|
THE SHIELD OF FAITH
That Didn’t Hurt At All
Jesus, help me in addition to all the other pieces of armor, to take up the shield of faith, with which I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Now that we are dealing with a moving part, teach me how to keep it positioned where it is needed. Up to now You have been only dealing with whether my armor was on or off. But, once I put the shield of faith on my arm, help me move it around for additional protection. Since it can be moved to protect a strike against the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, or the shoes of the gospel of peace, teach me how to take advantage of the fact that it is moveable and it is additional.
|
In addition to all this: Jesus, since the breastplate of righteousness can keep an attack against me from killing me, help me always keep it on. But, because of its close proximity to my sensitive being, I will still feel the sting of the strike. Teach me that the shield of faith is to be kept out in front of me. Help me understand that it can absorb the sharp vibrations as a hurling object strikes it. Also, show me how to take advantage of the fact that the shield of faith has extinguishing capabilities.
|
With which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one: Jesus, when I am dealing with flaming objects being sent my way, having extinguishing capabilities is a very important characteristic. If a flaming object strikes and sticks to my breastplate of righteousness, I am going to feel the heat. Since we are talking about a fast moving, flaming, sharp object, which is a spiritual arrow, help me “do what it takes” to get the protection I need. If this weapon of destruction hits me in the breastplate of righteousness, I am going to feel the shock of the hit, the heat of the flame, and the piercing of the point into my spiritual chest. It won’t be able to kill me; but, it will cause me a lot of suffering. Teach me how to use the shield of faith.
|
In addition to all this. Jesus, use these words to help me add the shield of faith as an additional protection. Encourage me to see the need for adding this piece of armor in front of everything else. I need all the other armor pieces. Show me that this piece won’t take the place of all the other pieces. Make it clear to me that if for some reason a flaming arrow gets past my shield of faith and I don’t have the appropriate plating on the area where it hits, I am going to suffer major spiritual damage. I won’t just experience tremendous pain; I will experience great spiritual debilitation. It can be such a strategic blow that I am kept from being able to help anyone else.
|
I confess that faith is vital to everything I do; but, it cannot be used to take the place of all the other spiritual armor pieces I need.
|
|
What Do You Suppose This Is For?
Take up the shield of faith. Jesus, reveal to me that having faith and using faith is two different issues. Salvation provides me with a shield of faith. For by the grace given me [Paul] I say to every one of you: Jesus, help me receive these words as from You. Help me not think of myself more highly than I ought, but rather empower me to think of myself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given me (Rom 12:3). Jesus, allowing my shield of faith to lay dormant rather than using it to resist the attacks of the devil, is a very foolish thing. Help me not be a Christian who is constantly being knocked around by the devil. Keep me from looking like a punching bag. Keep everything that comes down the pike from being able to get through my shield of faith.
|
Healed People, Helping Hurting People
Jesus, help me yield to the training of Your mature Christians, until I reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of You, the Son of God and help me become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then I will no longer be an infant, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming (Eph 4:13-14). Since this is a passage that describes the results of mature Christians doing their job in helping me grow in Christ, let this mighty work be done in me. Since, just prior to this Scripture, there was a list of ministries that were all working together to help me get what I need, empower them to properly equip me so I wouldn’t be tossed around.
|
Jesus, I must all be taught to get the shield of faith up in front of me; I must pick it up and start using it. High speed, flaming, sharp pointed arrows are coming right at me. It is no wonder that I felt like life has got worse since becoming a Christian. I figured that all this damage was normal Christian life. I reasoned that since I have become a Christian, Satan must be putting an all-out effort against me. It made sense to me that he didn’t attack sinners, since he already had them. Help me not believe this bunk.
Show me that Satan fights sinners just as hard as he fights Christians. Make it clear to me that he hates them because they are potential Christians. He fears them because he has seen some of the worst sinners become very dynamic Christians. He can’t trust any of them. Help me see that he was trying to kill me when I was a sinners and he is trying to kill me now. Help me appreciate that he didn’t kill me as a sinner because You wouldn’t let him. He couldn’t kill me as a sinner because You were graciously (benefits I don’t deserve) giving me time to make a decision for You.
|
|
