In some Christian circles, enemies are more prominent than God, particularly when they are praying. Some prayer points even start with satan, whereas the entire bible starts with God. The Old Testament starts with “In the beginning, God…” In the New Testament, you find “in the beginning was the word.” And so, you wonder where such people get the idea of giving greater credence to the enemy than to God. It is because we fail at learning to identify our shield.
Please don’t get me wrong. The devil and his cohorts are desperately wicked and they have made mincemeat of some lives. But the devil does not have any power over us – as long as we are in Christ. Or as the book of Colossians says “Our lives are hidden in Christ.” Once that happens, you don’t need to be overly concerned about the enemy. That signifies you are good at learning to identify your shield.
Right about now, you are pondering why we need a shield. It is because life is a war with numerous battles all along the route. No doubt, if you are a serious believer, you already know about battles. After all, the Bible assures us that we will suffer afflictions. So, you are no stranger to battles and that is the reason God provides a shield. But often we do not do so well at learning to identify our shield.
And that is despite the bible being full of references to our shield. For instance, there is the one in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. It admonishes us to put in the whole armor of God and mentions a shield as one of its pieces. We all know it by heart but we still fail woefully at learning to identify our shield.
Become Better At Learning To Identify Our Shield
And yet, failure at learning to identify our shield exposes us to defeat and wounds in the battle of life. So, what is this shield that we require for living in victory? In Psalm 91, we read that our shield is God’s truth. And therein lies the rub for most of us. How many Christians really know God’s truth.
Please note that this knowledge has nothing to do with academic knowledge. We could be professors and still fail at learning to identify our shield. I knew a medical doctor once who quoted the bible without realizing she was quoting God’s truth. She ascribed the quote to her earthly father because she did not know her bible.
Now, you may think she has at least done something good by knowing the quote. But because she did not know it came from the word of God, she is likely to transgress it. And she would not realizer that she has disobeyed God. How often do we disobey God without even realizing that we are doing so? Often, I daresay. And only because we fail at learning to identify our shield.
Like that doctor, we think God’s word is the saying of a wise man because we fail to read our bible. And yet King David once said he hides God’s word in his heart to avoid sin. How much of God’s word do we hide in our hearts? Put another way, how good are we at learning to identify our shield? But it does not matter how good we are now, we must become better. There is no stopping. And God will help us as we determine to do so
Adam And Eve Failed To Identify Their Shield
The Fall happened in the garden of Eden because Eve failed to identify her shield. In case you don’t know the event as the Fall, that is when she ate the forbidden fruit. She ignored the instruction God gave them, letting go of the word of God. Effectively, she failed at learning to identify her shield.
She assumed she could go to battle against the devil without the truth of God. Without that shield, she went to war totally exposed to the fiery darts of satan. Naturally, she failed woefully and brought a curse on mankind. Are we faring any better today? Many Christians are similarly completely exposed, trying to battle the enemy without any form of protection.
Imagine going to war with only a gun without some form of protecting yourself. The gun will only be useful if you are faster at the draw than your opponent. And that is a mistake many believers commonly make when they take satan and his cohorts on. They forget that Satan is a lot older than they are and that he used to live in heaven.
Consequently, he is likely to be faster at drawing his weapon. If you doubt that, study the temptation of Jesus and see who started the battle. It was satan but Jesus defeated him because He knew His own shield. That is the same reason we must do well at learning to identify our shield.
Otherwise, the devil who is going about like a roaring lion will have us for dinner. Believe me, his enterprise is doing very well is why most Pentecostal prayers are about the devil. And the reason the devil is doing well is that we do not know the word of God.
Stick To The Truth Of God’s Word
We fail at learning to identify our shield as the truth of God. Unfortunately, we have several lying pastors who help us to fail. You see, the more we fail at learning to identify our shield, the higher they can lift satan up. And the more they lift satan up, the more fear they can instill in your heart. The more afraid you become, the more you need to pay them to help you cast satan out.
They cannot afford to let you know the truth of God’s word. But please don’t think this is a modern phenomenon. Lying pastors and prophets have been around from the beginning. Hear how the bible contrasts them with good preachers. “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness. We do not handle the word of God deceitfully.”
That means some pastors deliberately handle the word of God deceitfully. Consequently, it is up to you to find God’s truth for yourself. Especially now that you know your shield is God’s truth. Otherwise, you will be guilty of not learning to identify our shield.
Maranatha!
