Wednesday, August 5, 2020
And take the helmet of salvation…Ephesians 6:17a
The word "helmet" carries a very descriptive meaning. In the original, it means "circle the head." And that's how the helmet functioned. It encircled the soldier's entire head (except for the face, of course) preventing injury to that vital part of the body. For Christians suiting up for spiritual battle every day, the helmet refers to a mind controlled by God, and the knowledge and certainty of our salvation in Him.
When God controls our mind, Satan cannot. When we study the Bible, learn the meaning of Biblical doctrine, and memorize scripture, we are building a helmet and creating an extra layer of the strongest protection there is. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. To renew our mind, we must take every thought captive, and then we must filter it through the word of God. When you have thoughts that you know did not come from God, then give Him those thoughts and ask for His help to turn these thoughts around so they are obedient to Him. Satan knows how to take a warrior down. The game of war is won and lost in the mind. He only needs to convince you that you have lost in order to win your mind. He does this with thoughts such as I am not good enough, God would never love me, I am so unworthy, He doesn't care about me. It is the truth of God's word that makes the helmet that protects us from Satan’s lies. We have to choose God's truth over Satan's lies, over and over again.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Heads up!
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, and at times, especially in weaker moments,
the temptation to buy into his lies is enormous. He fills our heads with
doubts, fears, low self-esteem, false doctrines, and he can take away our
confidence. He can fill our heads with
lies and make us believe that we are not worthy of God’s love and mercy. He can trick us in to believing that we are
not capable of doing the work that God has planned for us. He can deceive us into becoming
non-productive for the kingdom of God, which is his goal. He chips away one soldier at a time trying to
cripple the Army of God. 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. We are already His, and nothing can take us away from Him, and nothing can take away our salvation.
Satan is the great deceiver but all that he offers is short-lived. What God promises is for all eternity.
But since
we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith
and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 1
Thessalonians 5:8
