Bringing Confidence In Your Life by Accessorizing

We can bring confidence to our lives by wearing the right accessories.  What accessories make you feel confident?  What is your favorite accessory to wear?

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Eph 6:10-18

As Warriors of Hope we must use the final three pieces, the accessories, to be fully dressed.

My favorite accessory is a scarf.  It adds additional color to an outfit, it adds a layer of warmth, and it is worn in many different ways.  The accessories that we are going to add to our Armor today are the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit.

Shield of Faith – The wording in this verse becomes action oriented towards us having to choose to do something.  It says “take up the shield of faith.”  We are most likely going to grab for the protection of a shield when we see danger approaching us.  We need to arm ourselves with faith in the face of danger, in the face of fear.

Let’s look at what we are protecting ourselves against, flaming arrows!  Why flaming arrows?  Because if the enemy can distract us with catching stuff on fire around us, we may let down our shield and become vulnerable. If we can remember a couple of critical verses to strengthen our faith, the arrows of fear will be extinguished. Here are a few verses that show the power of faith!

“Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.” Matthew 15:28

“Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”  Matthew 9:5

“Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you” Matthew 9:29

The Helmet of Salvation – Have you ever heard the saying “She wears many hats”?  When we say someone wears many hats,  we are talking about how we identify with them.  As a Mom, I wear many hats:  cook, house cleaner, nurse, driver, nurturer, etc.… you get it.  The Helmet of Salvation is about our identity. It defines who we are; it marks us as children of God.

The one thing that can mess with our identity more than anything else is our thoughts.  Satan is very strategic in attacking us in our weakest spots.  This will be different for each of us.  It could be body image, self-worth, confidence, jealousy, past hurts, or any other number of things that cause us to have negative thoughts about our worth.  However, our worth was defined on the cross, our Helmet of Salvation was paid for with blood, and our souls have been secured in the book of Life.  We can wear the Helmet of Salvation, knowing that it will save our very lives!

Sword of the Spirit – The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit.  The Word is a mighty sharp weapon in the fight.  We can lead with the Word of God!  It clears the path in front of us so that we can walk unobstructed.  It is no surprise that the enemy wants more than anything else to remove this specific weapon from our arsenal.  Starting all the way back in Genesis, the snake twisted the Word of God, when talking to Eve he said:  “Did God say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Let’s look at Hebrews 4:12 and get to know our weapon a little bit better. 

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

It is living and powerful, that means that it has a vital power inherent to itself.  “It is powerful enough to pierce to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow.”  This is what I would call “splitting hairs.”  How much difference is there between soul and spirit or joints and marrow? The point is that the word of God is so on point, so sharp that it can even split hairs!  Finally and most intriguing, it can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart!  His word will penetrate the deepest parts of us.  God is not doing this to condemn us, but to heal us!  

Therefore, now that we have learned about how, as Warriors of Hope, we are to dress, let’s take a moment to accessorize ourselves.  We can move forward with confidence and know that we have been made with a fierce spirit of hope to share with the world around us.  Let’s pray to our Heavenly Father, our confidence and lover of our hearts.

Heavenly Father we abide in your power and might, knowing that you are protecting us as we battle.  We are honored to be your Warriors of Hope and move boldly forward.  Thank you for your shield of faith that guards our hearts, for the helmet of salvation that protects our thoughts and for your Word that pierces deep into the flesh of our hearts, healing our most intimate hurts.  Praise you, Lord, you are my all.  Amen.

Next week, we will learn about six different types of prayer that Warriors of Hope can use to impact their prayer life!