Welcome to week 20 of Weekly Word!
Join us as we continue our journey together through the Book of Ephesians and focus on the Armor of God. We pray that these weekly readings continue to stir your heart as you abide in Christ!
Below, you’ll find your readings for this week, along with discussion questions and a short devotional for you to enjoy at the end of the week.
This week, we will focus on the fourth part of God’s armor: The Shield of Faith
Readings:
- Ephesians 4
- Ephesians 6:10-16
- Ephesians 2:1-10 (Sunday’s sermon will center around these verses)
Devotional:
Readings: Ephesians 4 | Ephesians 6:10-16 | Ephesians 2:1-10
In Ephesians 4, we hear Paul’s call to grow up into Christlike maturity. He invites us into the daily rhythm of “putting off” our old self and “putting on” the new. This walk can feel like a battlefield. As we walk in newness of life, the enemy is often close at hand, scheming to stir up doubt, discouragement, and despair in our hearts. He wants us to feel like we are still defined by our past mistakes rather than our new identity.
This is why we desperately need to lift the Shield of Faith in every situation. Our shield isn’t constructed from our own willpower or our ability to be “good enough.” Instead, it is forged in the truths of Ephesians 2:1–10. We were once dead in our transgressions, but because of His great love, God made us alive in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, and this is a gift!
When the enemy fires arrows of guilt at us, or whispers that we’ve “failed too many times,” we lift our shield of faith. We remind our hearts that we aren’t standing because our faith is perfect, but because the God we trust is perfectly faithful. Our “new self” isn’t a goal we are exhausted by trying to reach; it is a reality we are learning to walk in, by resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.
Discussion Questions:
- Paul describes the “old self” as being corrupted by deceitful desires. What is one old habit that the enemy uses to make you feel like you haven’t actually changed? Consider the ways you might put that off and instead, stand in your new identity in Christ.
- A Roman shield was designed to be soaked in water to extinguish flaming arrows. How does soaking your mind in the grace of Ephesians 2 act as a literal extinguisher for the arrows of guilt or shame you might feel this week?
Dig Deeper
What is the shield of faith, and how do we use it properly?
In this sermon from Antioch’s 2022 sermon series, “Resistible,” Pastor Andy Comer dives into the shield of faith we are called to take up.
We are praying for you as you dig into God’s Word this week!