Warfare Part 5

Dear beloved: Let's take a look more closely at the individual pieces of gospel armor as we prepare for battle. The first piece mentioned is the girdle (gr. zoma), to gird (protect) your loins with truth. We can easily see that this girdle of protection is Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus declared about Himself, "I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me." And again in John 8:31-32 Jesus again declares about Himself, "If you abide in My word , then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." David says it this way in Psalm 51:6 Behold, Thou does desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part Thou will make me to know wisdom. So God's will for us is that we have truth in our innermost being, and that we protect that truth with Jesus Christ. It's very interesting to note that the girdle protects our organs of reproduction (loins) among other vital organs. The reason for that is that the devil many times works on people through sexual immorality; sexual temptation, lust, homosexuality, and other sexual perversions are a demonic stronghold and source of weakness for many people. The first pillar of God's creation, and the first command He gave to mankind (Adam) was to fill the earth, Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." The second pillar of God's creation is marriage, when He created woman from man and the two became one flesh. Genesis 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. v25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. In 1 John 4:16 John sums up the temptations of the world, when he says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. v17 And the world is passing away, also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever." So you can see that lust of eyes and flesh are directly tied to sexual reproduction in many instances, and are manifested through the sexual organs. And we also know that when sexual unions are kept in the proper vessel and given over to the glory of God through marriage and procreation, there is bountiful joy and pleasure in it as God would have it. God wants us to protect our loins from all impurity and so we have the girdle of truth, Jesus, for that purpose. If you need to, repent this day of any impure thoughts or actions that are related to your reproductive organs, to clean up and commit to a righteous and holy life. When Jesus was in the garden praying the prayer for His disciples (and all mankind to follow), He said in John 17:17, "Sanctify them in truth; Thy word is truth." v18 "As Thou did send Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world, v19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves may also be sanctified in truth." Beloved, sanctify, set yourself apart in truth, the truth of Jesus. May God bless you this day, in Christ, Jim