[Pastor Ralph]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

[cct1106]

Satan is trying to gather up followers because he knows his time is short and wants to take as many as he can with him.

The helmet protects our thinking. The sword is a defensive weapon to ward off and fight the demons who want to destroy our spirit and salvation.

[Commissioned]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day?
It is important that we have our "shield" up each day because we never know when or how the enemy, Satan, will attack. If we're going to be ready for the onslaught of the enemy, then, we must be prepared and keep our "shield" in readiness. In all attacks of the enemy we must always trust God to deliver us out of the situation. And in it all bring glory to Him.

In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you?
The "helmet of salvation" protects you in those times when the enemy would try to make you doubt your faith. The enemy will try but the Apostle Paul left and admonishment:

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" 2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

The "helmet of salvation" protects us against those imaginations and thoughts that are against the knowledge of God. Those thoughts that breeds lies, are all defeated when the "helmet of salvation" is in place.

Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?
The "sword of the Spirit" is both offensive and defensive. We keep it sharp and ready for battle by daily study, meditation and committing it to memory, so when we are attacked we'll know how to respond.
.

[charisbarak]

It's important to have your shield up each day to ward off those fiery darts from satan. We have faith that God is in control & will use these darts to shape us & strengthen us in Him.

The helmet of salvation protects us first & foremost, from being lost--an unbeliever. Once we belong to God, He protects our mind & thinking as we become a new creation in Him.

The sword of the Spirit is both an offensive & defensive weapon. It wards off blows from the enemy & can pierce a person's heart. You keep the Word ready--sharp in your heart by reading & memorizing & meditating on it daily!!

[JustJeff]

The enemy is always on the attack trying to break our faith so the shield of faith must be utilized daily to protect and become more impenetrable by use.
Our helmet of salvation assures us that the Lord has sanctified us and our place in heaven is reserved for us thereby keeping negative thoughts to the contrary out of our minds.
The sword of the Spirit both defends and attacks, the Word of truth countering any attemps to try to undermind our understanding of sound doctrine while providing a good witness to those enslaved by sin.

[masika]

By all means Soldeirs in the war need Shield for their Protection . It is the same with us without any protection we are prone to enemies attack. We need God for our Protection and care.

[June]

By having the shield of faith up everyday we keep the enemy from bombarding us with doubt. We can trust that God is right here near us and all we need to do is call out to Him. Don't let things affect your thinking but search out scripture to verify what the battle is all about. The Word of God is both a defensive and offensive weapon. By reading & studying everyday will keep both sides of the sword sharp.
READ<STUDY<MEMORIZE<& PRAY GOD'S Word daily.

[Stan]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?


It is important in that we take our faith in Christ with us on our walk through our daily lives, and not let negativeness defeat us and keep us down.We must be able to stand fast in faith so that the devil will not gain a foot hold in our faimlies or our on lives.

It keep your mind on the higher calling of Christ and protects you from the doubt and worry of every day life. It help bild confidence in our selves as we see the Lord working in our lives we gain assurance that God is able to do all He has said He would do in His word.

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, I pray every da y Psalms 119:11, I will write your word on my heart that I will not sin against you, and Your word is a lamp unto my feet a light unto my path. if we retain the work in opur minds it alone will help keed out the self doubt and worry of our daily lives. We must study to shopw our selves approved, as Paul told Timothy and in all things give honor and thanksgiving to the Keep of our souls, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[PCHRIS]

The shield is faith by which as in 1Thess 5:8 when Paul speaks of 'faith and love' as the breastplate he means reliance on God.
The apostle knew that only faith's reliance on God could quench and deflect such weapons whenever they were hurled at the Christian

For the Christian, salvation is part of the defensive armour that is essential for his safety but even more as His saving help to protect from the power of sin and the parallel in Thess 5:8 suggests that here also we may take it to include 'the hope' of final deliverance from the very presence of sin.

In the OT, speech is sometimes referred as a sword, the words of wicked men are said to wound (Psalms 57:4; 64:3). In the Bible God's own Word is also as a sword in His hands a sword that lays bare, separating the false from the true (Heb 4:12), bringing judgement (Is 11:4, Hos 6:5), but also bringing salvation (Is 49:2) but here the thought is of the Word of God as a defensive weapon for the person who holds it.
The Lord's use of the word of Scripture in His temptations is sufficient illustration and incentive to fortify oneself with the knowledge and understanding of 'the word' that one may with similar conviction and power defend oneself by it in the onslaughts of the enemy.

Keep it sharp by soaking in God's Word, meditating, praying, memorizing and using it!

[Eudora]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? ?

Our faith should be like a shield that we carry everywhere because every where we go, we enter into the battle, so our faith needs to always be LIFTED UP! It is our faith shield that keeps all those flaming arrows from hurting us because we keep God’s power in our minds and wear truth like a helmet, using God’s sword of truth that lives inside of us, The Spirit of Truth. A good way to get our faith lifted up is to read scripture every morning to start our day or get into a bible study that doesn’t lay open the gate of gossip, but really does ask for the leading of the spirit of truth to teach and open up the Word of God.

In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you?
If it weren’t for salvation, we could never understand what God is wanting to share with us as individuals. We can go to church and a spirit led man or woman may be able to shed ‘light’ on the Word of God but having the helmet of salvation, our minds are covered with God’s armor, the truth!

Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? This is a great question! The sword of the Spirit is ofencsive and defensive. The Spirit of truth, our sword is two edged, just like the one that jesus will bring with Him when He returns because it is His Spirit that He left behind to teach us and to lead us into life everlasting, by the Word of God. The spirit doesn’t teach us what it wants us to know, but only what God wants us to know. The Sword of the Spirit is offensive in that it leads us to the truth, which will come up again and again in different situations and because we have this reminder of what we have been taught, we do not fall by the way side or get lost along the way of life. It is defensive in that when someone tells us something, we have the Sword of Truth with in and the Spirit of Jesus will help us by reminding us of scriptural truth, so that we can defend ourself in the midst of the enemy.

How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle? If we learn daily in consistency, how to yeild ourselves to the Sword of Spirit, we will always be ready for battle. If we are not daily submitting our will to the Sword of the Spirit, we will be cut down to shreds because we go it n our own. We must be yielding spirits to the strong Spirit of God.

I really like this analogy! "Carry your walkie-talkie and call in when you get in trouble so we can direct firepower where you need it."

Walk with God, talk with God, get familiar with His voice so that when we do call upon Him and He responds, we will recognize His voice and send in the Fire of the Holy Spirit and His Almighty Power to help us out.

[Helenmm]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

Each day there are gossips saying things about you, people attacking you behind your back about your faith, people trying to make you feel guilty about something they want you to do for them, people misinterpreting the thiings you said, people blaming you for things that are not of your doing, and all sorts of things that might occupy your mind unless you know your scripture and have your answers ready. With the scriptures you are armed with the truth which sets you free of whatever other people would like to put on you, or what ever traps the demons have set for you. You don't take on that which is not the truth and demons and people can't hurt you. Their lies have no meaning for you because you don't pay any attention to them. This is the faith shield that protects you. What you believe is your motivation. If you believe truth, then satanic lies can't offend of damage you.

The helmet of salvation is there to protect the mind which is recreated like the mind of Christ. The saved mind revolves around Jesus our redeemer, not around the things of the world.The helmet of salvation discerns between those things that are of God and should enter the mind, and those which are of the devil and have no place in Chlristian thinking. It is discernment, wisdom and understanding, the functions of the Christian mentality.

The sword of the Spirit is definitely an offensive weapon with which we attack and demolish demonic forces. They might whisper lies to us, but we return the Word of the Lord which is the sword of the Spirit and defeats every lie that might oppose us. The Word is mighty to save. It is understood in the world that the pen is mightier than the sword. So God's word (written or otherwise) is the mightiest force in the universe since it defines the boundaries of the universe in the smallest areas, and NEVER returns to God void!

To keep the sWORD sharp and ready for battle you read it daily, commit it to memory, and use it at every opportunity to defeat satan or to witness and testify of your faith. You keep tuned in to it and operate in obedience to it or in accordance with it, and it will, in turn, keep you safe strong and victorious.

[haar]

Our faith in God is our shiled. It is important to keep trusting God all the time otherwise the devil will get at us when we doubt and exibit fear (ie when we let the shiled drop )

When we put our trust in God continuosly, this protects our heads from the lies of the devil.

I read elsewhere that the sword of the spirit was the only offensive pieace of armour. I now know that the sword of the spirit is for both offensive and defensive purpose.

We can sharpen the 'sword' by reading and studying the Bible then commit the word into memory so that we can use it when the devil strikes.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day?
We should have our shield up every day all day because we don't know when satan will attack. He is constantly trying to convince of that his way is the correct way so he can attack us at anytime if we are not prepared.
In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you?
The helmet is our confidence. It is our protection from what satan wants us to believe. Our salvation from Christ is our protection against misunderstandings we come across when we don't fully understand our father. We are saved by grace through our faith in Christ and we shouldn't believe anything else, we shouldn't put our guards down for satans deceptions.
Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon?
The sword of the Spirit is both an offensive and defensive form of protection for us. Because it is the Word of God, it is the truth. And with the sword we can stand against satan and his lies. For he can not be trusted.
How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?
We keep our sword sharp and ready for battle by preparation. We study and feed on the Word of God each day, everyday, we build up our confidence and prepare for the battle. We place our lives on the righteous path and we take up our jouney. We pack our bags with the food of God, the Word, and we begin our travels down the righteous path, learning and experiencing as we journey down this path the truth. We sharpen our sword with our experiences as we journey down this path.

[sis. dee]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

It is important to walk in faith day by day and this is our shield to keep our faith up and strong. The helmet of salvation protect my mind, it protect my thoughts and the lies that the devils might want to tell me. I believe that the sword of the Spirit is both an offensive and defensive weapon when we keep it sharp by studying God's Word, meditating, praying, and memorizing.

[sahala p.s.]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

It is important to have my “shield” up each day, because we will have the flaming arrows coming from the devil in forms of devastating circumstances threatening to consume us, our family, and our whole position in life.

The “helmet of salvation” protects me in a way that our fully understanding of our salvation in God or the assurance of our salvation from God protect me against self-doubt and fear that God won't forgive us when we mess up.

The “sword of the Spirit” is both offensive and defensive. I keep it sharp and ready for the battle by often reading, studying, and memorizing the Scripture.

[Jewell]

We must have our shield up each day to ward off the attacks of the devil.

The helmet of salvation protects us by it's assurance of our salvation.

The sword of the spirit is both offensive and defensive. We keep it sharp by reading God's word daily and committing it to memory so we are familiar with it and able to respond when we are attacked.

[AngelOnLine]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day?
We should have our “shield” up every day so we will be able to resist Satan’s temptations.

In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you?
It protects us from self-doubt and the fear that God will not forgive us.

Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon?
Both offensive and defensive.

How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?
By prayer and studying God’s Word.

[meandean]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day? In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you? Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon? How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

the shield extinguishes the fiery darts of the evil one. he doesn't take time off for good behavior nor does he ever take a vacation, though i wish he would. he is eternal as well.as we are under attack, we must remember who is our salvation. we must love god with all our mind.the sword is both offensive and defensive. we must ready ourselves in the word of god each day, remember pick up your cross and follow me daily. i 'm trying to exercise daily and i can tell you this,my body screams at me sometimes and other times it wants to lie down and skip the workout. so i must discipline my body and over time it will get smoother even if it is tougher. so goes the same for the spiritual.

[JanMary]

Q5. (Ephesians 6:15-17) Why is it important to have your "shield" up each day?

Satan and his demonic hoards have a strategy...a relentless attack on God's children. They know us, have watched us, know where they've seen us vulnerable and they are aware of our past sins and struggles. The shield of faith is our protection against the constant barrage to wear us down, and their intent to draw us away from the Lord. Our shield of faith reminds us that they were defeated at the Cross and that in Christ, we have authority over them, and as we "submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, he must flee".

In what way does the "helmet of salvation" protect you?

The helmet of salvation protects our head.....our minds where the spiritual battle is fought. Salvation and the assurance of our salvation are anchors in the battle. When we know who we are in Christ, and do spiritual warfare from that position, darkness is pushed back.

Is the "sword of the Spirit" an offensive or defensive weapon?

It is both.

How do you keep it sharp and ready for the battle?

Read it daily, meditate on it, memorize the Word of God....These Bible studies sharpen it and keep it battle ready. We never "know it all"....so until I am with Jesus, I am to be a teachable disciple...there is always more to learn, and to "grow into". Head knowledge alone will not win the battle...it must be applied to my life, and become heart knowledge as well.