The breastplate of faith, love and the helmet of the hope of salvation

Good day to you, dear friends! I bless you on this day and pray that you receive a renewing touch from the Lord!Yesterday we started discussing three types of weapons that the Lord has given us for victory in these last days. Today we are going to look at them in more detail.
“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians, 5: 8)
The breastplate of faith, love and the helmet of the hope of salvation – these are extremely valuable forces that can help us in these last days. That is why our efforts should be directed towards building up faith, walking in love and having hope of salvation. How can we build and cultivate faith, hope and love in our lives? It becomes possible as we feed on the right food, which is the Word of God, and as we practise the Word.It says in the 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians that these three types of spiritual weapons (faith, hope and love) remain, that is to say, they abide through all the trials, persecutions, tribulations, hatred, personal ambition, offenses, treachery, rumours, deceit etc.
 «And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love» (1 Corinthians, 13: 13).
Yes, love is the greatest of the three, but all of them are important for walking in victory in these last days. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
«But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him» (Hebrews, 11: 6).
Hope is steadfast expectation of the future; without hope our faith lacks its foundation. That is why the Bible says that
 «faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen» (Hebrews, 11: 1).
By faith our expectations and hopes come true. Without hope, faith has nothing to work with.Also faith does not work without love; it says that
«for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love» (Galatians, 5:6).
So God is calling every one of us to strengthen our faith, to feed our hope and to perfect our love walk; for our ability to enjoy God depends on these things, and through them we are able to gain victory in these end-time battles.We will discuss this in more detail tomorrow.Abundant blessing to you from the Lord!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • Changes through Ministry III

    Ministry helps us to live for others not just for ourselves. When a person has a servant or serving heart, his life is focused on making other people happy instead of waiting on the other people to make him happy. Somebody with such an attitude and life position has no time for depression or for self-pity. His life is rather focused on searching for and helping other people who lives in poorer conditions himself instead of sitting around celebrating self- pity party. The person who understands the purpose of true ministry doesn’t live for himself, but his goal is to love God and to love other people.
  • Everything that is hidden will unavoidably be brought into the light

    «For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil» (Ecclesiastes, 12:14). Solomon said the same thing Jesus said: God will bring into judgment our every work and especially all the hidden works: sins, wrongdoings that we have tried to keep in secret. God will openly bring our every deed into the light of His judgment. It means that all our sins will follow us wherever we go. The only way we can avoid the consequences of our sins and wrongdoings – is to repent before God brings them into the judgment. Repentance opens to us the door of mercy and grace from the Lord. It brings into our life new opportunities from the Lord. For this reason the only right lifestyle and the only correct decision is to repent of our wrongdoings so that God won’t have to judge us.
  • How important for us is to use our homes and special celebrations for the spiritual work we are called to do

    My dear friend, I would like you to think how you could use your times of special celebration, parties and other opportunities for bringing the gospel to your unsaved relatives, friends and acquaintances.In 1 Corinthians 10:31 the bible reminds us that whatever we do, we must do it for the glory of the Lord:“So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”
  • We must be grateful to God in all things!

    When things go fine and when God answers our prayers, it is easy to thank God, – at those times we thank God and adore Him. But as soon as God decides to answer us in a way that does not fit our plans, we start thinking whether there is any sense in prayer. The Bible calls us to thank God in everything. The Bible calls us to praise God aloud so that other people would hear it. Be grateful to God, praise him, and sing to Him – aloud! Thanksgiving is the very model of prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples.
  • How do we serve God?

    We serve God by serving other people in His Name. To serve God actually means to serve other people in the Name of God or as the representative of God on the earth. It is to do good to others by meeting their spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical or material needs as an act of our love for God. Please understand that your love for God will have a reflection your relationship with others. In the same way, your neglect of God reflects on how you relate to your neighbour.
  • How did Jesus ensure the presence of God in His life?

    Why was God with Him? Was it because He was the Son of God? I don’t think so. Don’t forget that Jesus also was the Son of Man. He was born in flesh, was raised in a family, and grew physically, intellectually and spiritually.«And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men» (Luke, 2:52).