THE SHEILD OF FAITH.
Our Shield of faith is not something we have to speak into existence, or strive in our own strength to hold up, because our shield of faith is, Faith in a mighty God. Not faith in our own strength.
We have an enemy, who wants to stop us entering into all God has for us, No different to any other enemy that the Children of Israel faced. God routed the enemies of His people in the old covenant, and He will rout our enemies as well.
So what does our God think of the arrows of the enemy?
"He who sits in the heavens laughs." (Ps. 2:4).
In the context of treachery and deception, right in the middle of the nations making an uproar and conspiring against the Lord Himself (v. 1-2), what does God do? He laughs!!
I think we can learn something from this. Is it possible to be filled with joy and even laughter when the enemy tries to disrupt our lives? I believe the answer is, "Yes"!
"A merry heart does good like a medicine" (Prov. 17:22). Don’t you feel great when you’re filled with joy? God wants us to taste His goodness in the "land of the living" (Ps. 27:13).
How do we taste the goodness of the Lord? We enter His presence, we bath in His Glory, We breath in the Atmosphere of Heaven. And we do all this through Worship. I know that this may be a little different from the stuff we usually hear about the shield of faith, but any victory in the word that I can find has an element of worship in it. As long as we understand Gods definition of Worship.
1) Obedience
2) Unity
3) Humility
4) Faithfulness
5) Mercy
6) Giving
7) Singing/Praise/ dance/Music
All these things are A key to using our shield in worship! Because faith is the Substance of things hoped for!
Nothing like worship builds your faith; Worship brings you into the very presence of God. Under the shadow of His wings, into the palm of his hand. He is our strong tower, and into him we rush! Worship opens the door to the tangible presence of God As it says in Hebrews 11.
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. 2 God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Dwelling in this Glory We see the unseen, and it brings a heart of worship.
If we stand in our own strength all we see is the battle and the enemy. But if we get lost in Worship, all we see is His feathers, His Hand and His face!
Perhaps you have felt arrows of the devil hit you recently, feel like giving up on Christ, as you feel the pain of another person’s sin, or feel betrayed by God even? Hurt, because you trusted someone so much, but they let you down? You feel you can’t trust anyone anymore?
Remember the enemy is vicious, looking to devour, he will take your anxieties and blow it out of proportion, to get to you. Don’t let him sabotage your faith; resist him with your spiritual armour Hide in the Lord! Get lost in Worship.
We need a fresh revelation of what is happening in the spiritual realm while we worship. Our worship releases weapons of mass destruction upon the enemy. Yet when we are in the midst of our battles we forget to worship. Our worship attracts our Lord and his army as a shield. His Glory fills the temple and the enemy has to flee.
2 CHRON 5: 11
11.Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day. 12 And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, harps, and lyres. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the LORD with these words:
“He is so good!
His faithful love endures forever!”
At that moment a cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. 14 The priests could not continue their work because the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God.
This one thing I know, when the Lord turns up the enemy flees!
I want to recall to you a vision the Lord gave me when we were in an intense time of worship. “The huge gates of a great city swung open and out from the city came units of Angles on horse back, they were in Columns of 4 and pouring out into the earth. I was aware that these Angels were being released as a result of the worship, and were on a mission on our behalf. This was our shield, there is no way my flesh could stand or withstand he attack of the enemy, but he became my shield!
Secondly there is a call to unity in this shield of faith. See illustration below
As Roman soldiers stood behind their shield, often side by side with their shields together, forming a long protective wall against the enemy’s arrows. The shield was covered in Leather which was soaked in water. As the enemies arrows soaked in pitch and set on fire were sent toward the soldiers the water soaked shield put out the flame and saved the army. And there were no gaps in the defence for the arrows to get through.
We loose sight sometimes of what worship is. Coming together in unity is worship! Agreeing together in the Lord is worship.
For instance in July 2003 when Judith Garden was leading a meeting in Pukekohe NZ, The Holy Spirit asked her to call the 14 Pastors in the meeting to the front and in unity declare a desire for a Glorious revival. We all went forward and joined hands and a declaration of unity was declared. In an instant there were flashes as Angels entered the room, and just as suddenly Oil (Lots of it) began flowing down the walls of the hall. This was a holy moment of worship, were the enemy was completely routed and God commanded a blessing (Psalm 133)
Worship not only creates a shield, but it also confuses the enemy.
2 Chronicles 20:17- 26
Then King Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 After consulting the leaders of the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had finished off the army of Seir, they turned on each other.
24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, there were dead bodies lying on the ground for as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped. 25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,* and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,* which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
What a victory, notice that from the victory came a great provision.
Three things to consider.
1) Unity in worship brought victory
2) The Shield of worship took Judah’s eyes off the enemy and onto the Lord!
3) The Lord Himself is our Shield!
Deuteronomy 33:29 How blessed you are, O Israel! Who else is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your protecting shield and your triumphant sword! Your enemies will bow low before you, and you will trample on their backs!”
2 Samuel 22:1
David sang this song to the LORD after the LORD had rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. 2 These are the words he sang:
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold,
my high tower, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. 4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, for he saves me from my enemies.
So this is our Shield, The Lord in all His Glory is our Shield.
So when we laugh at the plans of the enemy, we do so behind our shield.
Praise you King Jehovah our banner our Shield ~ Praise you Yeshua our covering our defence. In you we have our victory.
