[You] Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:14-15

The subject “you” is implied in this first verse. You stand! It also implies personal responsibility. In the arena of spiritual warfare, no one else can stand for you. Others can pray for you, intercede for you, and even agree with you. (Matthew 18:19) But, ultimately, you have to make the decision to stand. Now if the Apostle Paul is telling us to stand, it must be that we will be faced with obstacles along our Christian walk that would trip us up and cause us to fall. I love this saying. I know I’ve shared it before, but it bears repeating…“I’m never down! I’m always up or getting up!” It reminds me of some of the old Rocky Movies. The dude just wouldn’t stay down! He would get knocked down and it would look like he was beaten, but the word defeat just isn’t in his vocabulary. And when he is fighting the ultimate foe for the championship, he is bruised and bloody and on the canvas. Everyone knows it is the end! But suddenly he gets up and with one last surge of strength knocks out the champion and through swollen lips yells…“Yo Adrian, I did it!!!” Sometimes I feel like I’ve spent most of my life “getting up.”  But one thing I have determined, “I’ll never stay down!” And when I finally meet my Lord face to face, I want to be able to say, “Yo Jesus, I did it!!!”

But Paul tells us that we do not have to go into spiritual battle being ill prepared. When we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, He immediately issues us a uniform. And not just any uniform, but a coat of supernatural armor built to withstand all of the onslaughts of the enemy of our soul.

We receive the first piece at the moment of salvation, for when we accept the truth of the Gospel, the Belt of Truth becomes the central part of our armor…and sheathed on that belt is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It always supports us against the Devil’s lies. “So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 AMP