Verse of the Day
"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
Lesson of the Day
The next piece of armor is the shield of faith. The Roman soldier's shield was simply massive. It had multiple layers of tightly woven animal hide. It was custom framed for each soldier to fit them perfectly protecting them from top to bottom and from side to side. As a believer, when you become a soldier in God's army, you receive a shield of faith. God gives each of us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). We are completely covered from head to foot with all the faith that we need.
Encouragement
I remember when God first took me to this verse. I prayed to God and asked Him why I couldn't be consistent. I would be all in going to church, reading the Bible, praying, praising, and witnessing, but it didn't last. I would go for months, sometimes years, but I would always end up going back to living worldly. One day I just cried out to God because I didn't want to go backwards anymore. I just kept slipping and I didn't understand why. My mother and my aunt had been saved for many years, and I never saw them waver. I wondered why I wavered.
Then, I had that powwow with God and He took me right to Ephesians 6:16 KJV, which reads, "above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." I really honed in on "above all." To me it sounded as if that was the most important part of the armor. That opened my spiritual eyes. I then realized that the enemy kept hitting me with those fiery darts and I was running from them, because they were so painful. I ran out of the war zone back into the dark pit that Jesus had pulled me out of. This happened over and over again until that wonderful moment where I realized that I have the armor of God, if I would just put it on. When the enemy threw fiery darts at me, I was weak. I didn't have on my shield of faith to ward off those fiery darts, so I was caving in when life got hard and started gravitating back to the world's way of dealing with pain. What I should have done was use my shield of faith to quench those fiery darts that were coming at me. Once I learned that, I found myself going to God for strength, comfort, and support. It wasn't only my shield that I needed, it was my whole armor that needed to go on me daily. Let's keep learning about this armor of God so that we can be ready for whatever the enemy throws our way.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, how excellent is Your name in all the Earth. You are the source of our strength. Your love never fails. Thank You for never leaving a man behind. Every time we walk away from You, You come back for us. Your Word says that You will leave the ninety-nine to search for the lost one (Matthew 18:12-14). Who does that? No one in this whole wide world. You are set apart. Forgive us when we fail to wear our armor. Continue to remind us of the power that You give us. Teach us how to put on each part of the armor daily and show us how to use them. In Jesus Christ's name I pray, amen.