God's Growing Garden: Becoming a Christian Soldier

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Becoming a Christian Soldier - HELMET OF SALVATION

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for https://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo SundaySoldierHelmet_zpszpfcffs2.jpg

Becoming a Christian Soldier - HELMET OF SALVATION

Today we continue learning about "Becoming A Christian Soldier" and learning how to "put on the full armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11) - Now, I have to be very clear - I am NOT talking about becoming a physical soldier and I am NOT saying that you should go out and physically fight (although I appreciate and respect anybody who has served or is serving in our army, navy or air force). What I'm talking about in this series is on a spiritual level. If you look at Ephesians, chapter 6 verse 12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood..." that is the exact point - we are not talking about a physical fight and we are not talking about physical training. Becoming a Christian soldier is all about our relationship with God; about our spiritual training and about our spiritual self.

A few months ago we learned about who our enemy is and then most recently we learned about the SHIELD OF FAITH.

Click HERE to read INTRODUCTION to this series.
Click HERE to read "STRENGTH FROM GOD"
Click HERE to read "4 Ways To STAND"
Click HERE to read "BELT OF TRUTH"
Click HERE to read "BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"
Click HERE to read "FEET FITTED WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE"
Click HERE to read "SHIELD OF FAITH"
Click HERE to read "HELMET OF SALVATION"
Click HERE to read "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT"

Click HERE to read "PRAYER"

Our God is all powerful, all knowing, He is our Protector and Provider - He would never throw us into a battle without fully equipping us first. Today we continue learning about the "full armor of God" and specifically "the Helmet of Salvation."

It is interesting to me that there is an order to the verses in Ephesians chapter 6 - first we must prepare, train and draw from God's power ( "after you have done everything" - verse 13 ) and then we must STAND. It's not all about the preparation, eventually we must "do" or "act" - we must implement what we learned in our training.

The purpose of this spiritual helmet is to protect our head; our brain or our mind. Our mind is the idea center where we learn; where we memorize and meditate; where we make plans and decisions. A few weeks ago we talked about protecting our heart - the emotion center but it is just as important to protect our mind!

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:8

As you can see by the verse above - our mind and what we think about is so important (click HERE to view the post about "Thinking Good Thoughts"). This knowledge of Salvation (knowing that all of our sins have been forgiven through the saving blood of Jesus Christ) changes the way that one thinks and acts. Knowing and accepting this gift of Salvation from God will change your ways forever. This is the "helmet of Salvation" that we are talking about today.

This means that whatever we read, whatever we see on TV or whatever we view on the Internet needs to be filtered through this helmet of Salvation. Some of the mental stimuli that is constantly streaming our way will be repelled by this spiritual helmet whereas other mental urging will be transformed into ideas and then finally into Godly actions. I'm a visual person and I think of it this way: allowing one little evil thought or mental picture into our mind is like allowing a small brain tumor to grow and spread throughout other parts of our brain. It is the same with thoughts & what we allow into our minds - if you don't remove that tumor (or thought) while it is small then it will spread throughout the body and take control. (I don't mean to be morbid but I have seen many family members deal with serious diseases and that is why I am comparing bad thoughts to disease).

This helmet of salvation is in constant contact with our head and if we keep it in place it will protect us from Satan's evil schemes. Keeping this spiritual helmet in place will also guide us in our decisions. God speaks to us and urges us not only through our heart/emotions but also through our mind/thoughts. Have you ever had a thought just pop into your head out of nowhere? - I have & many times that thought was guidance from my Lord & Savior. I also believe that God speaks to us through our dreams. This is another way that God uses our mind to lead us and direct us in the direction that He wants us to go.

So you see, this Helmet is not only preventing evil from penetrating our spiritual being but it is also molding our mind into ideas that become God glorifying actions.

Always protect your mind by keeping your Helmet of Salvation in place.

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