Too Close For Comfort- CREATING A SHIELD- Thursday
Too Close For Comfort
by
Rocky Fleming
Thursday - Creating a Shield
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God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalms 46:1-7 NIV)
In Star Trek, Captain Kirk and the crew has an avowed enemy- The Klingons. These guys are the personification of evil. Even their space ship looks evil. When inside, we see steam, anger, ugliness, infighting, intimidation ... evil. They are indeed the bad guys. So Kirk has to stay sharp with this enemy for they are not only bad, they have a cloaking device that keeps them invisible until they have to become visible to shoot. Then Kirk blasts them. However, the Enterprise's deflector shields protect them until they can go on the offensive. A good captain needs both a defense and an offense for his ship. Likewise, a father and husband need to set up a defensive and offensive plan against the enemy of his home, and his own life. Let's talk about that shield:
"In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;" (Ephesians 6:16 ESV)
What does it mean to you to have a shield of faith? I can tell you what it looks like to me. It includes my prayers and the prayers of my friends who battle with me. But I have to be in a right place with God for my prayers to be effective. Remember what it says?
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)
My prayer team and I are pretty transparent with our needs, and we need to be if we are going to focus on the problem one of us faces. My shield also includes the Word of God. When Satan was tempting Jesus, even Jesus used scripture to battle the thoughts and temptations of the Accuser. If Jesus did this, I sure need to do it as well. I use the Promises of God as a shield to remind me of God's sovereign position over my life and as well my enemy. His promises will walk me through a battle plan as I defend against discouragement or question what to do next. My shield also includes the crew of my ship being faith warriors with me. My First Officer in this defense is Sallie, my faithful wife and companion for 48 years. When they were younger, as well now, our children and grandchildren are under this shield of faith as we pray for them constantly and make relevant the truth of scripture as we encourage them.
My shield also includes my identity as my Father's son. I accept the truth of my position in Christ. I am told that I am a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and a member of His Royal Priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). This is my position. It is my identity. My enemy would try to use covert messages ... propaganda ... to convince me otherwise. The world is full of this propaganda, and it streams at me constantly. This is a common method used by my enemy to cause me to drop my shield. But I am a child of God and I know it. This is my shield of faith, and I try to live under it with those I love and have responsibility for.
Knowing how to use what God has given us to fight for our marriages and children and responsibilities as the Captain and defender of our home, it is an honor, a privilege and a great concern. It is very difficult to be this man and do all these things. But it is not impossible. It is impossible if we go at it alone and without using the assets God gives us for defending and defeating the enemy that prowls around our family. The biggest asset a family has is the Captain of the ship. The first work in defending our home is learning how, as its Captain, to defend our own self from being sucked into the enemy's playground of lust, anger, bitterness, fear and discouragement. You and I have to create a shield around our own mind that stands between us and those flaming darts of the enemy. Those darts are thoughts that must be extinguished before they land. How do we do this?
"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV)
Yes, just like the Starship Enterprise we take some blasts from evil when he appears out of nowhere. However, if our shield is strong we can handle what he dishes out. But we don't just live on the defensive. We go on the offensive. We have some offensive weapons to take him out, and to remove some of his strongholds set against our home and our life. Learning to pray against his efforts, learning to take authority over his presence and expelling it from our home and family, learning how to use all those weapons is a necessary part of being the Captain of your home. However, they are no good if the Captain has lost awareness of his mission to protect his own soul. We will discuss more on that tomorrow.