Armor of God Sample

Bring the Heat

Ephesians 6:16 & 3:17-19, Psalm 136 & 1:1-3, Matthew 6:25-34 & 11:28-30

What should you do to be ready to catch a baseball? Stand with your feet apart, knees bent slightly, standing on the balls of your feet with shoulders facing the ball. Track the ball with your eyes and move to it. Hold up your glove in the direction of the ball and catch it in the pocket of your glove.

Also, hold up the shield of faith.
With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Ephesians 6:16

What is faith? If I told you we have a baseball game in two days, you would show up to the baseball field wearing your uniform with all your gear ready to play. That’s faith. You counted on the promise that we had a game and trusted that I told you the truth. When you say you have faith in Jesus, you’re saying that you trust and believe that his death on the cross really did pay the price for your sins. You follow Jesus and count on God’s promise to take you into Heaven when you die. When you have a shield of faith, you believe in God’s promises. What are some other things God has promised us? God promises there is no way he will ever stop loving us. Psalm 136 God promises that if we do things his way, everything will turn out well. Psalm 1:1-3 Jesus promises we don’t have to worry because if we do things his way, he will take care of everything we need. Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus promises that when we feel tired and worn down by our troubles, he will give us a place to rest. Matthew 11:28-30

In baseball, what does “bring the heat” mean? Bringing the heat is when the pitcher throws a fastball. If the batter misses, how does the catcher stop the ball? Today’s verse tells us the enemy “brings the heat” by throwing lies at us like they were flaming fastballs. Satan wants us to wonder if God really does love us. He wants us to think things will be better if we do them our own way instead of his way. He wants us to worry that we can’t depend on God. He wants to wear us out and make us give up. How can we be ready to hold up our faith glove and put out Satan’s fiery lies? Like in baseball, we should stand ready believing in God’s promises. We should watch out for Satan’s lies so when we see them coming, we can catch them and put them out with our faith in Jesus.

PRAY

Let’s pray a prayer found in Ephesians 3:17-19: Heavenly Father, I pray that Christ
will live in our hearts because of our faith. I pray that we can understand
how wide and how long and how high and how deep your love is. Christ’s love is greater
than any of us can ever know. But I pray that we will be able to know your love.
Then we can be filled with the fullness of God. Amen.