In Ephesians 6:13, Paul emphasizes that we need to take and put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. The piece of the armor I want to hone in on is the shield of faith. Paul puts special emphasis on the shield of faith. He says in Ephesians 6:16, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” So, it is important to wear all of the pieces of armor, but ABOVE ALL, we must take the shield of faith. Faith is a shield in battle. Whether we like it or not, we are soldiers. In order to fight, we must take faith with us.

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No matter what comes our way, we can use our faith to quench fiery darts that only want to take us out. Faith stops and acts as a barrier between the fiery darts and us, stopping them in their tracks. It acts like water to extinguish the fire and put out the flame.

There are examples too numerous to list here of fiery darts, but let’s just look at one—thoughts. The enemy whispers thoughts to us constantly that we must be aware of. These thoughts are not our thoughts. The source is the enemy. We are not the source. God certainly is not the source. The enemy may whisper thoughts such as, “You will never bring in enough income to live in financial freedom. You will always struggle.” This is clearly from the enemy because it is a lie. The Bible tells us that satan is the father of lies. Therefore, it cannot be from God or us. We must identify the source of the fiery dart. If we don’t use faith, then the fiery dart will hit us and we will be severely injured by the flames. If enough of the darts hit us, they will take us out and kill us.

Therefore, we must use faith. By faith, we take the Word of God. We say that this is not our thought. We stop it in its path and extinguish it by speaking the Word of God instead. We can say, “I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not beneath. I am blessed coming in and going out.” These are words of faith. When we use the shield of faith, it works.

In Roman times, the Roman soldier would put on all his pieces of armor. Then after all of it was on, an attendant or armor bearer would hand him his helmet. The soldier would have to receive or accept, effectually TAKING the shield.

We must take the shield of faith and refuse to part with it. Taking and refusing to part with faith is a daily task. We know that in Romans 10:17, it says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We must hear the Word of God. We must constantly put a steady diet of the Word of God into ourselves. Then it will be there as we need it daily. And we will need it. That is a sure thing. Christ gave us the gift of faith when we accepted Him. It is Christ’s faith in us, not our own faith, that we take up and use. And because Jesus has already overcome the world, His faith in us is victorious. That is another sure thing.

By taking and using the shield of faith, we create a barrier where no fiery dart can touch us. We are surrounded by a circle of protection. As we live our lives here on Earth, we will live the good life, sheltered and protected by “ABOVE ALL, taking the shield of faith.” Faith—take it, receive it, apply it, use it, and refuse to never part with it! BE BASED IN FAITH.

(Read more at Elijah List, used with permission)