The Meditations of a Latter-day Saint

 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" -Ephesians 6:17 Helmet When we reflect upon the use of a helmet in Paul's analogy, the purpose of this piece of armor is to protect the soldier from receiving any injury to the head. It's the same concept when it comes to sports, such as baseball or American football: the athletes wear them to protect them from head injury. In a metaphorical sense, however, the idea of the helmet is to protect the mind from injury. While addressing spiritual matters, I believe it is appropriate to speak about mental health as well, especially mental abuse. Mental abuse causes injury which can't be easily seen by an observer, but the signs are there. Depression and anxiety disorders are serious matters which stem from abusive patterns to the one who's been injured. In addressing the spiritual matter on the symbolism of the helmet, the following comes to mind: "Let thy bowels ... be ...

 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."  -Ephesians 6:16 Faith It would be prudent to help define faith at the start. What is faith? How does faith work? "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen." -Hebrews 11:1, with the Joseph Smith Translation , or revision, and use of the Greek Lectures on Faith, Lecture 1 9. "From this we learn that faith is the assurance which men have of the existence of things which they have not seen, and the principle of action in all intelligent beings. 10. "If men were duly to consider themselves, and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental." ...

  "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"  -Ephesians 6:15 This verse will be dissected, piece by piece, to expound upon what the Apostle said in having the gospel of peace. The Feet The image of the feet suggests to the reader the question: Where do you stand? What is the foundation which you find yourself standing upon? How shall you stand before God at His judgment-seat? "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" -Revelation 6:17 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." -Revelation 20:12 The Lord Jesus Christ gave the obvious statement for where we ought to stand, when He taught: Matthew 7 (Cf. 3 Nephi 14, same verse numbers) [with the Greek translation in Green ] 24. Therefore whosoever heareth th...

 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;" -Ephesians 6:13-14 Truth During the Passover feast in Jerusalem, the eleven* Apostles who remained with Jesus in the upper chamber. There was a question asked by Thomas: "Thomas saith unto him, Lord ... how can we know the way?" To this, the Master answered:  "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:5-6  At an earlier event Jesus said "to those Jews which believed on him, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  -John 8:31-32 The truth will set us free which involves more than mere belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. An effort has to be made by the individual disciple of C...

  Put on the Whole Armor of God "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." -Ephesians 6:11 This topic has weighed on my mind for quite some time, and wish to address it in a series of blogger posts, which are titled "The Armor of God", and with each post, let us seek to cover the principles and how they are represented by the Apostle Paul to the Saints in Ephesus. Ephesians 6 14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16. Above all, taking the shied of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: