Good Bondage...

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand tin the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

It is important that we thank God daily for the full armor that he has provided for us.  We need to make sure it is prayed up and secured properly at all times because our spirits are constantly in battle for us.  With that being said, I want to focus on verse Ephesians 6:20 where it says "For which I an an ambassador in chains..." I struggled for a long time with that verse because I was thinking in the flesh about being in chains.  I kept praying and saying Lord why are we in chains when you say we have free will.  Lord I know you set us free from bondage.  So what is the significance of being in chains (KJV says bonds)?  I received revelation one morning as I prayed and the Holy Spirit began to minister to me and explain that I am to be bound to the word of God.  The same way that a man and woman marry and become bound together as one; we as the body of Christ are His bride and bound as one in the body and to the Living Word.
When we spend time in the word, and we pray to the Lord and spend time really getting to know Him and speaking to him in our heavenly language or in understanding, we are getting intimate with Christ and developing the same relationship that we desire to have with our mates.  We do so many things in our earthly relationships to please our mates.  We go on dates to bring back romance, we light candles and desire to spend intimate time together to keep love strong and the bond stronger.  It works the same way with Christ.  He desires our time, He desires us to talk to Him, worship Him, acknowledge Him; spend some intimate time with Him, in His word strengthening your bond with Christ!

Self-Defense

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV)

I carry a knife in my purse and everywhere with me.  I feel like, you never can be too safe these days.  I’m always the big talker in my group about who I’ll cut and how quickly I’ll cut him.  So, I was shopping in a store a few weeks back and in my own world.  In my completely oblivious state, I didn’t notice that there was a strange man watching my every move.  Thankfully, the holy spirit stepped in and made me aware of the fact that I was being followed.  I began to walk in a very purposeful pattern around the store to ensure that it wasn’t my imagination…nope, I was being followed.  Big bad wolfess was gone and fear set in.  First I called my sister, then my boyfriend, then my sister again and I was looking for my knife and it wasn’t in my purse!  I was unarmed, alone and quickly allowing panic to settle into my spirit.  By the time I found an associate to let him know I was being followed all I could do was burst into tears, especially after he told me he’d seen the guy following me!  I was stuck in the middle of the store, a complete emotional wreck.  I had the “damsel in distress” thing going big time!

We should never be caught off guard without our weapons!  Not a weapon in the flesh, but our spiritual weapons.  Ephesians 6 talks about putting on the FULL armor of God daily.  We are always at war because we are not of this world.  If your spirit man is where it should be, then he is always ready for battle.  There are so many temptations in the world that we have no choice but to operate in the spirit and be led of the spirit if we want to get through.  Our minds are the arena for faith and satan is the enemy of our souls.  If we’re not covered satan is most definitely going to plant seeds within that arena and pretty soon you are full of fear, doubt and self destruction bondage.  I’m not saying that you need to carry a bible wherever you go to ward anything off, but know the word and meditate on it so that when things come against you, you are able to stand on the promises of God to rebuke, bind down and destroy satan’s evil yokes.  Isiah 54:17 says that NO weapon formed against thee shall prosper!  Romans 8:31 says if God is for us [then], who can be against us!  We, as spirit filled believers who are truly walking in faith, need to have the ability to call on God’s word in an urgent manner and speak to any pressing situation.  If we’re not prepared for battle, it could cost you your life…think about that!  How many enemies do you have that would stop and give you time to get your sword out and sharpen it in the middle of a battle?  In the same sense, how often are you able to stop an emergent situation so you can pull out your bible to find the right words?  It’s time to meditate, to study and to really get to know God’s word.  The last thing we want to do is be caught out there in the world without our armor and not ready for battle!