Welcome to the Victory Blog

Once again, I was please to have one of our Executive Pastors, Olin Holly, speak in our services last weekend. As usual, he brought an encouraging and challenging word; this time, exploring the Helmet of Salvation, the next piece of spiritual armor that we need to put on in order to fight effectively in the War of the Worlds. Here’s some of what he said:

We’ve been getting a wake-up call over the last several weeks. Many of us need to be made aware of the battle that is going on all around us. As we talk about spiritual warfare, we often focus on our enemy the devil. And, while this is an important part of waging a successful battle, we also need to recognize the importance of controlling our minds and crucifying our flesh.

The purpose of the Helmet of Salvation is to protect our minds against the devil’s attacks. It does so in four ways:

1. Prevents us from having a divided mind. (James 1:5-8; I Peter 3:15-16)
2. Prevents a deceived mind. (II Corinthians 11:3-4)
3. Prevents a doubtful mind. (John 20:24-29)
4. Prevents a discouraged mind. (I Kings 19:1-4) Our enemy knows that if he can get us discouraged, he doesn’t have to do much to destroy us.

The Helmet of Salvation is the hope of Salvation. It brings with it the following blessings:

1. Pardon from punishment. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
2. Overcome the power of sin. (I John 5:4-5)
3. Provision for healing. (I Peter 2:24)
4. Place to inherit (i.e., Heaven). (Colossians 3:4)

In addition to knowing the hope of Salvation, putting on the Helmet of Salvation means renewing our minds. How do we do that? Well, it’s all about what we let our minds and hearts dwell on. (See Proverbs 23:7 and II Corinthians 10:4-5) We need to heed Paul’s advice in his letter to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is True, whatever is Noble, whatever is Right, whatever is Pure, whatever is Lovely, whatever is Admirable–if anything is Excellent or Praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Phil. 4:8 NIV) Or, if we rearrange those initials, as I like to do it to help me remember:

Pure (free from carnality or impurities of the flesh)

Right (approved or acceptable to God)

Excellent (of the highest quality)

Praiseworthy (worthy of the highest praise)

Lovely (pleasing; appealing to the emotions and the eye)

Admirable (inspiring; worthy of the highest honor)

Noble (honest; honorable)

True (truthful; without falsehood or deception)

Instead of just REACTING to negative thoughts as we experience them, we should begin each day with a PROACTIVE perspective and P.R.E.-P.L.A.N.T. patterns of godly thinking into our minds. When we do this, we will be able to join Paul in saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:7-8 NIV)

(If you missed this message, and want to be fully equipped to fight and win against our enemy, let me encourage you to listen to or watch it – or the previous messages in this series – here.)