The
Full Armor of God
explored Paul’s letter in the book of Ephesians and he described what all of
the different pieces of armor, we are required to put on to stand against the
devil’s schemes. A significant aspect that Larry Richards revealed was that in Ephesians
chapter six, Paula summarized how the soldiers would put on the whole armor. In
the letter of Ephesians in previous chapters, Paul wrote in the reverse order where
readers could grasp the deeper meaning. Some people believe that demons are
former angels that got casted out from Heaven when God removed satan. All we
know for sure is that satan has an army of about one third of the former angels.
Larry Richards stated and pointed out that demons don’t possess our bodies,
they can only influence our thinking and declare lies that we believe to be true.
Demons fight against believers because they don’t want us to realize our true identity
in Christ Jesus. They tempt us with ungodly temptations in order to get us to
become addicted to sinful practices. They tell us to continue to hold on to
unforgiveness so that we never let our wounds heal. The book covered the helmet
of salvation, the shield of faith, the sandals of peace, the breastplate of righteousness,
and the belt of truth in complete details.
The book began with the helmet of salvation (Ephesians
1:1-23). Larry Richards also reminded readers the connotation of Psalm 139 and
how God has made and uniquely knitted David together in his mother’s womb. Like
David, God has done the same thing for every single human being and he has
purposely chosen the exact egg that our mother produced. He also chose the precise
sperm from the millions that are dad produced that would penetrated the egg and
form a baby. God created us the meticulous way that He gave us just the right
looks, IQ, height, gifts, and talents that He wanted you to have for His
purpose and glory. Larry also exposed the truth that satan hates you and his
own purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy what God has for you. The enemy wants
you to believe that you’re worthless, not good enough, a failure, unwanted, and
a mistake. Satan ultimate plan is to get you to believe the lies that he speaks
through other people in order to hinder you in realizing your potential and
identity in Christ. He also uses other people’s action to prevent us from
moving forward in life and living out our proper destinies.
This section on the helmet of salvation was life changing
for me to read and let sink deep into my mind and soul. I instantly related to
the lies that believers believe about themselves that Larry Richards listed in
a neat chart on page 32 and 33. I recognized that I have believed most of them
that satan has instilled into my mind to mediated and rehearse upon. Some of
the lies I have believed from this list was, “No one will ever love me, I’m
ugly, there’s no use trying, God can’t love me, I’m weak, no good, I hate
myself, It’s always my fault, I don’t deserve to be happy, I might as well kill
myself, nobody cares, it will never get better, and I’m going to die alone.” This
helped me to see that I actually believed that I was worthless, not capable of
having someone love me, that I wasn’t good enough to be accepted, and that
people would always leave me. I remember like most people what people have said
to them and I can still hear them to this day. People in my childhood have
called me fat – my boobs and back jiggles when I walk, gay because of the way
that I talk, I would never have a girlfriend, I would never be able to drive,
and many more. I can personally proclaim that I let their comments define my
life, and I allowed satan to unknowingly influence me to stop living freely,
and to stay in my comfort zone, where in a sense I am protected from their
negative decrees spoken over my life. I now am able to distinguish and trace
back to where some of the lie roots were originally planted. Some of my early
school memories were getting pitched and kicked by two girls on the playground
and no teacher protected me and came to my defense. I knew as a boy that I
couldn’t fight back so I took it and I never told the teachers. The lie that I
believed was that I wasn’t worth protecting and they must be doing it because I’m
bad. This part of the book really reinforced the importance of mediating on
what God says about us and understanding that all of these were lies implanted
by satan into our minds. I loved how Larry went through the scriptures and uncovered
the truth that we are adopted into His family and we are blessed with every
spiritual blessing and God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die
for your numerous sins.
I would recommend this glorious book to everyone who is
still struggling with some of their childhood issues and they are seeking
freedom and wanting victory from the enemy schemes. This is a magnificent book
written on spiritual warfare and it released the truth behind the hidden
meaning about putting on the whole armor of God. This book is the best one that
I have read on spiritual warfare and putting on the armor of God, I highly
recommend it! This book has took me into a profound study of Ephesians and the
authority that we have over the enemy. It taught to understand where the lies
declared over my life really came from. It also assisted me in helping me to replace
the lies with the helmet of salvation and to mediate on what God has stated
about me. I immensely loved the confessions, the renunciations, and the
declarations on page 44 and 45. One of my favorite renunciations was, “I
renounce the lie that I will always be alone. I am a member of Your family,
Father, and have a host of brothers and sisters who will welcome me into
community” (Page 44). This book has truly impacted my life and I read it during
the time that I truly needed to hear the message presented. I will be rereading
this one again! I have been struggling with lies spoken over my life recently
again and it finally clicked at who was behind the negative lies. This book has
set me free from the lies and it had helped me to put on my new self in Christ!
If you’re seeking a powerful book on spiritual warfare, then you definably need
to read this one!
“I received this book free from the publisher through the
Bethany House Publishers/ Chosen book review bloggers program.”
If you would like to purchase a copy of The Full Armor of God, check it out on Amazon.com:
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