The helmet of salvation

Welcome back knights. Today we will be studying about the helmet of salvation. Eph. 6:17 Put on salvation as your helmet,(NLT). When learning to fire guns for defensive purposes, one of the first things the instructor said about shot placement was if you aim for the head, you will take the computer out of the machine and the machine will stop working. In making the analogy that the mind is like a computer that controls the rest of the body, he was stating a simple yet profound truth. We are controlled by our minds and what better way to take us out of the fight then to just take out the computer or infect it with a virus? As you can see, this piece of armor is essential to keeping us in the battle and striving for the goal.

What is the need for salvation? We all have the need to be saved. We were born into this world as children of this world with the original sin of disobedience in our DNA, passed down to us from Adam and Eve. We can not just blame them for our condition though because we have all disobeyed or rebelled against God in our own ways, each and every one of us. We have all said in one way or another that we do not want or need God. We are helpless, hopeless and far from our Creator without some way to save us from ourselves. Salvation is the way our King has made for us to have a life with Him instead of death on our own.

 What is Salvation? Our King could not bear being separated from His creation so He created a way for us to once again have fellowship with Him and adopt us into His family. The King laid aside His privilege and glory to walk among us, that had strayed from Him, as a servant, not as the master. He lived perfectly while here and died a criminals death, even though He was blameless of any crime, and paid the price completely for our rebellion with His life, saying “It is finished” or maybe a better translation would be, “Paid in full”. After being in the grave for 3 days, He again rose to life and took back His Kingdom and invites anyone who is willing to come, to come and have life. This is the salvation we hold to. John 3:16-17 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” That’s correct, you read it right, He says EVERYONE! This is the salvation we are to wear.

How do we wear it? Romans 12:2 says, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Philippians 4:7 tells us, “Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Our salvation should result in a mind and heart that are at peace knights. We know that our King loves us and is always there for us, therefore how can we let the battles or concerns of this present world cause us unease or worry. Be at peace knights.

What happens if we don’t have our helmet on? 2 Corinthians gives us a very dark and lonely description of what happens to those who do not wear the helmet of salvation that our King freely gives. It says “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” Do not allow the dragon to steal this glorious light from your vision. Do not let go of your salvation. The price is to great knights! We must wear the salvation our King has given us to protect ourselves from the blinding the dragon tries to cause in us.

If you have never received this salvation that we have been talking about, I urge you to talk to God right now and ask for it. It is the most important and life changing talk you will ever have. Acknowledge that you are a sinner, let God know that you believe in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and ask Him to forgive you and give you a clean slate. If you are a follower of Christ and you have fallen away from your faith and the salvation you once loved so much is sitting in a closet getting dusty, I invite you to come back to your first love. Let the love, mercy and grace of God our Father wash the dust off of that helmet and give you a new perspective and a new outlook for the rest of the time you have here in this world. Let God make you ready for the battles to come and renew you so you can make it to the finish line.

If you have prayed today to allow Christ into your life or have been set back on the right road to the kingdom, I ask that you contact me so we can share you joy with you. Comment of Facebook or Twitter so your fellow knights can begin to pray for you. Don’t forget you are loved and you are not alone!

“Father, King, we come before you and thank you for your grace and mercy that has allowed us to be called your sons and daughters. We are humbly honored to be in service to you. King, grant us the peace that comes with your salvation and the right thinking that comes with the new mind you have given us. Lift up, encourage, strengthen and renew my fellow knights as we fight on for You, waiting for Your return. AMEN.”

May God richly bless you. Fight on for the King!

Shoes prepared to spread the gospel.

Welcome back knights. I pray our great and mighty King has blessed you greatly since our last meeting. Today we will be looking at the next piece of armament that our King has provided for us. Eph. 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.(NLT) The ESV version puts it like this “15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” The HCSB puts it this way “15 and your feet sandaled with readiness
for the gospel of peace.” Notice how in all of these the general idea is for us to be ready to spread the gospel of peace. These are the marching orders from our King.

We live in a world at war knights, but the war is not being fought to gain land or to further some great political advantage. We fight for the hearts and souls of the living dead. We are in a war for dead people that our King wants to bring back to life. You may think that our King Jesus came to heal the sick or make the blind see or even to cast out demons. Even though our King did all of these things while he walked on this earth, His mission was much more important than that. He came to make the DEAD, LIVE! What good is healing or seeing if you are dead? What benefit is there in being relieved of demons if you are going to die anyway. The gospel, or good news, of peace that we are commanded to share is that by the blood of our King we have been brought from death to life and our King wants to offer that life to any who would come to Him and believe. Not just life here on earth, but life eternal and more abundantly than we could ever imagine apart from our King.

Knights, our King has already won the war even though the battle rages on around us. He already holds the keys to death, hell and the grave. In our attempt to thwart the dragon, we must be prepared to set his captives free with the good news of the gospel and not attack the captives in a misunderstanding of who we fight. Peter and Paul did not use elegant words to sway their listeners but instead used straight forward truth from our King to reach the captive hearts of the dragon’s prisoners. Do not be afraid to share about our King. Do not think yourself unworthy. Do not be lied to by the dragon that you are not effective enough to make a difference. Our King gives you all you need when he brought you from death to life and He is with you always to guide you and strengthen you.

Great King, I come to You today and praise You for Your mercy, grace and forgiveness that you have shown each of us. You have brought each of us to life and taken away and fear of death. I ask Your favor on Your knights as we go forth into the battlegrounds and set free the captives that the dragon has enslaved. Mighty King, You have given us everything we need to accomplish Your will here on this earth. I ask for Your strength, Your guidance and Your peace for all of Your knights. Bless each one of them according to Your riches in heaven.

Go forth knights and be prepared to tell the captives of the good news that our King is alive and will make them alive also. God bless each of you.

Breastplate of righteousness

Let me start by welcoming all of the new followers to the Knights_Of_God. Over the last few days while I was away there have been many new followers on Twitter, Facebook and the blog site. Thank you all for following and reading what our King has placed on my heart to share.

As we go through the armor that God has provided for us to fight and defeat our enemy, the next important piece is the breastplate or body armor of righteousness. The breastplate is a piece of armor that protects the front and usually the back of the wearer. You may be more familiar with the breastplate that the knights in the police dept. or the military wear called body armor. It is an essential part of protective equipment that protects some of the body’s most vital organs, one of which is our heart.

If you have been in the King’s courts for long or read His proclamations to us, then you have no doubt heard the word righteousness many times, but do you know what it actually means? Righteousness is defined as: an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified, and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" or "reckoned" as leading a life that is pleasing to God.

The Hebrew meaning makes it a little bit clearer. “The Hebrew word for righteousness is tseh'-dek, tzedek, Gesenius's Strong's Concordance:6664—righteous, integrity, equity, justice, straightness. The root of tseh'-dek is tsaw-dak', Gesenius's Strong:6663—upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere. It is best understood as the product of upright, moral action in accordance with some form of divine plan.^{[citation needed]”}

If we are to wear righteousness (upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere and moral action) as armor, then we are all in trouble. The Kings proclamation states in Romans 3:10-18:

 ¹⁰  as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹   no one understands; no one seeks for God.

¹²   All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

¹³   "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."

¹⁴   "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."

¹⁵   "Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶   in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷   and the way of peace they have not known."

¹⁸   "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Don’t let that discourage you knights. Continue reading.

²¹   But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it---

²²   the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

²³   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

²⁴   and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

²⁵   whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

²⁶   It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷   Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

As you can see by our King’s proclamation, we can’t earn or buy this piece of armor. It is given to us freely by our King just for believing. If you have joined God’s wonderful kingdom then you are already seen as righteous in His sight by what He has already done for us, by taking the form of a servant and dying for us. Rejoice knights for our King is mighty above all. Live in the righteousness that our King has provided for you and don’t ever take it off because that is when and where the dragon will strike to try to take out your heart to carry on with the fight.

If you have not entered into the King’s courtyard yet and you are reading this looking for answers and wondering what we are talking about, I encourage you to look back at an earlier post about who we are in God’s eyes. It will tell you who you are and where you fit into this battle. If you join the kingdom or need help making a decision, I encourage you to write me or talk to someone you know follows Jesus to learn more about becoming a kingdom resident.

“Great King, I pray for your knights today that you will show each of them how much we need you. It is not by our own might and it is not by any type of protection that we can fashion that will get us through this battle but only by your unending love, mercy and grace. Thank you my King for providing us everything we need to fight this war for You.”

Put on the righteousness that God has given to you knights. Don’t let it sit in the corner and rust away. May our great God and King bless each and every one of you. Fight on for the King!!!

The belt of truth

Let’s look at the equipment God has given to us to fight against this dragon we learned about yesterday.

Eph. 6:14 “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” (NLT)
The ESV puts it a little differently:
“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (ESV)

If you have children you have probably noticed that nobody has to teach them to lie. It is one of the things that is part of our fallen nature before we come to Christ. The serpent in the garden (the same dragon we fight today) is the father of all lies. The first recorded lie in the Kings instruction manual to us is the serpent twisting the truth of God’s word.

Gen. 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”” (ESV)

The serpent, from the very beginning, has twisted the words and intentions of our King, trying to feed us a cheap lie so we would question the loving kindness of God. The belt that we are supposed to wear destroys the lies of the dragon. Jesus himself said: John 8:31-32 “…If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (ESV) Abide in the words of our Lord and King knights and know true freedom. With the truth there is no longer any need to hide or cover up our sin like Adam and Eve tried to do. Wear the truth of the Lord around your waist.

One last thought for today. Where do you hang your sword knights? Is it not from your belt? How can we support our sword (the word of the Lord) without the belt of truth? A truthful witness is not only important, it is essential to our Christian knights walk and battle. Do not compromise with the dragon or this world. Walk in the freedom that truth grants you so you will be able to share the word of our King effectively when the time comes.

Great King and Father, thank You for showing us the truth and setting us free. Grant us the courage to stand up for You in whatever situation or battle comes our way. We honor You and praise You Great King and God. Amen.

Let the truth set you free today knights!