The Shield of Faith Part 2!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 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.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

Shield is one of the arsenal equipment that we can use to defend ourselves. Shield is usually for sword-fighting warriors but armour can be used for any kind of warriors.  Armour is a heavy material clothing that we can wear to improve our stamina and defend system of our bodies. Shield and armour are necessary for them to have. Otherwise, if they have been hurt, they cannot go in battles for long.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are considered as soldiers of God. Let us consider Satan, the enemy of God, as the archer of soul-destruction. As we have learned that Satan wants to destroy our souls and send them to hell at the end of our physical lives, He keeps throwing arrows at us. Since faith is one of the basic principles of believing in Christ, we can consider faith as the shield of our souls. I believe one of the greatest arrows that Satan throws at us is a feeling of doubt, discouragement, and unworthiness. He uses these to turn us away from belief in Christ and He desires us to lose our identities as children of God. I think I have a feeling of doubt that I can be a successful Christian Writer so I am attempting to rely upon church work to provide myself financially in the future. I begin to think that it is a wrong attitude to depend on work rather than on God as Colossians 1:16 states that everything has been created through Him and for Him. Although relying on God completely may be hard (Matthew 7:13-14), we have to keep on fight the good fight of faith if we are willing to stay and live our lives as His obedient children. Let us become little children of God, who depend on Him for everything (Matthew 18:1-3; Matthew 19:13-14). Matthew 5:3 declares, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Meditate on the parable of the bags of gold (Matthew 25:14-30). Thank the Lord that He has given you tasks to do for His Kingdom. Build your legacy upon those. Make 2 Timothy 4:7-8 as your daily life Bible verses today!