E24 - Shield of Faith - Faith is not Agreement Only

Hope's Harbor Podcast - Gritty Bible Devotions

Do you have faith? Do you use it? I don't mean for salvation only, rather does your faith take you further along on the walk of becoming like the Son of God?
Faith in the Atonement of the Son of GOD on the Cross not only saves us from GOD's wrath but arms us in order for us to serve GOD.
In Ephesians 6:11-17, Paul outlines the importance of spiritual protection and warns us not to let our Christian faith become weak. He mentions that we should take up arms with GOD's own armor in vs 16 when he says 'Above all', meaning taking up one’s sword or shield is critical for winning battles against evil because it provides believers with power through Christ who gives us strength (Eph 6:10).
Full show notes at hopesharbor.net
Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #24

Title: Shield of Faith – Faith is not Agreement Only

Date: October 18, 2021

Contact: [e-mail]

Key verse(s): Ephesians 6:16– ‘above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.’

Have you ever read through Ephesians 6:11-17? In this passage, Paul is urging Christians to stand against the evil coming against them, and us, from the spiritual domain. He names spiritual armor and says something noteworthy in vs 16 when he says ‘above all, taking the shield of faith.’

Above all, meaning the shield of faith is all-important if we are to not only stand strong against evil, but also to advance against evil.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus tells Peter, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (Hell) shall not prevail against it.”

Now, gates are stationary therefore Jesus didn’t say the gates of Hell will come against the church, and by the church it means (I’m paraphrasing here) called out ones, that’s us, a Christian community, an assembly and that Christians may go against the gates of Hell and prevail.

This begs the question: What do the gates of hell look like?

Let me list a few examples:

· Homelessness

· Hunger

· Unrelieved sickness (meaning medical care is available but unaffordable)

· Human trafficking

· Abortion

· You name a few

So how do we go against these and any others? We start by prayer.

The list of armor in Ephesians 6 ends with the admonition to pray:

Ephesians 6:18 – ‘praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—‘

Intro: Taken from: Hebrews 11:1 & 6

Hebrews 11:1– ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’

Faith in this verse means persuasion, being persuaded, moral conviction of religious truth.

Substance is setting something under as support. Think of a foundation. It is concretely essence, assurance, and confidence, confident.

Hebrews 11:6– ‘But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.’

Believe is to have faith in that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ): - commit (to trust), put in trust with.

As seen in the key verses faith in something we cannot see is essential to a life lived before GOD. It is necessary to have faith in, to trust GOD b

Show notes at HopesHarbor.net