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The Armor of God in Real Life: Spiritual Warfare and Daily Protection · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. I'm gonna be
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  your host Tracie and we are already in the month
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  of April. We are in month four of this beautiful
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  year and this year is, our word this year is
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  overflow. And so we have a word every year and
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  that's what we focus on. And so overflow is our
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  word of the year. And we are just overwhelmed
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  by the goodness of God and what he's doing in
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  our life. And so this month we are gonna be focusing
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  on spiritual warfare and strength. And so in
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  this episode we are going to be talking about
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  the armor of God in real life. And so spiritual
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  warfare is one of those topics I think Christians
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  either avoid or obsess over. But scripture brings
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  it right into the middle. Balanced, sober -minded,
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  and powerful. And as we step into April we're
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  stepping into something I believe every believer
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  needs to understand. You're in a battle whether
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  you want to be or not. And pretending the battle
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  isn't happening doesn't make it go away. You
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  don't have to be scared of it. You don't have
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  to be intimidated by it or confused. You don't
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  have to be overwhelmed because you're not fighting
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  the victory for victory. You're fighting from
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  victory. And Christ has already won it. You stand
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  in that. You stand in the victory already. And
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  so in this first episode, it's called the armor
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  of God in real life. Not in theory, not in Sunday
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  school form, not as a cute illustration, but
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  as an everyday spiritual weapon that keeps you
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  stable. steady, protected, standing when everything
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  else around you feels like chaos. Because the
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  enemy hates your identity, your calling, your
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  peace, your competence, hates your spiritual
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  growth that you have grown so much for because
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  you're rooted in scripture over the last four
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  months. Consistent obedience, your influence,
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  he hates whenever you begin to walk in your purpose.
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  So yes, this month matters. But God didn't leave
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  you vulnerable. He didn't leave you exposed.
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  He didn't send you into battle unarmed. He gave
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  you armor. And not physical armor, but spiritual
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  armor. Not external armor, but eternal armor.
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  And not armor based on your strength. It's based
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  on His. And so we have the reality of scripture
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  says, Ephesians 6 12, for we wrestle not against
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  flesh and blood. You're not fighting people,
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  your bosses, your ex, your family, your spouse,
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  your kids, your teachers that you don't like,
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  people who hurt you, and not even yourself. The
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  real battle is spiritual, unseen forces, lies,
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  intimidation, accusations, discouragement, anxiety,
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  fear, temptations, distractions, breakdowns of
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  focus, emotional heaviness, deception. Spiritual
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  fatigue. The enemy's goal isn't and wasn't always
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  to break you. Sometimes it's just to wear you
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  down. But God is not passive. He equips you.
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  And the armor in Ephesians 6, 13 through 18 outlines
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  six pieces of armor. But I want to break it down
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  to you and would love to teach you ways that
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  we can actually feel them in everyday battles.
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  And so we have the belt of truth. Truth holds
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  everything together. A belt is not decorative.
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  It's foundational. Truth is what keeps everything
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  from falling apart. In real life, the belt of
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  truth means you fight lies with scripture. You
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  anchor to what God says, not to feelings. You
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  refuse to build your life on cultural trends.
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  You stay rooted in the word. You don't drift
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  with emotions. You don't negotiate truth when
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  things get tough. and you refuse to let the enemy
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  rewrite your identity. And without truth, everything
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  collapses. Truth is stability. Truth is clarity.
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  Truth is your anchor. Truth is your mental protection.
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  When you feel confused, you get truth. Whenever
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  you feel lost, we have truth. Whenever we have
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  insecurity, we have truth. And when the enemy
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  whispers, we have truth. Truth is the first piece
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  Everything else depends on. And then we have
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  a breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness
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  protects your heart. Your heart is the center
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  of your emotions, your desires, your decisions,
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  meaning it's the biggest target of spiritual
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  warfare. Righteousness is not perfection. Righteousness
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  is position. And when you put on righteousness,
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  you're declaring, I'm not covered by the blood
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  of Jesus. I'm forgiven. I am made right with
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  God. Shame does not own me. Condemnation is not
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  my identity. And my heart is protected. The enemy
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  uses guilt, shame, and condemnation to break
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  your confidence, to make you hide from God, silence
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  your prayer life, sabotage your obedience, and
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  keep you stuck in old patterns. But righteousness?
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  Break that. And that's why we had our Identity
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  Month in March. And if you've not listened to
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  March, go back and listen to them. And that's
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  why it became before the Warfare Month. Righteousness
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  is your shield against shame. And we have shoes
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  of peace. Peace is our stability. Roman soldiers
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  wore shoes that had spikes on the bottom of them
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  to plant their feet so firmly that nothing could
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  push them back. So peace is not softness. Peace
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  is strength. It is stability. It is unshakability.
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  God's peace anchors you whenever anxiety rises,
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  whenever emotion is overwhelmed. Whenever bad
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  news hits, whenever the future feels uncertain,
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  whenever you feel spiritual pressure, circumstances
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  shift, people betray you, you feel spiritually
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  exhausted. Peace is not the absence of conflict.
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  Peace is the presence of God in the conflict.
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  The enemy wants you rattled and overwhelmed,
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  emotionally unstable, mentally spiraling, restless,
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  panicking, doubting, frantic. Because a believer
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  without peace is a believer who is easily manipulated,
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  but the shoes of peace hold you where you're
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  steady. And we have the shield of faith. And
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  so faith extinguishes the enemy's attacks. The
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  shield blocks what is thrown at you. Faith doesn't
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  prevent the attack. Faith protects you in the
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  attack. The enemy will throw doubt, discouragement,
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  the what if thoughts, fear, insecurity, mental
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  spirals and lies. But they says, I don't walk
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  by sight. I walk by truth. I trust God whenever
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  it looks impossible. And I believe what God says,
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  not what fear says. Faith is not optimism. Faith
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  is conviction. Faith isn't ignored reality. Faith
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  refuses to bow to it. The helmet of salvation.
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  The salvation that guards your mind. And so the
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  helmet protects your thoughts. Every battle starts
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  in the mind. And me and a friend were just listening
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  to a podcast and it was saying that the mind
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  controls the brain. And so every battle starts
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  in the mind. And I had Joyce Meyers, she wrote
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  a book, Battlefield of our Mind. And there's
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  probably several other ones, but that's the one
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  that I had read recent or that I had read a long
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  time ago. And so fear filled thoughts, anxious
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  thoughts, I'm not good enough thoughts, jealous
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  thoughts, angry thoughts, discouraging thoughts,
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  shameful thoughts, hopeless thoughts. Intrusive
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  lies, overthinking, replaying past hurts. The
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  helmet says, my mind belongs to God. My thoughts
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  are not the enemy's playground. I have the mind
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  of Christ. God renews my mind daily. And the
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  battle is not won or lost in your thought life.
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  So God protects it first. And then we have the
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  sword of the spirit, the word of God. The word
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  is your weapon. And every other piece is defensive.
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  But this one is offensive. The Word is how Jesus
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  defended Satan in the wilderness. He didn't say,
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  I feel like God loves me. He said, it is written.
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  Your feelings aren't a weapon. Your feelings
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  aren't a weapon. Your opinions aren't a weapon.
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  The Word is. The Word cuts through the lies.
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  The Word silences the enemy. And the Word redirects
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  your thoughts. The word strengthens your spirit.
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  The word brings clarity whenever you feel confused.
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  And the word gives power whenever you feel weak.
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  A believer with no word is a believer with no
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  weapon. And that's why it's so important to read
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  scripture. To make sure that you know what's
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  in Psalms. To make sure that you know who Esther
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  is. And what did Nehemiah do? Who is this Jeremiah
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  guy? What is this Proverbs about? Read it. Pick
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  up a Bible. or download it on the YouVersion
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  Bible app. It's free. Like there was over a billion
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  Bibles out there. And how much time are you spending
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  in the word? Whatever your TikTok timer runs
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  off, don't bypass it. Put it down. God gave you
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  24 hours in the day. How much time have you given
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  him today? And so spiritual warfare in real life,
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  spiritual warfare looks like sudden discouragement,
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  unexpected fear, heaviness with no explanation.
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  conflict that feels spiritual, confusion, temptation
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  in old areas, emotional exhaustion, isolation,
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  feeling spiritually numb, distraction during
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  prayer, heightened insecurity, division in relationships,
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  intimidation, mental fog, patterns returning
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  from the past. This is why you need armor. This
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  is why you need awareness. This is why you need
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  strength. Warfare does not mean that you're weak.
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  Warfare means that you are a threat. If you aren't
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  dangerous, hell won't bother attacking you. And
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  the armor is not something that you put on once.
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  It's a lifestyle. You don't prey the armor on
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  and walk away. You live it. Truth, your foundation.
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  Righteousness, your protection. Peace, your stability.
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  Faith is your shield. Salvation, your mindset.
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  And the word is your weapon. The armor is not
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  just poetry. It's strategy. And I'll be real
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  honest. I say it most mornings. I literally go
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  on and put my helmet on. I put my breastplate
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  on. I put my belt on. I put my shoes on. And
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  I walk through it. And so I know that I am prepared.
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  Because I want to be the type of woman that whenever
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  my feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil
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  says, oh no, she's up. And so, I want to make
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  sure that I am fully armed for the day. And so,
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  your reflection for today. What part of the armor
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  am I weakest in right now? Truth? Peace? Faith?
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  Your thought life? Your confidence? Your grounding?
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  What is it? Let the Holy Spirit show you. Sit
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  at Jesus' feet and let Him teach you. And so,
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  this week... We want you to pick one armor piece
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  that you need most and practice it daily this
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  week. For example, if peace is your weak spot,
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  scriptures on peace. If faith is low, declarations
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  of faith. If thoughts are under attack, renew
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  your mind daily. And if truth feels distant,
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  memorize scripture. This isn't homework. This
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  is training. And so we hope that this message
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  encouraged you. We hope that you are now aligned
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  and you are well dressed for the war that we're
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  in. And so if this message encouraged you, inspired
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  you, make sure that you share it with a friend.
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  Leave a comment. If you are new to fostering
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  faith, we don't have it all figured out, but
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  we are fostering our faith together. And we're
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  just walking through this with community. And
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  so if this message encouraged you, inspired you,
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  Make sure that you leave us a comment. Make sure
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  that you hit that subscribe button. And we would
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  love to pray for you over this week. Dear Lord,
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  thank you so much for giving us your armor. Thank
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  you for your strength and that we can stand firm.
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  Thank you that we are anchored in your truth.
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  Thank you that you protect our heart. Thank you
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  that you guard our mind. Thank you that you fill
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  us with peace and steadiness in our steps. Thank
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  you for covering us with your faith that extinguishes
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  every lie. Thank you that you're teaching us
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  your word with boldness. Thank you that you help
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  us recognize the enemy schemes. Thank you that
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  we are walking in victory every single day. and
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  we pray this in Jesus' name, amen and amen. We
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  hope that this message encouraged you and inspired
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  you and we can't wait to see you guys next week.
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  Have a great week.