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. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:13, 16 (NKJV)
I remember watching the television program Star Trek as a kid back in the late 60's and I was fascinated by the various technologies that were portrayed on the show. As I watched Captain Kirk taking a little small square black device and flipping it open to talk to another person far away, it was mind-boggling. And yet today we all have cell phones that are almost exactly as those very same devices that were shown in the program.
I remember whenever the enemy ships would attack the Star Trek Enterprise, Captain Kirk would give the order to Scotty, the ships engineer, to put up the deflector shields to deflect and stop the damage that would be eminent if they didn't have them. As long as there was power to the ship through the dilithium crystals, the shield would hold during these attacks. If the power were jeopardized, then the crew and the ship would be in peril danger of being destroyed.
Well, I guess we have another common denominator with this show, as we too, are attacked buy a dangerous enemy much like the Enterprise was. Our attacker is Satan, and he has a wrecking crew of fallen angels that are far more dangerous than any character created on this TV show. His whole goal is to shoot fiery arrows of doubt and temptation to cause us to stumble, loose faith, and ultimately be destroyed in our Christian walk. And he has an entire arsenal with which he can choose to attack us with.
And just as the enterprise put up the deflector shields to ward off the attacks, we too, must put up our deflector shields. God knew these attacks would come and He has told us how to be prepared and what we must do to avoid being destroyed by them. According to the Scriptures above, we are instructed to put on the shield of faith daily. And we are further encouraged to build upon this faith.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith...Jude 20 (NKJV)
The way we build ourselves up in the faith is to stay in the Word of God daily.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
God has given us the faith to believe in Him (Eph 2:9), but we must now continue to earnestly contend for our growing faith as the enemy fires off fiery arrows of doubt and temptation at us daily (See Jude 3). We contend for our faith as we read, study, and meditate on God's Word and are filled up by its teachings. We then go out and apply these teachings and as a byproduct, we are strengthened in our faith.
We must make time daily to study the Scriptures individually, and we are also told to gather and spend time with other believers as well in bible studies and Church (See Hebrews 10:25). Having God's Word in our minds is vital in fighting spiritual battles against Satan and his emissaries.
Knowing the Word of God allows us to deflect any lie that is brought upon us by the enemy whether it is in the form of temptation or one that is a doctrine of belief that is deceiving us; such as in the case of false religions. Having the knowledge of God will allow us to stay spiritually healthy, and be used mightily by the Lord.
I want to encourage you today, make it a point when you first get up in the morning to read the scriptures, and to put on your shield of faith. We should never step a foot out the door until we have put on our Spiritual Armor (See Ephesians 6:13-18). Failure to do so would relegate you to a virtual spiritual piñata. Hey Christian, don't start you day without you deflector shields up!
STUDY QUESTION: According to Romans 10:17, where does our faith come from?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you putting on your spiritual armor each day first thing in the morning? Are you contending for your faith by reading the Word of God?
APPLICATION: Make it a practice to put on your spiritual armor in the morning when you get up, and then make it a practice to read the Word of God each day.
I remember watching the television program Star Trek as a kid back in the late 60's and I was fascinated by the various technologies that were portrayed on the show. As I watched Captain Kirk taking a little small square black device and flipping it open to talk to another person far away, it was mind-boggling. And yet today we all have cell phones that are almost exactly as those very same devices that were shown in the program.
I remember whenever the enemy ships would attack the Star Trek Enterprise, Captain Kirk would give the order to Scotty, the ships engineer, to put up the deflector shields to deflect and stop the damage that would be eminent if they didn't have them. As long as there was power to the ship through the dilithium crystals, the shield would hold during these attacks. If the power were jeopardized, then the crew and the ship would be in peril danger of being destroyed.
Well, I guess we have another common denominator with this show, as we too, are attacked buy a dangerous enemy much like the Enterprise was. Our attacker is Satan, and he has a wrecking crew of fallen angels that are far more dangerous than any character created on this TV show. His whole goal is to shoot fiery arrows of doubt and temptation to cause us to stumble, loose faith, and ultimately be destroyed in our Christian walk. And he has an entire arsenal with which he can choose to attack us with.
And just as the enterprise put up the deflector shields to ward off the attacks, we too, must put up our deflector shields. God knew these attacks would come and He has told us how to be prepared and what we must do to avoid being destroyed by them. According to the Scriptures above, we are instructed to put on the shield of faith daily. And we are further encouraged to build upon this faith.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith...Jude 20 (NKJV)
The way we build ourselves up in the faith is to stay in the Word of God daily.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
God has given us the faith to believe in Him (Eph 2:9), but we must now continue to earnestly contend for our growing faith as the enemy fires off fiery arrows of doubt and temptation at us daily (See Jude 3). We contend for our faith as we read, study, and meditate on God's Word and are filled up by its teachings. We then go out and apply these teachings and as a byproduct, we are strengthened in our faith.
We must make time daily to study the Scriptures individually, and we are also told to gather and spend time with other believers as well in bible studies and Church (See Hebrews 10:25). Having God's Word in our minds is vital in fighting spiritual battles against Satan and his emissaries.
Knowing the Word of God allows us to deflect any lie that is brought upon us by the enemy whether it is in the form of temptation or one that is a doctrine of belief that is deceiving us; such as in the case of false religions. Having the knowledge of God will allow us to stay spiritually healthy, and be used mightily by the Lord.
I want to encourage you today, make it a point when you first get up in the morning to read the scriptures, and to put on your shield of faith. We should never step a foot out the door until we have put on our Spiritual Armor (See Ephesians 6:13-18). Failure to do so would relegate you to a virtual spiritual piñata. Hey Christian, don't start you day without you deflector shields up!
STUDY QUESTION: According to Romans 10:17, where does our faith come from?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you putting on your spiritual armor each day first thing in the morning? Are you contending for your faith by reading the Word of God?
APPLICATION: Make it a practice to put on your spiritual armor in the morning when you get up, and then make it a practice to read the Word of God each day.
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