08/03 - 08/04: BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS - Ephesians 6:14
August 3, 2024

A YEAR OF PRAYER

A PRAYER TO STAND FIRM IN THE BATTLE

Put on The Full Armor of God

10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 
11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14  Stand therefore… —Ephesians 6:10 - 14a

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place. —Ephesians 6:14

BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH OBEDIENCE

CULTIVATING THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10  that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 
11  being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. —Philippians 1:9 - 11

1. The soil condition of the heart.

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:23

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? —Jeremiah 17:9

2. The imputed seed of righteousness cultivated through the living seed of God’s Word.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. —Hebrews 4:12

3. The prepared soil of the heart.

1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 
2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 
4  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
5  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 
6  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 
7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 
8  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 
9  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” —Matthew 13:1 - 9

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. —Matthew 6:33

1  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
3  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
3  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
4  The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. —Psalm 1:1 - 6

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. —Matthew 13:19

12  Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].
13  Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].
14  Who knows but what He will turn, revoke your sentence [of evil], and leave a blessing behind Him [giving you the means with which to serve Him], even a cereal or meal offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?
15  Blow the trumpet in Zion; set apart a fast [a day of restraint and humility]; call a solemn assembly.
16  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; assemble the elderly people, gather the children and the nursing infants; let the bridegroom [who is legally exempt from attending] go forth from his chamber and the bride out of her closet. [None is exempt from the humiliation.]
17  Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; and let them say, Have pity and spare Your people, O Lord, and give not Your heritage to reproach, that the [heathen] nations should rule over them or use a byword against them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God? —Joel 2:12 - 17 (AMPC)

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. —Hosea 10:12

Then was the Lord jealous for His land and had pity on His people. —Joel 2:18 (AMPC)

20  But I will remove far off from you the northern [destroyer’s] army and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, with its front toward the eastern [Dead] Sea and with its rear toward the western [Mediterranean] Sea. And its stench shall come up [like that of a decaying mass of locusts, a symbol and forecast of the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord], and its foul odor shall come up, because He has done great things [the Lord will have destroyed the invaders]!
21  Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!
22  Be not afraid, you wild beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have sprung up and are green; the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their [full] strength.
23  Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord, your God; for He gives you the former or early rain in just measure and in righteousness, and He causes to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.
24  And the [threshing] floors shall be full of grain and the vats shall overflow with juice [of the grape] and oil.
25  And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten—the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you.
26  And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never be put to shame.
27  And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am in the midst of Israel and that I the Lord am your God and there is none else. My people shall never be put
to shame.
28  And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. —Joel 2:20 - 28 (AMPC)