January 21st

Ephesians 6:16-18 - In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, In this last section of Paul’s explanation of the armor of God, he gives us two items for defense and one that can be used for both defense and offense. Paul does not consider these three things as optional for us. Whatever circumstance we face we must have our shield, our helmet and our sword. The armor he mentions before this section is just as necessary, but what is the significance of these three items? We need our shield to protect us from the flaming darts of the evil one. Today you will face many accusations from the devil, you will hear lies that are trying to deceive you, and you will have to deal with the enticing siren song of temptation. How do we defend against these things? We defend ourselves with faith. We have to hold on to our faith in God each day, or these attacks will strike us over and over again. What you believe about God, what he has said, what he has done, and what he has promised, is a shield of defense against the schemes of the world, the flesh and the devil. As you would hold a shield, hold on to your faith and do not let it be stripped from your hand. We need our helmet so that we can protect our mind. If the mind is destroyed, the body will die as well. There are many attacks upon the mind each day, and without a helmet, we have nothing to guard our minds with. How then does our salvation protect our minds? When we think on our salvation, we are grounded in what has been done for us, and we are mindful of Christ and his sacrifice, his grace and his mercy. We have life because of these truths, so to wear them on our heads is to keep them close in our minds so that we do not forget. This is a strong tool of defense against threats of confusion, misunderstood identity, unhelpful philosophy and so on. Finally, we need our sword to defend attacks, but also to bring attacks to the enemy. The sword we carry is the same sword that Spirit carries. This sword is God’s word. While the enemy sends a barrage of lies towards us, we send a volley of God’s truth in reply. The greatest weapon we carry is God’s word because it never fails to accomplish something, and will surely strike a blow of some degree on those who are opposed to God and his people. So with that in mind, today you must not neglect to wear and hold on to these tools. Make no mistake, you are in a battle, and thank God that he has given you what you need to be strong in the battle. Because we are in a way for our souls, we must pray. We must pray for ourselves and the rest of the saints. As the battle wages on, your prayers today will make a tremendous difference in how the battle is fought. God will bring the victory in the end, so hold fast to what he has given you, and pray for the church that it may do the same.