Building a Strong Shield of

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Faith

In the parable of the sower in Mark 4,

Jesus reveals that the seed is the Word of

God, man’s heart is the soil, and satan

comes to take away the Word that is

sown:

The sower soweth the word.

And these are they by the way side,

where the word is sown; but when

they have heard, satan cometh

immediately, and taketh away the

word that was sown in their hearts.

(Mark 4:14-15)

In Mark 4:17-19, Jesus reveals that

when affliction, persecution, cares of this

world, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of

other things enter in, they choke the Word

so it becomes unfruitful in your life. He

also reveals the key to keeping satan from

stealing the Word from you:

And the cares of this world,

and the deceitfulness of riches, and

the lusts of other things entering in,

choke the word, and it becometh

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

unfruitful. (Mark 4:19)

Note that these things must enter in

to choke the Word. The implication is

clear: If you don’t allow these things to

enter your heart, then they can’t choke

the Word. If we know how these things

enter, we can close the door.

Jesus gives us a clue to how this

happens when He said, “Therefore take

no thought, saying, What shall we eat?

or, What shall we drink? or,

Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”

(Matthew 6:31) The word “thought” in

this passage means “to be anxious or

troubled with cares.” Jesus said to “take

no anxious thought, by saying”

revealing that when you have these

thoughts and speak them, you take them

into your heart. You can’t keep thoughts

from coming. But if you don’t speak

them, they die unborn. Paul said, “... the

word is near you even in your mouth

and in your heart.” (Romans 10:8a)

Here is the point I want to drive

home to you: When you declare what

God has said, you are taking God’s

thoughts by saying with your mouth

what God has already established. In

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16 Paul wrote, “Above all,

taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye

shall be able to quench all the fiery

darts of the wicked.” God’s Word is a

shield that the enemy cannot penetrate.

It is “taken” by declaring what God has

said about you and your situation.

Overcoming Deception

In Luke 4:4, we have a classic

example of Jesus using a shield

fashioned from God’s Word. When

challenged by satan to turn stones into

bread, Jesus answered, “It is written,

That man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every Word of God”

When the devil tempted Him by

promising to give Him all the kingdoms

of the world (without going to the cross

to defeat satan), Jesus answered again

with God’s Word, “Get thee behind me,

satan; for it is written, Thou shalt

worship the Lord thy God and him only

shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:8)

Finally, the devil used his ultimate

deception of twisting God’s Word—trying

to influence Jesus to jump from the

pinnacle of the temple to prove He was

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

the Son of God. (Luke 4:9-11) Again,

Jesus answered with the Word of God.

In Ephesians 6:13-14, Paul said,

“Having done all, to stand... Stand!”

That is exactly what Jesus did—He

stood with His loins girted with the

truth of the Word. Jesus spoke God’s

Words out of His mouth, allowing them

to radiate from within Him and, in doing

so, created a canopy of protection which

the deception of the enemy could not

penetrate.

In John 12:49-50, Jesus gives us the

clue to how He did this,

... but the Father which sent

me, he gave me a commandment,

what I should say, and what I

should speak. And I know that his

commandment is life everlasting:

whatsoever I speak therefore, even

as the Father said unto me. so I

speak.

Many Christians try to bind

everything by their own words, but it is

God’s Word that limits satan and stops

him in his tracks. Each time Jesus

responded with the Word, satan had

nothing else to say about that particular

subject. The temptations were so totally

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

defeated in the atmosphere of faith that

Jesus never again had to deal with those

issues.

The faith shield that cannot be

penetrated by the enemy is created by

God’s Word radiating from within you,

creating a canopy of protection around

you.

So Why am I Being Hit?

You may ask, “If this shield is all the

way around me, then why am I continually

being hit by the enemy’s fiery darts?”

Anxious thoughts and words produce fear

which, in turn, creates an opening in your

protective canopy and allows the enemy

easy access.

To protect your faith, you must learn

not to dwell on negative situations. Instead

of dwelling on the problems, make a

decision to meditate on the answers found

in the Word of God.

Don’t give voice to your failures, for

that will produce fear; but as you talk

about the success promised in God’s

Word, your faith and confidence will

grow.

Don’t rehearse what satan has done in

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

your life, or what you think he is about to

do; but rather what God has done and will

do. Don’t give the devil authority over you

by talking about the things that he is doing

to hinder you. If you are doing that, you

are giving him authority to operate

through your words to bring those things

to pass. The devil knows that Mark 11:23

states that you will have whatsoever you

say if you believe and doubt not in your

heart. The more you talk about what the

enemy is doing, the more you will believe

in his ability to do it—for faith cometh by

hearing. It is a subtle way of getting you to

release faith in his ability to hinder you.

Give God’s Word first place in your

life, and you will find that there is always

a way of escaping what the enemy has

planned for you.

God Has Made a Way of Escape

There hath no temptation

taken you but such as is common to

man: but God is faithful, who will

not suffer you to be tempted above

that ye are able; but will with the

temptation also make a way to

escape, that ye may be able to bear

it. (I Corinthians 10:13)

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

Every problem we face is common to

man, and God always makes a way of

escape.

Satan is limited. He can’t tempt you

supernaturally. He can only tempt you

with what is common to man. But God is

faithful and has already made a way of

escape, regardless of the temptation, trial,

or test you face. God has provided

supernatural weapons for your victory.

As Far as God is Concerned—the

War is Already Won

The weapons of our warfare

are not carnal, but mighty through

God to the pulling down of

strongholds. (II Corinthians 10:4)

Since God has already delivered us

from the authority of darkness, what does

it mean when the Scripture says that our

weapons are mighty through God to the

pulling down of strongholds? Why would

we want to fight a battle that Jesus has

already won?

This passage clearly identifies the

strongholds we must pull down:

“Casting down imaginations,

and every high thing that exalteth

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Building a Strong Shield of Faith

itself against the knowledge of

God, and bringing into captivity

every thought to the obedience of

Christ. (II Corinthians 10:5)

It is our responsibility to cast down

wrong imaginations. Imagination is a

powerful thing. Your words create images

and, eventually, you will live out the

reality of those images. When you make

negative confessions, you create negative

images that result in spiritual strongholds.

Confessing God’s Word creates

positive images which, in turn, will renew

your mind and change your heart.

Here is the bottom line: You take

God’s thoughts by speaking them into

your heart to create a canopy of

protection. When His Word abides in you

in abundance it will, without fail, reveal

God’s way of escape so you can live in

victory.

MARANATHA!

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Document Outline

- Building a Strong Shield of Faith

- 1 Building a Strong Shield of Faith

- Overcoming Deception

- So Why am I Being Hit?

- God Has Made a Way of Escape

- As Far as God is Concerned—the War is Already Won

Table of Contents

Building a Strong Shield of Faith

1 Building a Strong Shield of Faith

Overcoming Deception

So Why am I Being Hit?

God Has Made a Way of Escape

As Far as God is Concerned—the War is Already Won