Bulletproof Shield (Armor Of God, Pt 1)
Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked”
1st teaching of 6 on ‘Full Armor of God’
1. Belt of Truth: Represents honesty and integrity.
2. Breastplate of Righteousness: Symbolizes moral integrity and righteousness.
3. Shoes for Gospel of Peace: Refers to the readiness to spread the message of peace.
4. Shield of Faith: Protects against doubts and spiritual attacks. (Today’s lesson #1)
5. Helmet of Salvation: Represents the assurance of salvation.
6. Sword of the Spirit: The Word of God, used for spiritual warfare.
This armor serves as a guide for Christians to stand firm against challenges and temptations until the end.
We are starting on a 6 week Bible study on the armor of God (both here at PureHeart School for the children and here on my weekly missives). Today we start on the shield of faith.
Who has bulletproof faith? On the mission field, in a communist 3rd world country, we must be hard skinned. You might say, try to be bulletproof. The Shield Of Faith comes in very handy, IF you use it!
The shield of faith is a piece of spiritual armor designed to protect a believer’s faith from spiritual attacks. In those days an army shield was 3 layers of wood and steel protecting the soldier from chest to knees. It weighed around 20 lbs. The soldiers had to intentionally place it between them and the enemy. We also have to intentionally use our spiritual shields of faith to protect ourselves from doubts, spiritual attacks/temptations and fear.
You have Jesus’ faith given to you for His sacrificial death (in our place) and His Resurrection from the dead 3 days later. So, although we have faith given to us, we must have faith without doubting. To live a victorious Christian life depends on deliberately and intentionally exercising our faith shield daily to keep us confident in God.
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Boy, I need faith now more than ever! The good news is that if you have weak faith, you still have faith. Our level of faith that is given by God (not man), never changes. It’s up to us to keep it using the bulletproof shield, protecting it from attacks from Satan. We as human beings are not bulletproof although we want to act like we are.
When I first got saved, it was so easy!!! Once I let Jesus in, everything just flowed. That’s because I was just a baby drinking milk. Jesus protected me from the enemy, and even more scary, seasoned Christians.
But I had to let Jesus’ Holy Ghost into my heart first. I had to be saved, born again!
John 3:3 unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
One night, I just literally challenged God. I said, God, I’ve weighed all the evidence. I’ve tried praying, meditating, statues, jewelry, lucky socks, other religions, yoga, martial arts, Bible reading, catechism, first communion, Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, pastors, priests, beads, crosses, rites and rituals. Nothing worked. I’ve checked everything out, even b’hai (which accepts all religions).
I went on to say…. ‘The best evidence I have is only in you Jesus, and you alone! So I am going to hedge my bet, like on a race horse. I’m placing it all on you Jesus, only on you. If I am wrong, I’ll still worship you. If you really exist, come into my life and take over. Change me completely. I repent of my sins, I can’t do it on my own. I will believe only in you, once you come into my heart and my life.’
Then I foolishly added a qualifier. “The only thing I’m not going to do is tell anyone that I’m a Christian. I’m going to be a ‘silent christian, a quiet believer (haha no such thing)’.”
Right then, His Holy Ghost invaded my soul and shed his love abroad in my heart. He gave me His permanent abiding faith in Him and His Word. However it’s up to me to use my shield of faith to stay strong. I haven’t been able to stop talking about Him to everyone and anyone since, from then until now. Many decades later, still at it, as ugly as that may appear to others, it’s my best. (I GUESS I FORGOT THE QUALIFIER HAHA)
Happily ever after, right? Wrong! No such thing.
I love evangelizing still. I love Jesus and learning about Him. Love the people I serve. But I would like to remember to pick up my bulletproof Shield of Faith more often to keep me or others from stumbling. I sometimes completely forget to use it, especially when I need it most. And then there’s attacks that come from behind me, my blind spots.
Nowadays, I still project to the world that my faith is bulletproof, but it’s not true. I doubt a lot! My faith seems so weak. I get continuously attacked because lifting up the shield and continuously being aware of my surroundings is tiresome.
These past two years have been horrible as far as doubt, attacks and fears go. Donors and friends abandoned me because of the difficulty of finding honest lawyers, accountants, ever changing quirky politics here. Prayers seemingly unanswered, literally thousands. (I am Still a full time caregiver with no end or cure in sight, for example). My weak faith is still faith though. My faith is kept because I know (Jesus’ faith) that Jesus died for all my sins, past, present and future. But keeping it strong for myself and others as a pastor is a daily struggle.
Because of that, instead of my faith being fuller and stronger since Jesus first came into my life, it seems to be worse. My faith is haggardly.
People sometimes tell me they admire my faith and courage. I kind of want to ask them ‘are you nuts? I’m usually a quivering coward and a doubting Thomas as well.’ It’s very kind of them to say that, but the truth is, my faith is full of struggles. Daily struggles to the death where I have to sacrifice my desires and say ‘whatever you want Lord, I am done!’ Like Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
I am not bulletproof. My shield of faith is. Although my weak faith is often riddled with doubt and tested by terror, it never quits. It’s been stretched to the breaking point more times than I can count. Like I said, almost daily.
I wrongly feel like I should be bullet proof. But no one is. We all as believers, need Christ’s bulletproof shield of faith. My shield of faith doesn’t seem to be much of a protective device to me, because most times I forget to pick it up.
The problem isn’t the fail proof, God given, bulletproof shield of faith. It’s me. I don’t have a perfect, bulletproof faith. I need my bulletproof faith shield, which doesn’t get used nearly enough. My faith is battered, scarred, and tested. I always remember the thousands of supposedly ‘failed-unanswered’ prayers instead of billions of answered ones. My selective memory and disappointments are a result of a perfectly good unused shield.
Maybe I sound like I’m contradicting myself, but I think that’s why my faith (although I see it as weak) is actually strong. It is permanent! I am not going anywhere, nor changing. I am more entrenched in Jesus than ever. I just do not have the emotional lovey dubby feelings I had like before. But I am determined more than ever to make it into heaven and to take as many with me as possible.
Because God is strong, I am strong, and my faith is strong. Renewed every morning. He continuously comes through every time, just seems too slow for my taste a lot of times.
Jesus proves Himself to me everyday. I desperately cleave to Him (His shield of faith). It’s more of an effort to be a strong Christian than it was before. Eating spiritual meat as a mature Christian, is harder than drinking milk as a new believer. It’s harder! Instead of just knowing He’s there, like when I first got saved, now I feel like I have to hold onto my faith hard. Now the Honeymoon’s over, now the mundane married life has taken over, washing dishes, mowing lawns, stuff like that.
A faith that has never been tested is just a theory. A faith that has never been doubted is just an opinion. It’s the storms that give it substance. It’s the doubtful questions that give it depth. Without a test there is no testimony!
My faith isn’t just a shield that keeps me from getting killed spiritually; it’s the grit that helps me to pull the flaming arrows out, to patch the wounds, and to keep moving forward.
Bulletproof faith means your faith doesn’t die. Not that it doesn’t get damaged, but it doesn’t die. I am a wussy. My feelings get hurt even if a 6 year old graduate of PureHeartSchool doesn’t recognize me in the market place a year later. Being bulletproof is not about having no doubts, feelings or fears. It’s about choosing to believe in spite of things, and to carry-on anyway.
We are to pick up Jesus’ standard issued shield of faith every day for protection. We are also told to put on our breast plate of righteousness to protect our hearts, minds and souls (see next week).
Where did Jesus’ faith shield come from? From Jesus Himself. Use Him. Cling to Him. We are to conform to His image. At MillionsOfFriends we protect children by acting like shields. We also share the GoodNews of Jesus Christ, so the Evil one attacks us a lot.
IS ANYONE TRULY BULLETPROOF? Absolutely Not!! But Jesus is.
Psalm 3:3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.