Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 303 | Conversations - The Armor of God - The Shield of Faith

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303 | Conversations - The Armor of God - The Shield of Faith · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ, she's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl.
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  In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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  join Kim Miller and Erica Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
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  In today's conversation, we continue our series on wearing the armor of God
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  as we journey through And in today's podcast, we continue our study of Ephesians
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  6, verses 10-17, and chat about wearing the shield of faith.
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  Well, hello, everyone. My name's Erica Close, and I am here with Kimberly Millard.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries.
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  We're so excited to be able to continue our conversation on the armor of God.
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  And as we continue our conversation on the armor of God, we're going to go back
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  to the passage that this series of podcasts is centered upon,
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  and that's Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 17. And it It says.
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  In the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
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  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having the breastplate
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  of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
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  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench
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  all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation.
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  And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
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  Well, if you've been following along in this series of Wednesday podcasts as
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  we have our conversations, you'll know that we have been talking about the armor
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  of God for the last two weeks.
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  We're now in our third podcast about the armor of God, and we're going through
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  the different parts of the armor of God, starting from our head and going down to our feet.
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  So we've talked about the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness,
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  and today we're talking about the shield of faith.
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  So what does it mean to have the shield? of faith.
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  Hebrews 11.1 gives us the definition of what faith is.
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  It says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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  We see also that faith is what gave the elders a good report.
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  It also, we see how faith plays the role in our understanding of the Word In verse 3,
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  where he says, And then it goes on through the entire chapter talking about
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  the Hall of Fame of Faith,
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  as most often talked about, where it takes the main characters of Scripture
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  and talks about how faith is a part of the world.
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  Was activated in their lives to allow them to do great and mighty things.
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  But one of my most favorite verses that is found in Hebrews 11 is verse 6,
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  and it says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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  And you must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  And he says that for those that come to God must believe that.
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  So when we come to God, asking for things, worshiping him, praising him,
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  we have to believe in who God is.
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  And it's the faith that we have that allows us to do that.
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  And so faith is that evidence of not having seen Jesus, but having full assurance that he is real.
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  I love in the description of the armor of God that we take up the shield of faith,
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  first of all, that it's something that we take up and we know what it looks
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  like when you see a soldier with a shield, but we take it up and we put it in front of us, right?
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  It's sort of a, you know, it's a defensive tool, right?
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  Even if that passage in Ephesians talks about quenching the fiery darts of the
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  wicked, it's a defensive tool, but it's still one we hold out in front.
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  It goes ahead of us as we're walking into a battle or into our day.
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  He also tells us in Hebrews chapter 12, in the very beginning,
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  I think it's verse two, that he says, you look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
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  So faith is what we have to see him, but faith is what he gives us to know him.
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  And so we have to exercise that faith. And the more we draw nigh to him and
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  he draws closer to us, the more we know him, the stronger our faith actually is.
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  And as our faith actually strengthens, we're able to quench more of those fiery darts.
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  So when our faith is newer, I guess we could say,
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  you know, we often find ourselves where where we might question more,
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  where the devil might be able to get things sort of around us and through our protection of faith.
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  But as we get to know him better, right, as we understand Jesus better,
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  as our faith continues to grow, we're able to recognize those fiery darts as they're coming.
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  I love it that it's faith that we use as a shield.
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  Because when we really believe in God, then we trust that he has us.
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  And when we're trusting that he has us, that's that shield around us that does
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  not allow us to get worrisome or troubled by the things that are happening in our life.
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  It's not that the things in our life are stopped.
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  The shield doesn't keep something from coming at them.
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  It keeps what comes at them from penetrating to them.
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  I like that the verse in Ephesians, it says it quenches the fiery darts of the
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  wicked, right? The dart's still there, but it's like it's a flaming dart, right?
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  And that faith, the shield of faith just puts out the fire. Which renders it useless.
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  And so the things that the devil want to throw at us, if our faith is shored
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  up, if we are strong in the Lord...
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  And if we believe in who he is and what he can do and the promises he's given
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  us, then it doesn't matter what happens in our lives.
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  It doesn't matter the things around us because the circumstances cannot dictate the faith.
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  But the faith will dictate how we respond to the circumstances.
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  I think, too, I think it's the faith is what we place in between ourselves and the circumstances.
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  So when I can have this circumstance and I can choose to look at that circumstance
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  all the time and, you know, fight with that circumstance or fight against that
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  circumstance all the time,
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  or I can pick up my shield of faith and I can consciously and intentionally.
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  Choose to put it in between myself and the circumstance.
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  And that looks different for a lot of things, but that's where my faith goes.
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  My faith goes before me and it goes between me and the circumstances.
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  And I love how faith that we have is in concert with the power of God.
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  Yes. Because in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, it says, for by grace are you saved through
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  faith and salvation transforms us.
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  So the power of faith is so mighty because the old things that were once pleasurable
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  to us are now gone away with, and we now have a new vision, and old things have become new,
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  and we're new creatures in Christ Jesus.
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  And by faith, we are transformed by the power of his light into who he would have us to be.
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  And he says that all things are possible to him that believes,
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  and belief is faith. And so we have this.
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  Unlimited power living in us that is only limited by the amount of faith we
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  have for it to display itself.
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  And so when we look at Ephesians 3.20, where it says that he can do exceeding
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  and abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works
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  in us, the power that works in us spoke the world into existence.
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  The power that is in us raised Lazarus from the dead.
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  The power that is in us kept Noah safe in the ark.
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  The power that is in us kept the lion's mouth shut for Daniel when he was in the lion's den.
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  The power that is in us delivered the three Hebrew children without any harm.
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  We can go on and on and on. That the power that lives in us is the same power
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  we read about from Genesis to Revelations, but we limit what the power in us
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  can do because of our unbelief.
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  And because we choose not to employ the faith.
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  Or live a life by faith that is able to receive the work of the Holy Spirit in such a way.
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  I mean, it's hard for us to believe some things.
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  And I know this isn't a popular belief, but I believe truly if I had enough faith...
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  Is that of a mustard seed to say to Mount Everest, move, I can move it.
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  But my mind and my knowledge is never going to allow me to have,
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  pardon the expression, muster up that kind of faith to get that.
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  I don't have it because my knowledge has overpowered my faith.
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  And in that instance, that's probably not a problem for me.
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  But so many times in my life, it is because I allow my knowledge or what I think
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  should happen to overpower my faith when my faith should be what's powering my entire being?
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  Sometimes I really stop myself when in a difficult situation and I say to myself,
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  you know, if you really believed all the things you say you believed,
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  how would you be approaching this differently?
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  Like I force myself to answer that sometimes times because sometimes I realize
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  I might be doing something that is not using my faith or not showing my faith.
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  And so I make a conscious effort to ask myself that and then realize I firmly
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  believed in all of whom God is in that power that you talked about that is within me,
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  that my reaction to certain things might be very different.
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  And I think it's a really important thing to ask ourselves that question because
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  it's what changes our behavior.
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  It's what changes our behavior in a situation when we're not responding to a
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  situation like someone in the world without faith,
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  but we're responding to a situation like someone with faith because those are
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  two very different sets of behaviors.
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  It would have to be because how could someone who doesn't have the Holy Spirit
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  dwelling in them, resemble, look, act, and be like someone who has the presence of God in them.
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  If we're blending with the world, we're the one messing up. And if we're blending
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  with the world, we're not accessing the power of God to transform us in the circumstances.
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  The circumstances are going to come. We have no promise that the circumstances
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  of life, good, bad, ugly, whatever they might be, aren't going to come.
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  But the strength of our faith will dictate how much we enter those circumstances,
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  as as you would say, looking like Jesus, acting like Jesus would,
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  being close and near and having a life that resembles Jesus,
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  which is ultimately easier for us.
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  In fact, we're told that you'll have trouble in this world. He had trouble in
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  this world. He said you'd be hated. He was hated.
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  And somehow when a little bit of inconvenience comes our way, we panic.
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  And he said that's not not how it should be. We should not be as people with
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  no hope because we have the hope of Jesus in us.
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  And it's something that I think each of us really, like you just said,
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  just need to reflect on it like you do.
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  That's so powerful that you think in those terms because we have the armor of
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  God at our disposal and we can put it on whenever we choose.
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  But I think sometimes we We pick and choose the pieces.
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  And I think that one of the ones that we need the most certainly would be the
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  shield of faith, because that's what everything else is dependent on.
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  But I think it's the one we leave behind most often.
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  Because faith battles the flesh.
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  Yes. And faith battles the mind, like the mind of the flesh.
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  And the reality of it is we're only going to get the victory to the extent we have the faith.
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  Absolutely. And the battle belongs to the Lord. But if we don't let him fight
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  it, he's not going to get the victory.
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  I think one of the things that, you know, you talked about the most important
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  aspects of the armor of God.
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  Just about all the pieces of armor, except I would say the shield of faith and
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  the sword of the spirit, are things that you put on.
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  You know, when we put our clothes on each day, we don't then think about picking
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  up our clothes, right? They're already on us.
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  We go out, you know, we put them on and we go, it's a choice,
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  and we go out, you know, into the day.
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  But if I also walk out the door with my shield and my sword,
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  I could lay one of those down.
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  You know, I'm not going to necessarily remove an article of clothing,
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  but I could lay down my shield.
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  I could lay down my sword and make a conscious effort to pick them up.
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  And those are my two tools. And I know we're not talking about the sword of
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  the spirit yet, but, you know, they're my two biggest tools and I shouldn't put them down.
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  And your sword is your only offensive weapon.
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  It's interesting about how you're saying that, you know, we get up and we put
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  on our clothes and we can pick and choose and we leave.
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  When I was a young kid, I just thought it was nuts to change into pajamas and
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  then have to get up in the morning and change clothes again.
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  So when I got old enough for my mom to let me go in the room and put on my own
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  pajamas and then get in bed, tuck me in, and they would come and say goodnight
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  to me, I thought I was being clever.
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  I just put on what I was going to wear the next day. And that way, you were ready.
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  And it was one less change of clothes that I would have to do.
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  And you know, that doesn't work all that well for physical clothing.
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  They get wrinkled and, you know, various things can happen and it's just,
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  it's not the way it works.
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  But I tell you what, being clothed with the armor of God before you go to bed
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  sure can help with nightmares, the attack of the devil in your mind and all sorts of things.
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  So I think we have to consciously choose to keep our armor polished and relevant,
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  but I'm praying I never choose to drop a piece of it.
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  It would not be in our best interest to drop any, because all of these pieces,
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  when put together, are what give us our strength in the Lord, right?
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  It's what allows us to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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  You know, one of the things before we close that has always fascinated me about
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  Hebrews chapter 11 is verses 39 to 40, and they read like this,
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  and these all, having obtained a good report through faith, receive not the promise.
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  You know, the Holy Spirit was not there.
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  He was there, but he didn't live in them. He just kind of went from person to person.
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  So if he was on Abraham, he wasn't on Sarah.
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  But then I want you to read what he says in verse 40. This is talking to all
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  those great heroes of faith.
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  But in verse 40, he says, God having provided some better thing for us,
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  that they without should not be made perfect.
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  He provided a better thing for us. and we need to realize that.
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  We have the Holy Spirit directing us, leading us, guiding us, teaching us.
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  We have the shield of faith that he offers us and he gives us wisdom liberally
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  when we ask and therefore he gives us faith when we ask and he increases it
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  by all the many things he does every single day for us.
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  And if we would reflect like you suggested, we could live in assurance that
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  we wouldn't be caught lacking, as we're talked about in Hebrews 11,
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  6, when he says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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  But he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder
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  of them to diligently seek him.
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  Faith teaches us that God is more than enough.
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  Faith motivates us to know him more for the reward of the amazing friendship
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  and relationship it affords everyone who employs it and places it in Jesus and knows who God is.
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  It's my prayer today that that is you and that you not only know him as personal
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  savior, but that you are in a deep, loving, caring, real relationship with the
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  King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
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  He stands inviting you to come to him.
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  And it's our prayer that you have made your calling and election sure,
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  and that you are reading his word, you are journaling his blessings,
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  and you are trusting him in all things so that you too may know the reward and
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  blessings of a close personal relationship with Jesus.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  Music.