Build up your faith! A Roman soldier’s shield protected him from head to toe. It was made of iron, upholstered in thick layers of fabric, and saturated in water when going to battle. Consequently the flaming arrows of the enemy fizzled on contact. Getting the idea? Paul writes, ‘Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’ (NIV). Satan can’t penetrate a heart that’s pure, saturated in Scripture and fortified by faith. That’s why Jesus told Peter, ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ (Luke 22:32 NKJV). It’s your faith that’s under attack; it’s your faith that needs to be fed and nurtured; it’s your faith that sustains you in life’s battles! Jesus said, ‘Have faith in God’ (Mark 11:22). Note, He didn’t just say, ‘Have faith in something bigger than yourself.’ No, He said, ‘Have faith in God.’ If you’re under attack today claim this promise: ‘He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:29-31 NKJV). God gives each of us a ‘measure of faith’ (Romans 12:3 NKJV). But Jude says you must develop it by ‘building yourselves up on your most holy faith’ (Jude 20 NIV). Faith under attack is faith under construction. It’s in the battles of life that you discover whether you have nurtured faith or neglected faith!
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