"Stand therefore ... having put on the breastplate of righteousness"

    "Just do it! That phrase has make the company 'Nike' millions. Actually, Billions. Everybody is trying to live right. But, some times you can, some times you can't. Why, because we are fallen and human. Genesis 2 describes the creation of mankind, and Genesis 3 describes the fall of mankind. Though we were created in God's image, sin has distorted that image. Hence, now we God's masterpiece that is being restored. God's image is being restored in us. That is good news. 

    When it comes to living right, there is a very important principle. Are you ready? Here it is: 'If you are not thinking right, you are not living right." In fact, Dirty Bibles, lead to dirty lives. If you just take your Bible to church, and then through in the back seat of your car all week long without reading it or opening it, and basically are Biblically illiterate during the whole week, you will not have great thinking, which in turn, will lead you to not having great living. 

    'If you are not thinking right, you are not living right." Thus, you need to get into the Word of God each day, in a Daily Devotional life. It is non-negotiable. If your thinking is right, your living will be right. Otherwise, you are suffering from what we call, 'Stinking thinking', which will lead to a life of wrong decisions. 

    In Ephesians 6:14, Paul reminds us that we have been called to duty. We are in a spiritual war. More dramatic that any Star Wars movie. This is the biggest war in the universe. It's a battle for your heart and your mind. So Paul, after reminding us that we need to put on "God's belt of truth', says, "Stand therefore ... having put on the breastplate of righteousness." Righteousness means, the "state of being right" or "living right".  The Greek word in the New Testament for "righteousness" is dikaiosynē (δικαιοσύνη), which primarily means  "justice, rightness, or living in proper, faithful relationships with God and others.".We can't do it on our own, but with God's breastplate of righteousness, we can be protected from giving our heart to someone that does not deserve it. 

    Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." In this all out war, your heart is the trophy that both God and Satan want to win. God, since he is gentleman, uses love to woo you and to draw your heart to Him. Satan, since he is a liar, a murdered, and a thief, uses manipulation, deception, and trickery to fool you into giving him you undivided heart. Be very careful. Jesus came so that we "may have life", but Satan comes to "Destroy, steal, and kill". 

    Satan wants to snatch your heart so that you may serve him by living a reckless, riotous, and prodigal life of sin, vice, unrighteous living. 

    But God says to you, "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways" (Proberbs 23:26, NIV). 

    When you give God your heart, then he gives you His perfect righteousness as a Breastplate, to guard your heart. Then, you can begin to live right, because your thinking will begin to change. 

    Plus, when you live right, thanks to God's gift of righteousness, then God will keep you from many things that come from poor choices: getting arrested for driving drunk or being high, getting pregnant out of wedlock, killing someone because you were driving under the influence, getting into a fight and killing someone because you were under the influence. You see, God will protect you and keep you from having to face these consequences when you are wearing the "breastplate of Righteousness." 

    The first step is usually the most difficult. Surrender. You have to surrender yourself to God. Stop trying to be righteous on your own. It's impossible. However, if you surrender your will to God, then He will grant you His righteousness and He will help you to start thinking and living righteously. 

    Keep spending time each day with God in a daily devotional life. This is where God does His miracles in your life. He helps you to want to abandon sin, and to grow closer to His Son, Jesus Christ. 

    You are dong a great job. Keep reading and spending time with God each day, and soon, you will be amazed that the war and battle is over. God will welcome you home with music and a large crowd, and say, "Welcome home. The battle is over. You made it. You trusted in My righteousness. Well done, My good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of Your Lord." 

    We are going home soon. We are not there yet. So keep being faithful. If you just show up each day to spend time with God, He is responsible for changing your thinking and your living. Your job, and my job, is just to show up. If you show up, God will show out in your life, by restoring His masterpiece in your life. 

See you tomorrow for the next piece in God's armor. 

Sir Sal Garcia 

"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist."

    

"Yesterday, we learned that we are in a spiritual war. Today, we begin to learn what is the armor of God that he wants you to wear to be victorious in this spiritual battle. 

    The good news is that "the champ is here." Those words are true of you. You came into this world as a champion. Victory was your starting point. From the very beginning of your life, God made you a champion, by having His Truth about your identity fixed into the very fabric of your being. 

    "Whenever you are having a bad day, just remember, "you are a champ." God chose you the day you were born.

    Today's Bible verse says, "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist" (Ephesians 6:14a). 

    It's interesting that the invitation is to stand, not to sleep or sit, but to stand. You have to stand up and stand tall like a soldier at attention. These are your marching orders. First, you have to take the "belt of truth buckled around your waist.". Of course, the truth in the Bible refers to the truth about your origin, your identity, your past, your present, your future. Later we will discover that the truth also refers to God's Word, the Bible. 

    So the first thing you put on as a spiritual solider is the belt of truth. This truth reminds you that you are the most precious and beautiful thing to God in this world. This truth echos the Bible's message from begining to end that "the Maker of all things wants you and loves you."

    You are not an accident, you are not a machine or a robot. Instead, you are a child of God. In order to go from victory to victory in this war, you have to live by God's truth, and not the popular things in culture or society. Society says, it's okay to drink, party, and have pre-marital sex. Yet God says, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit". 

    If you are going to be on Jesus' side in that all out war "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12), then you have to put on the belt of truth and spend time each day with Jesus in a daily devotional life. 

    In this spiritual battle and war, you have to keep standing, you can't sit. You have to stand up and decide to spend time each day with the Lord. If you do that, God will do the rest for you. He will fight your battles for you. 

    I hope that today, you decide to wear the first piece of equipment God wants to place upon you: "The belt of Truth". 

    God's Word says, "Sanctify them by Your Truth, Your Word is truth" (John 17:17). 

    Keep waking up each day and going before God in your private devotional time, and He will continue to help you to win all of your battles. 

    Let's see what tomorrow's "armor of God" teaches us. 

    See you then. 

    - Sir Sal Garcia

    PS, We want to spend 15-20 minutes each day in our daily devotional time. I invite you to read Ephesians 6:12-14 and ask yourself, "what does this passage teach me about My Best Friend and Savior, Jesus Christ?"

Devotions for Young Men: Called to Duty

"It's true. God wants you to have a devotional life and to walk with Him each day. It's not impossible. It just takes commitment and consistency. However, God will never ask you to do something that is impossible. He is calling you to ministry and to prepare your life for service for the Master and King, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.

"While it's okay to drop a large check as an offering to support a missionary or God's mission work, God is saying to you today, "My Son, I don't want your money, I want your heart." 

"God has placed a call upon your life for ministry. Are you living a life that is pleasing to God today?"

"I believe you can. How? By learning to have a devotional life with Jesus. For you see, it's not about going to church, giving money, or following a religion. It's about getting to know the person that gave His life on a cross for you, so that today you can live a life filled with purpose, freedom, and influence."

"Today's devotional is based on war imagery. For the Bible says, "There was war in Heaven" (Revel 12:7-9). First, we have to accept that we are in a spiritual war. You are in a war. I am in a war. If you have confessed with your mouth, and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father" (Romans 10), then you have a target on your back, a bullseye. The Devil is out to get you. He is going to send Women, Sex, Drugs, partying, money, false religion, etc., your way to get you to get off the path that leads to life, that is, the path that leads to Jesus. 

"Therefore, you have to get dressed each day for the war against the enemy. You enemy is the devil. Why? Because he is out to get you. Ephesians 6:11-13 tells us that we have to dress each day with the armor of God. 

"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 in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

So, every day and every morning, we have to go before God and get dressed and fitted for the spiritual warfare we are in. The good news is that God's armor is bulletproof. That does not mean that the enemy will not try to hit us with his fiery arrows, assassin bullets, and destructive ammunition. However, when you are in Christ and you have the armor of God on you, then the bullets and arrows will bounce right off of you. You can even go into a burning building, and as long as God still wants you for a special mission on this earth, He will bring you out of that fire unharmed without a hair of your head burnt. 

Today's lesson is simple: Go each day before God, and spend time in a Daily Devotional Life, so that he can dress you and equip you for that days's mission and duty. 

In fact, you are "Called to Duty". God calls you to be his representative on planet earth. The moment will come, when God will ask you to invite other to call and cry out the name of Jesus. Why? Because the name of Jesus is so powerful. No matter what religion or church affiliation people have may have, to those who are involved in the spiritual battle on planet earth, calling on the name of Jesus bring peace, deliverance, and assurance. 

So, be ready. When the opportunity comes, don't be afraid to invite those in the valley of the shadow of death, without hope and without God in the world, to cry out the name of Jesus. 

The promise is: "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:13

Have a blessed day,

Sir Sal Garcia 

PS, tomorrow we will begin to look at the armor of God in Ephesian 6. It's so powerful to know that God provides everything that we need in this war. And the good news is that, "Jesus Wins".