The Battle预览

The Helmet of Salvation

By Amy Cook

The last piece of defensive spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6 is the helmet of salvation. In medieval times, a knight’s helmet not only protected his brain but his eyes and his ears as well. This gave him extra protection and assurance before entering combat. 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV) says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” A sound mind is convinced of salvation and certain that God keeps His promises. As a spiritual warrior, your helmet of salvation helps you combat the enemy’s lies by protecting you from fear and by guarding the way you see, hear and perceive things.

Satan’s strategy for capturing your mind is as old as the Garden of Eden. First he plants doubt in your thoughts like he did with Eve. Genesis 3:1 (NLT) says that Satan asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” When you don’t recognize that thought as a lie and reject it, then Satan gains access to your mind and deceives you. He then bombards you with more lies until he’s established a thought pattern. Like reels of film, these thought patterns clutter your mind. Whatever reel you focus on is loaded into your mind’s projector and is played upon the screen of your mind—your imagination. Scientists have discovered that your imagination is connected to your auditory nerve. Whatever you listen to, whether words or music, activates your imagination. God gave you the gift of imagination so that you could dream and envision things like He does. That’s why Jesus said, “Take heed what you hear” (Mark 4:24a, NKJV). Whether you realize it or not, the movies you play over and over in your mind eventually shape your beliefs and actions. Whatever you believe in your heart becomes the fruit you bear in your life (Luke 6:44–45). From thought to belief to repeated behavior, that’s how the devil builds a pattern of sin—a stronghold—in your life.

The good news is that strongholds can be pulled down. In 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV) Paul said, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” If you want to pull down a stronghold, stop playing the wrong movies on the screen of your imagination. Dismantle harmful thought patterns one lie at a time until you’ve eliminated the original lie that opened a door for the enemy. You have to take your thoughts prisoners in this war. God’s Spirit of Truth will help you capture your thoughts through the bright light of His Word. By changing your thoughts to agree with God’s truth, you free yourself from the devil’s traps and reload your mind’s projector with the right thoughts (2 Timothy 2:25–26; Philippians 4:8).

Memory Verse

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23 (KJV)