625 Jesus says, I'm leaving my peace with you.
963.654625 965.494625 But that is the message we're carrying forward.
965.494625 966.894625 It's not intimidation.
966.894625 968.934625 It's not domination.
968.934625 973.894625 It's not crusading in the bad sense of the word
973.894625 981.734625 that it is calm, loving, fearless message of peace.
981.734625 983.934625 Perfect love casts out fear.
983.934625 988.614625 I just love that picture of that of the gospel of peace.
988.614625 990.694625 And then the shield of faith, which we
990.694625 995.614625 use to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one.
995.614625 997.774625 There will be flaming darts of the evil one.
997.774625 1001.014625 That's my main message from that one.
1001.014625 1007.334625 I think a lot of times in the West today,
1007.334625 1011.214625 we get coddled into thinking that there
1011.214625 1013.574625 aren't a lot of attacks happening on us
1013.574625 1014.894625 that we have a comfortable life.
1014.894625 1021.254625 And there's not a lot going on in terms of spiritual warfare.
1021.254625 1022.854625 But that's not true.
1022.854625 1025.334625 And we do need protection.
1025.334625 1025.694625 We do.
1025.694625 1026.734625 We do.
1026.734625 1028.854625 You said comfortable life, which, of course,
1028.854625 1032.574625 brought to mind, C.S. Lewis's screw tape letters,
1032.574625 1038.174625 in which screw tape, who's this upper-level management demon,
1038.174625 1040.734625 is writing to his nephew, Wormwood, who
1040.734625 1044.214625 is an entry-level, and encouraging him
1044.214625 1048.814625 to tempt the human patient, in quotes,
1048.814625 1054.334625 to sort of ignore the things of God and to be complacent,
1054.334625 1059.414625 and not to outright renounce or become a bad person,
1059.414625 1063.774625 or he's not tempting him to commit some sort of heinous crime,
1063.774625 1069.214625 just tempting him to be sort of comfortable,
1069.214625 1073.454625 and not really pay attention to the fact
1073.454625 1076.014625 that maybe he thinks he's better than other people.
1076.014625 1079.414625 That's a danger.
1079.414625 1081.234625 As far as the shield of faith goes,
1081.234625 1084.574625 Hebrews 11 says that faith is the assurance of things
1084.574625 1087.814625 hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
1087.814625 1089.774625 We have to be sure.
1089.774625 1094.174625 We have to be fully committed to the fact
1094.174625 1101.014625 that there is a God, that he is who he says he is.
1101.014625 1103.654625 He sent his son to die for us,
1103.654625 1106.454625 who was crucified, dead, and buried,
1106.454625 1109.574625 and then rose again on the third day,
1109.574625 1111.614625 and has gone ahead to prepare a place for us
1111.614625 1113.854625 and sent the Holy Spirit as a comforter.
1113.854625 1116.254625 I mean, did he just come back to the apostles' creed?
1116.254625 1120.174625 Like, we have to be firm in this.
1120.174625 1125.214625 And when we are, it's so much easier to deflect
1125.214625 1128.534625 those fiery arrows, even if they're not fiery.
1128.534625 1130.894625 Like you said, the complacency, the comfort.
1130.894625 1135.414625 - Well, we may not perceive them as fiery,
1135.414625 1139.174625 but they are wearing away at our souls.
1139.174625 1143.094625 And it's interesting to me that this kind of goes
1143.094625 1145.854625 right into the next one, the helmet of salvation.
1145.854625 1147.414625 I see how they can work together
1147.414625 1152.014625 that we have this gift of faith that can act as a shield,
1152.014625 1156.054625 but this concept of renewing our mind,
1156.054625 1160.694625 that when we're in Christ, we have this gift of salvation
1160.694625 1164.734625 and this assurance and all that working together with faith.
1164.734625 1169.734625 It's not as parsed out as this example of armor is,
1169.734625 1171.054625 it's one picture of it,
1171.054625 1172.894625 but really all these things are working together
1172.894625 1174.454625 at all times.
1174.454625 1178.894625 And so this idea of the helmet of salvation that Jesus' blood
1178.894625 1181.534625 has cleansed us and protects us
1181.534625 1186.534625 and placing that so-called helmet protects our thought life,
1186.534625 1190.894625 how we view the world,
1190.894625 1194.574625 how we engage with the rest of this armor.
1194.574625 1199.014625 Are we thinking about using the shield of faith?
1199.014625 1201.494625 Are we thinking about walking in the way of peace?
1202.694625 1205.814625 All those ways it's played together came to my mind.
1205.814625 1207.114625 - No, that's really good, Mary Beth.
1207.114625 1210.414625 And our thought life, when we've talked about this
1210.414625 1212.814625 on this podcast before, but our thought life
1212.814625 1217.814625 is something that is integral to how fulfilled we feel
1217.814625 1223.694625 and how much we enjoy the land of the living, so to speak,
1223.694625 1226.294625 and our time here on this earth.
1226.294625 1230.054625 You know, God wants us to enjoy this world while we can,
1230.054625 1233.974625 but knowing, of course, that there's so much better yet to come.
1233.974625 1238.774625 So then the final one, Sarah, the sword of the Spirit.
1238.774625 1240.134625 I love this one, Mary Beth.
1240.134625 1243.174625 And you and I are working on this right now,
1243.174625 1246.414625 as we speak, we're part of our church-wide
1246.414625 1248.774625 Read The Bible in a Year program.
1248.774625 1250.614625 So yeah, the sword of the Spirit is,
1250.614625 1252.974625 as you would expect the word of God,
1252.974625 1254.414625 which is living and active,
1254.414625 1256.534625 is sharper than any double-edged sword.
1256.534625 1259.734625 It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
1259.734625 1261.334625 joints and marrow.
1261.334625 1263.934625 It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
1263.934625 1267.534625 In Hebrews 4:12, I love that because it talks about
1267.534625 1268.814625 the word of God being a sword.
1268.814625 1271.774625 And right here, we've got a sword of the Spirit.
1271.774625 1276.054625 Of course, the Holy Spirit is indwelling with us
1276.054625 1281.054625 and helping to illuminate the scriptures as we read them
1281.054625 1286.734625 and helping us to be able to apply what we're reading
1286.734625 1288.214625 to our lives.
1288.214625 1293.214625 Yeah, and we don't have to come up with it on our own.
1293.214625 1295.594625 The Spirit is with us,
1295.594625 1299.454625 interceding for us and dwelling in us.
1299.454625 1305.094625 And our prayer can be the words of our mouth
1305.094625 1306.254625 and the meditation of our heart
1306.254625 1309.094625 would be pleasing and acceptable in the Lord's sight.
1309.094625 1312.414625 And one of the ways he answers that is through his spirit,
1312.414625 1315.494625 speaking to us, through his word.
1315.494625 1317.134625 And that that is the message.
1317.134625 1318.934625 Those are the words that we need to live by
1318.934625 1321.414625 that we need to speak into the world around us.
1321.414625 1324.054625 That's the weapon, you know?
1324.054625 1328.694625 That's what's gonna go against everything
1328.694625 1330.254625 that the world, the flesh and the devil
1330.254625 1332.414625 are trying to bring against us.
1332.414625 1337.414625 Yeah, and Jesus was the best example of how this works
1337.414625 1341.574625 because when he was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days,
1341.574625 1344.494625 he kept saying to Satan, it is written.
1344.494625 1346.094625 It is written.
1346.094625 1349.094625 It is written, you should not tempt the larger God.
1349.094625 1354.094625 And I think that we often forget about all the scripture
1354.094625 1360.174625 that's available to us when we're fighting these battles.
1360.174625 1364.814625 And it reminded me we just talked on a recent episode
1364.814625 1369.534625 about how you and I grew up in a Christian school environment.
1369.534625 1374.534625 I had memory verse quizzes every week for years at school.
1375.694625 1378.574625 And the importance of scripture memory
1378.574625 1383.974625 and just ingraining those things into your mind and your heart.
1383.974625 1388.174625 God uses that, His word does not return to Him void.
1388.174625 1392.454625 He will draw those things to mind the more that we sow them
1392.454625 1393.934625 into who we are.
1393.934625 1397.214625 So that would be an encouragement I would offer to people
1397.214625 1399.334625 is, you know, some people might be thinking,
1399.334625 1400.654625 how do you, how do you do this?
1400.654625 1401.854625 How do you use the sword of spirit?
1401.854625 1403.014625 What does that mean?
1403.014625 1405.454625 I think scripture memory is a great way to do that.
1405.894625 1408.214625 - Yeah, you could start with some of the scriptures
1408.214625 1410.334625 that we've talked about today.
1410.334625 1413.174625 So that is the full armor of God, Sarah.
1413.174625 1416.574625 And let us not forget that the next line in the passages
1416.574625 1418.734625 is praying all times in the spirit.
1418.734625 1423.014625 I think that that is important.
1423.014625 1428.014625 And we can pray the armor of God for ourselves.
1428.014625 1430.134625 We can pray it for our children.
1430.134625 1434.494625 We can pray it for those we love who are far from us
1434.494625 1438.934625 for our pastors in those doing ministry work
1438.934625 1442.494625 for our government leaders and our government.
1442.494625 1446.334625 That reminded of John Piper's quote.
1446.334625 1449.454625 I heard him speak when I was a teenager
1449.454625 1450.734625 at a conference about prayer.
1450.734625 1453.174625 And this one is what stuck with me.
1453.174625 1455.574625 He said, "You will not know what prayer is for
1455.574625 1457.494625 until you know that life is war."
1457.494625 1461.214625 And just that acknowledgement that spiritual warfare
1461.214625 1463.574625 is happening all around us.
1464.574625 1467.934625 And we have been given things to deal with it like prayer.
1467.934625 1472.334625 - Mary Beth, I have a question for you.
1472.334625 1473.654625 I'm listening.
1473.654625 1478.094625 Has there been a specific time in your life
1478.094625 1482.374625 when you were experiencing spiritual warfare
1482.374625 1485.334625 where you were clearly able to see the result
1485.334625 1490.334625 of fighting by using prayer or the armor of God?
1491.374625 1493.814625 I don't know that I've ever consciously
1493.814625 1498.454625 in a disciplinary way thought about putting on
1498.454625 1499.774625 the armor of God every day.
1499.774625 1501.454625 I know that that's kind of what some people teach
1501.454625 1503.574625 is, you know, you should wake up every morning,
1503.574625 1505.774625 put on the armor of God to face the day.
1505.774625 1508.694625 I don't know that that practice has ever been part of my life.
1508.694625 1510.734625 But the principles that are here,
1510.734625 1513.734625 God has used it various times and various ways.
1513.734625 1516.414625 One time in my life when I can think about this
1516.414625 1520.974625 very clearly is when I was in my early 20s
1520.974625 1525.974625 and out of my normal Christian community
1525.974625 1530.414625 and surrounded by people who did not know the Lord
1530.414625 1535.414625 and I have never experienced a more tangible way
1535.414625 1542.734625 of feeling like going to church on Sunday
1542.734625 1548.174625 and being with Christians was filling my cup
1548.174625 1550.934625 to go out and face the world during the week.
1550.934625 1555.934625 And it was very much a night and day season of my life
1555.934625 1560.294625 of knowing that I was going to encounter things
1560.294625 1564.854625 that were tempting to me or contrary to what I believed
1564.854625 1569.854625 or people bringing up conversations about eternal things.
1569.854625 1573.014625 And I felt prepared to handle those only
1573.014625 1578.014625 because my point of view was I have the Holy Spirit
1580.454625 1582.054625 and I have this community of people
1582.054625 1583.534625 and I'm being filled up
1583.534625 1585.814625 and then going back out into the world to fight again,
1585.814625 1588.374625 not fight in an adversarial sense,
1588.374625 1593.574625 but in this sense of I have the hope and the joy
1593.574625 1596.694625 to share with these people that they're looking for.
1596.694625 1599.854625 And so I would say that was one very clear time in my life
1599.854625 1604.854625 that it was almost as if the Holy Spirit was saying,
1604.854625 1608.654625 hey, let me give you a little sense of what's coming,
1608.654625 1610.174625 what's the next step ahead?
1610.174625 1613.894625 Like this is about to come, let's make sure you're prepared.
1613.894625 1616.294625 And that hasn't really happened again,
1616.294625 1619.934625 that clarity of perspective
1619.934625 1621.534625 and that particular season of life,
1621.534625 1623.894625 I don't know if that answered your question.
1623.894625 1625.494625 No, I did.
1625.494625 1626.334625 No, I think that's good.
1626.334625 1629.054625 I think I've had different times in my life
1629.054625 1632.374625 where I've felt spiritual attacks.
1632.374625 1636.574625 And over the years, I've become more adept
1636.574625 1638.494625 at recognizing those.
1638.494625 1640.174625 Yeah, sometimes it's like, okay,
1640.174625 1643.174625 the car breaks down, the things happen, you know, whatever.
1643.174625 1647.054625 But sometimes there are deliberate forces
1647.054625 1648.974625 that work against us.
1648.974625 1651.414625 And here's the thing,
1651.414625 1653.814625 a lot of times those deliberate forces
1653.814625 1655.214625 that are working against us
1655.214625 1658.854625 are just the whispers and lies of boy,
1658.854625 1660.654625 everything's going wrong.
1660.654625 1662.934625 Or man, you really screwed that up
1662.934625 1665.254625 and doesn't your life suck because of this,
1665.254625 1666.094625 that's the kind of thing.
1666.094625 1668.654625 So that's why our power of our thoughts and words,
1668.654625 1669.974625 which we've discussed before,
1669.974625 1671.614625 but so incredibly important.
1671.614625 1674.694625 But I find much more quickly now,
1674.694625 1678.694625 I go to prayer and pray the blood of Jesus
1678.694625 1682.214625 over the situation and it makes a big difference.
1682.214625 1684.894625 I think there's just freedom and power
1684.894625 1687.454625 in naming what is happening.
1687.454625 1691.054625 Stephen and I talk about this all the time
1691.054625 1693.774625 when it comes to hosting small group at our house,
1693.774625 1697.054625 without fail, the most often we fight
1697.054625 1701.054625 is in the hour before people get to our house for small group.
1701.054625 1704.374625 Because the enemy knows that we're about to dig into scripture.
1704.374625 1707.134625 And so he's just like putting obstacles in our way.
1707.134625 1709.534625 He's, you know, tempting our flesh,
1709.534625 1711.854625 letting the flesh take over.
1711.854625 1715.014625 So yeah, that's another ongoing experience
1715.014625 1715.854625 with spiritual warfare.
1715.854625 1716.694625 No, I agree.
1716.694625 1717.534625 I agree.
1717.534625 1718.974625 I know that you and I have experienced
1718.974625 1720.494625 different things like that
1720.494625 1722.054625 and other things in our personal lives.
1722.054625 1724.094625 Just as we do this podcast.
1724.094625 1724.934625 Yeah.
1724.934625 1727.054625 So anyway, well, listeners,
1727.054625 1730.454625 we want to leave you with a little bit of hope,
1730.454625 1732.214625 a little bit of lightheartedness.
1732.214625 1733.534625 Well, we have a lot of hope.
1733.534625 1737.774625 But let's end on a little bit lighter note.
1737.774625 1739.334625 Jesus spoke again to the people.
1739.334625 1742.414625 He said, I am the light of the world.
1742.414625 1744.734625 Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
1744.734625 1746.894625 but we'll have the light of life.
1746.894625 1747.974625 John 8:12.
1747.974625 1751.454625 Well, listeners, thank you so much
1751.454625 1752.774625 for joining us.
1752.774625 1756.494625 We pray that you will be encouraged
1756.494625 1758.214625 and blessed by our discussion
1758.214625 1760.654625 and that you will think about these things
1760.654625 1764.414625 and know that the Lord is fighting for us.
1764.414625 1765.894625 We need only to be still.
1765.894625 1770.254625 And Mary Beth, any concluding thoughts from you?
1770.254625 1772.214625 You look like you want to say something.
1772.214625 1773.494625 I was just thinking, Sarah.
1773.494625 1776.654625 I may never march in the infantry.
1776.654625 1777.574625 Mm.
1777.574625 1781.054625 Ride in the cavalry or shoot the artillery.
1782.014625 1784.454625 I may never zoom or the enemy.
1784.454625 1785.854625 I'm in the Lord's army.
1785.854625 1786.854625 Yes, sir.
1786.854625 1790.054625 I'm Sarah.
1790.054625 1791.174625 And I'm Mary Beth.
1791.174625 1793.734625 And this is trustworthy.