The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Armour

  • THEME: THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (17)

    Sub-Theme: The Strong Belt of Truth

    Topic: The Spirit of Truth

    Then Peter opened his mouth and addressed the crowd, saying:

    “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. I am sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel- that there is peace with God through Jesus, the Messiah, who is Lord of all creation. This message has spread all through Judea, beginning with John the Baptist in Galilee, and you no doubt know that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went around doing good and healing all who were possessed by demons, for God was with Him. We were witnesses of all He did throughout Israel, and in Jerusalem where He was murdered on a cross, but God brought Him back to life again three days later and showed Him to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him – not to the general public. He sent us to preach the Good News everywhere and to testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all- living and dead. And all the Prophets have written about Him, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.”

    “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. The Jews who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit would be given to Gentiles too, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter asked, “Can anyone object to my baptizing them, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” so he baptized them in the name of Jesus, the Messiah. Afterwards Cornelius begged him to stay with them for several days.”

    Cornelius is really a model to follow in this age of wide rejection of the truth and ordinances of God. Although, he was not a Jew, he heard about Jesus and believed in Him, God then gave him and his household the precious gift of the Holy Spirit.

    God is calling on people everywhere to repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and saviour. Many religious people are rejecting the way of salvation while evil and wicked men in the eyes of the world are repenting and accepting salvation – DAILY GUIDE DEVOTIONAL.

     Cornelius as an army officer would be the least expected to seek God in spirit and in truth. While the religious leaders at the time kept rejecting Jesus, challenging Him, putting up all kinds of arguments, and lies against Him, all in a bid  to reject His Lordship thereby disobeying God, and deceiving their ignorant followers to do same, but this ‘sinner’ man and a foreigner was different, he got saved and was filled with the Holy Spirit. The religious people, those from Jesus’ country whom God first sought to reach with the Good News and the gift of the Holy Spirit, missed such great gifts because of their arrogance. Cornelius and his family got that which is the most important in life- the gifts of salvation and the Holy Spirit. What a blessed family! This goes to confirm the saying, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled”, it does not matter who they are.

    Perhaps, they had heard the Good News of peace with God but had not fully accepted it, until Peter came and told them the need to believe in Jesus to have peace with God. This they MUST do, in order to have peace/fellowship/relationship with God. As they heard Peter preach to them, they believed with all their hearts and then God gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit – no experience is as awesome!

    Cornelius and family received the Spirit of Truth- the helper, comforter, teacher, counsellor, intercessor, revealer, guide, peace, the very life of all true believers; God’s life. What a glorious state!

    Stephen was in this state when he was being persecuted; full of the Holy Spirit, they saw his face looked like the face of an angel as he addressed them. Afterwards, he gazed into heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said to his accusers, “look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” They mobbed him, putting their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts; they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Before his death, rather before he slept, he prayed for them saying, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin,” this is the Holy Spirit at work. Stephen departed this world never as a loser but as an inheritor of the everlasting kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit kept him happy, joyful, loving, and focused on God even at such a time. He was not seeing his pain he saw God’s glory. This made him a winner.

    God and Jesus are not physically present with us, but we have them with us, living in us in the person of the Holy Spirit and we need Him to win life’s battles.

    TEXT: Ephesians 6:10-18, John 8:32, John 14:15-18, Acts 10: 1-33, acts 6: 1-15, 7:1-60

    FROM: Faith Nwachukwu

     

  • How doughty is your moral armour?

    This tale may well be apocryphal, but it falls in tandem with the smelly puss, oozing from the killings in the house of God in Ozobulu, Anambra State.

    A victim, who escaped unscathed, even if he was bang in the line of satanic fire, was reported lamenting he at least should have resisted falling; but instead smash his mouth against the chairs or other hard objects.

    Reason?  Because if he had taken a bad fall, even not a bad bullet, he would be on hospital admission now.  That, he reasoned, would qualify him for a largesse of N5 million, an alleged payout to victims who lost an arm or two, or suffered a bruise.

    The benefactor?  The same “Bishop” alleged to be involved in the reported drug war, which allegedly caused the early morning massacre, at the cathedral!  Reportedly, a far huger sum — N10 million or N15 million — was earmarked for families whose offspring was among the dead.

    Now, can you beat that?  To start with, if a character allegedly donated a church in memory of his late mother, and on the basis of his link with the church, a gunman (or gunmen) stormed the facility to kill and maim, shouldn’t any of the victims shun any gift from such a person?

    Then if indeed, it was a drug war, and the person at the vortex of the whole saga was a drug lord as alleged, does it not logically follow that whatever compensation, no matter how generous, was a proceed of crime which ought to be shunned by all law-abiding citizens?

    If the tale from Ozobulu is true, the opposite reasoning was the case.  That shows how deep into the sewers Nigerian collective morality has sunk in these contemporary times.

    But even if morality is now so subjective it is determined by individual differences, what about the law?  Shouldn’t the law have stepped in, knowing that the “Bishop” has serious allegations hanging around his neck, and ensured he cleared his name first?  At least that would save the community from what, if any charge is proven, would pass for nothing but cynical generosity.

    Still, before you go gloating and mocking and blasting the Ozobulu folks, just imagine how your own community, East or West, North or South, rural or urban, would have managed similar temptations.

    Well, the dead are dead, aren’t they?  And the injured are impaired, many perhaps with live-long injuries?  Well, some windfall may come handy, just to better bear the pains of the irreparable loss — is that not so?

    If you reason that way, then your morality is right in the sewers.  That appears to hold true of not a few today, particularly when the issue is free money and unearned privilege.

    It’s the Ozobulu in everyone — sad!

  • THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (13)

    Sub-Theme: The Strong Belt of Truth

    Topic: The word of Truth

    You see, God has given you and me all that we need to be able to stand strong and live in victory on earth. Unfortunately, many neglect the very help God has graciously given and chase after the wrong things that can never make them victorious but be victims of all kinds of deceit by agents of darkness.

    I recollect my encounter with a lady and her friends in her shop in the market place; she told of a medical doctor’s counsel that the most important needs of a person in this life is first, to have a good medical doctor and secondly to have a spiritualist. This the doctor told her after narrating a disturbing story of someone who died mysteriously because according to her, she didn’t have a medical doctor to monitor her health and a spiritualist who sees beyond the doctor. This lady believed the doctor and took her counsel wholeheartedly; spreading it to others.

     

    I tried to make her know I don’t agree with her but she quickly cut me short saying, “I know you want to tell us we need God first” She and her friends are ‘Christians’ who feel comfortable to live in error. I perceived they see themselves as not qualified to seek, know, and hear God for themselves. I told them the importance of knowing and fellowshipping with God personally and that He is able to reveal great and mighty things to them as they seek Him whole-heartedly in total dependence, patience, and trust. This, they eventually agreed with me, as the best way and they desired such intimacy with God. I wish people would be discipled aright, being pointed to Jesus rather than to the worship of fellow humans and some fetish means to get their problems solved.

     

    We discussed the importance of studying God’s word for ourselves by creating time alone with God (Quiet time), in order to grow to know Him more and have Him speak to us directly through the Bible. The how of Quiet time was explained in the last edition. The earlier we begin to do the right thing the better for us, as delay will make things worse.

     

    God’s divine power has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. As you seek to personally know God better and better, He will give you, through His great power EVERYTHING you need to live godly, such that you will have His divine nature which makes you live differently from the lust and corruption of this generation and you will enjoy more of His kindness and peace.

     

    True knowledge of God is found in the scriptures, for the whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. Note also that, the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word capable of such glorious transformation of lives is in our hands, why won’t we cherish it and study it day and night? The devil knows the power in the word, so he will do everything within his power to prevent us from studying it for ourselves, so to remain in his bondage of deceit and defeat. Through God’s word, we get to know the victory Jesus brought us.

     

    Any country that begins to live by the teachings of the word of God in the Bible will prosper and have good success, the kind of success that leads to eternity in heaven. Nigerians need to know the word of God and live by its teaching; therein will our dear nation know peace, prosperity, and good success. The enemy of our progress is using people to fight against the true word of God; among them are those who use it to deceive.

     

    There are so many calamities in the land threatening to destroy our nation: corruption, kidnapping, child trafficking, terrorism, fighting, divisions/agitations, armed robbery, murder, lying, dishonesty, rape, child molestation, sexual immorality/perversions, homosexuality, and the like. These are on the increase; we need help so we are not totally consumed.

     

    The knowledge of a nation’s law and its outlined punishments to offenders cannot keep people away from committing crimes; it will not even stop criminals from committing more crimes. Although, some really want to obey the law but they cannot because they lack the power to do so, they try in their own strength but still find themselves going back to their old ways of breaking the law; their strength fail them. The ONLY solution to this is – believing in God’s Son, Jesus Christ whom God sent to set us free from the bondage of sin, giving us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live righteous. As we follow Jesus through His teachings in the Bible, we shall never again walk in the darkness of sin but will walk in the light.

     

    The word of God builds our faith and this in turn leads to right living.

     

    TEXT:  Ephesians 6:10-18, 2Peter 1:2-4, Hebrews 4:12, 2Timothy 3:16, Psalm 119:11, Mark 1:35, Psalm 119:105.

    FROM: FAITH NWACHUKWU

     

  • THEME: THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (12)

    THEME: THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (12)

    Sub-Theme: The Strong Belt of Truth

    Topic: The word of Truth

    To be victorious in all things like Jesus is possible only if we will hear His voice and obey Him. His voice is His word and we have this written for us in the Bible.

    “…the sheep hear the voice of the good shepherd and come to Him; and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. He walks ahead of them; and they follow Him, for they recognize His voice.  They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice.” Jesus is the one being talked about as the good shepherd, the sheep are those who hear His voice and follow Him. The true sheep recognize their shepherd’s voice and they follow Him; they grew into recognizing His voice and are able to differentiate it from a stranger’s voice because they fellowship one on one together with the good shepherd. Through continuous personal fellowship with the good shepherd they mastered His voice, no one can deceive them for they will not follow the voice of a stranger who comes craftily to kill, steal and destroy. Just like Jesus when tempted could not be deceived into following the suggestions of Satan who quoted scriptures to deceive Him, so also the true sheep of the good shepherd will not be deceived by Satan and his agents.

     

    We are in the age of great deceit where many are being deceived into believing all kinds of false doctrines/teachings, all because they have refused to see the great importance of knowing God by themselves but prefer to go through mediums to reach God which of course is impossible. Only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the life, He is the good shepherd who came to give us life more abundantly and opened the path to true fellowship with God.

     

    After my encounter with Jesus, He got me into fellowship with Him, this made me love to study His word- the Bible and my life truly has been awesomely changed through this. I am incomplete without my daily study of God’s word; not knowing what He has to say to me daily.

    I would have gone astray and fallen into deep pits; but His word has kept me safe, it has been a lamp guiding my feet and a light directing my path.

     

    To be a sheep who recognizes and follows the voice of the good shepherd, you need to prayerfully start studying God’s word (the Bible) systematically daily. To do this you need to start your QUIET TIME.

     

    What is Quiet Time and how is it practiced?

     

    As the name implies Quiet Time is a time, which is QUIET, devoid of distractions and disturbances; a time set aside to hear the good shepherd and relate with Him intimately. This builds in us a lifelong, ever-abiding loving relationship and fellowship with God. As a relationship without proper communication dies, so also one’s relationship with God dies without proper communication; and remember communication should be 2- way; hence the need for quiet time.

    What you will need/How of Quiet Time:

    • Prayer: Ask for God’s grace for without Him it will be very impossible; it will become an uphill task. For we are weak bodily but He is strong- only Him will help you wake up at your chosen time and empower you to study, revealing deep truths in His word to you.

    When God asked me to make my Quiet time earlier than it used to be, at first, it was quite difficult for me to accept mentally. I had so many excuses and reasons why it would be impossible. As long as I didn’t accept it mentally and believe in Jesus’ strength to make it possible, it would remain impossible for me. The truth remains that no one who desires to be used to do great things on earth, thereby fulfilling purpose, can do without his/her time alone with God. Until I accepted it and asked God’s help was I able to do it and for years now, God has remained faithful. I would have missed out of a great opportunity of a deeper intimacy with God, if I didn’t submit to Him.

    • Create a regular time– a time you will not be disturbed or distracted. Most ideally, early/ wee hours of the morning, set aside at least one hour daily. You can set your alarm for this.
    • A quiet place: where you will not be disturbed.

    Jesus’ intimacy with His father and His quiet time habit kept Him focussed on His assignment and helped Him end well. Continually Jesus withdrew from the crowd, daily life activities, and the demands of His ministry to be alone with His Father and communicate with Him.

    • A Bible: In a simple translation you can understand. It will be nice to have other translations to compare text for better understanding.
    • A Notebook: where you write down lessons learnt from your study and your daily dealings with God.
    • Your reading note/devotional booklet: There are a lot in circulation but prayerfully seek the best for you; one that will help you study the Bible systematically and deeply every day. I’ve found DAILY GUIDE to be very good for adults, DAILY POWER for youths and DAILY MILK for children, all published by Scripture Union Nigeria. You can prayerfully choose from other good ones in circulation. NOTE: Your devotional booklet should NEVER replace your Bible, it’s meant to help systematically arrange the Bible text and also highlight some important revelations from the day’s text for full and better understanding, it’s wrong to read only the booklet.

    Aside quiet time, we need to study God’s word always. God’s word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

     

    TEXT:  Ephesians 6:10-18, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:11, 2Timothy 3:16, John 10, Mark 1:35, Psalm 119:105.

     

    FROM: FAITH NWACHUKWU

     

  • The Strong Belt of Truth (4)

    The first armour is the strong belt of TRUTH and the Truth is Jesus. He is the beginning of the full armour of God- You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free; the Truth sets free from sin and makes one live a sin-free life as one follows Him. There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Salvation is in none other but Jesus. Sin is what makes it very easy for Satan to attack and defeat us. God who is all knowing, in His wisdom set a plan in motion to set us free from sin and make us overcome Satan. This plan is His sending Jesus to shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins- so we can only overcome Satan and his evil, dark agents by the blood of the lamb (Jesus).

    No matter how terrible your sins, Jesus can cleanse you because He loves you.

    As a nation, Nigeria needs to be set free from sin. Our sins have kept us desolate, there are so many atrocities committed in the land daily. Hardship is never an excuse to sin; it’s not an excuse to cheat, kill, steal, live immorally, lie, etc. oh, that we would surrender to Jesus and cry out to Him to set us from the bondage of sin.

    Are our sins too great for God to forgive? Does God not love us anymore? Why are we in this predicament and what is the way out of this biting situation in Nigeria?

    Hear the word of God to Israel, “Come now, and let us reason together, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” This is also the word for us as a nation.

    Let us read the kind of life Israel lived, yet God gave them hope?

    4 Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.5 Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints.6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.9 Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.

     

    10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of a city like Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people likened to Gomorrah: 11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.12 “When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

     

    16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

     

    21 How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. 23 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them. 24 Therefore the Lord says, The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, and take vengeance on My enemies. 25 I will turn My hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy.26 I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice and her penitents with righteousness.

     

    Do you see Nigeria in the above description? I do. In spite of this, God has not left us; the hope He gave to the Israelites is for us too. We need to seek God sincerely and repent of all our evil ways. He will forgive us and give us a new beginning, look at all the beautiful promises- if only we will hearken to His call- “COME! Let us reason together…”

     

    Let us come together as a nation irrespective of our differences and call on the name Jesus to save us from our sins. We need to humble ourselves and plead for mercy, and decide to follow Jesus, so He can lead us to live in holiness and righteousness. Oh, how I wish for such a country that will follow God without oppositions. For righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.  Nigeria ARISE!!!

     

    TEXT: John 8:32, Isaiah 1: 4- 27, Proverbs 14:34

     

    FROM: Faith Nwachukwu

  • THEME: THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD (3)

    Sub-Theme: The Strong Belt of Truth (3)

    Know this: Our weapon of warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds. Also, know that there are spiritual purposes overriding earthly circumstances, everything that happens on earth has a spiritual dimension to it, the spiritual drives the physical. Therefore, we are not in battle with the physical and should not fight with physical weapons like gun, cutlass, knife, sword, charms, etc. We battle not against flesh and blood; we battle against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, God says, we need His full spiritual armour to be able to win this battle. The armour of God is not what many people want it to be, but they are truly the armour that give complete victory. I pray the Lord opens our hearts to conceive this revelation, so we can begin to battle with the right armour and by so doing be victors and not victims of the devil.

    There are a lot to learn from the story of David and Goliath. Young David fought and defeated the giant Goliath who fights with all kinds of sophisticated armour; he won all battles until he met someone who fights with spiritual armour, then was he defeated.

    Goliath was a giant; he was over 9 feet tall, he wore a bronze helmet, a 200 pound coat of mail, bronze leggings, and carried a bronze javelin several inches thick, tipped with a 25 pound iron spear head, and he had his armour bearer who walks ahead of him in battles with a huge shield. While, David had a close fellowship and a strong relationship with God, and certainly a strong faith in the Almighty. With just his shepherd’s stick, sling, and a stone, he fought and defeated the champion Goliath to the amazement of everyone.

    Prior to the defeat, David said to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts. ‘…this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s.” Nothing but David’s strong faith in his God granted him victory over Goliath, not the sling and the stone, he did not depend on physical weapons. He depended on God and trusted Him for victory- oh! That boldness and courage in David strengthen me, they leave me with so much ‘hunger’ for more God. He knew God and had encountered Him personally.

     

    This brings us to the first armour: The Strong belt of Truth.

    Jesus said to some Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in my word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”

    They were angry with Jesus, so said to Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, “You will be made free?”

    Jesus answered them saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

     

    The Son sets free from the bondage of sin. With sin in one’s life, one is already a victim of Satan; sin puts one in captivity of Satan, so such person needs to be set free from sin. God sent His Son to bring about this freedom. Therefore, Jesus is the Truth; He is the Son who sets free from sin.

     

    Jesus is the very beginning of the full armour of God. He is the Way, the Truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus and He is the only way to freedom from sin and eternal death in hell. He is the only way to righteous living and eternal life in heaven.

     

    Those Jews were slaves to sin, and Jesus saw the need for them to be delivered, but they were not true to themselves. They denied their true state of sinfulness, the need to be set free and refused to believe Jesus. These men were murderers, liars, violent, envious, cheats, hypocritical, etc. Those of them that continued to refuse deliverance from their sins were destroyed. The devil’s utmost desire for everyone is to get people into the bondage of sin and then destroy them, this you should fight against by calling on the saviour Jesus whom God sent to set you free from the bondage and slavery of sin. Satan uses all kinds of tricks, schemes, and strategies to get people continue to be in bondage of sin.

     

    Know that everyone needs Jesus, for we were all born as sinners. Hence, the need to be Born- Again; to have another birth

    (A spiritual birth); aside from the physical birth everyone came into this world through. David recognises this fact when he said, “…I was born a sinner-Yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” The people, who lived before God sent Jesus, desired this spiritual rebirth but they did not have it, they struggled to please God by obeying the law but they could not fully obey it. We are so blessed to have this new life through Jesus. The new birth is by choice but it is the will of God for all. God provided the WAY to pleasing Him, which is by faith in Jesus Christ who lives the new life of righteousness through those who believe, accept and follow Him.

    Jesus the Truth came to set you free from your sin. One who commits sin is a slave to sin, being under the devil’s captivity. Fight for your freedom, you have been given all it takes to be free- call on Jesus and Follow Him.

    “If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed!”

     

    TEXT: Ephesians 6:10-18, 2 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Samuel 17: 45,47, John 8:31-59, John 3: 1-20, John 14:6, Psalm 51:5.

     

    FROM: FAITH NWACHUKWU.

     

  • THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD: Introduction

    We are in very dangerous times; perilous times indeed. A time of great Lawlessness, sin is continually on the increase, and people’s love for God is growing cold. Sin is fast becoming a way of life, it is being accepted and forced to be accepted as right. The divide between good and evil is gradually being erased.
    We are in a generation that says all is well when all is not well.
    – A generation that believes one can’t write examination without expo (exam malpractice). A young girl was put in a special centre (unknown to her) to write her Jamb exam. Special centres are arranged for candidates who pay to be ‘helped’ to pass their exam. She wrote the exam without ‘expo’ knowing it is wrong to do so. The invigilator who was monitoring her, refused to collect her script when she was done, insisting she must use the expo like everyone else, he forced her to collect the expo free of charge and sent her back to her seat to use it. The poor girl, out of fear that her paper may be ceased, collected it, but didn’t use it. Wrong is being forced down on people to be accepted as right.
    – A generation that wants you to accept the LGBT (Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual) acts as legally right and acceptable by everyone and all nations, hence forcing their ways on people and advertising themselves as being successful and happy- living in much self-deceit.
    – A generation that continually reject God’s way, choosing to go their own way.
    – A time when the rich is being honoured and celebrated- how the riches came is inconsequential; celebrating the wrong people.
    – False prophets and false teachers among religious groups have risen to deceive people. During a birthday party with some youths and children, the master of ceremony (MC) called for people who know the celebrant to come talk about her…a youth I never met came out and said things about me, adding that I led him to Christ personally. I didn’t remember leading him to Christ, so I went up to ask him when that happened and how, only to realise he was lying. I told him it was wrong to do so but he said I shouldn’t bother about it- I was really pained that someone could be ‘joking’ in the name of God. I told the crowd he was lying and that I didn’t know him – the intention wasn’t to embarrass him but to teach him it was very wrong to do so; lying in the name of JESUS!. This is the generation we are in and the kind of young people being raised. I kept wondering how he came about that, then it ministered to me, that a lot of ministries and churches hire people like that to testify lies about their ministry just to get crowd and members- what a deceitful world.
    – Some religious groups teach doctrines that raise violent members, inciting especially youths to hate, kill and destroy their fellow human beings they cannot create, thinking they are offering service to God.
    Jesus already said these things would be so in the last days; He said “…many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved”

    Apostle Paul also exhorted Timothy about perilous times and perilous lifestyles, he said – “…But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”.(2 Tim 3:1-7).
    You will agree with me that this is where we are right now in Nigeria and the world in general.

    All the tricks and strategies of Satan are targeted at you and me to get us live as stated above making our love for God to grow cold. There is battle and this battle has to be won. To win this battle the word of God enjoins us thus: “…Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world. So use every piece of God’s armour to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up”.

    Armour is a protective covering, a shield used as defence in battle.

    Satan moves back and forth all the earth seeking for souls to destroy, destinies to be wasted, so we need to resist Satan. We are in battle on earth and our weapon of warfare is THE FULL ARMOUR OF GOD.
    We shall be discussing each of the armour in subsequent editions.

    TEXT: Matthew 24: 3-14, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, Ephesians 6: 10-13.

    FROM: FAITH NWACHUKWU