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Watch Out For Those Pointy Things
One part of the armor of God is the Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16). THe Shield of Faith can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. In the life of the apostle Paul, he could have used a Shield of Something. What good did the Shield of Faith do when he was confronted with the thorn in the flesh? He needed that Shield to keep from being stoned at Lystra. Did the Shield of Faith keep him from being beaten with rods three times, or receiving thirty-nine stripes of the Jews five times? What about the time he was a day and a night in the deep? He sure could have used that Shield of Faith when those robbers came at him (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). What good then is the Shield of Faith?
How about your own life? The Shield of Faith will not keep you from getting cancer or a heart attack. The Shield of Faith will not keep you from losing your job. The Shield of Faith will not help you get a job. What good is the Shield of Faith on the golf course? It will not give you a better score. Actually, the way most people look at it, the Shield of Faith is not worth having. Therefore, what good is the Shield of Faith?
There are a few things the Shield of Faith will do for you. For one thing, the Shield of Faith will keep you from becoming bitter. Churches and families suffer needlessly because of bitterness. Bitterness and animosity often follow most disputes and has the tendency to affect relationships for weeks and months. The Shield of Faith fights off those kinds of feelings, rendering them helpless in their effort to destroy a family and a church. The Shield of Faith can even protect you from depression when disappointments gang up on you, and life is one miserable day after another. Lift up the Shield of Faith and you can block that fiery dart.
The Shield of Faith will deflect the fiery dart of doubt when tempted to compromise with denominationalism. Hold the Bible in your hand. Believe it comes from the mouth of God. It is the only message we can be sure of. Believe it even if nobody else does. When you accept the Bible by faith, all of your intellectual problems will disappear. Lift up the Shield of Faith.
The Shield of Faith will protect your heart, when the fiery darts of lust, indifference to the Lord’s Church, and covetousness are hurled at you. With the barrage of arrows and shots from the world being aimed at your heart to capture your attention, the Shield of Faith needs to be tightly held. You can never put it down if you hope to keep purity, humility, goodness, and love part of your life. Ask God to give you strength to hold it. Have courage to battle. Get ready. Here comes those pointy things!
