Week 1:  The Belt of Truth

Memory Verse for this week:
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ.”

Piece of Armor:
The Belt of Truth
Ephesians 6:14 (New Living Translation) 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

Day 1 Summary:
Eph 6:11-12 clearly indicates who are enemy is and is not.  We don’t wrestle against human beings even though we may wrongly assume other people are the problem.

Christians battle against a supernatural enemy whose forces would overwhelm us except for the presence of God in our lives.

Questions: Can we battle against this enemy on our own?

Day 2 Summary:
The Word of God is Truth.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We know that Satan is a liar and the truth is not in him (John 8:44)

David understood that the Word is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, reliable, and rewarding.  The Word revives the soul, make the inexperienced wise, makes the heart glad, enlightens the eyes, and warns God’s servants. (Psalm 19:7-11)

Living according to Scripture’s truths enable us to keep our ways pure.

Questions: Do you have a reading plan for the Bible? Have you ever used a plan for reading it? Do you know how to interpret the Bible?

Steps to Interpret the Bible:
Read the Bible in more than one translation
Understand what you are reading: a Gospel, Epistle, one of the Prophets, a history, etc
Use appropriate study tools, examine the cultural and historical background
Read the passage in its context to the specific book.  Old or New Testament?
Look for the authors intended meaning in the passage
Commentaries, bible dictionaries, etc.

Wearing the Belt of Truth means knowing Jesus personally.

Day 3 Summary:
Jesus who knew the Truth, spoke the Truth, and lived the Truth, is still the Truth today.

The Enemy knows that if he can deceive us about Jesus and His work, he misleads us about the very cornerstone of the Christian Faith.

Focus:  Hebrews 4:15 – We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet is without sin.

Questions: How often do we give in to temptations?  (Most of the time we think of the big ones)  What about the smaller ones? (sleeping in a little longer, watching what we say, gossip, our language,)  Jesus took all of these things into account.

Day 4 Summary:
Matthew 4:8 – The One who is the Word of God used the Word to make the right choices
1. Jesus made the right choices because His desire to please the Father was more important than anything the enemy offered.
2. Jesus knew the Word in order to respond to the Devil’s attacks
3. Jesus experienced God’s blessing when He overcame temptation

What we do is as important as what we don’t do.
James 4:17 says that if we know to do good and don’t do it, that is a sin

Day 5 Summary:
Accountability: a willingness to be honest about, and to accept responsibility for my actions as one means to strive for Christlike holiness.
You must desire to be held accountable; its voluntary
Being accountable requires honesty
Accountability demands we take responsibility for our actions
Accountability is not a shortcut to avoid spiritual disciplines; Bible reading, prayer
The goal is growth in Christlikeness, personal holiness should be the result.

Questions: Who would really want to talk to other about issues they face in their Christian lives?
Why should we be accountable to someone?
What are your feelings about being accountable to someone?  What does that require?  Do you know anyone you can be accountable with?
How does accountability relate to the belt of Truth? (keeps us honest)

We stand strongest against the enemy when we stand united.  When we have accountability partners we know that we don’t fight alone.

Only when we understand and apply Gods Word properly can we wear the belt of truth:

Read: James 1:22

Scriptures for Group Activity (Page 25)
READ: Matthew 16:13-20

Hebrews 4:15
Romans 1:3-4
John 1:1-4
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Hebrews 1:3
Isaiah 7:14
2 Corinthians 5:21
Matthew 1:18
Hebrews 2:17
Matthew 1:20
Hebrews 7:26
1 John 2:2
John 10:30
Matthew 1:24-25
1 Peter 2:22
Hebrews 4:10

Final Thoughts:
1. Jesus made the right choices because His desire to please the Father was more important than anything the enemy offered.
2. Jesus knew the Word in order to respond to the Devil’s attacks
3. Jesus experienced God’s blessing when He overcame temptation

These three things that Jesus did can give us hope for living in righteousness.  The concept of living righteously will be explored in week two as we cover the Breastplate of Righteousness.

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