“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle (forbearing) spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds inChristJesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9, NASB)

~~*~~ 

Looking at this in light of recent spiritual and physical assaults to my state of mind and heart, I can see where this passage would fit well with those like Ephesians 6:10-18 and 1 Peter 5:6-11. I see this passage as fitting into our spiritual warfare armory.

One thing our enemy does through our circumstances and struggles is to try to keep us down and discouraged, focused on the storm, the darkness, the valleys of life, rather than focused on our God and His power to prevail over these things that come against us. So what are the aspects seen here that fit our spiritual armory?

First rejoicing in the Lord: Rejoicing in the Lord encompasses both the shield of faith, as rejoicing requires trust in and focus on the good things of God and His ways toward us, and the belt of truth, for truth about God and His ways frees us from fear of life’s issues. And second, it is part of our sword, the word of truth, for true rejoicing in the Lord requires we know the truth about our God and His ways.

Letting our gentle, forbearing spirit be known says to me to live the life we profess, standing firm in faith, bearing witness of our God, trusting Him. It requires our helmet of salvation be in place and our feet shod with the peace the gospel brings us. It requires the belt of truth to be in place because the truth of God abides within us.

Prayer with thanksgiving is a vital part of the armor of God. It is like holding the shield up to cover us and those around us. True thankfulness stems from hope in God that believes He is who He says He is and He is doing what He says He will do. Lifting up prayer with gratitude is like lifting our shields up over ourselves and those around us to ward off the fiery darts of evil. I think of the practice of armies who would huddle together, shields up, to form a turtle shell affect over the whole when enemy arrows would fly in. That is what prayer with thanksgiving does for us. Through these things we receive the peace of God which guards our heart and mind inChristJesus.

As we stand firm in this way, we are to dwell on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise.” This tells me that the scriptures upon which I meditate, the songs I listen to, the words I let rest within me, all should lift me to higher ground through truth, the honorable, righteousness, purity, the lovely and loveable things of good repute, excellence and praise worthiness. Any meditation that leads me in the opposite direction, bringing me to focus on the lie, the dishonorable, the unrighteous, the impure, the unlovely and unlovable things of evil repute, half-hearted, and condemning, should be avoided.

Even listening to good, true, Christian songs and meditations is wrong place, wrong time for us, if it focuses us on the bad and evil dark things of this life, instead of on the good and right, true, lovely and excellent qualities of God and His promises and ways. For example, I was listening to a good, Christian song that was talking about how God walks with us through the valleys, but my heart was focusing on the valley I am in and becoming sad, instead of hearing the work of God in that valley, and being lifted up. So that meditation at that moment was harmful to me. I realized that and changed my focus rather than being led into a pity party for the day. Others listening to that same song in that same moment, could have focused on God’s presence in the valley and been encouraged and lifted up by it. But my being brought deeper into the shadows of that valley was sure signal to change to a new song.

The greatest part of this armory supply list is that as we learn to practice these things in the midst of our spiritual battles, God’s very presence joins us there. God’s enemy cannot stand so as to prevail in His presence. When we use our God given armor in this way, we usher in the Presence and Power of God, who turns our darkness into brightest day.