Sunday Recap - Armour of God - Week 4 - Ps Michael Jochum

Paul calls the church to put on the whole armour of God, not just the pieces we feel most comfortable using. When we're first born again, we tend to walk into the battle wearing only one piece, feeling invincible but exposed everywhere else. Each part of the armour is something the enemy specifically targets, questioning our salvation, our righteousness, and our faith, because his aim is to convince us to lay pieces down so he can gain ground.
Today's focus was the shield of faith.
Faith as Formula v Faith as Response.
A common misunderstanding of faith treats it as a formula to perform, say the right words or take the right action and God responds. This is faith in our own ability to believe, rather than faith in Christ.
Biblical faith is a response to what Jesus has already revealed and finished. Like the woman with the issue of blood, our faith isn't something we're conscious of in the moment, it's Jesus and His grace we're conscious of, and He is the one who recognises the faith that responds to Him.
We cannot generate faith through self-effort. Jesus rarely healed the same way twice, and He even delayed going to Lazarus, because He was following the Holy Spirit's leading rather than a fixed method or human urgency.
Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world, not because we've failed some test of faith.
Faith requires fresh revelation, not a formula! This challenges our desire for a fixed method and motivates us to seek the Holy Spirit's leading each day, responding in faith to what He reveals rather than relying on what we received last week.