Sunday, January 13, 2008

The final pieces.....Eph. 6:16-17



I have loved re-learning the pieces of armor this past week. It's wonderful when you find yourself digging into His Word, what He'll show you. I learned alot, I remembered alot, and I am deeply reminded of the importance of putting your armor on EVERY SINGLE DAY! And, armor up those children. They are "in the world" and under so much these days. We need to cover them in prayer and in armor. Their lives are under such influence and temptation. We need to do everything within our power to pray them up , teach them and protect these children God has given us.

The final 3 pieces of armor are..... the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

The passage says this, "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."

Can I just say that when I think about all these pieces of armor I feel empowered?! I AM! I am empowered through Him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13

The shield of faith: the "shield of faith ministries" defines it this way.....

The Shield of Faith is not a real, physical shield. It is faith that acts like a shield. Faith that deflects the arrows of assault, fear and doubt that hurtle toward us from our enemy. Without faith no one can see God; furthermore, without faith, no one can snatch the wounded from the flames of Satan's arrows. The weapons we fight with are not carnal; they are spiritual and mighty to tear down everything that keeps the seeker from Christ.

I really like this visual. For me, the bigger my faith is, the bigger my shield is. The shield of faith is up to you. Keep your belief level high. Keep your faith high. Then you've got one mighty big shield to deflect those arrows aimed right at us. The more we believe God to do His mighty thing....even during times of severe doubt, our shield will cover us. I'd rather have a big one though.

helmet of salvation: this may be my favorite part....well, I can't say that....its all my favorite.
But, the beauty in this helmet is awesome! Ya see, our salvation is sealed when we receive Christ as our personal savior. 1 Corinthians 1:22, God "set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts...." We are sealed by Him and Satan CANNOT get into us. Our salvation is a done deal. As simple as our part is, it is a done deal. Satan can mess with us all we allow him to, but he CANNOT take Christ out of our hearts. No matter what we have done, how long we have strayed, no matter the sin. Christ is beautifully sealed within us through the helmet of salvation. Thank God for that bc as long as I was away from Him.....its a wonder He didn't throw His arms up in the air and say "I'm tired of waiting on this one." He's got patience. He'll never leave. He's got glorious patience.

sword of the Spirit: I have always thought of the sword as one sword because it represents the entire Bible. But, when you think about the sword....isn't the sword thousands of swords??
Aren't there thousands of scripture in the Bible that teach us, lead us, help us, encourage us??
YES! Well, the sword of the Spirit is actually thousands of little swords making up one big sword. That is the best news yet. Our sword is much better than we ever thought!

We began with the Truth buckled around our waist and we ended with the Truth in our hand.

The Truth is everything. It is key to battle. I pray that you have also re-learned, renewed, and regained confidence in your God as He is ready to go with you in battle. You just have to remember to put that armor on.

Armor up everybody! Armor up everyone you love!



17 comments:

Praise and Coffee said...

This post makes me so peaceful and excited all at once!

Excellent!

Blessings,
Sue

jennyhope said...

i need to read these in order
also when can we see pics of the house?

Charity said...

I REALLY REALLY need my armor this week. Satan is working hard. Thanks for this post! It has really encouraged me! I don't know what I would do without my sweet bloggy sisters!!

I am with Jenny...when can we see pics of the house??!!

Love,
Charity

Kelly said...

Great posts!!! We need that armor every day, don't we?

BethAnne said...

These posts on the armor have been a great refresher course for me. We all have times when we feel powerless to deal with the enemy, but we arent - we are most powerFULL - thanks, Fran!

Darlene R. said...

I'm so thankful for that armor! I grow more thankful for it every day.

Unknown said...

Yay! Good stuff friend! I loved reading your encouragement to us...you are one of my favorites!

Alana said...

Love it, love it, love it. Thanks for sharing this with us, Fran!

ocean mommy said...

Yes yes YES!!!!

Your making my flu infected body jump for joy! This was just incredible.

Love your heart and passion for the Father.

Thank you for making this come alive!

blessings,
steph.

Shonda said...

You have a whole series going on here. I've only read one other one than this one. I need to click the label and read all related posts.

I particularly like the visual on faith. I'll have to keep that one.

It is so comforting to know that we are sealed by our Lord through Christ.

and the Word--I desire to memorize more scripture. I enjoy helping my son with AWANA verses as I also am hiding the Word in my heart. That way I'll have the "sword" with me wherever I go.

Blessing in Christ--

Denise said...

Wonderful post, be blessed.

Tammie Head said...

Thanks Fran for the sweet comment you left on my blog! Praying you are having a wonderful day in Jesus!

Blessings ♥
tammie

Hillary said...

Great post!!
Thanks for complimenting my new page. The person that did mine is picking a free blog to do on Fridays. You should go to fabulouskdesigns and put your name it! She's great!

Rachel said...

Thanks for the great post!

Our church has life-sized metal knight that they pull out every January during their month long encouragement to memorize scripture. This is the first year that our three-year-old daughter noticed the knight. It was exciting explaining this passage to her in front of a battle-ready knight.

Angela Baylis said...

This reminds me of one of my favorite songs by Travis Cottrell, "Made Me Glad"! I just turned it on in honor of this post! Thank you for sharing your insights with me especially right now!
Much Love,
Angie xoxo

jennyhope said...

STILL DYING TO SEE THE HOUSE! =)

Bev Brandon @ The Fray said...

ME TOO... but I'm like thinking---I'll be right over...


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