Verse of the day: Ephesians 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Let us begin today understanding that without faith as
the foundation of our Christianity we have lost the battle. The fact of the
matter is that life itself begins with faith. The Apostle Paul describes faith
as a shield. The shield came in varying sizes and shapes. However, the word
used here describes a large shield that covers the body, much like a door. A
shield was made up of layers of leather that were capable of catching fiery
arrows and quench their fire. Arrows often bounced off, deflecting the shot
away from the soldier. Many of these shields interlocked so that soldiers could
march into battle, together, side by side, as an army. What a beautiful picture
of how we should be facing the enemy, side by side, encouraging one another and
supporting one another (now if only God’s church would understand this). God
commands us not to forsake the assembling with one another for the purpose of
encouraging and exhorting one another (Heb 10:24-25) in unity (Eph 4:1-3). He
calls us to love one another, an active love, a love of action that is
demonstrated by the way we treat one another and support one another (Jn 13:34).
Without us first putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
we are lost and on our way to Hell. Hell is a real place and its thirst is
never quenched. We only truly begin to live when we, by faith, call upon Jesus
Christ for eternal life. However, know that the moment we accept eternal life
we are in the battle, and for this reason it is of utmost importance that we
begin to learn how to effectively put on the armor God provides for us. The enemy
tries to use a number of tactics to keep us from effectively serving the Lord
and glorifying Him with our lives. He uses fear to keep us from taking steps
that require faith. As God’s children we must remember that we were not given a
spirit of fear (2 Tim 1:7). Satan kept us in bondage through the fear of death,
and Jesus by His death has destroyed the enemy’s power of fear over us (Heb
2:14-16). We are free to serve God without fear, and by faith. God tells us
that without faith we cannot please Him (Heb 11:6). Even if we trust God with mustard
seed sized faith, He can do much with it to help us to grow in our faith in,
and walk with, Him. The next thing the enemy tries to use to immobilize us is
doubt and insecurity. It was a seed of doubt in the Garden of Eden that brought
the fall of man (Gen 3). He still uses that tactic today. He creates doubt in
us in respect to God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness toward us. He
continually tries to twist God’s Word in order to create a doubt in our minds
as to what God really said in His Word; and this is why I cannot stress enough
that we need to be diligent students of God’s Word, dissecting it and studying
it in its proper context, letting His Word tell us what it is saying rather us
trying to make it say what we want it to say (2 Tim 2:15). When we begin to
doubt God’s love for us, and all that it entails, we need to stop and read
Romans 8:31-39. Finally, the enemy loves to bring thoughts that are unholy and
lead us down a path to sin when we allow those thoughts to provoke our selfish,
and lustful, desires (Jm 1:13-14). This is what he did with Eve in the Garden
(Gen 3). However, we can have victory in this area if we immediate expel those
thought as instructed in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, and give them over to Jesus,
knowing that with each temptation God has created a way of escape (1 Cor 10:13).
Instead of entertaining these thoughts and giving way to sinful behavior,
thereby being defeated in the battle, we need to think on the things that will
honor God, things that are holy and pure (Phil 4:8). The bottom line is that
without faith we are fighting a battle that we cannot win. The enemy is good at
what he does. He will create fear, doubt, discouragement, and lead us down a
path of sin if we are not vigilant in our daily walk with God (1 Pt 5:8). Our
shield of faith should always be in position to deflect or put out the flaming
darts that can come from any direction and often unexpectedly. If we are
putting our complete faith in our relationship with Jesus, and trusting His
Word completely, even if we are knocked down in the fight, we will not be
knocked out. Interestingly, we think of a shield as a weapon of defense, but it
was also used as a weapon of offense. Let us go forward into our daily battle
holding up our shield of faith, pushing the obstacles of fear, doubt, and
temptation out of the way, making the way clear for us to share Jesus with
others, and do all that He calls us to with confidence in the One that has
already defeated the enemy (Col 2:15).
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