Prayer: Peace and Protection...

Taking Up The Shield Of Faith

Lord, I confess: sometimes the fiery darts hit close and my grip on faith shakes. But today, instead of shrinking back, I lift my shield. I remind my heart that these attacks aren’t proof I’m weak; they’re just proof the enemy sees my purpose. So I choose to speak Your truth over my fear. I choose prayer over panic. Even when the arrows keep falling, Your promises are my defense. Faith doesn’t mean I never feel the heat; it means I trust You even when I do. Help me stand firm, eyes on You, knowing every flaming arrow can be extinguished. Amen.

above all, taking the shield of faith with which
you will be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one.

Ephesians 6:16

Provided by "Word Of Encouragement"

Truth Is a Person

 ²² Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. ²³ But as they sailed, He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. ²⁴ And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.
And they ceased, and there was a calm. ²⁵ But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be?
For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
Luke 8:22-25

Truth is a Person, not a concept. Jesus said He was the Truth (John 14:6). That means that you can never know the truth of your circumstances unless you have first heard from Jesus. The disciples thought they were perishing in the storm. They were fishermen who knew the sea and knew what their condition was. They had allowed their circumstances to convince them that the “truth” was their imminent death. But they were wrong. Truth was asleep in the back of their boat!

Since some of the disciples were fishermen, they trusted in their own expertise and wisdom rather than recognizing that only Jesus knew the truth of their situation. At times, our human knowledge in certain areas of life can blind us to our desperate need to hear a word from Truth.

When Jesus spoke, the disciples saw the real truth of their situation. There was absolute calm. The disciples had seen Jesus perform other miracles, but they had not yet witnessed His power over nature in such a dimension. Often we are like the disciples. God may have recently demonstrated His power to us in a mighty way; we may have experienced many spiritual victories in the past. Yet, when a new and frightening situation comes upon us, we too, panic and say, “Lord save me. I'm perishing!” God will remind us of His provision, saying, “I can handle this situation, too, and you will know more of Me because of it.”

When caught in the storms of life, it is easy to think that God has lost control and that we're at the mercy of the winds of fate. In reality, God is sovereign. He controls the history of the world as well as our personal destiny. Just as Jesus calmed the waves, he can calm whatever storms you may face.

- Excerpt from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry and Richard Blackaby

Deception's Promise

Jerimiah 6:13-15

“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

---

Jeremiah was given a difficult assignment. He was called to preach destruction to a people who would never believe him. He knew up front that his message would fail. Other prophets would succeed with their false message. But God told Jeremiah to preach the truth anyway.

We live in an age of acceptance. Anything goes. Morality, we're told, is relative; truth is too complicated to pin down, commitment is defined by the mood of the moment, and there are many different paths to “God.” Tolerance is a code word meaning, “Don't preach to me. I've got no intention of changing.” The false prophets of our age have a clear, persistent message: “Peace, peace.” But there is no peace.

How we wish peace would come. We pray to the Prince of Peace and ask Him to rule our lives. He does, and He will. But He will fulfill the message He preached long ago in Galilee and Judea: God will judge the human revolt, and Jesus is the only way to escape the judgment.

That's not a popular message in an age of acceptance. Nothing will bring out intolerance in the “tolerant” ones like a message of exclusive redemption. But like Jeremiah, Christendom is faced with a choice: Preach the truth, even where it goes unheeded, or lie about the condition our race is in and the judgment that awaits it - all for the sake of “peace.”

Deceptions abound in our world. Most of the effective ones sound pleasant to our ears; otherwise, they would not deceive us. God's Word sounds pleasant, too, but only to repentant ears. To the pride of self-sufficiency - the drug of choice for the human ego - His Word is anathema. It is as thoroughly rejected as Jeremiah was. But it is true.

Our generation has brought significant challenges to our faith. Our beliefs are not for the faint of heart. But as Isaiah promised, God's truth is the only water that quenches thirst and the only bread that is filling (Isaiah 55:1-3). Cling to it. Drink and eat of it with gusto. Stand firm in a truth-impaired generation. And never fall for the false promises of secular prophets.

[An excerpt from "The One Year Walk with God Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen]