Dress and Keep part 4
Life comes at you fast. That's just part of living. But, luckily, we don't have to do it ourselves. Look at Ephesians 6:13, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and haveing done all, to stand." I like this one even better than Ephesians 6:11 (the other memory verse that speaks of the whole amour of God), which says, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." I like it better because, to me, it's more practical. I don't want to get into a big debate about the devil. I really don't. If that's something you struggle with, or against, if that's something you focus a lot of time and effort on... I guess that is what it is. But to me, it's more important to be able to withstand the day. To get from the start of the day to the end of the day. And, quite honestly, some days... that's about all I can do. And I can't do it alone. Ever. It is not good that man should be alone. We need help. Every day in every way. Luckily, according to Psalm 121:2, "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." We have everything we need. We dress the garden by putting on the whole armor of God. By using what we've already been given. We don't have to go get any armor. We don't have to earn it. Or find it. We already have it. We have been given everything we need. It's the armor of God. It's HIS armor. He gave it to us. And, unlike David who refused to wear Saul's armor because it didn't fit... the whole armor of God fits us perfectly. It is tailor-made for us. So my armor might not look exactly like yours. And that's ok. My garden might not look exactly like yours. It grows the same fruit--love--but that fruit comes in all shapes and sizes. There are at least five different love languages, right? The trick is making sure you give the people in your life what they need. Not what YOU need. Not what YOU want. Like... I love chocolate. But my son prefers things like gummy bears. Showing love for him isn't giving him what I'M into, it's giving him what HE'S into. We need to use a little bit of wisdom. A little bit of seeing a need in someone else and meeting that need. Seeing past ourselves. Putting others first. When you have the armor on, when you're letting the true Gardener trim and prune you, when you're standing against whatever you need to stand against--and the only real way to stand against something is to stand FOR something else. What you stand FOR is what really matters. Being for something... being for love... is what makes things happen in the best possible way--when you're standing firm, that's when you can truly experience this life of love that is the gift of God. This life of love that we have been given. You can't earn it. You must simply receive it and release it. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Let God love you and love Him back by loving the people you come into contact with. This life is for living. And to live is to love. To love is to live. Dressing in the armor of God is what lets us--equips us and empowers us--to get from the start of the day to the end of the day. Dressing in the whole armor of God is simply accepting what is true of us. Believing the report of the Lord rather than what the world tries to hard to convince you of. The devil is the accuser, right? Telling you what's wrong with you. But when you know the truth you can simply ignore the lie. When you know that God is love and He loves you, you don't have to give time or attention to anything else. You can bask in His love. Dwell in His love. Live in His love. And give that love away to anybody you come into contact with!