Ephesians 6:16-17
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Ephesians 6:16-17   New King James Version

16. above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

When I read this scripture I get a vision of this fiery dart heading towards someone’s mind and then suddenly it fizzles out as it encounters the godly thoughts of that individual.  It made me see that perhaps all these parts, the shield, the helmet and the sword belong as one unit working together.  And it is with this unit the darts of the enemy are extinguished which allows us to counterattack with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

What is the target area for the enemy's attacks?  It is our mind.  This is the battle ground. 

As an animal advocate I am challenged daily. I see horrible images of animal abuse and have to read heartbreaking stories.  There is never a time when I don’t have these images haunting my mind. And because of this vulnerability I must fuel my mind with scripture and faith, believing God.  My passion and desperate heart causes me to pray consistently and listen more intensely to God so that I know what I can do, instead of letting these thoughts become my prison. 

As we hold up the shield of faith we are in essence protecting ourselves from lies and covering ourselves with the understanding that He is who He says He is and in this faith we literally extinguish the lies of the enemy.  What are the lies?  The lies are anything that unleashes oppression and defeat into our lives. The lies are anything contrary to what God is saying in His word. The lies are the world’s way of thinking, believing and acting.  This is why we put on the helmet of salvation.  The definition of salvation is the act of saving from harm: the saving of somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure

Our minds need to be saved moment by moment and with the helmet of salvation or being saved from harm we are able to stand and be victorious in Christ.

The sword is our truth. The only offensive weapon we have is the word of God and it is all we need. This is what Jesus used in the wilderness when confronted by the enemy. The only time the enemy has power over a believer is when we are not believing the truth.  When we are meditating on something that causes us to worry and be afraid, we ourselves are stirring up the lie to become powerful in our mind. The enemy can use this as ammunition against us. So we are basically setting ourselves up and allowing room for the enemy to bring depression or despair into our hearts.  Our thoughts determine what we speak and we either speak the truth of God or repeat the lies of the devil.  That is why it is so important to “pray at all times”. In every situation pray; especially as new problems arise.  God has been very clear in His word about who He is and what He can do. This does not change, but our thinking changes with the situations that arise.  So be mindful of your thought processes and set your face like flint on the truth of God.

God bless you

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.