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I write a devotional each week and send it out via email to people all over the country. I would love to send it to YOU. Joyvotions are always under 500 words and I never reveal or sell your email address. Just email me (my email address is on the right side of this posting)and I will add you to my list. The following Joyvotion is the one I sent out this week.

The Devil Wears Lies!

This is my first Joyvotions Series! Over the next six weeks, I am going to write about the Armor of God from Ephesians 6. As a believer in 2009, it is crucial to be ready to live in the abundant joy God has for me. This means protecting myself with God’s armor.

Ephesians 6:13-14
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth.”

If you’ve watched “The Devil Wears Prada” you might remember the line Stanley Tucci’s character yells into the halls of the Runway Magazine office just before Meryl Streep’s character (the boss from hell) makes an entrance.

“Gird up your loins!”

A funny moment in a hilarious movie. Words warning the fashion peons to prepare themselves for the worst. In this case, a malevolent editor-in-chief.

The phrase “gird up your loins” refers to a common act by the Roman army. In the days of the Bible, the soldiers wore long tunics. In battle, a soldier would gather up his tunic around his waist so he wouldn’t trip as he fought his enemies. He wanted to be his most agile and mobile.

Paul uses this phrase in Ephesians 6, admonishing Christians to “Gird up their loins with truth.” From what I’ve studied and read he was conveying two things. First, it is crucial for believers to protect that part of our “gut” that holds our intuition. The enemy assaults that part of us daily, attacking our security in God and our position as the children of Jehovah.

Second, we must be alert to protect ourselves from the world’s lies that would cause us to stumble. As a woman and wife, as a mom and follower of Christ, I want to run the race God has for me in joy and purpose. The moment I believe the enemy’s lies I trip up.

It’s a choice I must make each day. Do I take time to wrap my heart and mind in the Word of God and His truth? Or do I envelope myself in other people’s opinions or the mantras I hear on the TV?

Standing firm in the battle of today means choosing to gird my heart, my gut, in the truth of who God is and what He says about me.

So tomorrow when you wake up, remember that a malevolent force is headed your way and wants you to doubt yourself and God.

Take action – “Gird up your loins!”