RENEW YOUR MIND!
Greetings Foothills church family!
(The following devotional is a paraphrase of an excerpt from the book THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD by Larry Richards)
This Sabbath we continue our study of the book of Ephesians by looking at the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith.
The last piece of armor a Roman soldier would put on was his helmet, called a galea. It consisted of an iron skull cap covered in bronze along with iron and bronze pieces to cover the back of the neck and the cheeks of the face. This helmet provided complete protection of the head.
For the saints in Christ, but living at Ephesus, Paul, inspired by the galea, encouraged the Ephesian saints to put on the helmet of salvation. He knew that Satan’s biggest scheme is lies and deception. This is just as true today as it was back then.
Consider the list of belief statements below.
I’ll never amount to anything No one will ever love me
I’m not good at anything It’s always my fault
I’ll never change Things will never get better
Whether you struggle with one of these or all of these, they are all lies. Yet these statements and others like them are exactly what the enemy uses to divert our focus from and trust in the powerful promises of God’s word.
In Ephesians 1:3-23, Paul makes it clear that our salvation provides a unique perspective of who we are, whose we are, and how important we are in God’s eyes. In fact, we are so important, that each member of the Trinity plays a role in our salvation. The Father adopts us into his family in Christ (Ephesians 1:5). Jesus redeems us and forgives us (Ephesians 1:7), and the Spirit seals us as God’s possession and serves as the down payment of our future inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Church family, I look forward to our time together this Sabbath studying the helmet of salvation. With that said, for this week, what if you took 5 minutes every morning to put on the helmet of salvation by reading and meditating on Ephesians 1, reinforcing in your mind who you are in Christ so that the lies of the enemy cannot take root?
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2
Church family, as you do this daily, may you be assured that God is for you, God is with you, and God loves you!
Pastor Chris
