Dear Shielded Ones:
The Lord brought forth this word on Sunday. Keith Pierce quoted Psalm 5:12, “For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.” If there is one part of the armor that is the most important to understand, it is the shield of faith. The shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts of the enemy (see Ephesians 6:16).
His Shield of Favor Surrounds Us!
Keith actually saw shields hanging over the top of God’s people. He began to shout: “Pull those shields down and let them surround you. May the shield of faith come into place so you press through into a new favor!”
One of the most important things a Christian can learn is the reality of spiritual warfare. When you were born again you were born onto a battlefield. Your choice is not whether you want to go to war, for war has been declared against you! Your only choice is whether you want to get trampled by the enemy, or learn to fight and win! At issue in this battle are the promises of God. Peter says that God has given us his “precious and magnificent promises” that through them we can become partakers of the divine nature. (see 2 Peter 1:4)
God has given us promises that relate to every area of life. He has promised us abundant provision. He’s promised us healing. He has promised great blessings in every area. But when you open your Bible and begin to claim these promises, you discover you are in a battle! When you say, “I want to come into a new place in the Lord! I want to move forward to obtain the promise!” Satan will try to stop you. That’s what the battle is all about. Satan’s goal is to frighten and discourage you, to make you to turn back and not press on in the Lord.
As the apostle Paul thought about our struggle against Satan, he realized that God has given us a shield like that. It is a shield of faith. When Paul talks about our shield in Ephesians 6:16, he uses the word for the Roman battle shield. The word is THURIA and it means a “door-shaped shield.” (The Greek word for door is THURA.) The thuria was a large, rectangular shield about five feet high and three feet wide. It was also called a castle shield. If you were a warrior holding this shield in front of you, you carried your own portable fortress. You had a castle you could take with you wherever you went and be protected against the enemy.
It is interesting to study how this shield is made. The thuria was so large that, if made of solid wood or metal, it would have been difficult to carry. To construct a thuria the Romans began with a wooden framework. Over that framework they fastened seven layers of tough leather from the skin of a bull or a calf. They built up these layers until the shield was four or five inches thick and nailed them securely in place. As the soldiers got ready to go into battle they could dip the shield in a nearby river to saturate it with water so it would not only stop an arrow, it would quench the fire.
Many Christians think they are battling for their needs. They say, “I'm in a spiritual warfare to break through for financial provision! I’m warring in prayer for a new job … for salvation of a loved one … for physical healing … etc.” That is not what we are battling for! If you think you are in warfare for healing, finances, or any other need, you do not understand the battle! Our battle is not for any of those needs! Our battle is only for one thing and that is FAITH. The Word of God tells us that faith is the one essential. If you have faith, nothing is impossible, nothing is withheld. If you can get in faith and stay in faith, all the rest will come. All things are possible if you believe! So when you have a need for finances, health, or anything else, your battle is to find a way to stand in faith. Let me say that again: no matter what we need, if we can get in faith and stay in faith, EVERY need will be met. Our battle is to stay in faith!
Key Prophecy
“I have not provided you a shield for peacetime. Rather, the shield coming down over you will enable you to forge ahead. No arrow or weapon forged against you will prosper or penetrate through this shield of favor. When you reach up to grab this shield, you come into agreement and alignment with the portion of favor for this season that you didn’t need in the last one. Over nations, there are now shields of favor in alignment for God’s Kingdom people to battle in a way they have not previously battled. You war from the place of knowing that you have overcome, so put your shield of favor on with purpose and intent. Know that as the King of kings, I have established you as a weapon of favor in the midst of your enemies. Now clear the land with that favor.
“You’ve grown tired in your journey, but I have energy you know not of. I am ready to energize you while it’s still day, and you will rise up and see through the night ahead. There is supernatural energy for you to go up and go through the river. Some of you have gotten in the river and become waterlogged, but now there is energy for you to rise up and get to the other side. Get up out of the water and walk across it. I am loosing buoyant faith in My people! Get ready, for you’re about to move in ways you’ve never moved before. I am about to do something that unites My people in a supernatural way and that causes great shifts throughout the earth.
“You’ve been working covertly. In the covert working you’ve been doing, I have been training you in ways you’ve never been trained before. What was in the dark I am now bringing into the light. What you were gaining in the dark will now form keys as you move forward. No more will you be held back from entering in and bringing change into this land. This is a time that nations are realigning, and I am calling you up and calling you out. You will walk in change in days ahead and produce change where you walk.
“You have stayed in the lowlands until familiarity occurred. However, you looked again and saw the mountaintop one more time. You decided to leave the low place you were in, and climb and climb and climb again. I have called you to the mountain top, created a new cloud, and I am addressing you by name. Determine to come up and exchange the lowlands for the high place. What was once a pit is becoming a palace. You will see clearly that it’s not how long it takes to journey up to the mountain, but your willingness to set your feet in motion and come up.”
(Melinda Richardson, Chuck D. Pierce, Keith Pierce)
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
