Hold Up Your Shield, Brother & Sister
Hold High Your Shield of Faith.
Stand Still.
Yes, that’s right—Stand—Still.
Do not move forward with your body but turn your head to the right and peer back over your right shoulder.
- Can you see how far you’ve come?
- Can you see where you were when the Lord Jesus found you, wandering lost?
Now, turn your head back around (yes, stop looking backward) and look at the present-day surroundings.
- See ‘where’ you are standing.
- See ‘how’ you are standing.
- See ‘what’ you are standing upon.
- See ‘WHOSE’ promises sustain you.
I once read how the great evangelist Billy Graham did not want to go to church the day he received Jesus as Savior. In fact, if I remember correctly, young Billy stood outside the church during that revival service. However, the LORD—HE IS STRONG & HIS PROMISES ARE TRUE!
Young Billy felt compelled to step into that church building, to hear the Word of God proclaimed, and to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. The rest (as they say) is HIS-STORY—GOD’S!
Graham once wrote these words—
“Don’t be bound by the past and its failures. But don’t forget its lessons either.”
Wow!
Did we catch that? We cannot change the past one iota, nor can we undo all the ways we failed. Nope. They are ours to claim, to own, but what we can do is not allow ourselves to be tied to all the ways we failed in our past. Hallelujah! What’s more, we gain something from these failures (according to Graham). We gain lessons that we can carry with us into our future. There’s a physical expression of an exploding head that comes racing into my brain as I contemplate this mind-blowing truth.
The apostle Paul traveled to Greece to plant a church and minister to the people of Thessalonica. This was a people who were drowning in idol worship of manmade gods; nevertheless, many came to know Christ as Savior. It is to those believers Paul wrote these words—
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
(1 Thessalonians 5: 24 NASB)
- It truly is remarkable that God chose to place the baby Jesus in a lowly stable at His birth.
- It truly is amazing that God chose to place His Only Son in a sin-filled world & sent His Only Son to die on a cross of shame for you and me.
- It truly is astounding that God resurrected His Only Son back to life three days later, overcoming death, so that ANYONE WHO ACCEPTS JESUS, ANYONE WHO BELIEVES JESUS AT HIS WORD, & ANYONE WHO CONFESSES HIS SINS—WILL BE SAVED FROM HELL, FROM TOTAL SEPARATION FROM GOD!
Friend, God is faithful! The Bible proclaims it so!
The Bible contains accurate prophecy that has been fulfilled, accurate historical records that have been lived, and an accurate proclamation that Jesus is coming—again (with this warning)—EVERYONE MUST BE READY!
- The devil represents everything evil, all things sinful, and totally against Holy & Almighty God.
- If Satan could have his way, hell would be filled with ALL OF HUMANITY!
- If Satan could defeat God, then Satan would have every person walking the face of the earth DEFEATED & HEADED TO UTTER DARKNESS!
- If Satan could have his way, but he cannot & he does not have his way.
GOD DOES!
God calls to every person alive to come to the Saving Grace He Provides!
God pursues all people!
&
Then, once we give our hearts to Jesus, God faithfully leads us where we can work the land where we can serve Him (in the communities & in the careers & in the families).
Nevertheless—
That does not mean the devil lets us be, leaves us alone, or forgets we exist. Nope. He is cunning, skillfully crafted at deception, and desires to steal the one thing he knows will cause us most anguish—our testimony & witness of God.
Hold Up Your Shield, Brother & Sister.
Stand Still.
Yes, that’s right—Stand—Still.
The apostle Paul wrote these words, encouraging words for the battle we daily face—
“in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
(Ephesians 6: 16 NASB)
Don’t you just love the Word of God & how our Father makes His Word so easily memorized. What can be easier to retain than 6—16!
God knew from the beginning that we would need a Shield of Faith!
Thank You, LORD, for knowing.
Instead of running when Satan’s fiery arrows come our way (and they will come), we are commissioned to stand on the promises of God & hold up our shield of faith given to us by Almighty God. Our Father in heaven will faithfully see us through the battles of life! Always! Every Time! Every Single Day! HE IS FAITHFUL & HE IS TRUSTWORTHY!
Therefore, we can never ‘give up’ during the battle for spiritual souls. We must remain connected to our neighbors, our co-workers, & our family members who need to meet our Savior Jesus.
So, in closing, I began with the words of Paul in his letter written to the believers in Thessalonica, and now I will end this writing with the encouraging words of Paul reminding Christians exactly ‘how’ our Lord Jesus Christ sustains—
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely;
(1 Thessalonians 5: 23 NASB)
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- GOD BRINGS PEACE TO OUR SOULS!
- GOD SANCTIFIES US (MATURES US, GROWS US UP IN HIM) AS WE WALK THROUGH LIFE!
- JESUS IS COMING AGAIN TO EARTH TO COLLECT ALL BELIEVERS, ALL CHRIST-FOLLOWERS!
May He find us faithful.
May He find us learning from our past failures so that we do not repeat them.
May He find us not tied to our past but standing firmly planted, with our eyes upon our future home in Heaven.
&
When those fiery darts of Satan come flying toward us—
May God find us faithfully standing on His Promises.
May God find us holding high our shield of faith which He Himself gave us to hold.