E75 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Armor of GOD - Shield of Faith - 5 of 7

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #75

Title: Armor of GOD – Shield of Faith – 5 of 7

Date: October 10, 2022

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse(s): Ephesians 6:16 – ‘…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.’

Intro: To have strong faith takes a firm commitment to believe GOD’s Word in the Bible and then to apply the principles we believe. It is only through application of the Word that our faith will grow strong and withstand the onslaught of Satan’s plans against us.

Listen again to the key verse Ephesians 6:16 – ‘…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.’

Several words stand out to me, ‘taking,’ ‘quench,’ and ‘fiery.’

Let’s examine these -

Devotion focus: Be shielded or get wounded –

A paraphrase of the key verse is to ‘take up the shield of your trust to extinguish the burning missiles of hurt coming your way from evil influences.’

One of the most painful wounds I’ve received from evil influences is the belief I’m condemned because of my many failures. Satan uses our feelings against us in this regard. But listen to Romans 8:1 about how the shield of faith can protect us and even help us recover from being wounded by Satan’s lies:

Romans 8:1 – ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.’ The lack of condemnation is not predicated upon walking in the Spirit but is evidence we are in the Spirit.

Our faith or trust must come from the Word of GOD and that means we take up the shield by reading and studying the Bible. In Western countries, we have unlimited resources available to help us learn GOD’s Word. Even for those who don’t like to read, the Bible is available in audio versions. Audio is great for when driving.

The measure of our faith will be tested. GOD allows this for a couple of reasons. The first that comes to mind is our faith is strengthened when we go through difficult times if… and only if, we go to the Word for comfort and guidance.

We can measure our faith by how soon we can go from ‘Oh no,’ to ‘Okay.’

I’ve recently had my faith, my beliefs, tested by an atheist who is smarter and better read than me. His assertions against the validity of the Christian faith are drawn from criticisms renowned atheists have written and spoken about.

There are books written supporting atheistic beliefs. From the ones I’ve read they pit scientific findings against Biblical claims.

Our spiritual enemy, Satan, uses these and other claims to fire those flaming darts (arrows) at us. If we don’t have strong enough faith to shield and protect us from these attacks, those arrows of Satan will go straight to our hearts and wound us deeply.

Many unlearned Christians are being drawn away from Bible truth into lies of the enemy.

Here’s a warning concerning this:

Let me give you a solid truth from the Bible. GOD’s Word is spiritually understood at the deepest level. Sure, a surface-level reading of the Bible gives knowledge much like reading a history book. Here the similarity ends: without GOD’s Spirit enabling us to understand the deeper truths of His Word, the Bible becomes, even to Christians, a book of not only history, but also poetry, wisdom, and instructions, but devoid of spiritual power.

Even for those Christians who know their Bible and have a solid faith, we don’t use our shield to argue or try to force others to believe us. That responsibility belongs to GOD the Holy Spirit.

We can state what we believe and why and of course we should if asked. But it helps if we understand that non-Christians, even atheists, have a system of faith and trust. Ours is trust in the Bible as GOD’s Word, inerrant. Theirs is faith and trust in science and philosophy.

Both groups, Christians and those who don’t believe in GOD as declared in the Bible, base faith and trust at the beginning on what others say about either GOD or science/philosophy.

And this is where faith and trust must be tested so that we know from experience our faith is well placed.

Let me ask, how many atheists do you think have actually tested the major theories of science? I’ve been told by the atheist I mentioned earlier that science is the only belief system with empirical evidence to back its claims, whereas Christianity cannot be proven.

I considered this claim when it was first put to me. On one hand, I have the benefit of being a Christian for the last 45 years and have tested many of the Bible’s principles and found them true. But in the beginning, I trusted the teachings of such Bible teachers like Chuck Swindoll, A. W. Tozer, Oswald Chambers, and Andrew Murray, to name a few.

I doubt many atheists have tested the science behind the boiling point of water. And furthermore, water boils at different temperatures depending on elevation.

I hope I haven’t digressed too much, but I would like to offer one more observation from the last several weeks of pondering the claims of atheism.

We don’t have to understand every mystery in the Bible before we trust the Author behind the inspiration of that book.

Before I’m accused of burying my head in denial of logic, let me explain, please:

I don’t understand everything there is to know about electricity. But this doesn’t stop me from using it. I trust that every time I move a light switch, it will come on.

This may be a weak example but it draws an analogy to our faith in the Bible as GOD’s written inspired Word. And for any Bible scholars listening, I have my faith grounded on the belief the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts, of which none survived, now. However, there are trustworthy translations available that are close to the copies of the oldest manuscripts.

Now back to the devotion focus: we must seek to strengthen our faith by learning GOD’s Word. This effort must be an intentional, scheduled, time alone with GOD… and His Word to us.

If we will make the sacrifice of time to strengthen our beliefs, to enforce our trust in GOD, to build our faith in the Bible’s teachings, only then will we quench, and extinguish the flames of hell’s fiery poisonous darts fired into our minds.

You see, it is a battle of and for our minds and it is a mind stayed upon GOD’s Word that is strong enough to withstand the repeated attacks of an enemy determined to destroy our faith.

Summary: The strength of our faith as a shield is rooted in our minds. The makeup of this shield is Bible truth woven together by reading the Bible every day. Think of it as eating food. If we go a week without eating of course we become weak. How much more if we go a week without reading the Bible are we weakened? Christian, if you’re not reading your Bible regularly you are a prime target for satanic deception and are prone to become wounded in your walk with the Savior, Jesus, Son of GOD.

Action to consider: If you are not reading the Bible on a regular basis, please hear my warning concerning your spiritual welfare. Start now, today, and read. Even if it is only one chapter, this is a good start.

I read different books of the Bible, usually all the way through, and will circle back to the Gospel of John several times during the year. Listen to the closing verses of John chapter 20:

John 20:30 – ‘And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;

John 20:31 – ‘but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.’

The word ‘believing’ in vs 31 means the same as having faith.

The shield of faith.

Next week’s devotion: The Helmet of Salvation –

Key verse Ephesians 6:17 – ‘And take the helmet of salvation…’