Faith Under Fire
From the very beginning, Satan has tried to tempt humanity away from God. He works hard to keep people from knowing the truth about God (2 Corinthians 4:4). Even after a person miraculously comes to faith in Jesus, his battle continues.
You have a spiritual enemy who seeks to discredit and disable you. He aims arrows at you: half-truths and mistruths that discourage and distract, accuse and attack. He whispers accusations about ways you’ve messed up and fallen short. He tells half-truths: things that seem reasonable but sow doubt in God’s promises. He tells us we’re not wanted, not forgiven, and don’t belong. There’s a reason Paul says his darts are “flaming”—they burn.
But just as we first were saved by faith in Jesus, we must continue in that faith by raising up what the apostle Paul calls “the shield of faith.” It means we defend ourselves again and again by choosing to trust in what God says about Himself and ourselves, rather than the lies of the enemy.
Raising up the defensive shield of faith is the best and only defense against the attacks of the evil one. Dart by dart and lie by lie, we name the lies and choose to trust in God’s truth instead.
When the enemy tries to shame you, remember 1 John 1:9 NIV: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive …”
If he tries to turn your attention towards ambition, pride, or lust, recall Jesus defying him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4).
Jeremiah 29
English Standard Version
Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles
29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; ...