Still Waters Moment The Armor of God: Helmet of Salvation

Ephesians 6: 10-17a 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation…

The focus scripture makes it clear that we battle in spiritual wars.  Clearly, each piece of the armor of God has a significant individual purpose that contributes to us being victorious in war.  Having the proper mindset helps us to utilize the pieces effectively and that’s where the helmet of salvation comes in.  First and foremost, we must have the mind of Christ which signifies we believe His ways are better than our own and surrender to them as a result.  This is more than a notion, but a daily, hourly, minute by minute, second by second decision.  A decision that the enemy will not make easy for us to abide by.  As his intent is to kill, steal, and destroy, he attacks us with negative thoughts and lies rooted in doubt, anxiousness, condemnation, discouragement, fear, etc.  When we put on the helmet of salvation and utilize its purpose when under attack, we activate God’s protection of our minds.

In a Roman suit of armor, the helmet obviously protected the head.  It prevented fatal blows and injuries to the skull which encompasses the brain that thinks, makes decisions and commands the body.  Spiritually, our helmet of salvation protects us from spiritually fatal blows.  This begins by applying Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  This is not done just once but on a consistently ongoing basis that includes scripture study, prayer, worship and reflection.  The purpose of reflection is to sit with the Lord, listen to Him and apply what He has to say.  This is also a time when He may reveal any hindrances or dangers in our thinking and actions.  The devil is so cunning and patient.  He will send a thought, something we may think is so minor at the time but if we aren’t careful of its potential, those minor thoughts can add up and take root.  However, when we bring ourselves before the Lord for quiet reflection, He can expose them to us.   By doing this, we enact 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  Some thoughts are easy to surrender to God.  Others require the strength of the Lord, and we need to tell our Father, “I can’t capture my own thoughts, Father, I need your help.”  This reminds us of His great power, mercy and love for us as well as how we are able to do nothing without Him.

Spiritual warfare starts in the mind.  This is where you decide how you see the spiritual war, are you the victor or the defeated?  Are you strong in Christ or weak in your own abilities? Despite what it looks like today, do you believe it will work for your good and God’s glory or that it will end in failure and defeat? The answers to these questions determine your day-to-day actions and ultimately the outcome.  Thus, the battlefield is definitely in the mind, (and this is the perfect moment to recommend Joyce Meyer’s book, Battlefield of the Mind as it dives into a deeper teaching on the subject and offers practical tips to achieve a victorious mindset).  Take note that the Roman helmet signified status and authority.  In the armor of God, our helmet is a symbol of belonging to and acting like Him.  Luke 10:19 tells us of the authority Jesus granted us and we must be intentional about using it!  Roman helmets intimidated their foes and incited fear within them.  When we utilize our helmets of salvation, we are resisting the devil and James 4:7 tells us he flees!  Victory is inevitable!

Fighting a spiritual battle surrendered to God’s manner of warfare takes restraint, humility and trust that His way is better.  The world lauds savvy clap backs, beefs, and physical altercations.  God is about love and peace and that doesn’t come naturally to many of us.  In fact, it can feel downright self-deprecating and humiliating not to tell someone about themselves, especially if they are wrong.  Having an audience can increase the difficulty in taking the humble route.  However, there will be times God will call us to completely go against our nature or how we would handle a situation.  Pride is a monster that God cannot stand and some of these battles are used to root that negative characteristic out of us.  Those are the moments when we are truly deciding whose way we think is better.  It’s also an indicator of a mental battle independent of another person but a fight over one’s character and self-perception.  The enemy is ever present with mental attacks such as, “I know you’re not going to let them talk to you like that!”, “You will appear soft if you take that from them”, “Their behavior is not of God, and you need to tell them about themselves!”, etc.  We are called to resist his attacks and combat them with God’s word.

Know for a fact that the devil fights dirty and no shot is off the table for him.  He will deliver all the low blows and jabs you allow.  However, if we remain steadfast that God’s ways are higher than ours, we honor God, kill pride and resist the devil.  We also exemplify the light of Christ in this dark world.  I’m not saying this is easy, speaking from experience it can be downright uncomfortable in the moment but as followers of Christ we are called to crucify the flesh daily.  The humble route is not weak; it actually speaks to the strength of the Lord at work within us.  Furthermore, while this devotional focused mostly on the humble component of surrendering, make no mistake, there are times that aggressive attacks are necessary.  However, it’s typically done during prayer which makes sense given our war is not against flesh and blood but demonic spirits.  It is an area where taking authority takes place as the prayers encompass: calling on God as we recognize Him as our Spiritual Leader; putting those demonic spirits on notice that they are not welcome in our lives, family member’s lives, our homes, etc.; and praying relevant scripture to the situation.  The more you grow in the Lord, the more you become competent in His ways and your prayers take on the tone of knowing your Abba Father, your El Shaddai, has got this and you already have the victory because no devil in hell can match God’s power!

Reflection: What is your perceived outcome of your present warfare? Are your daily actions reflecting a victorious outcome?