Shield of Faith

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10

Jabez was an honorable man of God that prayed a bold prayer and God answered.  This week we are looking at the last part of that prayer…and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.

The biggest part of protecting ourselves from Satan worming his way into our lives is to go to battle against him. To do that we need gear. God has given us everything we need for spiritual battle – the full armor of God.  Yesterday we looked at the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, and the Shoes of Peace.  

The Shield of Faith - In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Ephesians 6:16… To extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one we need the Shield of Faith - Our growing faith in God shields us against attacks in the form of setbacks, insults, and temptation. We must realize that the ultimate victory is ours with God. Faith acts on the consistenttruths of God’s Word. Faith talks. Faith argues with Satan. Faith says, “I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Timothy 1:12, NASB). That is the shield of faith. It always calls for action.  Hold strong to your shield and your faith.  Never lay them down.  By faith you can resist the devil and his “fiery darts” and he will turn tail and run.  God will be victorious

The Helmet of Salvation - And take the helmet of salvation…Ephesians 6:17

This protects our minds from doubting God's saving work for us. The head covers our minds, and our minds are the battlefield where war rages. This is what the enemy attacks most ferociously. He fills our minds with lies such as Why should I sacrifice the pleasures of life that are so tempting.  Why try when I constantly fail?  It is hopeless so why not just give in and enjoy it once?  He also offers half-truths like God understands you are weak. Even if you fall, he will forgive you. After all he loves you so much. So why do you try so hard to be good? This is why we must protect our minds from his attacks with the Helmet of Salvation – the knowledge that God has saved us, and the battle is already won.

The Sword of the Spirit - , and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:17  The Sword of the Spirit is God's word. This is a weapon of offense against Satan. When tempted, we must rely on the fact that God is with us, and He wants us to go on the offense fighting back. God's Word—the Holy Bible—illuminates God's Word is truth, We can have perfect confidence in the fact that His words are accurate, true and unerring. When followed, they guide us without fail in the paths that we need to walk. When we memorize God’s word, we always have it with us.  Inside the Bible we can find all the information we will ever need for life.  When we get caught in enemy fire or we find ourselves in a dangerous attack from the enemy, we can lift ourselves up and get our thinking on track.  Satan will try to catch us off guard and throw us off.  When we know what we know, we can stand firm and fend off his attacks.  

Satan is the great deceiver but all that he offers is short-lived.  What God promises is for all eternity and He has our best interest at heart. God gives us the armor … but it is up to you and I to put it on for protection against the evils of the day. 

God wants to bless us. He wants to do it so abundantly that even you will be wowed. There is no blessing that is above God. Ask God to do something so big in your life that you know and everyone around you knows that it is only God who is the author. Like Jabez, ask God to enlarge your borders, to increase the influence and borders of your ministries. Then ask God to reveal to you that His hand is upon you, that you know you are not doing His work alone, but you are being guided by His hand which is filled with protection and providing for you. And finally, pray for protection from the evil one, Satan. He is out to destroy, don’t ever doubt it Peter tells us, 1 Peter 5:8 be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Pray big. Believe big. Fight big. God loves blessing His children because He loves us, but also because He can be glorified.  

Scripture to Claim:
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:16-17