{"id":21376,"date":"2017-05-05T00:10:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T07:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=10693"},"modified":"2017-05-05T00:10:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T07:10:27","slug":"may-5-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/05\/05\/may-5-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"May 5, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cSo Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, \u2018I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.\u2019 So David took them off.\u201d<\/em> 1 Samuel 17:38-39<\/span><\/p>\n

Armor That Fits<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

One year at Christmas, my then-7-year-old son received the gift of a chain mail vest that was similar to that worn by soldiers on ancient battlegrounds. For those who are unfamiliar with chain mail, it is armor made of closely linked chains that is worn under clothing to protect a warrior. I have a picture of my son wearing it, standing on top of a table outside, blowing a bugle into the winter wind. The armor was too big for him, and too heavy to wear for any length of time. He soon took it off, and it remains hung on a hook these 20 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the problem with armor that doesn\u2019t fit. You can\u2019t wear it for long. It\u2019s rather useless. In the end, it offers no protection because you just can\u2019t maneuver in it. It\u2019s a burden you can\u2019t carry, and one that you certainly can\u2019t fight in\u2014as young David discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n

David knew that the best protection is God. \u201cThen David said to the Philistine, \u2018You 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, the God of the armies of Israel\u2026 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord\u2019s, and He will give you into our hands\u2019\u201d<\/em> (1 Samuel 17:45, 47).<\/span><\/p>\n

God, with millions upon millions of heavenly hosts, with all strength and power belonging to Him, and all resources at His disposal, and command of all spiritual bodies, and authority over all created beings, has given His followers one-size-fits-all armor, that we might fight alongside Him. Not that He needs us to help, but He asks us to enter the battle anyway, do what we are able, and then to stand and watch Him finish it off.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 6:13). The weapons are familiar to most of us: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. One size fits all. Any follower in His army can take these up, carry them, wield them in battle, and experience victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGracious Lord, may we learn to use the weapons You provide against our common enemy. May we never again just lie down and take the enemy\u2019s darts, as if we had no way to fight. Thank You for Your enabling. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5yM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}