Tag Archives: spiritual-warfare

TAKE THE SHIELD OF FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked”.

The Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle asks us to take the shield of faith, wherewith we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Please note the first two words in our key scripture. It says “above all”. This is a powerful emphasis on the importance of this part of the armour. He says with this shield of faith, we could quench or put out every explosive weapon thrown at us. Note also the word “every”. It does not matter how terrible or destructive the onslaught may be; you would be able to put it out by the shield of faith.

My candid advice is, never consider any situation as beyond your ability to deal with. All you need is that your faith must be in place. The faith of the Christian is such an important virtue, and every child of God must endeavour to maintain an active faith at all times.

Trouble does not announce itself or give a prior warning before it arrives. Every problem comes to destroy or stop God’s testimony in your life. You need to keep working on your faith. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Many children of God go through trials or satanic attacks and are waiting for God to do something about the situation. Our key scripture tells us something different. It says you must take the shield of faith. You must use it to quench the fiery dart of the wicked. You must put your faith into action.

Faith is a product of the word of God. It is not a product of our reasoning. Give attention to the word of God. Keep feeding on the word. Do not worry about how weak or small your faith is. Keep feeding on the word and keep acting on what you have been hearing. Please faith has nothing to do with your feelings. Faith has everything to do with the word of God. Faith is an individual thing. It is not a cooperate issue. If you are faced with a condition that must change or stop for you to be free, then you must use your faith. If a fiery dart is thrown at you, you must have your shield to quench it.

How do we get our faith into action? You must believe the word of God about the situation. Speak out the word in line with what you expect, and then finally act on the word. Hold your ground if need be, and don’t give up.

CONFESSION

I give attention to the word of God always. This gets my faith ready for every situation. By faith, I stop every attack that the enemy raises against me.

FURTHER STUDIES.

1 John 5:4 ” For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.

Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”.

THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:14b ” … and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ”

Our next part of God’s armour to put on is the breastplate of righteousness. Please understand that we are not asked to pray for the Lord to put on us these things. We must put them on. You do so as you act on what the Bible says about these things.

Righteousness is a gift that we receive by faith. This comes with our new birth. A righteous consciousness keeps you from living in sin consciousness. Satan succeeds more in making one live in sin when he has a sin consciousness. It is sin consciousness that leads many into acts of sin (sin consciousness is the belief that you are a sinner). Sinning is a condition of the heart. It defiles as well as a rebellion against God.
The Lord said in Mark 7:20 “And He said that which cometh out of the man, that defiles the man, for from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder…”
Such a heart of filth will drive out the influence of the Spirit from you.

A man becomes the cheapest influence and control of the devil when sin is permitted into the heart. Keep your righteousness. It is your breastplate. It guards the heart out of demonic intruders. Remember the advice of the Spirit in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep the heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” The heart is the centre of your being. The heart should be the sole possession and control of the Holy Spirit.

Give attention to the word of God and meditate on the word of God. This is the only way you can maintain a right heart. Make a decision never to allow the flesh and the world to take over your heart. Satan is always knocking to be allowed in. Never permit him. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Physically, a diseased heart is a terminal case. Secondly, if a fiery dart shot hits the heart, you are dead. This perfectly applies to our spiritual state. You must never leave your heart unprotected. Other parts of the body, when hit or attacked, may not cause fatalities, not so with the heart. It must be protected with all diligence. Righteousness is non-negotiable. If there is any act of dishonesty, please stop it now. Failure to stop would lead you to spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God, and it is the worst thing that may happen to you.

CONFESSION

My heart is the centre of my life. I guard it with all diligence, putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Every act of dishonesty has no place in me. I maintain my righteousness by believing whatever God says about me, as well as doing it.

THOUGHT: SATAN CAN NEVER OVERWHELM THE MAN LIVING RIGHT

FURTHER STUDIES:

2 Corinthians 4:2 ”But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”

Proverbs 14:34 ” Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

TAKING YOUR VICTORY

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.

In our previous study, we learned that there is an organized host of demonic forces that are arrayed against the Christian. We Christians are identified with the Lord Jesus. This means whatever belongs to Jesus belongs to us. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17). Our identification with Jesus also means whatever Jesus did, we did it with Him.

In spiritual warfare, the enemy’s main objective is to cause you to accept that you are defeated and that what God says is not true.

I would use an illustration to explain this point. Archbishop Benson Idahosa who has gone to be with the Lord, shared the following story. He said, that in November 1968, a car knocked him off his bicycle and threw him to the other side of the road. He was rushed to the hospital where the x-ray pictures showed he had multiple fractures in about ten different places. The doctor who attended to him said, “Man of God do you know you have broken your bones in ten different places?” The Archbishop responded by saying, “HIS BONES WERE NOT BROKEN.” He quoted Psalm 34:20 “He keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken”. The man of God was on a battlefront at that moment. He either had to identify with Jesus in the fact that his bones were never broken or not to identify with Jesus, accept his physical condition, and suffer naturally, going through the normal process of healing.

A cast was put on the leg and was given four months to stay in the hospital. He told the doctor he would be in the hospital for a day. Just after the cast was fixed he limped off from the hospital, went to church that evening, and preached. He was healed from that day.

It was the enemy that attacked through the accident. He decided to stand on the victory in Jesus and not submit to the natural or physical conditions.

He felt the pain, yet he identified with the Lord Jesus and claimed Jesus’ bones were not broken and so his was also not broken. Spiritual warfare is won by taking your position in Christ irrespective of what the physical and natural evidence shows. Many of us have understood spiritual warfare as praying warfare prayers. Well, they are supposed to keep you standing in your victory in Christ. “….. And having done all stand.”(Ephesians 6:13b).

You don’t pray and go complaining about how Satan is defeating you. No!

 CONFESSION

I am secured in Jesus. No matter what the enemy throws at me, I maintain my victory in Jesus. He is my victory and success and I always remain victorious

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 8:31. ” What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? “

1 John 5:4 ”For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”