While I was away on my blog break, I played a good dose of Halo* on X-box. I came to realize that in this game, there’s no such thing as beginner's luck- at least not for those seemingly algorithmically challenged. That just isn't how the game is programmed. At all! Lol!

First, my player was lost half of the time. I had too many "wait-where-did-everyone-go?" moments. I kept running to all the wrong places and arrived at the right places when the battles were completely over. I spent most of the time restoring Ed’s player whenever he was wounded. I was basically like the Red-Cross soldier-gamer. I also spent some time shooting at my men, because I wasn't sure who the enemy was. Laugh if you will.  Lol! This was my first time. 

The most intriguing thing about this game, other than the fact that I became a serial-killer of my teammates was the uniform of my soldier. It really caught my attention. The armour covers the entire body surface of the player. You can't actually see him, he is completely encased in this bulky, imposing gear of protection. 

Somewhere between my player's serial-killer attempts, I realized that this must be how the devil and his goons see us! When they look at us, they do not see me, Ike, or you, *insert name*. They see the whole armour of God (provided we have it on). They see God. They see strength, right-living, truth, faith, resilience! They don't see the flawed people we see in the mirror. Think about it, all those insecurities, failures and imperfections, all transformed into all that formidability. They are terrified of looking at us! God makes sure that there are no vulnerable points...unless we take them off - even then he covers us with his wings and his grace.

So strap on the armour, the whole gear! 

Guard your mind and reasoning with the helmet of salvation (know and acknowledge that you have been saved and are chosen);

Protect your heart and passions with the breastplate of righteousness (do what is right guided by the sweet principles of God);

Keep your pants up with the belt of truth (lies have a way of causing us shame by baring our behinds, don't ask);

Run around and tell people about Jesus, with your shoes of the gospel;

Protect yourself with the shield of faith by believing all of God's promises and confessing them (there are  ~3,573 promises in the Bible. I probably have read only 60. Read one below); 

You'd notice that the other items in the gear are protective, if you don't have a sword, you might as well be a punching bag that can't fight back. Attack with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It is active and sharper than any two-edged sword and literally can slice whatever! Satan and his goons get an allergic reaction when you speak out loud God's words to his suggestions. Seriously, he can’t deal. CAN NOT. 

Eventually a certain someone got tired of killing her mates, so a certain someone bought the LEGO game, but who is she kidding? She is learning to play Call of Duty this week (hello, guns). Wish me all the best any gamer could bear!

If you don't have a helmet of salvation and are not yet God's soldier, you can, right here! Don't forget to get your gear! Do you play video games? What do you enjoy about them? When last did you personalize a promise of God? Here's a promise of God, regardless of how sad this week has been! 

Halo* Military Sci-fi video game.