Heb 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The shield of faith is picked up at the point where we start looking to God for our help; it is when we become a person who comes to Him. Faith has to be tied to God.

We often see numerous sources available for the supplying of our needs. God sees Himself as our only choice. As we said before, when we get things by means of our own efforts, we end up getting a new master rather than a need met. Mat 7:11 (NIV) If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! This is how we come to God; we start asking Him for those things we need.

James 4:2 (NIV) You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, BECAUSE you do not ask God. There is a world system that we can use to get our “needs” met; or, so we are told. First, we get a job; then we make some money; after that we use the money to purchase what we need.

Mat 6:25 (NIV) Therefore I (Jesus) tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? This is a foreign concept to us; we can think that there are no more important things than what we eat, drink, and wear. We see them as the BASIC needs of life; but, Jesus is asking us, Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

If we don’t know what we need, then we don’t know where to put our shield of faith. Mat 6:33 (NIV) But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these THINGS will be given to you as well. Jesus establishes what our priority needs are; this lets us know where to put our shield of faith. Since life is more important than food, and the body more important than clothes, then our biggest needs are God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. Not very many people get up in the morning with this at the top of their “To Do” list.

Why did God give us life; why did He give us a body? We will never be able to succeed at life or win with our body, if we are heading in the wrong direction. If our struggles, battles, and temptations are pulling us away from our main purpose in life, then our shield of faith is being used to protect us from things that we shouldn’t even be having to deal with in the first place. BEFORE we need a career, a job, some money, some things, or a relationship with someone, we must know where we are heading in the first place.

What do you believe in, trust in, rely on, and depend on the most? If you seek first something other than God, then it is your opinion that it is your number one priority. If you feel you must get your career going first, find a job, make some money, get set up in life, get a secular education, make sure you can pay your bills, or get all the THINGS you need, then that is what your shield of faith is made of; and, that is where you have it positioned.

How would it affect your emotions if you lost your job, your career failed, the economy crashed, your savings was lost, your health deteriorated, or you lost an important relationship? Would your faith in God be stronger and more emotionally stabilizing than the problems and loses you faced? If not, then you and Jesus need to spend some time together helping you get your shield of faith made out of God’s existence and the fact that He rewards. Your shield of faith may be made out of money, job security, career advancement, a savings plan, a relationship, or your abilities and skills.

If you need a job, which one? If you should train for a career, which one? If you need some money, where should you get it? If you need some employees, which ones? If you need a partner, where should you go to find them? Who is going to make sure you get all your needs met? Who is going to make sure you get the right needs met? Who is going to make sure you get your needs met the right way? Who is going to make sure you get your needs met on a permanent basis with no side-effects?

Mat 6:24 (NIV) No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Jesus makes sure we don’t get our needs met and the solution trap us in a rat race that enslaves us for the rest of our life. Bills, jobs, careers, relationships, needs, interests, and pleasure can pull us in all the wrong directions. Only Jesus can help you make the kinds of decisions that set you on a path of freedom and true success. Otherwise, we get up every morning for the rest of our lives living a life where money is in total control of every moment of every day. So, instead of making our shield of faith out of money, possessions, positions, power, prestige, popularity, pleasure, and accomplishments, we allow Jesus to make it out of the fact that God exists and rewards earnest seekers.