Do you suit up everyday Part 2 | Pr.Gloria

You're listening to a message to go from ets church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

As we read in verse sixteen, okay, of efficients chapter six,

it says above all, take note of that word. It says,

above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you'll

be able to quench all the fiery dots of the

wicked one. So if you can see how it is

written again, it says above all. It puts an emphasis

here that with the shoes that you have, with the truth,

the belt of truth, the righteousness, above all, you have

to hold your shield, okay, of faith. How important is that? Yeah?

And you know when we look at the picture of

what how a Roman shield looks like. Okay, we have

a couple of pictures. Yeah, it's not just a little

tiny thing that you're holding, but it's a long shield

that pretty much covers the size of a person. Okay,

it's that tall, I mean long in that in that height. Yeah,

it's used for defense, definitely, right. And if you can

see it's rectangular, it's rounded on the ends, and each

of each of this part are created in a certain

manner for a purpose. Yeah. And most of the time,

if you look at this this. You know, when you

look at the picture, it's actually made by canvas and leather,

so meaning no matter what arrow comes, it may not

go through, but it just bounced back or falls. Yeah,

and it can actually protect them. And each shield weighs

about twenty two pounds, so how strong the soldiers has

to be, right to be holding on to that and

it is a metal piece that comes across it. Yeah,

And so Paul had this in mind when he taught

us the kind of shield that we've got to hold

on to. Okay, that is the image that he had

in mind, right, And the same thing is with us, right,

and it says the shield of faith. How many of

you know how important faith is in our lives? Right?

A lot of things that we do, we don't have

it in certain right. I mean you believing in Christ

or even coming to church is a step of faith.

Knowing that God is there, right, knowing that I can

feel God. It's not something that you can just explain.

Some people know the word by heart, but it may

have not experienced God. And that is when you don't

have faith. In the picture, right, But Paul reminds us

here to carry that shield of faith. Yeah, So if

we say faith. Here in Hebrews eleven one two it says,

now faith is the substance of things, hope for the

evidence of things not seen for by For if the

elders obtained a good testimony, so many things you don't

see yet, that is faith. Right. So, meaning when you

take up the shield of faith, you are saying in

faith that God has in control, He's protecting me, He's

there with me. Yeah. And when we look at the

context of going for a battle and a soldier carrying

it up, the reason why they carry their shields up

is to fight against the fiery dots of the enemy. Right,

And don't you think we all go through that on

a daily basis, the enemy tries to shoot his fiery

dots on us. Right. What do you think are some

of the fiery dots that the enemy tries to throw

on us on a daily basis? Temptation? Food, It can

be a good thing, but too much can also not

be a good thing. Okay, what else? Negative words? Right by?

Sometimes people around you are the things you see your watch.

What else? Negative emotions? Yeah, emotions can sometimes pull us down,

and the enemy knows good enough that that is something

you can mess around, right, if you're not careful. What

else doubts? Yeah, doubts. Yeah. We may know the truth,

but there's part in our minds that wanders like is

this real?

You know?

Is there something else? What if you know? What if

it doesn't turn out right? What if I can't do this?

What if I just can't leave? Right? And these are

real struggles church. Yeah, we can come into church and

talk about the spiritual part, but I think we've got

to also remember that we live in a world that

is fallen. Right. This is the time where the enemy

is trying to move, especially when you know the truth

and he tries to snatch that peace that God has given. Yeah,

of course, like I said at the start of the message,

hold on to the truth that no matter what the

enemy can try, you come near to shake you, to

make those thoughts come, but he cannot affect you, right

until we know how to carry our shields. Yeah, So

that's how important our shield of faith is. The moment

we put our guard down. Remember, imagine a soldier putting

his shield down. The error is just going to get

to him, right, He's just gonna not survive, He's going

to be affected. It's going to fall. Yeah, the same

thing is with our everyday life. So it's very important

for us to keep a check in with our lives.

It's not just a one day thing. It's a daily basis. Right,

one day we can be fine, like today you get

the word, you worship God, you go back good. But

tomorrow is a brand new day, brand new challenges, brand

new people that we are meeting, things that you've got

to deal with. So it's an everyday decision. Yeah, it's

an everyday conscious step that I need to take to

carry my shield. Okay, to carry my shield? Now, how

to use the shield of fate? We spoke about it

a little bit. Yeah, whether it be physical or spiritual,

it can only be effective when you raise it up. Right,

turn to the person next to you and raise your shield.

How would you should raise your shield? Can you show

you to them? Right, you've got to raise your shield up.

If you're just gonna have a beautiful looking shield, if

you're going to have a beautiful looking bible, a very

nice looking church. Right, but it's all just down there

and you're not carrying it up, would it actually work? No,

it's simple as that. Yeah, it's simple as whether you

want to use the power of God's world. It's whether

you want to use the promises that He has given

to us. Right, it's whether we want to use this

community of believers that God has blessed us with. It's

only when we use it God protects. Yeah, so God

gives us a free will. At the end of the day,

we've got to take that step. God is always that

he's waiting, he's there. In fact, he is here today, right,

But it takes us to take that conscious step that

I want to carry this shield of faith. Amen? So

can we have that shield of faith ready? Right? Let's

not just kip it on our pockets and we go out,

but have it ready with you. Yeah, let's have it

ready with us. So as we read Ephesient six earlier,

we can see that Paul emphasized faith saying above all,

meaning he emphasized the importance of this shield that we've

got to carry out. Yeah. Now, let's just try to

understand a little bit deeper of the attributes or the

benefits when we speak about faith. What is faith? Why

is it that Christians always use this faith, you know,

walk by faith and not by sight? Right? And sometimes

you are so used to using these words. And if

you're using it with friends who are not believers, they

be wondering what is faith? Actually, how would you explain

it to them? Right? Well, faith, The first thing you've

got to understand as believers is that we are justified

by faith. Right, we are justified by faith. In Romans

tree twenty three, it says, as human beings, we all sin,

for all have sin and fall shot of the glory

of God. None of us are perfect. Right ever since

what happened in the garden of Eden. Men fallen shot

because of their sin, because of their respond right, so

we have all fallen, fall shot and sin. And it

says the penalty of sin is death. That's it right

in Romans six twenty three. For the wages of sin

is dead. But the gift of God is eternal life

in Christ Jesus our Lord. So how many of you

believe that you have a gift from God? Right? The

very life that we're living today is because He has

saved us. He's given us the gift to leave once again,

the grace to be forgiven. Okay, and that is why

God sent his one and only son to the cross,

which is what we're going to celebrate on good Friday. Right,

we are justified by faith. It's true his sacrifice. In

Romans five one to two, it says, therefore, having been

justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by

faith into the grace in which we stand and rejoice

in the hope of the glory of God. Amen. There's

a lot of things that's going on in the scripture.

First it says that we are justified by faith, and

then it says, because we are justified by faith, we

have peace. Right, we have peace, and because of that

He has given us the grace to stand in hope, right,

rejoicing in his hope, knowing that there's something I can

look forward to ahead of me. Right, I don't have

to give up. I could have made past mistakes, but

God is still merciful to forgive to pick me up,

and I can steal much on with the shield of faith. Amen. Right,

doing good Church. A bit, it's a bit too quiet, Okay,

respond to the word of God. Yeah. If not, you

will fall asleep. Okay, all right, So the grace of God, Okay,

And so that's the first thing you've got to understand.

That it's because of his grace we are justified by faith.

Let us never take our faith for granted. Let's never

take this gift or salvation for granted. Yeah, because it's

only by him we are here today. Amen, We are

only here today because of him. Thank you, Trumen, well done. Yeah.

So that's the first thing. Now the second thing about faith, right.

The second thing about faith is that without faith, it

is impossible to please God. Amen. Right. You can try

every other way, you can do all the good that

you want in this world. That's what some faith believes.

In some you know, religion, I can do good. As

long as I do good, I will get to heaven.

But no, it's not. You can only do it when

you please God. And it's only true faith. Right, it's

only true faith. We look at a couple of scriptures here.

In Probus sixteen seven, it says when a man's ways

please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be

at peace with him. How powerful is that? Right, it's

only when you please God. In Luke twelve thirty two,

it says, do not fear little flock. He's referring to us,

for it is your father's good pleasure to give you

the kingdom. So God is there. He's always waiting to

give us his kingdom, is waiting to bless us. He's

waiting to open doors for us. You know, it's a

God who doesn't keep it to himself. If not, you

wouldn't have sent his son, right. But it's us that

we've got to draw to him to please him through

our lives him and so it says, you know, but

without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he who

comes to God must believe that he is and that

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

That's the second thing about faith, right. The third thing

about faith is that faith enables us to overcome. Right.

How many of you sometimes go through things in life

and you're wondering, how do I overcome this temptation? How

do I overcome this thought that is lingering in my mind,

this fear, this frustration. Wealth faith can help us to overcome. Yeah,

it says in Romans twelve twenty one, do not be

overcome by evil, but overcome evil with goods. Isn't that

the opposite of what the world teaches us sometimes, right,

or what God says overcome with good Yeah? We can

be overcome us in one John five to four, for

whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this

is the victory that has overcame the world our faith. Right,

And we've got to believe that God has Jesus as

overcome the world. Do you believe that? Right. It's not

about something that's going to happen. It has already been

done the moment he went to the cross. He has

overcome the world for you and I and we've got

to walk in that faith. Amen. And of course the

next thing about faith is that faith allows us to

shield each other. When you saw the picture just now

of the shield, okay, did you notice that one picture

that we have, right, we can go back to that picture, okay,

where there's this group of soldiers shielding not only themselves

but even each other. Right, and as this interesting feature

or part of that shield where they can actually interlock.

So if I'm gonna put my shield with another person's shield,

it can lock together and it has a stronger firm there, right,

So meaning whatever errors that comes, I'm protecting myself and

the person beside me as well. Yeah, And that is

why God created a community of believers. You know, we

are called to come together. We are called to worship together,

to do life together, to pray for each other. Right,

and faith helps us to shield each other. Okay, it

says in Efficients four sixteen, where Paul reminds us from

whom the whole body joined and knit together by what

every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which

every part does its share, causes growth of the body

for the edifying of itself in love. Amen, turn to

the person next to you and tell them you play

a very important part. Okay, all of us have a

part to play, right in building God's kingdom, in building

God's house. Yeah, so never take this for granted. We

are able to actually shield each other. Let's keep each

other in prayer, right, there's no harm. Sometimes just texting

someone and saying, hey, how can I support you in prayer?

You know how how is live for you? Right? Let's

do that. Okay, let's do that we need Sometimes we

look at the person from the outer and say, this

person seems to be doing okay, but until you ask,

you'll never know what he or she may be struggling with. Right,

And so let's just go that one step further, not

just occupy our lives right and us, Hey, can I

have a meal with you? Can I pray for you?

It goes so long way. Yeah, and you never know

how it impacts them and men. And as we speak

about you know, faith and shielding each other. I think

it's very important that when we emphasize on unity in

the church as well. Okay, as we know unity is

something very important for God. We see that mentioned in

the scriptures. Yeah, and so how we look at each other,

the things that we speak about in church is important

to guard our unity as the church grows. Actually, you know,

sometimes we can have different murmurings that are going on,

different complainings, you know, But how do we respond to

those things? Right? Do we feed on to those kind

of conversations or do you say, hey, where is this

coming from? Right? Where is this coming from? Of course,

you don't want to push people away but draw them

with love. But let's not feed on to those kind

of conversations. As we know, gossips or conversations like that

can just draw people apart, right, it can draw people

a part. There's no point talking about why don't we

talk about things of God instead of this person is

like that or this should be better?

Right.

We believe in a fallen world. Nothing is perfect. We're

all working progress. Yeah, But what I'm saying here is

that when we speak about guarding each other, it's important

to stay united as well. So let's be watchful the

time we have conversations. Does this conversation bring If God

is going to be there with you in the conversation

in that copyium you're sitting down, would you still speak

the same way that you are usually speaking? Right? Think

about that? Because God is there everywhere as long as

we are there, and he's leaves in us, right, He's

listening to every conversation. So if you want to please God,

let's be watchful with what we speak and how we

respond to situations. Amen. And God gives us wisdom. Yeah.

Like I said, as humans we do make mistakes. As

long as we can go back to God and say, God,

I don't know how to do this, but you guide

me and men, all right, So let's do that. Let's

carry the sheel of faith. So how do you use

your sheel again? You raise it up? Right? Raise it

up all right? Now. The next thing that we can

see in efficient chapter six here is it says in

worse seventeen. Okay, you shound six seventeen and take the

helmet of salvation, okay, and then the sort of the spirit.

Let's look at what it says here when we say

the helmet of salvation. Yeah, and then we look at

a Roman helmet. Okay. It looks quite big, okay, and

in fact it covers the different parts of your entire

face itself. Yeah. Yeah, we have a picture here, okay,

but I might we just give them sometime. But it's

a very important part of the armor. When we speak

about the helmet, you know, it's there men to not

just protect the skull, but it also protects your years.

If you look at a picture later, yeah, it protects

your years. In fact, some of it can be fully

protecting your eyes, your mouth, you know, the entire face

because you're going for a battle, right and that and

the and the errors can come from any corner. Yeah,

so you have to go God yourself. And this was

the image that Paul had when when he spoke about

the helmet of salvation. Yeah. Now, how does the Bible

define salvation? Salvation means being saved, right, It's receiving deliverance.

And when when we speak to someone Okay, do you

are you safe? You know? Do you do you want

to receive Jesus as your personal lot and savior. When

you say yes, you have the gift of salvation. Yeah.

And you read from Romans five eight to ten. But

God demonstrates his own love towards us in what while

we were still sinnus, Christ die for us. Much more

than having now been justified by His blood, we shall

be safe from wrought through him. For if we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God through the death of his son.

Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by

His life. So you and I are saved. Right, we

have the gift of salvation. Amen, Romans six twenty three.

As you read this now for the wages of sinner's death.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus,

our Lord. So this is a precious gift that God

has given to us. And that is why when we

put on our armor, the helmet is a very important part,

because the moment we forget the gift of salvation, there

we are going by ourselves. Right, We're giving room for

our minds. Remember, the helmet protects our minds, and the

mind goes wonders, right, it goes places. Like someone says,

there's no negative thoughts, lies, you know, uncertainties, fear. It

all comes from the mind. Right, and that is why

God's what reminds us. He's given us a spirit of power,

love and sound mind. That is what God has given

to us. Yeah, and when we put on the helmet,

we are saying, God, could you guard my mind? Could

you guard my thoughts? Right? The moment you find yourself

going places in your thoughts, you know, some of you,

I'm not sure if you can relate to this. I

have those moments. Sometimes your thoughts. You can be somewhere,

but your thoughts are miles away. Right, You're thinking about tomorrow.

You're thinking about what is not happening. Yet. That is

just how our minds are. Worried. You have to come

back and say, hey, that's too far, come back, right,

come back. God has given me a sound mind, meaning

I can make decisions calmly. Right. God is a god

of order. He doesn't, you know, confuses our minds. Right.

He wants us to just take it one day at

a time, do what you can today and trust God

for tomorrow. Right, that is face at the end of

the day. Men can can plan as much as you want,

but only God makes it happen, right, Yeah, so we've

got to guard our minds. And of course another part

of the of the helmet, as we saw just now,

it protects our eyes. Our prayers should be, God, help

me to see the way you want me to see.

Our physical eyes can sometimes only see very limited, you know,

when we look at a person, we can only see that,

but God sees beyond that. God sees your heart. Right.

And one of the things I've learned over the years,

sometimes when you when you're dealing with someone who is

a little bit difficult to deal with, you know, or

hard to forgive, I ask God, God, can you help

me to help me to see that person the way

you want me to see them, because you know how

God sees them. God sees them with love, right, because

he or she is the son of a child of God,

so meaning he would see him or her with compassion,

with love. And when you ask God to give you

that kind of an eyes, you will love with compassion

as well. Right, not because you can do it, but

because God enables you to do it. Yeah, And that

is why the word of God teaches us to love

our neighbors. Right. And we all know that it's not

always easiest to love everyone right, but it is possible

when we ask God for that vision. Yeah. So there

are two things that the helmet does here, right. The

first thing is that the helmet of salvation gives us hope. Yeah.

When we can guard our minds, when we can guard

our eyesight, you know, our years, what we listen to,

what we speak, it gives us a sense of hope. Right.

Reading from Hebrews chapter six, verse seventeen, God also bound

himself with an oath so that those who received the

promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change

his mind. Our God never changes his mind. When he

says something, He keeps to his word. How many of

us can tell them, we'll do that. It's hard to say,

right as humans, But God never lie. Never. He always

says the truth. Yeah, he keeps to his word, so

he says in verse eighteen. So God has given both

his promise and he's ought. These two things are unchangeable

because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we

who have fled to him for refuge can have great

confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

It leads us through the curtain into God's inner century.

Amen the hope. Right. Turn to the person next to

you and tell them we have have hope. Yeah. And

as simple as the word sounds, it's just a four

alphabet hope word. Right, Bahama, You know that some people

don't know what hope feels like. Can you relate? Yeah?

Some of people can't even comprehend what do you mean

by hope when you're telling the summer Ea, I have hope?

You know, I have hope in Christ. What do you

mean by that? I don't even see myself as some

I feel hopeless? Yeah. Well that's just how it is

for some people's journey. And how good are we experiencing

God's hope and goodness that sometimes we tend to keep

it to ourselves. But can we bring this message of

hope out there to the laws?

Yeah?

And I will always say this is a good time

to do that as we celebrate Easter. It gives you

a reason. You say it, your clie, I'm going for

Easter service. And if they ask you, hey, what is Easter.

It is a message of hope. Right, And this part

of our faith, the Good Friday, is there is one

part that any religion don't have it. I mean, which

God actually died for their sins and then resurrected and

who is alive till today?

Right?

It gives you a powerful message to share to those

who don't have a sense of hope. All right, let's

not take hope for granted. Yeah, every new day is

a day too to be hopeful. Yeah, and let's not

just get into this whole routine of our lives, but

be hopeful. Yeah, be hopeful and give on the message

of hope to others as well. Amen. Right, So that's

the first thing. And of course the second thing that

the helmet of salvation does is that it protects our vision. Right,

It protects our vision. What disrupts our visions these days

social media? Blame me on the social media, But it's

not me, right, because I'm not CAUs causing the social

media is causing my vision, But how about the person

who is using it for hours? Right? It's the vision.

And do you know that vision determines a lot of things. Right.

If I don't have vision today, I can't see you.

I can't see what's ahead of me. But we're not

just talking about the physical vision. We're talking about the

spiritual vision. And then it's just how fascinating it is

when you speak to those who are blind, those who

don't have eyesight, they can still feel God in their

own way. And that is why we say spiritual vision.

They can still sense God. They can still feel God

because they're not looking at the situation as with their

own physical eyes, but they're seeing through the vision that

God has opened, all right, and that is how we

can see signs and wonders. We can see visions. Right.

To see vision is when you're able to connect with

God right, and He gives you that ability to do that.

Just reading a scripture here from Philippians chapter three, twelve

to fifteen, it says not that I have already attained

Paul says this, or am already perfected. But I press

on that I may lay hold of that for which

Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I

do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing

I do. Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching

forward to those things which are hit, I press towards

the goal for the price of the upward call of

God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, letters as many as our

mutual have this mind. A man's quite a long scripture

here about what it tells us here is probably it's

even saying I'm not perfect. It's not like I can

do all this by my own accord and I've got

it all figured out. Okay. But one thing that has

kept him going is not to look at the past. Right,

It's not to hold on to those mistakes and things

that has happened, but to look forward in our run

with God. Right, and as believe us, what are we

looking forward to the race? And where it's this race

heating to the eternal life. You don't have to look

forward to the cross. The cross is already done. Yeah,

it's done for us. He went to the cross. Yeah,

but get what you mean? Okay, we are running towards

eternal life is second coming. That is what we're all

working towards. Amen. Right, It's about running forward. So why

are we setting our eyes on Okay? I mean God

is given us things to do and on earth, that's

definitely for sure, right. If not, you wouldn't create the

world sometimes we get so caught up about things of

heaven and spiritual where we forget we are also in

the world realm okay, where we're a call to impact

people right, do our jobs right, study well, okay, all

these things are important. But as we do all of this,

can I encourage us to not get so caught up

to it where we actually tend to forget What's what's

the purpose of life at the end of the day, Right,

why are we created? Why are we created? Church? To

serve God? There also been our homes conversations right to

worship God, to serve him. That was why we were created.

We're not created to just you know, please our bosses

and you know, work day and night without seeking God right,

or to get all those straight a's. But I'm feeling

dry in my spirit. Yeah, it is not meant to

be that, and we've got to get things right. Until

we get this thing right, we will always forget the

meaning of life, and we'll always get back to this

whole circle. Okay, what's the point of life? Why am

I leaving anyway? I'm sure you've put those kind of

questions people saying, right, what's the purpose? I mean, I

keep doing I have a friend, a conversation with a friend,

which she's doing quite well in a career. She has

a child, she's married, and all everything is there, and

she's like, yeah, but what's next? Like at work, I

have a family, I have a child. Now I see

this child growing up, But what's next? But can you

see where that question is coming from? Right? When we

get so caught up with our circle, our bubble, where

we forget that ultimately is to please Him. Right. I

can do all this, I can glorify God, I can

do work, I can do well in my workplace all this,

but ultimately am I worshiping God through that? Right? Because

that should be our goal, that should be our destination.

And when we have that in mind, everything else falls

in place. Right, And I've learned that. You know when

as a working young adult, you know, sometimes you can

be so caught up with okay, career and things to progress.

I mean, it's good to have those dreams and desires, right,

but it's not everything. Yeah, it's not everything. Do well

where God has positioned you, but the focus has to

be got and when you do that, trust me, I've

experienced this through testimonies that God takes care of everything else.

He blesses you in your job, He blesses you and

your studies. He blesses your family. Right, you don't have

to figure things out your own way, but God has

it in control. Amen. Right. Just yesterday we had a

and educators meet up right in church. We had Edline

and Evay there as well. So one of the visions

that our church has, or at least past the cand

is to actually you know, because the three main areas

that keeps the world going is usually the business, the

feel of business. Right, it was the other one I

can't remember now, Okay, business and there was another one,

but that one of it is also education, right, because education,

I mean, you have all gone through education, most of us, right,

and you know it. It's like every child has to

go through that, that whole journey of education. And we

talk about education, it's not just about classrooms, right, It's

about making decisions, it's about getting policies done. So it's

an important emphasis. So the church called different educators together.

We had a conversation, and so Pastor reminded us, you

know that as educators, you know, in church, we can

only do very limited with our young people. You know,

we see them on Saturday Sundays, but as teachers or

when if you're in the field where you're working with people,

you're seeing them every other day Monday to Fridays. And

can you imagine the bigger impact that you have with them? Right?

And so he was just reminding us to not just

get the lesson across, but teaching our young people to

learn how to be good people, right, to love, to

show kindness, and of course sharing the Gospel to them

as well. And so the question that Pastor asked us

is what kind of generation do you want to race up? Right?

What kind of generation do you want to raise up?

You may not be able to see them true all

the years, but you've at least sold something in their

lives that eventually they will grow and remember those values. Yeah,

and that is something that I've caught being in their

education as a teacher previously. It's just something so powerful, right,

And I'm not just talking about teachers here, but to

any of us who are in the workplace who has

f families right as children. Everything we do, people are

noticing it, especially if you say if you say probably,

or I go to church, I serve God, and even more,

they want to see what kind of a person you are. Right,

So let's leave a life that is a testimony, right,

a life of hope, a life that represents who God

truly is. Because people, most of the time, they can't

just see God, but they see God through us, right,

they see God true the decisions we make through our speech.

Do we always speak words of death or speak words

of life? Right? There's a big difference there. But we

can only speak words of life if we have only

experienced the God of life, amen, the God of hope.

And if we know that God is the God of hope,

We've got to speak that truth. Amen. So can I

encourage you that as we go on this week, let's

do that. Yeah, let's put on the helmet of salvation

to speak in hope, right, and knowing that God guards

our vision so that we've got to focus on the

end goal, the race. Remember we all runner is okay,

so you've got to stay fit in this run, right?

Remember how fit important it is to be fit to

wear the right shoes, the right dressing. Yeah, to keep running,

to keep running. Yeah. And sometimes when we get you know,

carried away with life, we tend to okay, overeat when

I say overeat, meaning we feed out minds with things

that are not helping us grow. And you know what,

it's going to affect our run. We can't run right

because we feel just so heavy in our minds, our thoughts,

our emotions. But let's keep running, amen, Okay, can we

enjoy this run? Yeah, let's not grow weary. Trouble comes,

but God is running with us. Amen. Yeah. So that

is the helmet of salvation. And as I draw to

a close the final part of the scripture here, okay,

it says again in verse seventeen, and take the helmet

of salvation and the sort of the spirit, which is

the word of God. Yeah, the word of God. And

I'm sure all of us know what a sort looks like, right,

just in case you don't know, Yes, that is how

it looks okay. And so when we look at the

Roman soldiers and the kind of sword that they actually use,

of course we know it's a weapon, right. And you know,

the fun fact is that the Romans kind of set

the the the expectation of how this is howur sort

should look like. And from there, different you know, different

groups of people or whatever kind of thoughts came after.

That was formed from this idea of how it should

look like in terms of the weight, in terms of

the height. Right, And that's the kind of picture that

Paul had when he spoke about the sort. Yeah, and

you know it was not it looks big, right, but

it's meant to be also light in a way because

he's got to be able to carry and navigate it. Yeah.

And so when we speak about it in relation to

what the Bible teaches us is that the sort is

the word of God. And how many of us are

using the word of God as a sort? So, meaning,

when you go through the fiery dads of the enemy,

when he puts a lie, what is the first thing

that you say? Do you just go to your room

and cry by yourself? Or do you say I'm a

child of God? Right? God has a plan and a purpose.

In Jeremiah, it says a plan to prosper. Right, do

you say those words as your sort? The cause is

supposed to be that right. The word of God is

meant to be a sort. Right. It says here in

the scriptures Hebrews four twelve to thirteen. For the Word

of God is alife and powerful. How many of you

believe that?

Right?

The God is alive. It is powerful. It is sharper

than the sharpest two aged thought, cutting between soul and spirit,

between join and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

So when you read the Word of God, it reveals.

It doesn't just bring comfort, but it reveals what's within you.

Sometimes you don't know what's going on. Why am I

feeling this ache in my heart? Well, when you read

the Word of God, he reminds you that do you

remember this person who has hurt you? Maybe it's time

to forgive. Maybe it's time to let go. Yeah, that

is what the Word of God tells us or teaches us. Yeah,

it exposes our innermost thoughts desires when you read the

Word of God. And maybe God has planted a dream

in your younger days to do something. And when you read,

it reminds you, Hey, Nick, do you remember that dream

that I've planted in your heart? You've forgotten, but I've forgotten, right,

And I'm going to help you grow that dream if

only you trust me. So he reveals nothing in all creation.

He is hidden from God. We can never hide from God.

He knows everything, even our innermost thoughts. Everything is naked

and exposed before his eyes. And he is the one

to whom we are accountable. We're not accountable to men. Yeah,

we're not living our lives to please men. We are

living our lives to please God ultimately. Yeah, and that

is what the thought the Word of God does a man.

It pierces us through the levels of one's heart and attitude.

And I believe that the Word of God is just.

It carries such a healing power when you read it.

When you know, when someone who needs a change of heart,

when you read the word of God, it can change

someone's heart. Yeah. We don't have to do a lot

of the talking and explaining, and you know, sometimes you

be put in our words to interpret the Bible. But

I think it's important to just take the word as

it is, understand grow deeper. Yeah. And I must say

that from the time that I was in my campus

days and now as a young adult, I'm just so

grateful for the Word of God because the Word of

God has been my guide. Yeah, it's been my guide.

I've had wonderful friends, you know, families who are there

to journey with me. But I think one of the

main things that just journey with me is the word

of God through different seasons of my life, and can

that be for you as well? Let me just encourage

you to do that if you have not. Yeah, let's

not take the word of God. Lights. Let's own the Bible. Church,

let's own the Bible. There's a lot of commentaries, there's

a lot of reading aid that we can find in

the internet. They says, well, it's good to read for

additional knowledge, but this must come first. Yeah, but this

must come first because we leave in a time and

age where people have the ability to switch things around.

So when someone tells you the word of God, can

you know for sure that it is the word of God.

If someone comes and preaches into your life and say that, hey,

this is what God is telling you you should do this,

this this, can you discern for yourself that it is

from God or is it coming from the person's feelings

and thoughts. Right, we've got to take ownership of our faith.

You've got to know and discern. You know, there's something

that we've got to be independent of. You know, the

church can help us grow. You know, we have homes,

we have people to do life. Ultimately, it's a journey

between you and God, right, and you've got to learn

as we mrtuous believe us, let's not remain like the

Word of God says, right that you keep drinking milk

and now you're adult. Imagine you're opening your fast and

you're drinking milk. It's not going to feed you. You're

going to feel so hungry, right and frustrated. But you've

got to eat meat, right, You've got to eat solid.

That's how a child grows from milk to solid and

they enjoy food. Right. And the same is without Christian

walk as well. It's back to basics, you know, as

if you're a believer for a long time, you would

have heard this many times. Oh yes, it's the Bible.

Bible is important. But if you've heard it so many times,

is that a change in the way we hold on

to the Word of God because it cannot be just

like how it was last year. It has to keep growing. Yeah,

it has to keep you know, you have to just

go deeper with God. That's the best way to experience him. Yeah,

to grow deeper with him. Man. And as I was

just sharing about, how you know, the thought of the

spirit is the word of God. You know, what does

the word of God. Do is that it defendses, Yeah,

it defends not just from the fiery darts of the enemy,

but from things that you may go through. Yeah, the

things that you may go through. And as I was

just sharing just now, but how the Word of God

has been my guide over the years. And as I

just recall from the you know, when I was very

new in ministry, the first time I preached a message,

the Word of God was my guide, right. And then

as I moved on, you know, looking for a job

as a young adult, you know, many decisions that had

to be made. Well, I went back to the Word

of God. Right. And now many years down the road,

as I went through the loss of my parents, even

you know what brought hope is the Word of God.

It's the Word of God. Yeah. The Word of God

speaks to you in different seasons of your life, in

the good times when you're saying, God, I don't know

what to decide. On different seasons where you experience laws

and you're wondering can I pick myself up? And I

was in that place for some time, right, But I

found hope through the Word of God.

Right.

He brings comfort, he feels the depths of your heart

or the void that can only be filled by him.

Do you know that sometimes we go through voids because

of laws, because of brokenness, and no man can feel that,

only God. And I am a testimony of how God's

word has filled that void and still feeling. And I

just want to encourage all of us to never take

the word of God for granted. Let it be your guide.

Let it not just be a you know, a religion

that I just have to read a scripture in the morning. Well,

that's good, But let's desire to go deeper. Yeah, let's

desire to go one step further with God. Because the

word of God defenses and of course the word of

God strengthens this. Amen, how many of you need strength,

Just go back to the word of God. Yeah. And

if you can remember, the very first scripture that we

read was about Jesus. Remember Jesus venture temptation and he

could overcome that temptation because of the word of God.

What did he say? What is his respond His respond

was not, oh, I am the Son of God and

all that right. All he said was he quoted scriptures,

men shall not leave by braid alone, but by the

word of God. Right, And so can you see where

Jesus drew his strength from and can can we do

that as well? Drawing our strength from God's.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week ahead

for you. God bless