We were admonished to put on the armor and now we look at the pieces of armor individually. We have seen the battle is a SPIRITUAL one and the devil fights against the church. We also learned we cannot stand alone in our own strength, but must stand in the Lord and we must be engaged as the Lord fights in and through us...nor apart from us. As we concentrate on the individual armor pieces let us not lose sight of the whole!

Figure: "Therefore having girded..." Having strapped on...faith takes hold of it! Some will divide and say some pieces you strap on while others are exterior pieces like the shield. All are defensive except for the last piece. We are on the defense except for the sword of the Spirit. We are defensive except for being able to say "this is what God and His word says." You and I must live by FAITH to trust the word of God! We must put on the girdle of TRUTH. A belt! Often wide to cover below your ribs down to your pelvis. Paul shows this in order so the armament does not fall. We must first put on the girdle of TRUTH. The idea is not truthfulness which is the implementation of the truth. The devil operates in whiles, tactics, cunningly, in deceitfulness and trickery so he can try to entrap us. When he "hides the poison in the candy" he can trick as he cloaks the lie as we take it. Our weapon God has given is affective. Strap on the girdle of TRUTH! An OBJECTIVE standard about ALL THINGS! When Jesus left He left them the WORD! "I have given them Thy Word!" It is the belt of truth! "Thy Word is TRUTH!"

Admonition: No matter where you are in this world, you will have the truth and the lie. We are going to find the truth in God's word in our faith. The sure knowledge whereby I believe all things in the word of God as truth. This is first and very fundamental. The word of God is TRUTH! And not just some of it, but ALL OF IT! You take away some of it and your weaken the belt and the devil ALWAYS attacks it because it is fundamental in order to strap the remaining armaments and even to hold the shield! Be careful with what you do to it and what you use because His word is truth as He guides, sanctifies, and leads His church! There are two things the devil loves and these are watering down the Word of God and twisting it and our lethargy of the study of it! We must prepare ourselves and our children TODAY for the warfare as it will only increase from the warfare we fight today. When Jesus was tempted His response was "It is written....and the Word of God says..." Do we KNOW the Word of GOD???? and do we put it on????

Affect: We will always be led rightly if we follow God's word. Read how He led His people throughout history and even prospered them when they followed His commands. Read how many who tried to stand in their own strength fell when they did so.