Today's Passage - Ephesians 6:16-17

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 6: 16-17   "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."                  The fourth piece of spiritual armor is to take up the shield of faith. Christians must have faith if they want to overcome Satan's attacks, not just a feeble faith, but the enduring faith. Since the most potent attack of the Satan against us is often not the circumstances, but rather when we have doubts about God's faithfulness and mercy. Once doubts creep in, our relationship with God becomes distant, and it becomes impossible to receive more blessings from God. Jesus performed miracles on earth and the people believed; He did not perform that many miracles in Nazareth because the people there did not believe. When we do not believe we cannot see the coming of God's glory; so when it comes to defend against the enemy, we must come before God with strong faith.                   The fifth piece of spiritual armor is to wear the helmet of salvation. The helmet protects the vitals, similarly in Jesus Christ, the gospel can protect us from God's judgment, and to overcome Satan's accusations. For this I need to ask you solemnly: "Are you fully secure of your own salvation?" You may have come to the church for a while, or you may have been baptized, but are you certain that you are saved? If you are not certain, you need to ask the Lord to use His precious blood to cover you, accept Him in your life as your personal Savior, as well as the lord of your life. If you are certain of your salvation, then hold tight to the proof of your salvation and use it to overcome every Satan's accusations.                   The sixth piece of spiritual armor is to carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The work of the Spirit must be in unison with the word of God, and the Spirit must work according to the word of God; not only we have to read the word of God and to follow the work of God, we have to know how to use the word of God. The bible says "once the word of God goes out, it will not return to Him empty," the spirit of God will fulfill His work. Learn to use the word of God as strength in your life, do devotion and study the bible every day, not just doing it in haste for the sake of having read it. Come before God to ask Him to give you a verse that you can hold on and use for today, this becomes your sword of the Spirit, with which you can overcome all the temptations and attacks. As for "the day of evil" in verse 13, it is when the enemy attacks and accuses us, once we take in the word of God, wear the armor of God, then we can resist the enemy and stand our ground.                                                                        Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, thank you, though the enemy often attacks us, in you we have the guarantee of victory. May the Lord help is to wear the full armor every day, to stand our ground in the day of evil, and resisting the enemy. May the Spirit put your words in our hearts so they become our strength. We give thanks and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!