Take The Helmet of Salvation

Just as the brain is the control center for the rest of the body, the mind is the control center for the will and emotions. If we listen to the father of lies, the truth-twister himself, our will and emotions will be about the things of the flesh, and we won’t be walking in the Spirit. But as a part of the armor the Lord has provided, we are told to also: “take the helmet of salvation” (Eph 6:17a).

God wants to speak His truth into our minds, so that we will “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col 3:2). In setting our minds on things above, we think about things from an eternity mind-set, instead of in the here and now. This mind-set protects our minds from shocks we will experience here on earth, so that we can stand firm in the personal knowledge of:

God’s absolute truth that we are saved by His grace;
We have the righteousness of Christ credited to us;
We have the peace of Christ no matter the circumstances;
We have all the faith necessary to boldly step out in faith, secure in God’s promises; and
We have God’s truth to protect our minds from deception.

Satan attacks our thoughts to keep us from walking out in faith to accomplish what God has planned for us to do for His kingdom. Satan wants his twisted “reality” to become the reality through which we interpret and respond to life; he desires us to be hypersensitive to our feelings to keep us defeated, depressed, angry–anything but peaceful and victorious. Then we’ll look for his magic pills, alcohol, drugs, or whatever is of the earth (his domain) to give us that emotional satisfaction that we view as happiness. Instead we are to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).

The deciding factor in victory or defeat is the mind. If the mind, the spiritual expression of the brain, operates on a false grid of reality and truth, then the body will also function according to that false reality. What and how we think determines what we do. “As he thinks within himself, so he is” (Prov 23:7a). If you are a child of God, then He has deposited a blessing within your spirit at salvation to defeat the enemy and his lies: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3).

We have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to direct our hearts and minds to becoming more and more like Christ, which is sanctification. “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21) This gives us the key to victory: we must receive God’s Word in our spirit so that our spirit controls our soul (mind, will and emotions), which then controls our bodies. If we operate spirit to soul to body, then we are in the proper order God intends. So all of the information we take in must be taken to God so that we check His viewpoint to confirm that we are in His proper order. Notice I bolded the word “all”. Satan is the great deceiver, and his favorite way to “get us” is to give us a little truth within his lies.

My beloved sister-in-Christ just finished a prayer and fast to get God’s perspective on whether or not she should go for another round of chemo, which she absolutely didn’t want to do. She asked for prayer publicly on Facebook. I noticed that she also received a lot of people’s opinions about natural methods to use instead of (or added to) chemo. She has a peace that God wants her to get the chemo. I cautioned her that even though many of the natural alternatives suggested might be good ideas, that she needed to take “all the suggestions” to the throne room of God and get His opinion on what she should do for His glory.

Sometimes, we only seek His will for the big questions, and forget to ask direction for the small steps. My prayer for her is that whatever she chooses to do be done in faith for God’s purpose and in the order He directs; and that nothing causes her to get out of order with God’s perfect will. First and foremost, we are to seek to hear God’s voice above any other voice or we may inadvertently give the devil a foothold.

The key to accessing God’s grace on this earth must be faith grounded in His truth, and to seek what He has for us individually. The only way I know to do that is to meditate on His Word, ask and receive how we as individuals are to apply His Word to our specific circumstances, and wait before Him to prompt us to walk in faith on what we hear in prayer. Especially when I begin to think that “I can’t”, I must realize that He equips me for whatever He calls me to do. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)

God “has [already] blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. This means that every healing He will accomplish in our bodies has already been provided. Every opportunity He is every going to open up for us has already been opened. Every stronghold God is ever going to break in us has already been broken. Every victory we will ever experience has already been won. The joy we desperately seek already exists. The peace we seek is already present. Even the power we need to live the life God has created us to live is already ours. We need our minds to dwell richly in His truth, so that we put our feet in faith to His promises.

Wearing the helmet of salvation means living in that reality now, by God’s truth secured in our minds. It supplies by grace, through faith, everything we need in the here and now. When we fail to understand the truth of salvation and wear it as a helmet, we limit the good works God will do both in us and through us.

Part of the Series: The Authority of Christ (links will be added when they are published, and more may be added to the list as God leads)

Sources:

Seeking Passionate Prayer in Spiritual Warfare