Daily Blast - Armour of God: Day 5
Scripture
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
Reflection
Having ‘a shield of faith’ is another essential component of the armour of God. The Bible describes the shield of faith as being able to “quench all the darts of the wicked one”. I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty amazing to me (and it kind of reminds me of Captain America’s shield from the Avengers)! In other words, faith can completely disarm the power of any plans of the enemy. This enemy is the devil, also known as the “thief [who] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). That’s his agenda, but we have hope in Christ. We can hold onto the fact that He came that [we] may have life and that [we] may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). And we must remind ourselves of the authority that we have in Christ over the enemy, which is “the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, [which means] nothing shall by any means hurt [us]” (Luke 10:19). Practically we can exercise this authority by speaking out declarations, such as “I have the victory through Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57) and “I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:37-39).
So, faith seems like a pretty amazing thing to have, but what exactly is ‘faith’? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It’s about believing for something that we cannot physically see; it's about believing for that 'unseen thing' to be a reality. You may be believing for a situation to turn out for the better, and at the moment it feels pretty hopeless, but at such times we must remember to trust God. We must “submit to God. Resist the devil [and his lies] and he will flee from [us]” (James 4:7). Practically, building our faith involves learning more about Who God is and what God has said about us in His Word. You see, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The more we know God’s Word, the better equipped we are to remind ourselves of the truth of the victory that we have in Him.
Challenge
I want you to, first of all, pray for God to help you know His Word more about the victory that you have in Him, and secondly, I want you to write a list of things which are from God’s Word which make you feel victorious. It would also be good to read Hebrews 11 to see faith in action. Remember to ‘put on’ your shield of faith on a daily basis.