“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:12-17 NKJ
The devil does not have free rein to come in and destroy your life. God has given you ways to protect yourself. The armor of God is not something that God puts on you – it is something that youput on yourself with His help. You protect yourself with the truth, with righteousness (integrity), the Gospel, faith, salvation and the Word of God.
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJ
You must love and desire the truth even if the truth means you have to change. The truth protects your vulnerable belly and righteousness protects your heart. You must have a humble and repentant heart and God will clothe you in His robe of righteousness. You continue to walk in righteousness when you walk in honesty and integrity in your own heart. You must be ready to share the Gospel freely. You are ready for any situation when you are equipped with the Gospel of peace. You must be full of faith. Faith is a shield of protection for your whole body. You need to bring your mind into subjection to your spirit and the Spirit of God. Your thought life is sanctified as you allow the Word to wash your mind and the Spirit to teach you and lead you. The Word of God needs to be in your heart and in your mouth – a two-edged sword – cutting through the lies of the enemy.
You will notice that the shield of faith does not just prevent the enemy’s arrows from reaching your soft, vulnerable flesh, but it actually quenches the fiery darts and flaming missiles he sends your way. The devil may try his best, but your faith in God not only completely stops his arrows, but it thoroughly destroys them. God does not just do it for you – you do it with your faith in God. If faith quenches arrows then fear will allow them to penetrate your flesh and hurt and destroy you. Faith does not prevent the arrows from leaving the devil’s bow, but it will not allow them to touch you! You must press on in faith.
Faith believes that God will do what He said He would do. The Amplified Bible describes faith as “believing in God/Jesus with a personal trust, a confident surrender and firm reliance” and “the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness.” It is only when you trust God completely that the enemy will get nowhere in his attacks on you. People who do not trust in God fall to pieces at the first sign of an attack, but a person of faith says, “I don’t care what you try, devil, I know that God is on my side and I trust Him to take care of you!” The person of faith knows what the Word says and uses it on the devil just like Jesus did. “It is written!” You can have faith, not only in God’s power to help you, but in His goodness too and the fact that you know that He will help you. When you know that not only can God help you, but that He will help you – your faith in Him will be unshakable and the enemy’s attack in vain!