Take up the Shield of Faith!

Wild Wacky Wonderful Wednesday! What on earth do you have in store for me today? I was so blessed yesterday to receive so many encouraging comments regarding various posts others have read. If you've read my story from the first post entitled "In the Beginning" you know my desire has always been to be a helpful servant to the Lord. I am at last the Woman that I Admire! I never, in my wildest dreams, envisioned my life as it is today. I am blessed to be a friend to God again. I promise if you seek Him with all your heart He will answer.

I have mentioned through various blogs an alphabet picture that hangs on my wall above my desk at work. I found it at a Goodwill and just had to have it. One would think in 7 months time I would be beyond letter "H" but alas, that is where I am at today! I am pleased to announce I now have a camera that is good enough to snap a picture it, so without further ado, here is my Alphabet Picture:

** I was hoping it would show up better, but this is the best I can get for now!

So today's letter is "H" and the verse for it comes from 1 John, Chapter 4, verse 4 my picture reads:

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

However this morning I heard the entire verse on either Moody or K-Love and I caught my breath. After excitedly grabbing my bible I knew I had to share not only the complete quote from verse 4 but I must also share with you more of this chapter. From my MacArthur study Bible Beginning at Chapter 4, verse 1:

verse 1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

verse 2: By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

verse 3: and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

verse 4: You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

verse 5: They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 

verse 6: We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

I love knowing this truth. Satan may be in this world but I have the Holy Spirit IN me and He is so much greater than the evil one. What confidence this brings. All I have to do is remember this little nugget of truth each time I feel the evil one is coming for me. He cannot destroy me. I am firm in my faith.

I allowed Satan to trick me into believing I was no longer worthy of God's attention once. That will NOT happen again! I read my bible today. I did not read it as a child or even a young adult. I knew what I knew and that was not enough armor. Today, I fully dress for war every day. Do you know the elements of armor you need to wage war against the darkness of evil? If not, you can find it all laid out for you in Ephesians, Chapter 6. I am going to begin at verse 11 out of my MacArthur study bible:

verse 11: Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

verse 12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

verse 13: Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

verse 14: Stand firm therefore, *HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 

verse 15: and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 

verse 16: in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

verse 17: And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Quite an outfit of protection! I know that not being familiar with the word of God allowed the evil one to trick me. The best protection you can give yourself is reading God's word. This increases your Faith, it gives you understanding and so much more. I encourage you to renew your mind daily. There are many ways to begin this process. I have written a blog about renewing your mind and there is a 30 day challenge in there as well. This is the link to that blog: http://youareworthytoo.blogspot.com/2013/05/im-just-girl.html

Do not ever think your faith cannot be strengthened for I find mine strengthened each day! Picking up the bible does something nothing else can. It is why reading the word of God is such a vital part of your armor. Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture. If this was His way of defeating the devil, why would you not think it would be your way as well? 

I hope my post today has encouraged you to seek Him with all your heart. We were all created for a purpose. If you are looking for a more joyous life, God is the answer. This is not to say you will never run into trouble. When you read the bible that truth will stand out. What will happen is you will find joy in every day and getting through the trouble that comes your way will become an easier task for your strength, your true strength comes from the Lord. I know that truth beyond a shadow of doubt!

Father I come before you today with gratitude for the armor you have provided us with. How I wish someone had informed me of such things as a child! I pray the word gets out about the armor we all need for our own protection. I pray I am a vessel for such news. I pray countless begin to carry their bibles everywhere they go. I pray countless begin to read your word and share it with all they know. I pray more and more and more of my fellow bothers and sisters become bolder in their faith and join ranks encouraging one another as we are meant to do. I thank you Father for filling me with your love. I thank you for countless blessings that have been bestowed upon me. I thank you for your Grace. I thank you for calling me home. I thank you for how you are using me to reach others who are lost. I ask you to use me more. My life is yours now until my last breath. Thank you Father. In Jesus name I pray! Amen

Today I thought I'd leave you with a song I heard this morning. It is so fitting for this post:

Wendy, Mom of Many

© Wendy Glidden, 2013