Think Again!

166 • Think Again: Transformation That Yields a Return on God’s Investment

of what we don’t see (Heb. 11.1). We walk by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5.7). We believe the unseen truth when all the visible evidence is just the opposite. The devil’s schemes are designed to cause distrust and lead to dispossession. They play on our fears, when we should trust God for our needs. Every temptation is a scheme to distrust God, to drop our shield of faith. He urges us to trust our feelings and throw away our confidence in God. Eve gave in and lost faith, but Jesus stood firm and trusted the Father by faith. The flaming darts mentioned in this passage were arrows covered in pitch, and if they connected and lodged in a soldier, the soldier would suffer burns. The Roman shield was made of materials that would extinguish the flames on impact. It was not an individual shield, but a large interlocking network of shields that connected fellow soldiers, protecting everyone from all angles so no one had any cracks in their armor. So if a soldier isolated himself and pulled away, he would lose the protection of the unit. Paul wanted to make sure we don’t fight this fight alone, but together. When we separate from the body, we put too much pressure on ourselves, which makes us vulnerable to flaming arrows of distraction. The truth is we are not alone. God is with us and the body is there to link our shields together for protection. Salvation When soldiers are hit in the head without a helmet, they become disoriented. In the same way, if we doubt salvation, we become dazed, and vulnerable to other kinds of attacks. We need assurance of salvation to keep our wits about us. So the enemy will tell us that we are not saved. If we believe that we are not saved, we will start acting like we are not saved. Having confidence in our eternal security is fundamental to spiritual warfare.