Good evening, Ladies!
For tonight, the thoughts that I wanted to share actually come from the book, Learning to “Fear Not.” I want to read a section about the shield of faith, and then tie it into some thoughts on what I have for you guys specifically.
“After the shoes of readiness, we have the shield of faith. The shield protects you from the fiery darts of the evil one. Have you ever stopped to think about what those fiery darts, or flaming arrows really are? Have you ever thought about how those fiery darts are those lies that Satan tries to throw into you? Darts like, “you’re unlovable,” “you’re not going to ever get anything right,” or “you don’t deserve anything good because of what you’ve done.” I’m sure you know what your darts are, but faith is trusting that you are who God says you are in Him. It’s trusting that He is who He says He is to you.
“He says you’re lovable- so much so, He gave His only Son to die for you. He says He is going to protect you, and He has given you armor to protect yourself. God says you are much more valuable than the sparrows, and He even cares for them. He says He is going to take care of your needs. Scripture- the Sword- says faith is believing this. Faith (your shield), tells you these truths block out the fiery darts from the enemy.
“There is a type of Roman shield called a scutum that soldiers carried into battle for protection. When attacked, they would hold their scutums closely together, forming a nearly impenetrable wall-like covering over themselves. Together, they could shelter against the weapons of the enemy. They had greater strength in numbers. I just love that! The analogy reinforces the idea of how much being in fellowship with other rooted believers can make a massive difference in staying alert, in formation, and with our armor securely fastened.”
From that excerpt I read tonight, I just want to remind you all to stay in formation. Keep your shield of faith raised. Help your brothers and sisters block the fiery darts and point them back to God’s truth too. Shield one another with your faith and the reminders of your faith.
Ephesians 6:16 says, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Our breath prayer for this week is, “Heavenly Father, help me to take up the shield of faith.”
As you pray that this week, I want you to look for opportunities (not only for yourself) to remember who God is, who God is to you, who you are in God- not only remember those things, but if you see a sister in Christ start struggling, or you see someone around you struggling, hold your shield up, in formation, because we shield each other when we we walk in formation. We protect one another by those little reminders, by pointing one another back to what scripture says, and by praying for one another to build each other up.
I encourage you to hold your shields up together- as a group, as sisters in Christ, here to help one another be able to block the fiery darts of the evil one. The breath proof this week, once again, is, “Heavenly Father, help me take up the shield of faith.” I hope you guys have a fantastic week!