Dear Precious Friends,
On this Fill Our Soul Sunday, I pray we are embracing the gift of this day, prioritizing time spent with the Lord, filling our soul with His word, His truth, being still and embracing the gift of time with Him.
As we journey through life & especially during the times we are in, we are constantly bombarded by challenging circumstances and difficulties. When these difficulties come, we must remember who we are and whose we are. We are to grow in grace. We are to mature in the faith. We are to walk by faith. We are to live by ongoing, persevering, purifying, trusting faith - for without faith it is impossible for the child of God to please the Lord, for we must KNOW and TRUST that His Word is sure, that His promises are true and His truth stands fast forever and ever.
When looking at Ephesians 6 we are reminded as God's children, we are warriors, we are in a battle and need to armor up every single day! We are not fighting a physical battle but a spiritual one, and God in His grace, has equipped us... as His followers with a wide range of spiritual armor which when used correctly, will be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the enemy, be a protection to ourselves and others, and give glory to the Lord.
Every part of our armor is given for a different, yet important purpose, and each piece is designed to be used in concert with the others. But we need to know the benefit of each piece of the weapons we receive...
Today, I'm sharing the Shield-of-Faith, "with which we will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
We can never fight a spiritual enemy by natural means. The greatest enemy we encounter is death - but Christ won that battle on our account, and by faith in His death, burial, and resurrection, we too have victory over death, and will be resurrected from the dead - because all born again children of God are given eternal life. Christ's own eternal, resurrected life, becomes our life by faith. In Him is life, and His supernatural life becomes our eternal life, through time and into the eternal ages to come.
As believers, we armor up and use the Shield-of-Faith, which utilized correctly, will protect our heart and soul from all the flaming arrows of the enemy, during our time on earth.
Temptations and fiery trials, tribulation and stormy seas, irritation and deep disappointment, persecution and various people, will be used by the enemy to burn our soul and shipwreck our testimony. Discouragement and unholy anger, doctrinal error and spiritual confusion, together with false teachings, moral failure, and self-recrimination, will flood our hearts if we step outside the protection of an unwavering faith in God - and Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent.
The enemy knows our weakest point and aims every one of his fiery darts at the bullseye of our human frailty. He will use fractured relationships, money concerns, health issues, the state of the nation, and anything else that may cause us to take our eyes off Jesus, and focus on the problem at hand.
We are to be astute, and recognize that anything that may cause our hearts to fail, can be prevented when we cast all our cares upon Him - by faith.. knowing that ALL His promises are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus our Lord. When the enemy seeks to instill worry in our heart or to whip up our frantic emotions - it is the Shield-of-Faith that is our protection - for God's Word is sure and we must stand firm on His truth, however fragile life's circumstances may have become.
There are many pieces of spiritual armor which God has prepared for our protection during our journey here on earth, and when we know God and trust His Word will continuously carry that Shield-of-Faith - by taking every thought captive to Christ.. by keeping our eyes of faith on Jesus and by resisting every attack of the enemy, through standing firm on the Word of faith.
May we stand up in this evil day and take up the Shield-of-Faith moment by moment, knowing that with it, we are able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and stand victorious - by the power of His Spirit, which is given by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN!!!!
Source: Holy Spirit, God's word, Knowing Jesus devo.
