Ephesians 6:16 — SHIELDS UP

READ THIS: Ephesians 6:16

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

*REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day!

When I think of a shield, I tend to think of Minecraft. In the game, you can use the shield to deflect hits from the monsters. Similar to Minecraft, we can be attacked by the enemy and need our own shield to protect us. THE SHIELD OF FAITH!! When the enemy is throwing flaming arrows at you, how do you extinguish them with the shield of faith? First, it helps to know what faith is. Faith is confidence that God is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do. Shields are described as a person or thing providing protection. However, nothing says you have to stand still in order for the shield to work! 

The Shield of Faith is constantly used on your faith journey and the closer you build your relationship with God, the more the shield comes in handy. The enemy will try hard to stop you from living a life glorifying God but your shield of faith can AND will protect you! God is the one providing protection BUT you have to be confident that God has your back! When you take up your shield of faith in this way, you will be able to stand no matter what the enemy throws at you.

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. What is an attack from the enemy you feel like your shield is not protecting? How can you make your shield stronger for this attack?

2. Sometimes when we hear the enemy, we distract ourselves with physical objects or activities rather than taking it to God. Have you used a worldly shield rather than the Shield of Faith? 
 
TRY THIS:
 
 This week in our high school and middle school bible studies, we talked about a few verses in Philippians 1! Take a look at Philippians 1:6, " being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Write this verse on a sticky note, piece of paper or on your mirror. Every morning before you get the day started say this to yourself as a reminder God is fighting with you and He will never give up on you.

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