Bible Study
The whole armor of God is the complete set of Christian protective gear consisting of salvation, righteousness, trust (in the word), peace, faith and the spoken Word, worn always in order to withstand or resist the devil.
To put on the whole armor of God is to be continually conscious of, and unflinchingly committed to proclaiming who we are and what we have in Christ while living in this reality.
Like we stated in Part 4, the armor of God is not a combative tool, no, we are not fighting with the enemy, rather we stand in the victory that Christ has already won for us.
Our reference scripture has been…
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”
Ephesians 6:13-18 NKJV
Please read up on the Helmet of Salvation in Part 3, the Breastplate of Righteousness in Parts 4 and 5, the Belt of Truth in Part 6 and the Shoes of Peace in Part 7.
Today we continue with another component of the whole armor of God; the shield of faith…
The Shield of Faith
“And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows that come from the Evil One.“
Ephesians 6:16 ERV
A Soldier’s Shield
A soldier’s shield serves to protect him by deflecting or intercepting missiles thrown at him. The shield is usually held in the hand or mounted on the wrist or forearm. So most shields are positioned in front of a soldier so as to provide good cover.
What is faith?
My definition of faith can be found in one of my recent blogpists; ‘More Than The Dynamics of Faith’.
Faith is tangible (it is the substance), it is the assurance, the confirmation and a title deed of our believe. A title deed is a legal document constituting evidence of a right, especially to a property. Faith is the final document we walk away with after ‘seeing it’ ‘saying it’, ‘believing it’ and ‘receiving it’.
What can we learn from Ephesians 6:16?
“Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one“
Ephesians 6:16 AMP
1. The Shield of faith is a critical component of the armor of God. Paul says to put it ‘above all’. That is same as saying ‘most importantly’….
This point is very important because once the enemy can convince us that our faith and believe are in vain, then we’re naked to his attacks. We lose our shield. We have nothing else to hold on to.
2. Just like a soldier’s shield, the Shield of faith is protective.
3. The Shield of faith acts to stop, quench and extinguish fiery darts, flaming and burning arrows from the evil one.
4. The devil, the enemy, the wicked and evil one is constantly sending evil towards the believer with the sole intent of destroying his destiny.
Evil aims to destroy your destiny
Satan steals, he kills and finally destroys a person. Ofcourse this person may still enjoy an inheritance in God in Heaven (assuming they do not deny the faith), but then their destiny, purpose on earth is thwarted.
When Pharaoh passed a decree for all male babies to be killed, he was acting under the influence of the devil. I believe Moses was the primary target. God saved baby Moses and delivered His people from bondage through mighty works wrought through Moses.
Herod wasn’t just randomly seeking for any baby to be killed, he was under satanic influence to eliminate baby Jesus. Again, God exhibited great wisdom in the birth and nursing of Jesus.
Wisdom will teach you to be as lambs among wolves. Check your motives; why are you struggling to go on national/global television? Why are you struggling to grow into a big Church? Why are you struggling to become famous/popular? If you are ‘struggling‘ with it could God be keeping you away from danger? Is it possible he has other plans for your ministry? Is it likely you’re about drifting away from his purpose for your life/call/ministry? Check your motives, listen and heed to the Spirit. God in His wisdom kept Jesus’s birth a secret for a while…
Abortion is not just about birth control. Ever wondered why so called ‘international health agencies’ are passionate about making huge investments in abortal care services? I’ve encountered many of them in my line of work. They’re all over my country and continent with FREE health services. These agencies/AGENTS flood ‘poor’ countries with a promise to ‘help’. They employ our people, offering them a little more than the greedy local/native government does, then the locals become ambassadors for agendas they know nothing about.
The enemy doesn’t give out anything free!! These are not conspiracy theories, be sensitive, be spiritual, be wise.
Abortion is evil. Yes, an immature or carnal Christian can express hate and all the traits listed in Galatians 5:19-21 and I Corinthians 3:3 but any system, policy or institution that seeks to kill, steal and destroy is evil. An immature/carnal Christian can grow when he/she feeds on the Word, an evil person is committed to and serves satan.
And this is why we should never give in to the enemy. We lay hold on God’s greatest gift of eternal life, the very life of God in us, and victory is assured. When we come to understand the magnitude of gift we have in being possessors of eternal life, our victories will be limitless. We have to fulfil our God-given purpose on earth. Nothing should thwart it. Halleluyah!!!
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
I Peter 5:8-9 NKJV
How do we wear the protective shield of faith?
To wear the Shield of faith is to confidently maintain that what the Word of God says Is So. It is to choose to be on the Lord’s side. It is to take sides with the Word of God. So that each time evil darts and arrows from the devil comes at you, it hits a resistance……your faith, confidence, assurance in the Word of God. It will bounce back!!!
I remember one day, I started having a repeat of some symptoms I’d experienced in the past. Suddenly, I found myself thinking; ‘ah! but I already prayed away this thing, why am I still feeling them again? As I brewed over these thoughts, the symptoms were getting worse…. Then all of a sudden I just started speaking out loud and saying ‘I believe the Word of God’, ‘I believe by His Stripes I am healed‘, ‘The Word of God is true’, ‘I choose to believe the Word of God’, .…and suddenly again, I started feeling better, the symptoms started fading, I got up and started doing other things.
Permit me to share this testimony here….
A few months ago I started having some symptoms; lower abdominal discomfort, changes in my bowel habit, etc. Any doctor that hears of these symptoms in someone in the mid-forties would have a diagnosis in my mind. I settled that kind of diagnosis long ago…. those abnormal cells will not grow in my body! I prayed and received healing for these symptoms. One of these days, as the symptoms persisted, I just decided to do a routine check up of the hurting area of my body. I prayed about it, agreed on the outcome with God and proceeded. It was a routine out-patient day-case procedure. The results were perfect. Praise God! However, in the course of doing the procedure we agreed to deal with a few haemorrhoids that were seen. Now, if there’s anything to be concerned about operating on haemorrhoids it is the postoperative pains. Horrible!!! So I was to do a lot of sitzbath as well take strong analgesics that were prescribed. So here I was, one day postop (an unplanned surgery) with terrible pains, I couldn’t sit, lie down or walk properly. I did 2 sitzbaths, took a milder analgesic than the one prescribed, no good….yet. But thank God I remembered at this time, the many faith escapades of a great Faith Champion; Kenneth E. Hagin (obviously missing in Hebrews 11 listing)…… I remembered I could be supernaturally healed of these pains. I decided to take sides with God. The enemy tried to paint different pictures of what this stubborn act of mine can mean….I resisted him, stayed on God’s side. I went to bed that night in terrible pains, strong analgesics by my bedside (none into my mouth), and a sitzbath a walk away from my bathroom. I needed a supernatural healing! How did I wake up the next morning? Totally healed of all pains!!! No pains!! The pains were gone. Halleluyah!! Praise God! I woke up happy, no, joyful. For whatever it was worth, I decided to do a few days of sitzbath. Good news was I got my miracle, my testimony of God’s supernatural healing.
If you have read my book on healing ‘When the Doctor Says No’, then you will know that as a trained medical doctor I appreciate all that medicine has done and continue to do to cure and maintain health. But I trust Isaiah 40:8 more….
“Grass dies and flowers fall, but the word of our God lasts forever.”
Isaiah 40:8 ERV
I am growing in trusting more in the everlasting Word of God.
Alternatives to faith will deny you the opportunity to experience the supernatural and rob you of a full joy.
Take that faith leap, endure the temporary pain or discomfort, alternatives will only keep delaying your miracle.
‘It is written’ is the way to resist the devil. It is the way Jesus did it. Put back God’s Word to him, pull out an ‘It is Written‘ and serve the enemy with it. Stand confidently in your faith. Submit to the Word of God, take hold of the Word of God, hold on to the Word of God…
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 NKJV
Don’t let the enemy steal your faith. Just like a soldier’s shield, position/keep the Word of God always before you.
……………..
If you’ve been blessed by this or any other publication on this site, your freewill gift can help with running and maintenance charges for this site. Give here.
To continue to be inspired by similar articles as this one from our blog, subscribe here.
You can order the kindle and paperback copies of Grace’s book on healing ‘When the Doctor Says No’ from your local Amazon stores, and a subsidized pdf copy here.
Blessings & Love Always.
