“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” – Ephesians 6:17
“A mind is a terrible
thing to waste” – The United Negro College Fund advertising slogan from the
late 1970’s. What an incredible
statement created by Forest Long of the advertising agency Young and
Rubicam. I have no knowledge whether he
had any thoughts or consideration of the impact of evil thoughts on the
spiritual mind, but it certainly can be applied to Paul’s teaching in Ephesians
6:17. I’m sure you’ll agree the human
mind is vulnerable to being influenced by people and things in our surroundings
on a daily basis. I can’t begin to tell
you the number of times something external has triggered contradicting thoughts
in my mind. At the beginning of the New
Year when I’m trying to cut those few extra pounds I make a list of those
things I know to avoid, and an advertisement will trigger a desire in my mind
to have that thing. Once planted, I now
have to fight against that desire if I intend to stay on my plan, or I chose to
give in to that desire and pay the consequences of not losing the weight. I know the right thing to do, but my mind is
easily influenced by external stimuli to step across that line, if I let it.
The helmet of salvation protects our mind just as the breastplate of righteousness protects our heart and organs. God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, are a solid defense against these daily attacks from the world and Satan. The more we have engrained it into our thinking, the more we are able to call on His word in a time of struggle. When Satan begins putting thoughts and stimuli into your mind, targeting your areas of weakness, it is often times easy for us to convince ourselves that we are hopeless and condemned. His intent is to cause doubt in our mind of God’s love, grace and mercy. It is the hope and trust in Jesus Christ plan of salvation that allows us to remain focused and fend off these attacks.
I ran into an old friend at Starbucks just last week. He was coming in as I was going out. I realized I had an extra 30 minutes before I needed to be at the office, so I decided to sit with him and catch up. What a blessing it was. We talked about our kids, we talked about softball, we talked about college football and about our careers. He had recently taken his retirement for medical reasons and was now in the position after 30 years of looking for a new job, yet his disposition was amazingly confident and positive. I talked about the difficulties we had been faced with, and how God had always been there to see us through it. He looked straight at me and said, “I’ve had many of those Job 38 moments. You know the one’s where you realize that God is God and you are not.” In the midst of his struggles, my friend knew that God was in control and that he only needed to trust in His word. In the chaos of this world, he trusted in the Word for his strength, and did not listen to the world saying you’re not good enough.
Finally, we read in Paul’s writing that we should take up the sword of the Spirit. This is by far my favorite of all of the elements of God’s armor. I remember watching David, as a young child playing make believe with his sword. He carried it around the house defending our family against all sorts of invisible foes, from dragons to wolves and snakes. He would hold his plastic sword in his hands and cut through the air, lunging and slashing as if he were a swashbuckler aboard the Black Pearl. His imagination filled with enemies to defend against and knowing that his trusty sword could protect him and our family from these onslaughts. In the same manner we are attacked by invisible influences upon our life every day, and need to defend ourselves.
In the Word we find Jesus, as He was preparing for the His crucifixion, promising us that He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. This Spirit would continue what He had started and be with us always as our counselor, our comforter and our guide. Upon salvation the Holy Spirit fills your heart and mind with His righteousness. We know right from wrong, good from evil and sin becomes blatantly apparent in our life. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our iniquities and points us to the path of repentance and forgiveness. He does not condemn us, as Satan would have you believe. No, the Holy Spirit is God within you, constantly reminding you of His love, grace and mercy. These are the truths from the Spirit to be used to defend against the evil and unrighteousness of the world. As Satan attacks you with feelings of condemnation, guilt and feelings of unworthiness; you draw upon the sword of the Spirit to fight back.
As temptations arise and thoughts of impurity bombard your mind, call upon the Holy Spirit for strength and the Word of God for wisdom to defend against these attacks. It’s important to continue learning from daily quiet times and reading of the scriptures. It’s important to strengthen your trust and confidence in God’s love for you, and build that relationship with the Holy Spirit within. Metaphorically speaking, put on your helmet each day and do not keep your sword of the Spirit in its sheath where it is useless, but rather draw upon it when you are faced with trials and the influence of the world. When the world says, “Do this, or do that?” you have a checks and balance to compare it with to ensure that it is within God’s righteousness. Chose to follow what the Spirit is telling you, and be assured that you are within God’s plan.
Prayer:
Almighty God,
You have provided Your Holy Scriptures, Your Word, to be our guide as we face the influences of this world. You have provided the Holy Spirit to be our conscience, our comforter and our teacher in times of trial and temptation. We draw upon Your Word and Spirit as our defense against the evil in the world. To defend our thoughts and our knowledge from Satan’s attack, we look no farther than Your promise of salvation. Despite the world’s condemnation we hold true to the promises of Your Word, Your love, mercy and grace and the promise of Christ’s return to take us home. Help strengthen our courage and persistence in the eyes of evil, so we might hold firm and demonstrate Your love to others through our actions. In Your name we pray - Amen
The helmet of salvation protects our mind just as the breastplate of righteousness protects our heart and organs. God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures, are a solid defense against these daily attacks from the world and Satan. The more we have engrained it into our thinking, the more we are able to call on His word in a time of struggle. When Satan begins putting thoughts and stimuli into your mind, targeting your areas of weakness, it is often times easy for us to convince ourselves that we are hopeless and condemned. His intent is to cause doubt in our mind of God’s love, grace and mercy. It is the hope and trust in Jesus Christ plan of salvation that allows us to remain focused and fend off these attacks.
I ran into an old friend at Starbucks just last week. He was coming in as I was going out. I realized I had an extra 30 minutes before I needed to be at the office, so I decided to sit with him and catch up. What a blessing it was. We talked about our kids, we talked about softball, we talked about college football and about our careers. He had recently taken his retirement for medical reasons and was now in the position after 30 years of looking for a new job, yet his disposition was amazingly confident and positive. I talked about the difficulties we had been faced with, and how God had always been there to see us through it. He looked straight at me and said, “I’ve had many of those Job 38 moments. You know the one’s where you realize that God is God and you are not.” In the midst of his struggles, my friend knew that God was in control and that he only needed to trust in His word. In the chaos of this world, he trusted in the Word for his strength, and did not listen to the world saying you’re not good enough.
Finally, we read in Paul’s writing that we should take up the sword of the Spirit. This is by far my favorite of all of the elements of God’s armor. I remember watching David, as a young child playing make believe with his sword. He carried it around the house defending our family against all sorts of invisible foes, from dragons to wolves and snakes. He would hold his plastic sword in his hands and cut through the air, lunging and slashing as if he were a swashbuckler aboard the Black Pearl. His imagination filled with enemies to defend against and knowing that his trusty sword could protect him and our family from these onslaughts. In the same manner we are attacked by invisible influences upon our life every day, and need to defend ourselves.
In the Word we find Jesus, as He was preparing for the His crucifixion, promising us that He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. This Spirit would continue what He had started and be with us always as our counselor, our comforter and our guide. Upon salvation the Holy Spirit fills your heart and mind with His righteousness. We know right from wrong, good from evil and sin becomes blatantly apparent in our life. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our iniquities and points us to the path of repentance and forgiveness. He does not condemn us, as Satan would have you believe. No, the Holy Spirit is God within you, constantly reminding you of His love, grace and mercy. These are the truths from the Spirit to be used to defend against the evil and unrighteousness of the world. As Satan attacks you with feelings of condemnation, guilt and feelings of unworthiness; you draw upon the sword of the Spirit to fight back.
As temptations arise and thoughts of impurity bombard your mind, call upon the Holy Spirit for strength and the Word of God for wisdom to defend against these attacks. It’s important to continue learning from daily quiet times and reading of the scriptures. It’s important to strengthen your trust and confidence in God’s love for you, and build that relationship with the Holy Spirit within. Metaphorically speaking, put on your helmet each day and do not keep your sword of the Spirit in its sheath where it is useless, but rather draw upon it when you are faced with trials and the influence of the world. When the world says, “Do this, or do that?” you have a checks and balance to compare it with to ensure that it is within God’s righteousness. Chose to follow what the Spirit is telling you, and be assured that you are within God’s plan.
Prayer:
Almighty God,
You have provided Your Holy Scriptures, Your Word, to be our guide as we face the influences of this world. You have provided the Holy Spirit to be our conscience, our comforter and our teacher in times of trial and temptation. We draw upon Your Word and Spirit as our defense against the evil in the world. To defend our thoughts and our knowledge from Satan’s attack, we look no farther than Your promise of salvation. Despite the world’s condemnation we hold true to the promises of Your Word, Your love, mercy and grace and the promise of Christ’s return to take us home. Help strengthen our courage and persistence in the eyes of evil, so we might hold firm and demonstrate Your love to others through our actions. In Your name we pray - Amen
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