Putting On Includes Putting Off | Chris Bailey III

EPHESIANS 6:11 KJV — Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

But God also tells us to put off some things in His Word...

​EPHESIANS 4:22 KJV — That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

​COLOSSIANS 3:8 KJV — But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

​2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5 KJV — (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The experience of putting on God, abiding in Christ as His Spirit abides in us, is a simultaneous process of Him taking away. Which means, it's a constant situation of us letting go.

I encountered someone recently who is afraid. While there is some reluctance in their situation, that hesitancy to change is rooted in fear. But apparently I wasn't learning for myself so the LORD let me encounter one of my own fears - the dreaded check engine light! It came the night of December 25th, before visiting family, Tara's parents, were headed home. We are a one-car family and all our money is spoken for. The LORD impressed me to purchase a remote charger before our family left. Later, I went to get a code scan at our local O'reilly Auto Parts. They scanned and the result is what you see in the picture above. They reset the code upon request, and the check engine light came back on at home. But there was also an alert in our dashboard saying a "Break In Attempt Detected" while the car was starting with a very stalled start as an anti-theft response. After researching and discovering that even dealerships did not really know how to address this problem, it was time to talk to the one who is so easy for me to turn to....me.

Yep, me! I started "doing the knowledge" in my head of how to work this out. But in the commotion of the hall of my thoughts, it's like Jesus was sitting in a still chair, waiting. Looking at me, and waiting for me to put off thinking, and put on praying and talk to my Heavenly Father. So I did. I talked to Tara, and now we kept praying. And everytime the situation or potential costs or possible outcomes came into my head, I prayed and consciously gave it to God and let Him know I trust Him, I don't trust myself, and I will obey and not worry. Even when Tara and I were about to leave the house so I could take her to school, and the car would not start, I told God I trust Him, I'm not gonna worry, but I will obey and charge the battery to try again.

God started the car, my daughters and I took Tara to school, we went shopping for what we needed, and while talking to Tara to let her know we were on our way back to school, the check engine light turned OFF. Off!

ROMANS 13:12 KJV — The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Putting on faith includes means putting off fear. Putting on humility means putting off pride. Putting on prayer means putting off worry. It's all the simultaneous work of the Spirit of God - Casting off is putting on, & putting on is casting off!