PT-3 "The Girdle of Truth" (Eph. 6:14a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/15/2019 9:46 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-5 “The Girdle of Truth”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 6:14a

            Message of the verse:  “Stand firm therefore, having girded you loins with truth,”

            I want to begin with a quote from John MacArthur as he gives an explanation of what being girded with truth means:  “I believe that being ‘girded…with truth’ primarily has to do with the self-discipline of total commitment.  It is the committed Christian, just as it is the committed soldier and the committed athlete, who is prepared.  Winning in war and in sports is often said to be the direct result of desire that leads to careful preparation and maximum effort.  It is the army or the team who wants most to win who is most likely to do so—even against great odds.”

            John MacArthur tells the story of a young man who was Jewish and decided to move to Israel.  He lived there for two years and then was told that he either had to join the army or to go back to the United States.  He chose to stay and join the army.  His father was a friend of a powerful general in the Israeli army and so he was afraid that his son would get better treatment because of his friendship with the general.  The young man went to the general and asked him if he would put this young man in the toughest part of the army which he did. 

            John MacArthur writes “If athletes so dedicate and discipline themselves in order to possibly win a race and receive ‘a perishable wreath’ from the world, how much more should believers in Jesus Christ dedicate and discipline themselves to absolutely win in their struggle against Satan and receive an ‘imperishable’ wreath from God (1 Cor. 9:25?

            “Being ‘girded…with truth’ is being renewed in the mind, in order to ‘prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect’ (Rom. 12:2).  When the mind is renewed in commitment to God’s ‘truth,’ there is empowerment for the Christian soldier to become ‘a living and holy sacrifice’ that please God and is that believer’s spiritual service of worship’ (v. 1).  In many ways it is more difficult and more demanding to be a living sacrifice than a dying one.  To be burned at the stake for one’s faith would be painful, but it would soon be over.  To live a lifetime of faithful obedience can also be painful at times, and its demands go on and on.  It requires staying power that only continual and that only continual and total commitment to the Lord can provide.  It demands that love ‘about still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that [we] may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ’ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God’ (Phil. 1:9-11).  Love, knowledge, and understanding of God all need to grow in us.  And when those grow, so does our commitment to the Lord for excellence in all things—the ultimate goal of which is ‘the glory and praise of God.’

            “To be content with mediocrity, lethargy, indifference, and half-heartedness is to fail to be armored with the belt of God’s ‘truth’ and to leave oneself exposed to Satan’s schemes.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Fight the Good Fight”

1	Fight the good fight with all thy might! Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right; Lay hold on life, and it shall be Thy joy and crown eternally.
2	Run the straight race through God’s good grace, Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; Life with its way before us lies, Christ is the path, and Christ the prize.
3	Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide; His boundless mercy will provide; Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove Christ is its life, and Christ its love.
4	Faint not nor fear, His arms are near, He changeth not, and thou art dear; Only believe, and thou shalt see That Christ is all in all to thee.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I realize that as the Lord is teaching me more about humility that it takes humility to fight the good fight.

Today’s quote from “Love in Action” comments on yesterday’s verse, 2 Corinthians 10:1

“Paul was a great hero of the New Testament.  Outside of Jesus Christ, he probably had the greatest impact on the church of any single individual.  But Paul also had a reputation as a meek man.  People accused Paul of being timid when face-to-face with them.  Are you like that?  You have your words all planned out…until you stand fact-to-face, when suddenly all your words turn to mush.  Writing removes that obstacle.  You can write without intimidation.  Alone in a special, quiet place, you can say what’s really in your heart.  I’m so glad I said the important things to my father in writing that I was never able to express verbally.”

I have to say that this is true with me as I find it much less difficult to write my Spiritual Diaries than to teach a Sunday school class.  I have been doing these Spiritual Diaries since the mid 1990’s and most of the time it has been something that I truly love to do.  There are times when life kind of throws a curve ball at me and then it is more difficult to do these SD’s, but for most of the time it bring great joy to me and I hope to others.

10/15/2019 10:35 AM