The fiery flamed throne in Heaven is exclusively reserved for the ONE whose appearance is like jasper and a sardius stone, whose garment is as white as snow and hair like pure wool. He is the Ancient of Days.

Surrounding His fire-wheeled throne is rainbow, glowing as emerald, the fully-eyed restless 4 living creatures having eyes of a lion/eagle/calf/man, and a sea like crystal at the porch. {Revelations 4; Daniel 7}.

Another group of thrones, 24 in number, are occupied by the 24 Elders graced in white robes and golden crowns, they bow repeatedly to the ONE on the throne at the sound of ‘Holy’ chants by the 4 living creatures and countless number of angels {Revelations 4; Daniel 7}.

The Lion and the Lamb is in the midst of them all, once He looked slain, slain for mankind, He became the Redeemer from sin and the curse, an everlasting redemption He purchased with His own blood, paving the way for mankind to become kings and priests to the ONE seated on the throne. Now He sits fulfilled, satisfied and rested, at the right hand of the Ancient of days, as High Priest and Advocate, patiently awaiting the coming of His Everlasting Kingdom where He will reign as King with His Own; those He bought with His precious blood {Revelations 5; Daniel 7}

Heaven is compartmentalized, there is a hierarchical structure in Heaven, there is orderliness and excellence in Heaven, but Heaven is not divided.

Heaven is not divided in its mission and vision to unite man to God, to restore fellowship between God and man, to give man uninterrupted access to His God and Maker.

Heaven is not divided in bringing the fallen man to repentance, in making disciples of all men, in equipping and gifting the saints for the maturity of the Body of Christ.

Heaven is not divided in soul-winning, Heaven is not divided in water-baptism, Heaven is not divided in pouring out the Holy Ghost to as many as receive Christ is Lord.

Heaven is not divided in converting Saul into Paul to achieve purpose. Heaven is resolute about its vision- Fellowship between God and Man.

Little wonder then that when the disciples of John the Baptist; his stooges and underlings, lacking knowledge of the overall goal and focus of Heaven appeared divisive, ignorantly attempting to disrupt the established pattern for achieving the purpose of Heaven, Jesus looked the other way.

“The Pharisees heard that Jesus was winning and baptizing more disciples than John. (Actually, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; only his disciples did.) So when Jesus heard what was being said, he left Judea and went back to Galilee”
John 4:1‭-‬3 GNB

John the Baptist knew his mission, handed to him from Heaven. He knew Jesus and His mission to redeem man from sin and the curse.

Jesus also knew John the Baptist and what role he was sent to earth to fulfill, there was a level of understanding between the two, but not among the disciples.

The disciples were earthly beings, earthly-minded, insisting on maintaining earthly hierarchical structures, patterns, traditions and doctrines.

“And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
John 3:25‭-‬26 NKJV

What were the possible concerns of John’s disciples?…….

John the Baptist gave them a response;

“John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” You yourself bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. John 3: 27-29. NKJV.

John was clear about one thing; roles were assigned from Heaven for the overall good of mankind. Jesus’ appearance and work were John’s testimony that his mission has been accomplished, his work was done, he has delivered on his given mandate. John was joyful with Jesus appearing on the scene, not intimidated and afraid.

According to John, what his disciples should be looking out for is an assurance that truly Jesus was the expected Messiah, not that ‘people went from him to Jesus‘;

“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.” *Summary: the words of God keeps pouring out of whom he sends. 🙂
John 3:34 NKJV.

As seen in John 3: 27-29, John the Baptist was completely subservient to the Christ, no rivalry, no competition.

However, he knew the mandate he received, he knew his role and position, he knew that ‘he was sent‘ for a specific purpose….not exactly to serve under Jesus, a different purpose for the overall good of mankind.

“John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” You yourself bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatlybecause of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. John 3: 27-29. NKJV.

John was not arrogant, Jesus didn’t think he was. Jesus’ rebuke of John was towards his display of unbelief and uncertainty about Him being the Christ.

According to Jesus, John should have known better by the outcome of His ministry; there was no division, the mission was the same- redemption of man and restoration of fellowship between God and Man {Matthew 11:2-10}.

John should have been guided by God’s spirit as seen in Luke 11:17;

“But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.”

But Alas, John the Baptist was of the Old Testament, needing both salvation, water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Ghost himself. 🙂

If you are reading this and you have been born into the Kingdom of God by your acceptance and proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, whatever your gifting is, whatever your calling is, keep it lined up with the vision of Heaven – to bring every man to repentance and to make disciples of all men {Matthew 28:19; 2 Peter 3:9}.

Avoid meaningless segregation, the types that brew division and disharmony. Just like Jesus, walk away from divisions commonly brought about by traditions and doctrines of men, being reminded always of Mark 9:40; “For he who is not against us is on our side“. NKJV.

Serve with your graces and gifting in the local assembly where The Lord plants you, stay committed to your calling.

If you are still unsure about your gifting, ask The Lord to show you, to lead you.

It’s all about the Father’s Business. There is so much work to be done. The time is now. Every one has a role to play and no role is too small.

Welcome back to the 5th part of this blogpost series. If you are just joining us, do a quick catch up by reading the first 4 parts {on this site}.

We started looking at the composite parts of the Armour of God as seen in Ephesians 6:11, 13-19;

“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 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, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”  NKJV.

So far, we’ve discussed 3 components; the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation and shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  And today we move on to another component of the Armour of God; gird your waist (loins) with truth. 

Gird your waist (loins) with the truth

This is really an interesting piece in the Armour of God.

The loins refers to the part of the body, by the sides, between the last ribs and the pelvic bone, that is the 2 sides around the belle.

Gird means to encircle (a person or part of the body) with belt or a band. It also means to secure a garment or sword on the body with a belt or band.

Dictionary definition of truth is; ‘ in accordance with fact or reality or a fact or belief that is accepted as true (accurate, exact).’

How does the Bible define ‘truth’?  Let’s look at a few scriptures;

“Jesus said to him, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  John 14.6a

{Jesus is the truth}.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”  John 1:1

{Jesus is the Word}.

So,

Jesus=the truth

Jesus=the Word

Then, the truth=the Word.

In John 8:31-32, Jesus says to the Jews that the truth is the Word;

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed, And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32.            NKJV.

John 17:17 is more explicit;

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” NKJV.

Having understood what the ‘the truth‘ is, next is to unravel the phrase, ‘gird your loins‘.

If you ask me, literally (from definitions given above for both gird and loins), to ‘gird your loins’ would mean to secure the area around your ‘belle’ with a band/belt.

I found an interesting passage of scripture where this phrase was used; 1 Peter 1:13;

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”   NKJV.

Other Bible translations provide better understanding of the early parts of 1 Peter 1:13;

“So then, have your minds ready for action…..” GNTD

“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control…” NLT

Now, a Soldier uses his belt to fasten the rest of his armor around his body (waist) for ease of movement and to prevent him from tripping over them.

So friends & brethren, to ‘gird your loins with the truth‘ means to encircle your mind (thoughts and words) with God’s Word. It means to be ready for any form of confrontation from Satan by pushing an ‘it is written‘ at him. It means to accept the Word as the final authority over your life. It means to make the Word the standard and prism through which any other thought/word from within you or from any other source is weighed/screened.

Confrontation from Satan can come to us via our thoughts, from direct temptations, as sicknesses/diseases, as attacks on our loved ones or our marriages/relationships, etc, etc. But no matter what form they come at us, we should be prepared, ready with the Truth to help us crush them.

God’s integrity hinges on His Word (the Truth).

Hebrews 6:13 tells us that;

“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,”.  NKJV

God is His Word.

God’s word is CONSTANT.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Isaiah 40:8. Indeed I love this scripture;

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
NKJV.

And in 1 Peter 1:23 God’s word is seen as indestructible;

“….. but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
KJV

As humans, by design, we hang on to something. Every human being believes something.

I choose the Word of God! And declare that is TRUTH.

 Anything that doesn’t line up with the Word, is Not the Truth!

The truth says, ‘by His stripes we were healed‘, it says, ‘the blessing of Abraham has come upon all that believe in Christ Jesus’, it says, ‘I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus’,  it says, ‘I am an heir of God’, it says, ‘I am more than a conqueror’, ‘there is no condemnation for me who is in Christ Jesus’ etc.

I believe the Truth of God’s word and I declare that God’s word is the final authority over my life. Anything not written (in the word) is not the truth and is not for me. 

Halleluyah!