I have always heard that as Christian we must put on the shield of faith, which is part of the whole armour God teaches us to wear daily, to defeat the devil and all his deception. Like most Christians, I thought I really understood what it meant to really put that armour on.
Sometimes God will put obstacles in our way to help us grow into fully comprehending how the gifts he gives us work. For me, it was one of my own nephews whom I helped raise from he was a toddler. I mean bathed him in the morning to go to school, washed and ironed his clothes etc. Later helped provide finances for school and was the one to push him into spending more time in his school work. When he and his stepfather couldn't get along and I saw the danger, I told my sister to send him here at the house to stay with me and I will help with his schooling.
I loved him.
Now he has become like what Paul calls - a thorn in my side and a big one. Since I wrote my second book-The Path of the Chosen Warriors, which is a spiritual warfare fiction. One filled with real spiritual warfare prayers, the devil decided to use him to torment me in every way you can imagine. The Lord even told me that it was the devil’s doing all that my nephew was doing and saying.
My nephew is now 19 years old and his abuses started about 2 years ago now. He started smoking marijuana and it made him violent. He burned the hem of a beautiful dress I bought for my birthday and then cut away the parts he burned and also a few books I had. I got so mad I wanted to really do something wicked to him – that’ how the negative thoughts were working in my head. I even went to report him to the police station twice.
The cops came to my house the last time and had a talk with him and I decided to let it rest. You see, every time the devil caused him to do those things, I got angry, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I had to react; after all, I was the one suffering.
I prayed for God to help me deal with the situation like how He would. My nephew would come into the house when he knew I was working or even when I was doing my prayers and blast his music or smoked. When I spoke, he reacted with violent threats that made me feel evil within him.
I knew the devil was using the rebellion in him to act that way. The devil knows who to use against you for certain things by what is already inside them. My husband died a few years ago shortly after we married and that hurt still even though I have accepted what the Lord told me about that- that it was a test.
But to hear my nephew open his mouth and say, I was the one who killed my husband and no-one else would want me and so much more, that I would have to bleak bleak bleak them out. This is where the shield of faith came into place in my life and the understanding too.
I read a post recently which mentioned some of the characteristics of the shield of faith and one of them was that -the shield deflect. The author of the post said that, "Faith in God and His promises causes Satan’s “flaming arrows” to bounce off, not able to penetrate our mind and soul."
This is where many of us come into contact with the shield of faith. We battle every day with thoughts that bombard our minds. A negative word/thought is what you would call a flaming arrow that is fired into its target and pierces it. Whenever someone speaks or tells you something that hurts you in any way, that shows you the arrow as pierce through and is now causing damage as would the physical arrow.
I use to get pierced a lot those few couple months and it was more because I kept on saying to myself that I can’t believe that someone I love and helped raise could come to be this way to me and so ungrateful. That’s what hurt the most.
So How can we hold up the shield of faith against Satan?
We resist him. When I started letting God’s word speak back to me more, I started to let them guide me more. I would fall a few times when I tried but I was understanding more. God said when you resist the devil—he flees. When my nephew plays his loud music, I would get a headphone and pretend I don’t even see him, and when he smokes I spray the house out with bleach and disinfectant. But I would not open my mouth to give the devil any satisfaction.
Sometime early last year, he told me the vilest of things that would make anyone feel either hurt or angry inside. But since I now don’t give the devil any satisfaction, I found myself laughing. Nothing he said caused me to feel sad, angry or offended.
What we sometimes miss, is this, sometimes when someone is fighting against you, it’s not only you whom the devil wants to destroy; but the very one whom he himself is using to work against you. That is why the Father said we ought to pray for those who persecute us.
Although when my nephew started this madness of his, I used to say that if anything happened to him on the street I wouldn't care, I would still be praying to God asking him to break him from all the enemies hold. I asked God to fill me with His love and with that; I felt compassion when I used to think negative.
I know that – no weapon formed against me can prosper, that I’m sure of, and so I know that all these that happen, God allowed it and does so to help me grow. Now, that I understand how to wear the shield of faith, going out into the world and having people speak negative or hateful things, won’t cause me to wish them bad or hate them. I have been through the lesson course already and now know how to operate that shield.
So to all who still struggle, all you need to do is keep the word of God always in your mind concerning that thing you are struggling with. Know what the word of God says concerning what you are going through and focus on it. Speak it out to keep faith alive in you.
When the devil comes to whispers lies into your ears, don't entertain them, rebuke them immediately. Don't allow them into your thoughts where you will then be meditating on them, otherwise before you know it they will become stronghold which are hard to get rid of.
In my book- The Path of the Chosen Warriors, there is a scene where Meg one of the main characters was being strangled by the possessed high priest. As she stared into the black eyes of Abaddon, the demonic god, she had her Shield of Faith up and saw only the high priest and told him to fight back. That's how the Shield of Faith works. It enables us to act according to the spirit, despite how our flesh wants to, or would normally react to something. Therefore reading the word of God and building a relationship with the Holy-Spirit is vital to our spiritual growth and survival.
Check out this short video snippet from my Christian Fiction Book about Darkness vs. Light. Please subscribe for more videos that will help you grow on your spiritual journey.