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Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (PS 51:9-10)

Have you ever been so relaxed around your supervisor that you said or did something you later regretted? Once I was talking to the Battalion XO and complaining about an issue. As I left the room I thought about how immature and petty I had sounded and wished I had never said anything at all. I made myself look bad in my supervisor’s eyes. But, those were my real thoughts and attitudes about the issues and as immature as they were, it was the real me. We try to hide our weaknesses from others in order to appear more mature or noble then we really are. We can’t do this with God. He sees and hears everything, even the things hidden deep in our hearts. I’m glad we don’t have to fake it with God. He knows us to the bone and when we confess our shortcomings He’s ready and willing to forgive.

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 saints. (Ephesians 6:18)

The second offensive weapon in the full armor of God is prayer. Prayer can be compared to modern day artillery. It’s called for over the radio from afar and able to rain fire on the enemy. In spiritual warfare, prayer is our preparatory and sustained attack on the plans of the enemy and allows us to participate in the work of God. I wonder how much has been accomplished in these last days by a nation united in prayer. Much more than we’ll ever know.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:11, 17b)

The Word of God is compared to the weapon of the day, the sword. Today it can be compared to the rifle of the modern soldier. It takes familiarization, training and practice to become proficient with an individual weapon. I remember doing blindfolded assembly and disassembly, shooting from different stances in bad weather and at night, even firing with a gas mask on. We as Christians need to be just as serious in being proficient with our weapon, the Scriptures. We should read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God. Let me take this opportunity to encourage you to read your Bible daily and begin memorizing some key passage of scripture.

Today is the 100th post of SWORDPOINT!
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Take the helmet of salvation… (Ephesians 6:17)

In 4-64 Armor at Fort Stewart, we had a display case in the battalion headquarters. There were many artifacts from Desert Storm and one of the most interesting was a Kevlar helmet. It had been worn by a young Private First Class who is certainly counting his blessings everyday. The Kevlar bears the scars of a 7.62, AK-47 bullet. The helmet saved his life. That’s a great description of the ‘helmet of Salvation.’ It’s an eternal lifesaver and the scars it bears are those inflicted on the Lord Jesus at the cross.

…in addition to all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)

As I read Blackhawk Down, I was struck by the incredible punishment the Ranger convoy endured as it roamed the streets of Mogadishu. The lost string of vehicles became great sport for their enemy as both men and machine were riddled with bullets. One of the Rangers noted that it looked as though the sun was poking holes in the Humvee door. What a terrifying experience! In the same way, our everyday lives are just as penetrable as our spiritual enemy tries to take us out. Without protection, we can be riddled with unholy holes. We try to duck behind our own strength or wisdom for protection, but the flaming missiles of the evil one streak through it all. God is our only shield and our trust in Him deflects the enemy’s projectiles. By faith, we hunker down behind His love and promises and we are protected. Take Cover Behind Jesus!

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=2651035692968614552&hl=en

…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)

As a young infantryman in training the Drill Sergeant kept saying to us, ‘We’ll be traveling by LPCs today.’ We always expected some vehicle to pick us up and take us to our destination. Invariably, we would end up walking everywhere we went. Then we figured it out. LPC stood for Leather Personnel Carrier, boots! The soldier’s feet are one of his greatest assets and must be protected with properly fitted boots. They protect the feet of those on the go. Jesus commanded us to ‘Go.’ In Matthew 28:19, He says, ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples…’ We are called to a mission. And, as we are going, part of our protection and presentation is the Gospel. Think about that for a few minutes. There’s protection in presenting Jesus Christ and bringing peace into other’s lives. Lace up those boots!

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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place… (Ephesians 6:13-14)

Sometimes during PT we run in our body armor to add weight and make running a little more challenging. Once PT is done, we can drop that heavy armor in the closet. When we are deployed, however, we wear it 24/7 because if lead starts flying we want to have it on. For the believer, our body armor is RIGHTEOUSNESS. Not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. It’s issued to us at spiritual birth. This spiritual flack vest is put on by acknowledging the fact that our good deeds don’t cut it. If we begin to think that somehow our good works make us more acceptable to God, the spiritual shrapnel of Satan’s accusations begin to wound us. We need Christ to protect us with His holiness. Nothing can penetrate the Righteousness of Christ. Keep your spiritual body armor on.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=6091456848819961995&hl=en

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. (Ephesians 6:14a)

I was confronted with this question, ‘If I could prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus never existed, would you believe it?’ Without a second’s hesitation I responded, ‘Yes.’ My challenger was dumbfounded and stood there with his mouth open. When he regained his wits he replied, ‘You are the first Christian I’ve met who has ever responded that way.’ Obviously, he’d been setting up trip wires for Christians for some time. I then explained that my faith was based on evidence gathered from the scripture, history, science, and my experiences in life. I told him I was pursuing the truth, not a fairy tale. Both he and I knew he could not disprove the existence of Christ. He was testing my foundation for faith. We seek the truth. Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.’ (John 14:6)