The Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16 “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  In order to understand what the Shield of Faith does, we have to understand faith.  Hebrews 11 explains all about it.  The very first verse says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  I’m a big fan of Crime shows, a closet CSI (Crime Scene Investigator).  In these shows, the most important thing is the evidence.  They cannot solve crimes without evidence. Evidence is something that furnishes proof.  Our faith in God is based on the evidence around us. When you think about the Earth and the entire Universe and how everything works together perfectly, you see the evidence of God.  When you look at the formation of the human body from an egg and sperm to what you see before you in the mirror every day, you see the evidence of God.  When you witness the miracles of healing and the transformations in lives that were once ravaged by sin, you see the evidence of God.  We may not see Him face to face, but we definitely see the evidence.  We have the proof that He is here.  So how does that faith extinguish the flaming darts of satan?  Look at those flaming darts as the lies that satan shoots at us.  Satan says “No one loves you, you are worthless.”  God says “I love you so much that I gave my son to die for you.”(John 3:16) Satan says “God created your sexual desires, there’s nothing wrong with fulfilling those desires.  There’s no way you can stay a virgin until you get married.” But God says   “There is no temptation too great that I will not provide a way out.” (1Corinthians 10:13)     Satan says “You can’t trust God to provide you with food or money, you have to work all that you can, even Sunday, and keep all your money for your pleasure.” God says “I know what you desire, and if you seek Me first, I will give you everything you need.” (Luke 12:22-31)  Use your faith and the word of God as a shield.  As those flaming arrows come at you, you WILL be able to extinguish them all.