The Shield of Faith: Living in Our Modern World

Ephesians 6:16

The Bible Teaching Commentary

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The Shield of Faith: An Introduction

Ephesians 6:16

Paul J. Bucknell

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Introduction

Ephesians 6:10 Power | Ephesians 6:11 Protection | Ephesians 6:12 Perception

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Purpose

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16, ESV).

“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16, NASB).

The church in many places in this world is not advancing but in retreat because her soldiers are weak, confused and wounded. This is clearly not God’s will. Although we might be outnumbered, the faith of God’s people can be vibrant and strong enough to withstand all sorts of devilish attacks. This is the message from Ephesians 6:16. A strong defense, however, is not to protect our secure lives but to bring clarity and confidence to God’s purpose and mission.

In the scriptures we read about two kinds of armies:

1) Those that live by faith and

2) Those that do not.

Which one do you belong to? If you are living, then God wills that you are His active soldier taking your part. Due to limitations, we will focus on the faith of the personal solider, though the faith of the church or army as a whole is equally important. Without faith in one’s personal life, there is no faith at the larger level. Without this faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). The good news is that God has equipped us with all we need to face the worst kind of battles.

Our Faith is Waning

We struggle in this modern, or postmodern, world because we are under siege. Without faith from God the follower of Christ cannot complete his job. It is not that the Lord has not given us everything that we need but that we have not realized what He has given to us as His people.

The Lord wants us, like Christ, to live out a vibrant faith that enables us to reach out to people in love. However, if we observe the church in the world today, we will in most cases conclude that we are doing so poorly. Notice how our doubts assail us through these three questions.

Is faith really our main problem?

We are oblivious to the spiritual war going on. Life has enough problems without trying to get too involved in church things. We doubt God’s perspective on life, as shown in this verse is correct, simply because we do not vigilantly put on the armor.

• How does spiritual armor help us with our day-to-day problems?

• We have not appropriately put on our spiritual armor. We doubt whether we need it or that it can make much a difference.

• How does God practically help us in our lives?

Many of us are quietly resentful that God inadequately helps and provides for us. We doubt God is relevant to our lives and end up with a conclusion similar to the secularistic world around us which doubts God’s relevance to our lives.

The biggest problem facing the Western Church is that our conclusions ends up being very similar to the materialistic world which asserts that the Christian faith is largely irrelevant. With a little persuasion from the secular world we end up believing that it will not make much difference to adopt the secularistic viewpoint and lifestyle, at least a little bit, so that we can get along a bit more comfortably. So we and others in the Christian faith come to assume there is no difference between the Christian faith and the modern world.

Be careful of our attitudes!

Are we not somewhat similar to those at the base of Mt. Sinai when Moses came down and crashed their worldly party with the tablets? The church is adrift and the casualties are all about us. Notice three areas in which the church increasingly adopts the world’s thinking and ways.

1) Philosophy: Relativity (Believe what you want; it makes no difference.)

2) Morality: In flex (Do what you want just so you don’t hurt others.)

3) Attitude: Apathetic (It doesn’t matter what what I do due to the larger powers about me.)

Much like Adam and Eve, we take a bite reasoning that it won’t make much of a difference. We could not be more wrong. Just as the bite into the forbidden fruit brought death, so living by the poisonous philosophy of today’s world brings death to our lives. This is our lethargic state at work and results from not carefully following Paul’s instruction here in Ephesians 6:16.

An ongoing faith

As we continue, please be careful to note that Paul is not just speaking of the faith that brings one into a relationship with God, what some think of as a saving faith, but the ultimate goal of the Spirit of God in us–to produce a strong vibrant faith to His glory. Some commentaries are firm that this faith is the faith that saves us. Indeed it is, but it also the same faith that keeps us in our daily lives.

Why do we need to focus on the beginning of our salvation through which we gain our righteousness through Christ to a neglect of the faith that sustains and protects us? The enemy does not at first attack those mature in faith at the critical areas of salvation areas but wears us down on many other points causing us to conclude that it is irrelevant or makes no significant difference in our lives.

An outline

Below is a suggested brief outline to guide us through our discussion on Ephesians 6:16.

1) The Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16a)

Describes what the shield is and what we are to do with it.

2 ) The Need for Faith (Ephesians 6:16b)

Notes the special purpose for our faith in our Christian lives.

1) The Shield of Faith (Ephesians 6:16a)

“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16, NASB).

This first major point describes what the shield of faith is and what we are to do with it. Each phrase will be discussed including the first hidden one, the subject ‘you’ which is not identified in the English language.

‘You’ means all of us

So who is to take up this armor? Paul writes “You are to take up....” The context of both this passage on the spiritual armor as well as the whole book of Ephesians clarifies who this ‘you’ is. It is the church composed of individual believers, the elect, those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4), those who in time have seen the horribleness of their sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) and waywardness from God and yet by God’s grace in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-10), upon repentance, have seen the glorious forgiveness of sin offered through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Each believer in Christ is equally being challenged here to take on the spiritual armor as a whole and specifically in verse 16 to take up the shield of faith. Although Paul speaks about the importance of specially called and gifted men as apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers (Ephesians 4:11-12), they are equippers and therefore are there to enable God’s people to stand out in their world fully prepared for the spiritual battle that takes place each day. In summary, if you are a believer, Paul is expecting, even commanding you (and I) to regularly place the armor of God on. No matter how little or inconsequential we might think our faith is, we are not take hold of it, stand in line with the other soldiers of God’s army and ready to fight. God is our strength.

In addition to all

Certainly this phrase, ‘in addition to all’ includes all the elements of the spiritual armor mentioned in the previous verses before this: standing firm, gird one’s loins with truth, put breastplate of righteousness, and shod one’s feet with the gospel. Paul is not saying that the items above are unimportant but insufficient. Without this one additional action of shielding oneself with our faith, the believer will find him or herself totally inadequate to meet the flood of trials he or she faces. Many are content just going to church, while others judge one’s salvation as to be sufficient for a growing Christian, but Paul totally disagrees. While Hebrews 10:25 highlights the importance of attending church, Paul is thinking of the sinister ways the evil one, like a stalker or terrorist, sneaks into the lives of God’s people and destroys them one by one.

Frankly, from my experience, the spiritual armor is not just for when we are outside the church, away from the people of God, but also when with them. The evil one is always around trying to cause consternation among God’s people. The armor, then, is a way to constantly conduct one’s life and not just for certain battles or troubles one goes through. Unfortunately, many are not ready or even expecting to meet up with these battles and therefore find themselves totally unprepared for it.

Think for a moment, if you have consciously put on your armor today? This is not even a spiritual discipline that most believers have heard of, and yet these verses stand at the end of this glorious Book of Ephesians showing us the way to secure the blessing of our inheritance as God’s people. We are chosen for this great blessing, then why not secure it? It would much be like receiving the promise of a great sum of money. All we would need to do to receive it is to sign a paper at the bank. The promise is there but is it taken up upon?

The consequences of ignoring the shield of faith has not just to do with missing out on God’s blessing but survival. The spiritual battle is getting more aggressive. Many of us who have lived for a number of decades see this spiritual decline evolve into a cultural battle. The real battle, however, is behind the political and cultural fights. The apostle faced these cultural wars during his day with the corrupt and yet powerful Roman empire. The enemy was not the Roman Empire but works below the surface. All the enemies you think of are only tools of the evil one.

The Shield of Faith

Some of you are thinking about your wardrobes. “I don’t remember seeing a shield of faith.” This could be a problem. But as a believer, God has so equipped you. The shield might be displaced or you might not even be able to recognize it, but as much as you have found grace in Christ, you have a shield of faith. Paul did not tell us how to create or find this shield but only to put it on. Paul’s assumptions for this piece of spiritual armor is the same for the rest. The issue is not possession, unless you are not a believer, but the picking it up and properly holding it up–in the case of the shield.

So what is this shield of faith? The shield of faith is the confidence in God’s person and plan that enables His people to fully fend off the insidious doubts that would attempt to question that faith. Our faith can and should grow, but at any point it is adequate for the battle that the Lord allows in our lives (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Some believers might assent that they have the shield of faith, but it is so small to be of no effect. In other words, they have little faith. They do not believe their faith can or has successfully fought off the evil one. This comment brings up a number of important questions.

• How much faith is needed to fight the evil one?

• Do believers have sufficient faith to fight the evil one?

• How do I deal with the doubts that come up each time I try to go forward in my faith?

These and similar questions are good, though to be honest, they are questions Christians should have answers to within 2-3 years of being a believer. More than this, each believer should be fully putting into action each day all these things that the apostle is saying here in this section. This is why we earlier asked, “Who is Paul addressing?” Once we start discussing what these things mean, it is easy for us to say, “Our pastor and teacher have good faith. They hold up the shield of faith. We are safe.” This is not the idea here, is it? Pastors and teachers must have this faith, but their responsibility is not to fight for you but to equip you to fight the enemy.

The pastor can’t hold your hand wherever you go. When you leave God’s people, you are on your own with the Lord. This spiritual armor is a special reminder of how we can as His people find our strength in God. The enemy attacks everywhere without warning. Our question, then, is, “How do we fight with this shield?

Taking up the shield of faith

The apostle tells us to take up this shield of faith. We are to consciously use what God has given us, in this case a shield of faith, to be able to successfully protect our spiritual and godly lives.

Think of ‘taking the shield of faith’ similar to getting dressed. It is something that you did before you went anywhere. Are you not all dressed? You are not wearing your night clothes, but day clothes. In order to accomplish this you took a number of actions, some of them are rather unconsciously taken because of the regularity with which you do them, and yet in the end you are dressed. In the same way we are to take up the shield of faith, regularly, faithfully and purposefully.

Does Paul say ‘taking up’ or not? Yes, he clearly does so. If you did not equip yourself today, then conclude that you are not equipped. Some of us believe because we are a believer we are spiritually protected. Nope. Look at the believers going down around us. I do not only mean the ones going into immorality, desiring things that God hasn’t given them, or even the ones who pretend to have good marriages but entertain other partners in their minds. The battle goes much deeper than this. Think of bitterness, worries, fears, relationship problems, greed, lying, hatred and on the list goes. Whenever the love of Christ does not fully empower and guide our thoughts and beings, then we are nurturing our flesh.

Paul asserts that the war will be fought within. The major front will always be what goes on in the hearts and minds of believers. If we did not consciously put on or take on the shield of faith, why would you believe you have it on you. Most armor is heavy including the shield. It is only present because the soldier carries it mile after mile. You can’t ask your friend or compatriot to carry it for you. You need to take it up and keep it with you so that it will always be there when you need it.

Think of this from the enemy’s perspective. Who would he naturally first attack? The one’s holding the shield that can defeat him or those who are not holding it up. Get the easy ones first. Are you one of these easy ones?

The problem is that many of us do not see how these things relate to our cultural wars. Today, the enemy has raised up immoral teaching and the media along with our public schools pass them on to our children. Adding to this problem, the Christian community has dulled us to the power of God’s Word with the worst Sunday School and youth materials one could dream up. Added to the mix, of course, is many pastors who have doubts about the authority or relevance of the scriptures.

The typical Christian’s motto today is, “It doesn’t matter.” Everything points to the opposite conclusion including the Word here. There is a spiritual battle that we can fight and win. Whether we take up the shield of faith or not makes a critical difference in our personal, family and church. We must rightly prepare ourselves for the challenges that we face in the world.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith” (1 John 5:1-4).

Summary

God has equipped the church but as a whole the church is unequipped. Proper doctrines are those teachings that help us not only think about God but also our Christian lives. We can know much about the Bible but if it is not applied to our Christian lives, such as not taking on the shield of faith, then we will like the ill-prepared fall to the ground.

• ‘You’ refers to all believers. The battle is real.

• In addition to all: The shield is only one piece of the armor but without it we are left vulnerable.

• ‘Taking up’ refers to the way the believer must consciously protect him/herself from the enemy.

• ‘Shield of faith’ is our confidence in God’s Word by which the Lord protects His people.

We have described what the shield is and what we are to do with it, but the study of the rest of this verse 16 will help us even better understand how the shield of faith really works.

2 ) The Need for Faith (Ephesians 6:16b)

The last half of Ephesians 6:16 highlights the special purpose our faith is meant to have in our Christian lives. Most believers believe faith is like a ticket for their future flight to heaven. The apostle without qualification asserts our faith is that which protects the integrity of our godly lives.

“In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16, NASB).

Let’s get more specific. We live in a modern world (or some suggest a post-modern world) which typically means that people are rejecting culture and focusing more on their own personal desires. In some parts of the world, we have reached a place where we can get much of what we want, and if we do not have it, we can lust for it–and none will blame you for such lust whether it be for pleasure, free time, relationship, kind of life, etc. It is okay. Indulge. Follow your heart. Enjoy yourself while you can.

Some of us, of course, have not yet adopted that mentality of life and wrestle with that lifestyle. But no matter what worldview hangs outside our windows, we must not let the world dictate what we believe but allow our faith to shield us from adopting those beliefs. I like to use the phrase Biblical Christian to think of myself because it constantly brings me back to the challenge of being shaped in heart, belief, mind, knowledge, goal and attitudes by God’s Word.

Flaming Missiles of the Evil One

Paul states that we as believers have the needed faith to fight the most subtle and dangerous enemy that exists. This enemy is described by Paul as the ‘evil one.’ Satan purposes to come against the people of God to disable and destroy us. Although the Lord has equipped His army of the church of God, it does not seem to be growing but dwindling in size in various parts of the world. Why is this so? Our first problem is that before the army can arise and fight, it must face questions about her identify and purpose.

The wrong battle

Many believers are wrongly fighting a political war. We should vote as possible but this is not the war. Have we not learned our lessons from the past forty years? Politics is superficial; the confusion lies below. Go ahead and vote but do not put your faith there. Did not Paul tell us in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to pray for our leaders. This is what pleases God because it is prayers arising from faith that have more effect than our votes. We must come to see beyond what we are seeing and hearing from the world (cf. Romans 12:1).

I was recently speaking with a young man who has his career all lined up. He was so excited. He told me that he might make a couple of hundred thousand a year. I told him that this is not what life is about. As a believer, you should be aware that our families and careers are merely the context within which God has placed you. Your real life and testing is what you do within that context in your short life span.

God does not care how much you make or what kind of house you live in. (If anything, He esteems the choices to limit our self-indulgences. Remember Jesus had no place to lay his head.) The Lord is instead concerned about whether you are consistently staying close to Him, living out His life through you. Unfortunately, many believers have become culturally dictated. God is in the midst of destroying our freedoms so that we can regain a proper perspective of our lives.

Flaming Missiles

The flaming missiles of the evil one are meant to destroy us. They are of the worse kind. The Roman soldiers would add something like tar to the end of the arrow and light it on fire before shooting it over the walls. Many roofs were made of straw and other combustible material. They became easy targets for these flaming arrows.

In the same way the evil one is seeking our worst. Satan is out to rid us of our security in our faith in Christ. Without that shield of faith, our defense is gone then at his leisure he will attack. His missiles largely consists of clever statements that engender doubt in God’s person and words.

If the doubt finds acceptance, then our faith is weakened and other temptations will bring further confusion. We can be fairly sure that if we find ourselves confused, some missiles have passed through and struck us. Fortunately, we can identify any of these missiles and with faith confess our sins, assert our faith and heal that wound.

Consider again, if you are not taking up your shield of faith each day, then your defense is down. His arrows will get through. Ignorance will not protect you. Going to church doesn’t help you as much as you believe. You tend to point to the problems of other believers. “Oh, did you hear what so and so did?” But remember, if you are not taking up your shield of faith, then it is only time that keeps you from equally falling. The evil one simply has not got to you yet. He is coming.

Let me make a few summary statements from this biblical teaching about the enemy’s flaming missiles.

• The enemy is alive and active.

• His missiles are targeted toward us to destroy our godly lives.

• Much of the harm from the enemy’s missiles are not observed until too late.

• The shield of faith, if properly held, is adequate for the worse attacks from the evil one.

You will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles

We have a problem identifying the enemy and his tactics and therefore do not see much need to exercise extra effort to pick up the shield of faith. It is more common for us to flip the television on or scan the web than to ready ourselves for the enemy’s attack. When troubles start brewing, however, it is then we start praying and coming back to church. Why? You know only God can help but do not know how. Paul does and tells us to take up the shield of faith. When doing so, we should exercise the greatest confidence in it.

The shield is all powerful as it can extinguish all the flaming missiles. This is such a faith-building statement. Just to think, there is no attack from the enemy that we cannot withstand. Oh, he might grab our house, smash our car, and even though our bodies might get hit hard, but our faith is vibrant and like Job we can say, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15).

That little word ‘all’ is a powerful word because it is inclusive. Let’s think how this works. This will also prepare us on knowing how to better use this shield of faith. As I make the following statements, listen to and identify the presence of faith.

• “No matter what I face, God will help me.”
• “My faith is weak, Lord, but would you now come and strengthen me.”
• “You, the all powerful God is here to see me through the worse of this.”

By applying statements of truth like this to our lives, we are taking up the shield of faith. Do you see how the word ‘all’ instills an unqualified faith in God and His ways? Notice the honesty of these verses. We do not pretend we have the faith to move mountains but start where we honestly are at.

Why is our shield of faith so powerful? It is because the chief problem we face in this world has to do with the lies and doubts that Satan brings into our minds. The problem is that we have already compromised our faith in one or more ways. Worse yet, we disguise our unbelief by our statements of faith. We think we believe when we do not. Let me show you how we wrongly disguise our unbelief in belief.

• I believe you can only help me with some ares of my life.

• I believe that I only need God’s help when my choices are being limited.

• I believe that I only need spiritual armor when facing serious struggles in life.

Let’s look at a few examples at how this practically works out.

(1) Jill

Jill, doesn’t like how her husband is handling the finances. She complains and after a few years, she just doesn’t care anymore. She starts spending money like her husband.

Jill had strong scruples about handling money but started questioning was it worth it. She gave in to worse standards which violated her morals. (Yes, her husband is wrong but not our focus here.) Do you see how she started doubting what was right? Instead of living before the Lord with a vibrant hope in living a righteous life, she succumbed to doubt that God’s ways were best. This had terrible results with arguments who would spend more. Faith would help her trust God with her foolish husband and look beyond the money problem. Her husband needs the Lord to wake him up, not her errant ways.

She could pray, “Lord, I have given up my faith in living the right way. Please forgive me. I don’t want these things and will rectify them as much as I can. Your peace is more important to me. But now I desire that you will help my husband. Let him not be stubborn or foolish. Give me a quiet and seeking heart. Set a guard over us during this time of financial difficulty. I trust in you, Lord. Amen.”

2) Joe

Joe is upset with his new job. He got laid off but this job is not like his previous one. He is very discouraged and just gets by.

If we look at our circumstances alone, our emotions will go up and down. Good job, happy. Poor job or no job, sad. God works in all of our circumstances. I travel to all parts of the world and see some very difficult situations, much worse than what we would ever meet up with. One pastor was just about to get married. The key elder had just died and left his seven children for him to care for. No money, but only responsibility. I saw the children, the dying dad when I was there in Uganda.

Joe is fighting the wrong battle. We understand the difficulty of not having the comforts and pride that having a ‘real’ job brings. His real battle is with doubting God’s way is best. Can he believe that God, like He did with Jesus on the cross, bring a greater good out of uncomfortable change of lifestyle? This is the battle Joe fights.

He must confess his wrongs, but from there on he must stand in faith. Faith for a new job? Maybe, maybe not. God is getting Joe’s attention and the priority is for Joe to learn to do with less and begin to praise Him for watching over his life.

After confessing His wrongs and finding cleansing from the Lord, Joe can pray, “Lord, I have been doubting you all these days. They have not been easy but being without you has made things much worse. Lord, thank you for being with me and overseeing my needs. I am not sure how to get by, but you have given me this job. Help me to have an improved attitude and start pleasing you on this job rather than mumbling my whole day. Now Lord, teach me and use me as you please.”

(3) Sally

Sally gets real emotional at times. When she is doing well, all is fine, but during these times her life is chaotic. She gives into her feelings and unleashes unkind words.

Sally allows her emotions to control her at times. This has horrible results and puts further tension on the relationships she has. Her problem is her belief that she can’t do anything about it. No doubt the change of chemicals in her body are changing, but she neglects to believe that God will or can help her, so she just lives by her doubt. The shield of faith does not go up. This reminds us that it is important to always have the shield of faith ready for once the emotions come, it often is too late to think about the shield.

In the meantime, she can see God revealing how dependent she is on Him. Instead of just giving up on herself and indulging in those feelings, Sally decides she is going to pray twice a day, no matter what her mood, and praise God that He is in charge of her circumstances and physical life.

Sally prays, “Lord, I feel like a different person when I go through those emotional states, but right now I want to tell you that I know You thoroughly understand me and I give myself to you. I trust you for the strength, patience and kindness needed, that at the minimum I don’t hurt people, but for more so I can actually seek extra grace to be kind when I don’t feel like. I will by your grace focus on you rather than myself. Amen.”

(4) Bill

Bill has had great times reading God’s Word in the past but lately not much is happening. He figures if God doesn’t say much then he is just going to spend less effort reading and spending time with God.

Bill doesn’t know what is wrong with his reading in God’s Word. Although he tries to ‘jump’ start his quiet times with the Lord several times, about one week later he is back to the new normal of dull times with God. He is beginning to accept the doubts that are coming to his mind (think fiery arrows from the evil one - i.e. Temptations). “God is not real.” “I guess my hopes that God would speak are in vain.” “Oh well, I guess I can’t be like those others.”

Bill prays, “Lord, my heart is hard. The problem is not your Word but my heart, yes, my unbelief. Forgive me through Jesus. I know your word is important to me. I thank you for giving me access to it and seek your to powerfully again use your Word to speak to my heart. I thirst for you. Speak God and I will listen. In Jesus’ Name I prayer, Amen.”

The Common Thread

Do you see the problems here? There is a common thread. Doubt. The doubt the evil one brings offers us an alternative choice which seems better and easier for the moment, and yet in the end, we weaken our faith when we adopt these doubts. Fiery arrows are temptations from the evil one.

Secularism’s constant message shouts what God says is not true and definitely not relevant to our lives and needs. Often times, we do not know how much this unbelief has penetrated into our souls. If we sense hardness of heart towards God’s Word, though, we can be sure some unbelief has snuck into our times with God and thus contaminated it.

Whenever we let go or just agree with a doubt, our faith is chipped away and we end up living not as men and women of faith but along the lines the evil one would want you. Each time we are silently (usually) telling the Lord, “I tried your way Lord but you don’t come through. I am giving up. Let’s see if this other way works better.” Each of us live in different situations but these tests of our faith is where the real battle takes place. It is here that we will succeed or lose and that success is dependent upon us regularly taking up the shield of faith and governing our minds.

These are a few brief examples to show how faith is, as the apostle testifies, our key shield to protecting us from unguarded thoughts and decisions that lead to worse situations. This faith, unlike what many in the Faith movement insist, might not change our circumstances, but it will allow us to fully function in whatever situation that we might find ourselves. That is enough for us. Confidence in God’s presence is what made Jesus’ life so awesome. That is what we want and desire.

Summary

Take up this shield of faith as you live in this materialistic world which nonstop broadcasts the evil one’s diabolical line. The shield of faith is only one part of the spiritual armor. Don’t forget it is not the only piece, but it is important. Without this faith, we are vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. He seeks our worse and when it suits him, he shoot those fiery missiles at us.

Meanwhile, we need to remember who the enemy is and how God has powerfully equipped us. The enemy is not that which threatens a comfortable life but one that sways us from fully trusting the Lord in whatever circumstances we might find ourselves.

This becomes our chief problem because it is our faith that keeps us close to the Lord. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. God does not hear our prayers, but with faith we can triumph even where all others fail. Learn to meet God right where you are. His grace is sufficient. This shield of faith will extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one.

Biblical Foundations for Freedom ( BFF )

Rev. Paul J. Bucknell