Truth Is A Shield (Psalm 91:4)

I remember years ago as an electrician, I was wiring up a machine that was designed to weld a seam on fabricated cans.  The job went well until the machine was turned on.  Instead of the welding tool moving along the seam slowly, its speed was erratic.  For the longest time, I pulled my hair out.  That was until I recognized that the wires controlling the speed were being interfered with by magnetic fields that were present: much like picking up stray radio stations as you drive down the road.  The fix was easy. I put a protective shield around the wires and the interference was gone.  

This reminds me much of the Christian life.  We are trying to live for God, but there are so many stray messages to hear that sometimes we get confused and unable to live a stable and consistent life.  What we need is a shield to diffuse the wrong messages. That is exactly what God's word is: a shield.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.  (Psalms 91:4)

All thoughts, ideas and plans should be filtered through God's word.  His word will reveal the truth of what we should do and expose the messages of error.    Anything that matches with God's word should be permitted to dwell in your heart, soul and spirit.  All other messages messages should be defended against with God's word.  For this reason, we should be daily reading The Scriptures and filling our hearts and minds with truth that will shield us from error.

False Truth Resists Truth (Mark 6:5-6)

When Jesus went into his own country, the people had a difficult time accepting that he was the Son of God and able to perform miracles of which they have heard.  Because of their unbelief, he was limited in the number of miracles he could do.  Why didn't the people recognize him and his power or better stated, why couldn't they recognize him and his power?

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. (Mark 6:5-6)

It appears that as word came to the people in his home country that he performed miracles, they compared these reports with what they already believed about Jesus.  For years they believed he was merely a man, the son of Mary or illegitimate and nothing more.  These strongly established views kept them from recognizing and believing the truth.  

A strongly established view of any type can resist truth and the work that it is intended to perform in our lives.  A person who believes himself to be righteous strongly resists the gospel and its saving work.  Angry people who believe they are not angry, prideful people who believe they are humble, bitter people who believe they have forgiven, thieves who justify their taking and fearful people who believe they walk by faith and who are strongly settled in these beliefs resist the truth of God's word and limit what he can do in their lives.

People who have been physically, emotionally and verbally abused also have a false belief system.  This belief system also resists the truth of God's word.  In fact, it may be more difficult to crush the falsehood of these beliefs than those afore mentioned.  In either case, false beliefs about ourselves limit us to what God and his word can do in and through us.

As we read and hear God's word, we must lay down our defenses and allow it to expose all areas of our lives.  We have the potential to accomplish this when we seek God's face and pray for him to expose us so that we may see ourselves as he sees us.  It will be at that point when the seed of truth becomes planted into our hearts with the intent to yield fruit some thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold.

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