Do you feel as though you are losing some of your battles in life?
Have you noticed that families are being destroyed and evil appears to be winning? It’s not your imagination. An insidious enemy is attempting to infiltrate our homes and our society.
A Spiritual Battle
Your enemy is not your employer, creditors, or relatives. Your enemy is the devil! You are in a spiritual battle. Paul clearly describes this battle in Ephesians 6:16. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers…” I like the Message Bible’s translation of that scripture, “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get.”
Weapons That Win
God is so good. He doesn’t put us in the battle without strong weapons. The Armor of God listed in Ephesians ch. 6 is not just a cute Sunday School lesson. It is your battle plan! Many godly mothers have “dressed” their kids each morning in God’s armor. Standing at the front door, each child proudly declares, “I have on my helmet of salvation, my breastplate of righteousness, my belt of truth, my gospel shoes, the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith” and off they go to school. Newsflash! The armor of God is not primarily for the street, but the prayer room. “Put on the whole armor of God…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” Ephesians 6:18
The Shield of Faith
Each weapon in this spiritual battle is important, but Paul says, “Above ALL, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one.” He didn’t say, “some” of the fiery darts. He said, “ALL.” There is not one fiery dart coming your way that the shield of faith can’t quench.
What is the shield of faith? I believe it is the confession of your faith. Take notice, this is not your confession of sin, which is necessary for forgiveness, but your confession of faith. Your confession of faith is necessary for winning your spiritual battles. “Confession” is agreeing with God. To “confess” means that you say what God says. For example, when you “confess” Philippians 4:13, you would agree with and act as though you “can do all things through Christ” whether you feel like it or not. When you agree with God, according to Is. 54:17 that, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper,” faith in that promise becomes like a shield over your life. When you determine to say only what God’s Word says, your confession creates an invisible shield of protection. Fiery darts are quenched when they hit your shield (confession) of faith.
A Fiery Dart Car Crash
On December 8th of 1988, I was seven months pregnant with our second son. The Spirit of God awakened me at 6:13 am and said, “Go NOW to the hospital and declare salvation to your father.” A great urgency overwhelmed me and faith-filled my spirit because I had prayed for over 20 years about him. Yes, my father received Jesus as his Savior that day, and Mama and I rejoiced together in the hospital lobby.
Driving home, the reality of this 20-year-victory volcanoes out of my spirit and I shouted, “Ha! Ha! Devil, you lost a soul today!” Through a rainy mist, I saw an oncoming car turning into my lane. In my spirit, I heard these words loudly, “Fiery Dart!” and I knew it was an act of evil revenge targeted towards our unborn son. Instinctively, I grabbed my belly and shouted, “I claim life” just before the crash. Peter Nicholas, was born prematurely by C-section and placed in ICU. Tommy and I had our dark moments but kept our shield (confession) of faith strong. God was faithful to His Word and Peter was healed completely. At the time of this writing, he is 16 and preaching the good news to thousands through our camps and television ministry. He knows that the shield of faith spared his life and he owes his life to Jesus.
You can’t prevent fiery darts from coming, but your shield of faith can quench their destructive strategy. “Above all, take the shield (confession) of faith…” and whip the devil every time.
