2132 Faith Under Fire

Alright, my armored up sister – we have a battle all around us – what are we going to do about it? Well, here’s what we’re NOT called to do – we’re not called to run head first into battles with the enemy.  We’re not told to sneak into enemy territory and plan an attack.  We’re told to put on our armor and STAND FIRM.  Do not waver.  Do not back down.  Don’t give an inch of territory.  Don’t settle.  STAND FIRM. Our job is to stand with our armor, eyes fixed on Jesus.  Hey Rambo, settle down!  Lone Ranger, you’re not supposed to do this alone.  God has a resounding message for us throughout scripture: Exodus 14:14 – “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Deuteronomy 1:30 – “The LORD your God… will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 3:22 – “The LORD your God himself will fight for you.” Deuteronomy 20:4 – “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies.” Joshua 23:10 – “The LORD your God fights for you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 – “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” Nehemiah 4:20 – “Our God will fight for us.” God is fighting – you are to be standing firm.  If you’re in the middle of a battle, you keep standing and trust God to fight for you as he promises.  But make sure you have all your armor on! Let me tell you what is NOT part of God’s armor: • Worrying • Whining • Wallowing Paul tells us there’s one final thing we must do in the spiritual battle in the unseen … After all this armor, we MUST STAY IN COMMUNICATION WITH OUR COMMANDER.  All the armor in the world will do you no good if you’re out Rambo-ing alone.  God isn’t looking for a Lone Ranger. Ephesians 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Oh if we truly had any idea of the power of our prayers, we would never fail to pray about anything ever again.  We just don’t see how our prayers move Heaven.  We don’t see how our prayers allocate God’s divine power.  We don’t see how an army of angels are dispatched for the battle with our prayers. Prayer is your communication with your commander.  The one who holds the battle plan, the one who sees every detail, the one who promises the victory – you have a direct line of communication with Him!  And yet here we are, God’s girls with divine armor, trying to fight our battles without talking to God first. Remember when Paul writes the book of Ephesians and tells us about this Armor of God in chapter 6, he’s likely chained to a literal Roman soldier, keeping him in prison.  He’s looking at this soldier, recognizing piece by piece how his armor relates to everything God has given us for the battle we’re against Satan and his demons.  And he’s witnessing this soldier receiving orders from his commander.  The soldier is there doing what he’s been told to do.  He’s not alone, he’s on assignment. He’s seeking his commander for his next move.  He’s on the orders of a higher power than himself. Girl, you’re on the orders of a higher power than yourself.  You can’t afford to be running off into battles, trying things your own way, hoping to fix and save everyone, without constant communication with your Commander.  PRAY IN THE SPIRIT AT ALL TIMES AND ON EVERY OCCASION. The Greek word translated “Pray in”  means “in connection to” and “with the help of”.  This isn’t about the words we are saying.  This is about HOW we are praying.  This is a connection with God through the Holy Spirit to receive divine orders. Now we can make this complicated and messy and really awkward if we want, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Some say this means you have to be speaking in tongues, but scripture tells me that praying in a language you cannot personally understand is a GIFT.  Some have that spiritual gift, while others have different spiritual gifts.  Praying in an unknown language is not a badge of spiritual superiority.  Don’t make this weird.  Don’t make what God has given as a gift to some as a reason to be divided or turned away. Praying in the spirit is a heart posture.  It is a yearning for God’s will above your own.  It is a surrender, a submission.  It is a connection void of boxes to check and vain words to repeat.  This isn’t habit or custom.  Praying in the Spirit is a connection with God through conversation. If I’m praying for you in the Spirit, it means more than just speaking your name in prayer.  It means I’m allowing the Holy Spirit to direct my prayer.  When the Holy Spirit is directing, you begin praying over things you may not even know about.  Chains to be broken that you don’t even see.  Healing to happen from within.  This is an unrushed, unscripted prayer directed by the Spirit.  THAT IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO. Praying in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion is a continual connection with your commander.  It’s seeking his plan and receiving his plan. “Pray in the Spirit”: This means praying under the influence, guidance, and power of the Holy Spirit. It involves aligning your desires with God’s will rather than just listing personal wants. “At all times”: This calls for a constant posture of awareness and communication with God. It means maintaining an open, internal dialogue with God throughout the day, not just during formal prayer times. “On every occasion”: This tells us to bring everything—both joys and crises, routine tasks and major decisions—to God. No event is too small or too large for prayer. A few weeks ago, I found myself on my knees with a woman on the busy walkways in Venice.  This was a hurting soul.  Aching as thousands of people walked by her day after day.  There she lay on her face continually in prayer, begging God for the healing of her 12 year old daughter and the rescuing of her family.  My BIG Life sister Jessica and I wrapped our arms around her, cried with her and connected with our Commander.  We prayed for her in the Spirit, meaning, we let the Holy Spirit guide us in what to pray because we didn’t know how to fix her situation. Now keep in mind, there was a massive language barrier.  Yet somehow (and I know how) we were able to understand her and she was able to understand us.  Jessica prayed aloud in English, not knowing what to pray, but allowing the Spirit to guide her.  The words flowed.  Words she couldn’t have orchestrated on her own.  Requests she didn’t even know to make. We returned to find her the next morning in the same place, kneeling, on her face, literally begging God.  And that day, we sat with her and shared a picnic breakfast.  We treated her like a friend.  We laughed.  We connected.  We shared.  We loved.  It didn’t matter who saw us.  It didn’t matter what a single other soul thought.  And then we once again sought our Commander in this battle.  We prayed as the Spirit instructed. Every day since I’ve been on my knees for Maria and her family.  I don’t need to be a Lone Ranger out fixing her situation.  My money isn’t needed.  I have a direct line of communication with the Commander of Heaven’s Armies, and I’m calling on him for his will, his move, his power, his healing. No Lone Ranger.  No Rambo.  Just a girl in communication with the Commander through the Holy Spirit.  And as he prompts me to pray for her, I do.  Not to check a box.  Not out of habit or routine.  But out of relationship with the One who can truly battle for her. Ephesians 6:18 in the Amplified Bible says, “With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.” The Message translation says, “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” This prayer is a continuous, divinely guided LIFESTYLE rather than an occasional activity.  God really isn’t interested in what you do once in a while or even what you do out of routine, he’s interested in true relationship and connection with YOU!  Isn’t it wild to think the Creator of the entire Universe desires a real relationship with you, and the way you have it is through continual conversation with him?! Prayer is the ultimate weapon that activates all the other pieces of spiritual armor.  Without communication with our Commander, we’re just girls with all the armor, running in the wrong direction, fighting battles we have no business fighting. Let’s shift from routine to lifestyle.  Move from treating prayer as a morning or evening chore to practicing it as an ongoing conversation. Let’s rely on spiritual guidance.  When you don’t know what to pray, pause and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts and words.  You don’t have to make it weird. Let’s cover all situation.  Bring your daily work, your stress, your relationships and your gratitude to God instantly as they happen. Talk to your Commander!  Don’t be the Lone Ranger out trying to do this alone! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Now that we have all 5 pieces of our armor, the belt of truth around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness covering our heart, the shoes of peace for our ready feet, the shield of faith in one hand to protect us from the fiery arrows, and the helmet of salvation protecting our mind, we have one last thing to do … Ephesians 6:17, “Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” We have been given a sword to fight this battle. That sword is the very word of God. That word is given to us by the Holy Spirit. Notice Paul says, “Take the sword of THE SPIRIT, which is the WORD OF GOD.” This is more than just having the Bible app on your phone. More than posting a few scriptures on your social when you’re having a bad day. This is the Holy Spirit giving you a literal weapon to use in the spiritual battle raging all around you. That weapon is a sword in the word of God. The Bible isn’t a book of magic words to repeat to get what we want. Speed reading it isn’t going to arm you, that’s just going to check a box. The ol’ “let me crack this puppy open and just see what scripture jumps out at me” isn’t a real sword for the battle against evil. Here’s what the Bible really is, it is GOD-BREATHED. God breathed his very word into the writers of scripture. Our Bibles are HOLY and DIVINE, unlike any other book ever written. We attribute books to Moses, David, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and others … but the foundation of our belief is that it’s ALL from God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “ALL Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” When you understand the sheer miracle it is to be able to hold God’s actual word in your hands and read it with your own eyes – wow!!!! Before modern day, God’s word was reserved for a select few. It was all handwritten on scrolls of parchment or animal skin, stored away somewhere sacred. To hear his word read, you would have to go to the temple. For this reason, people would literally seek to memorize God’s word fully so they could carry it with them. Did you know Kings of Israel were require to transcribe the Bible for themselves to have while they ruled their country? To lead well, they had to let God’s word get within them and know it personally, so they wrote it word for word themselves. Hey, I don’t know what you’re leading – if it’s a family or a business, a circle of friends or a mission of some sort, but it’s very clear what you need to lead that well – YOU NEED GOD’S WORD. It’s not enough to just have someone read it to you. You need to know it for yourself. If you’re wondering what’s wrong with your life, God’s word will reveal it to you. If you’re seeking the right thing to do, God’s word will reveal it to you. Your answers are all here. And of course, that’s why in this spiritual battle the enemy has tried everything to keep you OUT OF GOD’S WORD. No, he doesn’t want that sword in your hand! Some of us finally have that sword in our hand, but we don’t know how to use it. We’re just randomly pulling out scriptures, twisting them to fit our situation. We’re throwing around God’s word, hoping something sticks and makes a magical change. No, girl – you need Sword School. You have to know how to hold the sword of God’s word. How to swing it. How to stand with it. How to fight with it. I once had a little stalker incident that scared the bejesus right out of me. Someone had broken into our home and stolen all our photo albums and a few of my very personal items – nothing of monetary value. The next day, my husband bought me a pistol and he took me out to the desert to teach me how to shoot it. Just having the gun didn’t give me any safety – in fact, it just made me dangerous. I had to know where to find it for quick access. I had to learn how to handle it. I had to know how to load it. How to take the safety off. How to aim and pull the trigger. No amount of instruction could give me the confidence to handle this weapon – I had to use it for myself. I had to get familiar with it. I had to practice using it until I could do it in the dark. What good is a weapon if in the middle of the night the bad guy comes and I’m like, “Ahhh, wait a second, let me turn on the light so I can find my weapon and figure out how to get it ready to point at you.” Isn’t that the way we are with our Bibles? We don’t know how to use them. We don’t know it’s power. We’re not trained up for this battle. And honestly, with our habit of just pulling out random scriptures and trying to apply what feels good at the moment, we are dangerous. Just a few years ago, I didn’t even own a Bible. I just looked up random scriptures online to pull them out when needed. And yes, it got me through a few battles, but I wasn’t trained up. I didn’t know how to hold that sword. I didn’t know how to swing that sword. I had no confidence fighting in the dark. I was more of an imposter than a swordsman. In February 2024, I bought a bible and a pack of bible highlighters. I began my Sword School. This training has given me confidence unlike anything before. I’ve trained for and run several full marathons.- they never gave me this kind of confidence. I’ve put on a fancy dress, worn the good jewelry, and had my hair and makeup done by a professional – I learned to walk with purpose and power – all of that never gave me the confidence of my Sword School! True confidence comes from knowing the God-breathed word of our Bible. Knowing God’s ways, knowing his promises, understanding how to use his power. It’s in his word we begin to understand what his voice sounds like. And once you know what his voice sounds like, you can know when it’s God speaking to you and when it’s not. We all want to hear from God. We all want that divine direction and clear path. It’s available to each one of us if we will study his word with the intention of letting it shape and form us. If the intention is to check a box, then a checked box will be our only reward. If the intention is to impress someone with highlights on pages or a memorized scripture, then that will be our only reward. But if you are studying God’s word as Sword School so you know how to hold it, how to swing it, how to stand with it, and how to fight with it … then girl, your life is about to change. There’s only one problem with my Sword Sessions and Sword School. I never seem to graduate. I can read the same scripture I did a year ago and there’s something more for me to learn. Isn’t it bizarre how God’s word can fit your specific situation so absolutely perfectly, and yet it was written thousands of years ago? Or how crazy it is that his word will speak to you so divinely in this moment, but it was there all along? So, because I’m still learning so much, I must always carry my sword with me. And that’s a problem for me – you see, I travel full time. And I travel light. I’ve been traveling internationally for the past 3.5 months and I have only a carry on and backpack. Everything – all my outfits, all my shoes, my hiking clothes, my mountain clothes, my beach clothes, my retreat clothes, my tolitires – all of it has to fit into a carry on and small backpack. BUT MY SWORD COMES FIRST. My sword is a worn out, falling apart, turquoise Bible filled with notes, stickers and letters. It’s heavy, it’s bulky, and totally NOT travel friendly. BUT I’M GOING NOWHERE WITHOUT IT! It’s an absolute requirement! You know why? Because I’m in a battle and I know this is my weapon. These are God-breathed words I carry. Holy instructions for life. Battle plans for victory. I must be ready at all times! Now here’s the truly beautiful thing – with Sword School (my fancy little name for personal Bible study), something divine happens … You begin depositing God’s word IN YOU. And Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “The world of God is ALIVE and POWERFUL. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword …” Reading God’s word to actually deposit it into your life and receive it, puts something LIVING inside of you. Then you have his word growing because it is alive. And yes, it is powerful. With God’s living word in you, you begin seeing things differently. You begin responding differently. Your heart’s desires begin to change. Your will becomes meshed with his will. Your life changes because the living word is alive in you, unleashing its power. And girl – that’s how you show up for battle! Every time you sit down and study God’s living word, you are preparing yourself for the battle. You are learning how to hold this sword. You’re learning how to swing this sword. You’re learning how to stand with this sword. You’re learning how to fight with this sword, his living word. And the more your practice, the more confidence you have. You’re becoming a real life swordsman! God-breathed words. Words that are alive. Words that have the power to radically change your life. Words that will win this spiritual battle. So my sister, take up your sword given to you by the Holy Spirit, God’s breathed words, his divine instructions, his eternal promises and truths. Practice using it every day. Let it take hold of you. Take it with you everywhere you go. Get serious about your Sword School. Then let’s stand together with our swords and take down the devil! I challenge you to study Matthew 4: 1-11. This is the account of Jesus himself fighting the devil with the sword of God’s word. You gotta know how to handle it in this fight! Jesus shows us how. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

In the halls of our Venice, Italy retreat house are priceless paintings and works of art. Clearly, the owner is a serious collector. But one piece stopped me. It hangs in a second-story hallway—gold-framed, almost sculpted into the canvas itself. It’s not just a painting; it has depth, dimension, movement. Figures seem to step forward out of the frame and cast real shadows on the wall. And it tells a story. A man is kneeling in prayer, hands lifted, eyes fixed on a crucifix of Jesus on the wall before him. His posture is steady. His focus is anchored. But beside him stands another figure—dark, winged, intent. Not attacking violently, but persistently present. Watching. Pressing. Distracting. And yet the man does not turn. He stays fixed on Jesus. That image is not just art—it is a spiritual reality. We live in that scene. There is always a battle for the mind. Not always loud. Not always dramatic. Often subtle. Persistent. Relentless. The enemy does not need to destroy you if he can distract you. Because where your attention goes, your life follows. My friends, this is a real picture of what is continually going on around us. The spiritual battle of Satan’s demons forever against us, flying around, shooting flaming arrows, throwing threats and insults – all while Jesus is strong and steady above it all. The question is, where are we looking? What are we focusing on? What gets our mind? If your mind isn’t saved by Jesus, then it is completely vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. If you’re not focused on Jesus, you are continually distracted by the forces of darkness, acts of evil, and threats of terror. Your mind is the battlefield of this spiritual war. If the enemy captures your thoughts, he doesn’t just influence your mood—he distorts your vision. If he gets your thoughts, you spiral in fear. If he gets your focus, you lose peace. If he gets your attention, you forget truth. This is why Scripture is so direct: The battle is not first in your circumstances—it is in your mind. For this battle, God offers a very specific piece of armor over your mind – the helmet of salvation. Ephesians 6:17, “Put on salvation as your helmet.” It’s the final piece of your defensive armor. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, and finally the helmet of salvation. “Put on salvation as your helmet.” This is not decorative language. It is defensive language. A helmet exists for one reason: to protect what cannot afford to be struck. Your head. Your mind. Your thoughts. In Roman warfare, the helmet marked identity and provided protection. It told others who you belonged to—and it guarded what could end the fight instantly. Because a blow to the head ends everything. So Paul is saying something deeply practical and deeply spiritual: God is not only saving your soul—He is guarding your mind. The phrase translated “take” or “put on” carries the idea of receiving what is being handed to you. This matters. Because salvation is not self-produced. It is not achieved through willpower or positive thinking. It is received. You don’t fabricate salvation. You accept it. You don’t defend yourself from the enemy by willpower alone. You stand under what God has already given. The word “salvation” here is not abstract. It means rescue. Deliverance. Being pulled out of danger you could not escape on your own. So the “helmet of salvation” is not just: “I am forgiven.” It is also: “My mind belongs to the One who rescued me.” It is the assurance that “I am saved, I am held, I am not defenseless in my mind.”   The enemy rarely begins with destruction. He begins with intrusion. The crafty enemy of our is soul doing everything he can to distract us, torment us, fill us with doubts and fears. He says, “take off that helmet and let me get in your head!” That’s the battle. If he can saturate your thoughts, he doesn’t need to change your circumstances. He simply convinces you that darkness is all there is. But the helmet of salvation interrupts that lie. Girl, did you take off your helmet? Did you let the devil get in your head? Are you filled with doubts, worries and fears? Oh, my sister, your eyes aren’t on Jesus because your head isn’t protected. God is offering you a helmet to protect your mind, but it’s always up to you to accept it and put it on. The helmet of salvation reminds us of this: WE ARE SAVED, WE ARE REDEEMED and WE ARE PROMISED A FUTURE. When your mind knows that full well, it changes the way you live. You’re no longer distracted by the wispers of Hell. You’re no longer fearful of the pokes of Satan. You’re locked in to Jesus. There is an old story often told of two wolves—one feeding darkness, one feeding life. It goes like this: An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life: “A fight is going on inside of me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between 2 wolves. One wolf is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, jealousy, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.” He continued, “The other wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The same fight is going on inside of you – and inside of every other person too.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” Whatever you feed grows stronger. And the truth is simple: Your thoughts are your daily feeding ground. What are you feeding? Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose THOUGHTS ARE FIXED ON YOU.” This is not for those who are partially focused. Not for those who are occasionally focused. This is for those who have a FIXED FOCUS on God. That’s what the helmet does. It fixes our focus. The helmet of salvation is not just protection from attack—it is alignment of attention. It brings your mind back into place. Back to truth. Back to Christ. Back to peace. Not shallow peace. Not temporary peace. But perfect peace. “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose THOUGHTS ARE FIXED ON YOU.” Remember the art work in the Venice retreat house – the man kneeling in prayer with his eyes fixed on Jesus even while Satan’s demon is present and making his attack. The protected mind that knows it is saved by Jesus is unbothered, held in perfect peace. And so the works of God grows in his life while the works of Satan diminish. Have you been giving the enemy daily food with your thoughts? Has he been growing stronger and stronger in your life because you’ve allowed your mind to be attacked by him? Girl, put on your helmet. Your helmet reminds you who God is and who you are in him. You are saved. You are redeemed. You are promised a future with him. A soldier’s helmet includes a marking identifying who they are fighting with and for. A crest or emblem on their helmet would signify their allegiance. When you put on the helmet of salvation, you’re taking a stand in this spiritual battle of whose side you’re on. But when your identity is unclear, your thoughts become vulnerable. You gotta know your identity in Jesus – then you know who you are saved, redeemed, held, secured, and the accusations from Hell lose their power. The enemy cannot easily dominate a mind anchored in identity. You’re standing with Jesus in victory. Your enemy has already been defeated – he fights from a place of defeat, settling for the spoils of your wandering thoughts and dark corners of your mind left unprotected. Give him NOTHING. The bad wolf gets NOTHING from you. Starve him out! Satan doesn’t even get the crumbs of your thoughts today. Nothing. Give him no space in your mind. Billy Graham said this, “If you get your mind off Christ and you get it on some things you shouldn’t be thinking about, then you pray, ‘Lord, forgive me and help me to get my mind back on Christ.’ I do many times.” This is the action of putting the helmet of salvation on. The moment you recognize your mind is wandering, you get it back under the protection of your salvation offered in Jesus! This is the discipline of the helmet. Not striving. Not panic. Just returning. Again and again. To Jesus. That painting in Venice shows it clearly: A man kneeling in prayer. Darkness present—but not dominant. Eyes fixed on Christ. That is the helmet of salvation. A protected mind is not a mind that never sees darkness. It is a mind that refuses to be ruled by it. So keep your focus. Keep your identity. Keep your helmet on. Because you are not fighting for victory. You are standing in it. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Here we are, God’s daughters, under attack. Every day the enemy attacks with the hopes of distracting us or distancing us from God. That’s why we must put on the full armor God has offered us. He doesn’t want his girls vulnerable to the devil, he wants us victorious. Last week we studied the first 3 pieces of our God given armor for the spiritual battle: The Belt of Truth The Breastplate of Righteousness The Shoes of Peace Now, it’s time for us to pick up our shield. Ephesians 6:16, “In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Okay girls, let’s learn about this shield and about those fiery arrows coming our way. Roman soldiers had 2 kinds of shields. One was a small, handheld shield. This is not the shield Paul is talking about. Paul is talking about the other type of shield – the one almost as big as a door. This shield was called the scutum (pronounced sk-U-tum). This shield, the sputum was about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide, made of layers of laminated wood, then covered with leather and bound with iron. The shield was big enough for a soldier to crouch behind and be completely protected. You’ve likely seen the movies where soldiers are carrying these large rectangular shields and when the enemy forces shoot their arrows, the soldiers stand together in formation with their door like shields held tightly ,forming a barrier all around them, in front of them and above them. That’s the precise image of our faith as a shield. We are protected, but not only protected, we are enabled to move forward even while under attack. In this formation with their shields fully protecting them on all sides, the army wouldn’t just crouch and endure the attack, they would MOVE FORWARD. Forward towards the objective. Forward towards the goal. Forward towards their mission. Forward, even while the enemy attacked. This is the power of our shield of faith. Now, what bout those arrows? Paul says the devil shoots “fiery arrows” at us. Soldiers in these days would often dip their arrows into a flammable liquid, then light them on fire before launching them at their enemy like a missile. AND THAT IS SATAN’S STRATEGY AGAINST US. Fiery, blazing arrows. His objective is to destroy you and he’ll use every single thing at his disposal to do so. Don’t be so naive to think he won’t come after you. Scripture says he’s “like a roaring lion”, and honey, lions don’t care if you’re cute, they don’t care if you’re happy, they don’t care if you’re rich, they don’t care if you’ve got a whole family depending on you … lions want to kill you. Period. You have been under attack. No doubt, it’s been happening. Even just this past week, fiery arrows were flying at you. Let me help you identify them: Arrow 1: Tempt you to sin Arrow 2: Get you to ignore the things that would help you Arrow 3: Make you miserable Arrow 4: Make you doubt Arrow 5: Make you settle Remember when you just ignored praying about it? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you didn’t make time to open your Bible? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you thought it wasn’t a big deal and you could hide it? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you felt so tired, so defeated and so discouraged that you just sat there? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you checked the box but didn’t really give it your best? Yip – that was an arrow. Remember when you knew you should, but you didn’t – Yip that was an arrow. Remember when you felt guilt and shame over it – Yip that was an arrow. Not to mention all the things you’ve been dealing with that make you scared, make you hurt, and make you question – All arrows. Now do you see the attacks you are continually facing? This is your every day reality. Girl, you are always under attack. That’s why you need this shield of faith. To put it quite simply, the way you defend yourself from Satan’s attacks is on a very practical level TRUST WHAT’S TRUE ABOUT GOD. Faith isn’t just hearing about God – Faith isn’t even just knowing about God – Faith is actively positioning God’s promises between your vulnerability and the enemy’s fiery assaults. The devil is going to shoot his fiery arrows to tempt you, distract you, discourage you, detour you and defeat you, but that big ol’ shield of faith in God’s promises is what you actively pick up and hold up to protect you. I know my God. I know his ways. I feel his presence. I receive his strength. I believe his promises. I trust my God. My sister, that is your defense! Faith is what will protect you when the fiery arrows are coming at you. Faith is what will help you advance even when you’re under attack. Faith is not optional for this battle, it is essential! So really, what is faith? What a really hard thing to describe. If we’re not careful, faith becomes nothing more than hoping or wishing. You know when you apply for a job and you’r pretty sure you’re not going to get it because you’re not even remotely qualified for it and someone says, “Well, you’ve got to have faith.” No, that’s not faith. That’s not what our Bible is talking about. That kind of faith is not a defense. When you’re under attack, just wishing that something is true will never give you the defense you need. Let’s give faith a real definition. I read about a missionary named John Paton – someone you’ve likely never heard of before. He was a Scottish missionary who went to the islands of the South Pacific in the 1800’s to tell these remote people about Jesus for the first time. He wasn’t welcome there. His wife and child died. Yet, he continued. He learned their language, then he set out to translate the entire Bible into their language so they could know about Jesus. While translating scripture, he got to Ephesians chapter 6 and he was stuck on verse 16, “Hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” Their language had no word for faith. Faith was non-existent in their world, without even a word for it. As John sat in his island hut, stuck on translating this word “faith”, a local man came running and and flopped himself in a chair. He said to John, “It’s just so good to rest my whole weight in this chair.” And that’s when John knew – that’s what faith is. This is how he could explain faith to the islanders. Faith is resting your whole weight on God. With that translation, the islanders understood faith and they came to put their whole weight on God through Jesus. Faith is putting your whole weight on God. If God said it, then it’s true, and I believe it. That is faith. Faith is believing what Jesus has done for us, believing what God says about us, and living it out because it’s THE truth. That’s a shield of faith. Protected from the attacks of the enemy and able to advance! Through the Bible, we know: • God has chosen us. Before this world even began, he predestined that we would be his girls. He chose us first, gave us the family name, and bestowed upon us all the privileges of being his daughters. • God has blessed us. In everything that God has done for us, his intention is to bless us and give us what we don’t deserve. • God has sealed us. He put his mark on us saying we belong to him and we’re protected by him. • God has promised us an inheritance. We are in line to inherit the kingdom of God and eternal life. Through Jesus, it’s our guaranteed destiny. Girl, that’s where you’re heading and today you’re one day closer! God has held absolutely nothing back from you. He’s given his all, he’s given his best. He’s actively taking everything in your life and making it work together for eternally good purposes. And when you put your whole weight on that, you will be able to survive the attacks of the evil one. Not only survive, but advance! When the fiery arrows come flying at you, and they always do – When you’re tempted to doubt, leaning towards fear, hurting and questioning, avoiding the very things that will help you most, wandering down paths not meant for you and knocking on the wrong doors – STOP AND REMEMBER WHAT YOU KNOW OF GOD. Remember his promises for you. Remember what he’s already done for you through Jesus. But don’t just think about those things, LIFT THEM UP. Lift up that shield of faith by actually leaning into what you KNOW IS TRUE ABOUT GOD. Put your full weight on him. You know what you need to do in that moment of wandering, wallowing, wondering and wavering … you need to have a good talk with yourself. Listen here, self, stop this depressed, unhappy nonsense. Stop this wavering. Stop this delaying. Stop wallowing. You stop it now. Stop letting this steal your praise. Stop letting this distance you from Jesus. Stop it. Put your full weight on God. Remember his promises. Lean on them now! It’s not going to be easy, but we all need to do this. We need each other to do it for us. Preach to yourself. Remind yourself of God. Arrange your life so that you’re in the path of grace as much as possible — reading Scripture daily, praying, surrounding yourself with the right people. Know where you’re vulnerable. Look to God, who will grant you the strength that you need. Then put your whole weight in what we know to be true about God. Remember the Roman shield formation? It’s one thing to be a single soldier with a shield. Something much better happens when we come together with faith. As we create a shield-wall of faith, we’ll be able to advance even when we’re under attack. That’s why you and I are connected. That’s why God has given us an Army of sisters here. We fully put our weight on God in this together and we move forward even while under attack. Where are you being attacked? What fiery arrows are coming your way? What truths about God can you lean into today? Take up your shield of faith! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There are 3 pieces of God’s armor we are to “put on”. 1. The belt of truth. 2. The breastplate of righteousness. 3. The shoes of peace. In getting dressed for the unseen spiritual battle, the final thing we put on are our shoes. And think about it, you’re not ready to leave if you don’t have your shoes on. My husband knows I’m not really walking out the door if my shoes aren’t on. My shoes are the sign I’m really ready and we’re going … until then, I’m not really going anywhere. God has places for you to go. A stand you are to take. Purposes you are to fulfill. Good plans you are to walk in. But, without your shoes, you’re not really ready to go with him. The soldier’s shoes were a valuable piece of their armor. Remember in these days, they were foot soldiers. They weren’t riding around in tanks and helicopters. They were marching in, climbing up, standing ground. In military battles of these days, the army who had the best battle shoes was set apart. There’s a story of an army who won countless victories because they put nails in their shoes, creating the first cleats. They could climb what no other army could climb. As women, we know shoes make or break the outfit – but in battle, shoes can make or break the victory. So Paul says in Ephesians 6:15, “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” Without your shoes, you’re not ready. With the wrong shoes, you’re not winning. Barefoot, you’re injured. The shoes in the Armor of God are specifically the PEACE that comes from the Good News. Sounds a little fruity doesn’t it? That’s sweet – but does it really mean anything to you? I’ll be honest – that just never meant anything to me at all – until today. Until I really studied what Paul is saying. Now I get it, and I’m so excited to share it with you. Peace – what’s your image of God’s peace? Someone once asked 2 very famous painters to each paint a picture of God’s peace. One painted the image of a beautiful, calm, serene lake in the most peaceful setting you could imagine. It’s basically where I am right now – North Italy’s Dolomite mountains. The lakes here are the deepest, calmest blue, fully protected by stunning mountains that reach straight up in the sky. Such calm. Such peace. That was one artist’s painting. But the other artist paints the ocean. Not calm water, but the ocean in a violent storm. Massive waves crashing in the fierce winds. Lightening flashing in the sky. And in the very bottom corner of the painting was a small bird, totally protected from the storm, standing on a rock with a solitary beam of light shining on it. If there was a soundtrack to the painting it was the bird singing his completely unbothered song of perfect peace in the midst of that raging storm. Both are pictures of peace. One is a picture of peaceful circumstances – the other is a picture of the power of God’s peace. God doesn’t promise peaceful circumstances, in fact Jesus warns us of the oppoisite – “in this world you will have trouble”. But God does promise us the power of his peace – the unshakable knowing he is with you, he sees you, and he is in control. We’re so quick to assume only the good days contain God’s peace, but you’ve never experienced God’s peace on the most extreme level until you’re in the middle of something that demands you absolutely freak out, but instead you have an unspeakable peace within. With this peace you’re not rendered incapable, you’re strengthened in the battle. My friend, if you find yourself currently in a battle, God has peace available for you. And his word isn’t just offering it to you as an option, his word is telling you, “PUT THIS ON!” But how? How do you put on God’s peace? Thank God, his word actually tells us. We’re not left to guess and wonder. It’s clear. Philippians 4: 6-7. First, there is an offer you have to REFUSE to make room for God’s offer of peace. If you don’t refuse it, there will simply be no space for peace in you. What is the offer you have to refuse? Worry. Here’s precisely what God’s word says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” This is a formula and a process. First you refuse worry. Worry is always in the offering. There’s always something to worry about, right? But you must turn away from it. Turn it off. Resist it. Evict it. Absolutely take a stand against worry. You know what we often do instead? We make excuses for it. “Oh, it’s just who I am. I’m a worrier. I always have been.” That’s the equivalent of saying, “Oh, I’m just muddy, it’s just who I am. I go out and roll around in the mud so I’m always muddy. I always have been.” ALL WHILE YOU COULD CHOOSE TO TAKE A SHOWER! If you’re a worrier, there’s something you can do that’s the equivalent of a shower for a muddy person – PRAYER. And just as you have to take a shower again and again, you must pray again and again. The only way you refuse worry is to talk to God about it. Push it right over to God and let him have it. Tell him what you need. Thank him for everything he has already done for you. That’s your part of the equation. Then, God does his part. His part is filling you with PEACE. Peace that doesn’t make sense. Peace like the little white bird sitting in a beam of light during a furious storm on the ocean, just singing his happy song. I don’t care how much you worry or how long you’ve been worrying, peace is available to you. But my sister, you always have to choose it. Now you may think your worrying is harmless, but it’s not. Without God’s peace, you’re facing a battle with no shoes on. Without your shoes you’re simply NOT READY!!!!! Now here’s where this gets really really really good. This is the part you may not have ever understood before and you’re going to have a little light bulb go off. Paul says these shoes of peace come from the Good News. What is the Good News? It’s literally the message of Jesus. It’s the salvation story of God sending his own son to die for you so that you might be saved. It’s the promise of his Holy Spirit dwelling in you offering what you could never manufacture for yourself. It’s all this GOOD NEWS, not bad news that applies directly to our lives because of Jesus. Good, good, good news. Shoes of peace from this Good News of Jesus. And here’s why this is important in battle – GET READY … Your enemy, the devil, is always going to try and convince you that God is against you, that God doesn’t love you, that God is too busy for you, angry at you, distant from you. The devil continually tries to convince you that every little bad thing, and certainly every big bad thing, that happens in your life is proof of God’s absence, God’s distance, or God’s disapproval of you. You’ve heard it and felt it before. You’ve questioned why God would allow this to happen to your family and you start feeling like God doesn’t care about your family. Like he’s too busy for you. Like he doesn’t hear your prayers. Like he’s always out to take things from you. Like he’s just against you. The more you hear it and the more you feel it, the more dark your thoughts become, the more alone you feel, and the more hopeless the future looks. And that’s precisely what happens if you don’t have your shoes on. Your shoes of peace from the Good News know exactly who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and what he has promised. And just like a pair of cleats can dig in and hold your ground, KNOWING the GOOD News can help you stand firm when every doubt comes to rock you. The devil wants to remind of you all the bad news, but Jesus says, “I’ve GOT GOOD NEWS!” Feel the peace in that! The shoes of peace tell you even when bad things have happened, “GOD USES ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD”. The shoes of peace tell you even when the storm rages that, “YOUR GOD CONTROLS THE WINDS AND THE WAVES.” The shoes of peace tell you when everything falls apart that, “GOD HOLDS IT ALL IN HIS HANDS AND NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HIM.” The Good News fills us with peace when the battle rages. And in peace, we stand, We don’t run. We don’t panic. We don’t worry. We stand firm. Girl, put your shoes on and dig in! Dig in to God’s promises over you and refuse to back down. Refuse to be shaken. Refuse to give in to worry. His promises will fill you with peace so you can stand through the storm and come out the other side. Jesus made us a promise of HIS PEACE. His peace that would hold us steady. His peace that would guide us. His peace that would fill us in ways that don’t make sense. But do you know precisely WHEN he promised us this peace? Jesus promised us that peace on the edge of his own horrific storm. On the very night one of his very best friends would betray him – on the night he would be arrested – on the night before he was to bear the sin of the entire world on the cross, on the edge of the greatest storm all creation had ever seen, Jesus promised us his own peace. John 14:27, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Jesus had immeasurable peace, and he offers us that same peace. But it’s always up to us to PUT IT ON. With peace, you are ready for battle. With peace you can stand on God’s promises and not worry. With peace as shoes, you can dig in with cleats and stand your ground regardless of circumstances. With peace as shoes, you can climb any mountain and overcome the obstacles in your way. You have to choose what you’re walking in – Peace or worry. Worry will never win the battle. Peace already has. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Part of your armor against the ploys of the enemy is a bulletproof vest for your heart. If Satan can twist your heart, if he can harden your heart, if he can damage your heart, then he renders you ineffective. Nobody looks at a cynical, irritable, negative, grouchy Christian and says, ‘wow, I gotta have what she has.’ Yip – ineffective! Zero impact for Jesus. Saved but not set apart for good works. For these reasons you are given the breastplate of righteousness, the bulletproof vest for your heart. If you feel righteous, there’s a problem. You’re not. There’s nothing you could ever do to make yourself clean enough, good enough, or holy enough to be considered righteous in our perfect God’s sight. And this is exactly why Jesus was required. Only he could make you righteous. His righteousness is imparted to you. His name is stamped on your account of debts and you’re forever marked as “GOOD ENOUGH”. Not because of what you’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for you. Righteous – this means to be free from guilt or sin. Not without guilt or sin, but free from it. No longer bound by it. No longer in debt to it. No longer victim to it, but FREE from it. And the righteousness of Jesus has now empowered you to live better. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:14, “Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Other translations call it the “body armor of God’s righteousness” or “God’s approval as your breastplate.” TPT says, “Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart.” Here’s what we know – without this right standing, without God’s approval, our most vital organs are completely vulnerable. The chest shot is the easiest shot and without God’s covering, we will go down in the battle against our enemy. God did for us what we could never do for ourselves. No amount of good works, no amount of changed habits, no amount of perfectly met goals, nothing we could possibly do would make us righteous. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. That includes you on your worst days and you on your best days. So here’s what God did – he stepped in and bridged the gap where we fell short of his glory. He bridged that gap with a cross. A literal cross where Jesus hung – and that cross allows us to cross over from forever not good enough no matter what we do, to forever good enough because of what was done for us. When you wear that as your bulletproof vest, the flaming arrows of the enemy just bounce right off. Oh, he’ll still shoot them out you, but ping ping ping, they just bounce. Your heart is untouched when you fully know the stamp of Christ’s full approval on you. But … there’s one little problem. The devil and his demons know full well how unworthy of this bulletproof vest of righteousness you feel when you aren’t living right. It’s hard to put on our divinely given righteousness when deep down we know darn good and well we’re not living right. When we engage in sin, we open the door for the devil to have influence in our lives. You don’t even have to open the door fully to him, but a little crack will do. A little dabble in that sin. A borderline gray area that no one knows about. Even that crack in the door will give him an opportunity. Ephesians 4:27 says, “give NO opportunity to the devil.” About 2 years ago, I began praying that God would reveal to me any part of my life that was not pleasing to him. Well that was dangerous and I didn’t even know it. Suddenly the Holy Spirit started revealing all my little cracked doors to the enemy. But these were really fun things. Things I enjoyed. Things that made me happy. Things I wrestled to understand how they could be wrong. After wrestling and reasoning for months, I finally began to release these things and make changes. And let me tell you what happened – it’s like the lid was taken off! I was free like never before. Blessings upon blessings. Now I wonder why I waited so long to trust God with those doors that needed to be closed. The devil had access to my heart through the little cracks I had left open, doing things God had asked me not to do. When I finally partnered with God and slammed those doors, my heart was once again fully protected with the righteousness Jesus offers. Here’s the truth – the devil can’t take your righteousness from you, but he sure will offer you temptations to enter into a life that is so far from God’s way of living that you just dismiss yourself. When you know you’re living in wrong ways, it’s almost impossible to keep putting on that breastplate of righteousness. What God has given you as protection becomes a heavy reminder of your unworthiness today because of what you did yesterday. So, guess what … guilt and shame eventually make you leave the breastplate in the corner. It’s too painful to put on righteousness when you know you’re not living right. And boom – you’re vulnerable. Now with your hidden guilt and quiet shame, your heart is left unprotected. The offered righteousness of Jesus lays on the floor as the enemy’s fiery darts come flying. No, your righteousness cannot be taken from you. What Jesus did is forever done. But what can happen here is you can feel so terrible about your life that you no longer put on that righteousness. PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. THIS IS PART OF GOD’S DIVINE ARMOR FOR YOU IN THE UNSEEN SPIRITUAL BATTLE. GOD. LOVES. YOU. With full awareness of every single thing you would ever do wrong, every bad choice you would ever make, every failure, every wandering step, he knowingly and willing CHOSE to give his son Jesus for you. He knew it was the only way you could be made right, and he deemed you worthy of that sacrifice. SATAN. HATES. YOU. With full awareness of God’s covering of undeserved righteousness over you, Satan continually tries to remove that covering. Let me tell you something, Satan has no power to take the breastplate of righteousness from you but he certainly can convince you into living a life that makes that breastplate feel entirely too heavy to wear. Tricky little sucker will deceive you into picking up guilt and shame instead of righteousness, and wear that over your heart. My human mind cannot understand why God would do this for me. I’m messed up, and wow, I have a really special way of getting things wrong sometimes. But I choose to believe His word concerning me – I choose to believe that I am made righteous through Jesus. That his cross allows me to cross over to the righteousness I fall short of. Over and over again, God helps me when I cannot help myself. On the days when I get it right, I must remember that breastplate of righteousness has absolutely nothing to do with my good works. It was given to me to wear. It protects me from pride. On the days when I get it wrong, I must remember the breastplate of righteousness is still mine. It was given to me to wear. It protects me from guilt and shame. For his girls wearing this breastplate of righteousness, we are called to then live RIGHT. Clean up our lives. We’re not given permission to continue living in the ways his Spirit tells us are wrong. That’s the beauty of this walk with Jesus – we learn more and more how to live right. And as he lovingly invites us into better living, it’s for our greatest benefit to trust him and leave behind our old ways. Continuing in our old ways makes it harder to put on the armor over our hearts, and without that armor, our hearts are left vulnerable. Jesus, I’m not a good guard of my own heart – I need your righteousness to guard this heart of mine. So today, for the one who feels so totally unrighteousness because of your past or present choices, please know the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness is still here for your heart. Bring him your guilt, bring him your shame, bring him your regrets and receive his holy exchange. You, the real you, all of you, forever made righteous. That’s everything Satan doesn’t want you to know. But when you know, your heart is protected! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

When you really know about the unseen spiritual battle happening, you then have a choice … stand with God in the battle, or sit down and dismiss yourself from it. Sadly, most of us either refuse to acknowledge the battle happening at all – or – we refuse to allow our self-centered little lives to be bothered with it. But the truth is, we are bothered by it, continually. Every single family has wounds from a spiritual battle. God’s word calls us to know about it and then do something about it. Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” What is this time of evil? You can assume it’s a future time that may not even impact your life, but I encourage you to consider the time of evil is anytime the enemy zeroes in on you. Remember, the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. His plan is sure: Kill, steal and destroy. If you are without the supernatural infusion of God’s strength that comes through a connection with Jesus, and if you are without the full armor of God, you won’t be able to stand up against the enemy’s attack. There is a battle. It’s real. And my friends, it’s personal. Have you ever felt like the devil just had your number? Like his attacks were so personal and so direct? Yeah – well they are! As real as God’s good plans are for you, the devil’s bad plans for you are real too. Yes, God sends his angels to protect you, but Satan sends his demons to attack you. No, I don’t like it, but that doesn’t change the battle. What changes the battle is believing what God’s word tells me and receiving everything he offers me. He offers me supernatural strength for his power to flow in me and through me. How? Through connection and relationship with Jesus. Then, he offers me detailed pieces of armor for the battle against evil. But it’s always up to me whether or not I put on the armor. It’s up to you to either put on the armor, or not. And if you don’t, you are vulnerable. When the time of evil comes and the enemy zeros in on you, he’ll know you’re like a sitting duck. If your family is unprotected, it’s time you realize it and change that! God has armor for you, and the armor is guaranteed to protect you from the spiritual battle happening in the unseen … but it’s up to you to put it on! Some of us have all our armor piled up in a corner collecting dust, while we wonder why life is so darn hard. Why does this stuff just keep happening? Maybe, you’ve been sitting when you should have been standing with God. Maybe you’ve been fighting with your own power and you’re 100% outmatched by powers greater than you. Maybe you’ve picked up a couple pieces or armor here and there, but you don’t know how to use it so you’re a dangerous disaster with weapons you’re throwing around. The enemy is after you and you have to be able to resist him. If you can’t resist him, you will fall prey to him. You will be fooled, you will be subdued, you will be overcome, and then you’ll be held as his prisoner, stuck in a life that is far short of all God created you for. Look around – are you living a life that is less than the great big Almighty God really has for you? Did you get stuck somewhere along the way, discouraged and depressed, so you gave up and let that little flame within you just go out. And here you are settled in, just trying to get through life when that is such a distant cry from God’s great big plan for you. But how do you resist the devil? WITH THE TRUTH! Now we begin looking at each piece of the Armor of God as written by Paul. First, understand that Paul was never a Roman soldier. He was never in the military. He didn’t have armor, he didn’t wear armor. He was a scholar, not a soldier. But what Paul did have was a personal and up close encounter with a real Roman soldier. As Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, he was in prison. When I was in Rome, I listened to the audio of a guided tour to orient precisely what I was looking at. Sometimes the very things that looked like nothing were totally something. In very broken English, my audio guide pointed out locations of important events and buildings to examine. As a total side note, he said, “Look to the left of this stately building – there you will see a small, unassuming, stone building – this is where Paul was impriosoned.” The guide quickly moved on to other facts and ruins. But here I was, standing in front of the very building where Paul sat imprisioned. Radically important events happened right here! Here was where the Holy Spirit guided him to tell us about the spiritual battles happening in the unseen and how to stand with God in the battle. And while Paul had never worn a soldier’s armor before, he was likely sitting on a prison floor literally chained to a Roman soldier in that moment. Envision that – Paul is looking at the soldier he’s chained to, the one guarding him and holding him captive, the one to ensure he was there to face his future death sentence. And piece by piece, Paul notices the literal armor of the solider and the Holy Spirit reveals to him the armor God has for us. Paul begins the listing of the armor in verse 14, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth.” Maybe you’re familiar with this list of armor – but have you ever questioned why it would begin with the BELT? Isn’t the belt the accessory? Isn’t the belt the last thing you put on when getting dressed? Why would we begin with the BELT OF TRUTH. Well to understand, you have to first remember the dress of the day … literally, the dress. Even men, and yes even soldiers, wore dress like long garments. Running and fighting in this long garment was very troublesome. You would easily get tripped up and lose the battle before your enemy even hit you. So the belt was perhaps one of the most important pieces in the soldier’s armor. The belt tied up the long garment so their legs were free to run. The belt held their weapons in place. The belt literally tied the other armor together and without it, they would be defeated. So Paul says, to stand your ground against the devil and his demons, you begin with the belt of truth. My friend, if you don’t know the truth, you will get tripped up before you even get to the real battle. The devil is called the deceiver. His number 1 tactic is to twist the truth and sell you a lie. It was how he made his very first move against humanity. In the garden, he shows up to Eve as a snake and he introduces a lie. “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Eve engages. HUGE MISTAKE. When you know you’re being questioned by the devil, don’t engage. Don’t talk to him, and for heaven’s sake, don’t dance with him. There’s a whole lot of God’s girls getting throughly confused and lost in life because we’re just dancing with the devil, assuming it’s harmless. He’s not harmless. He’s vicious. He’s on attack. He’s a liar, an absolute deceiver. Now Eve is engaged in conversation with the enemy, and he confuses her. He tricks her into thinking God won’t let them eat from that one special tree in the garden because God is hiding something good from them. The devil convinces her God is holding out on her. So, she eats the apple, gets Adam to eat the apple with her, and now sin has an entry into humanity. God wasn’t holding out on Adam and Eve by telling them they couldn’t eat the apple – God was PROTECTING them. But, they didn’t know the TRUTH – and because they didn’t know the truth, they fell for the enemy’s lie. They were deceived. The TRUTH is ground zero for the unseen spiritual battle. If you don’t know the truth, you will battle the wrong things, hide when you should be standing, play little when you have a BIG spirit within, and settle for a defeated life when the victory has already been won through Jesus. My friend, do you KNOW the TRUTH? I mean for real – the truth. The truth about God. The truth about God’s plan. The truth about who you are. The truth about who you’re battling. The truth about God’s ways and the tactics of the enemy. Without the truth, everything else is twisted and useless. Faith without truth becomes wishing thinking. Salvation without truth becomes cultish and self-created religion. Righteousness without truth becomes pride and self-will. Peace without truth becomes a naive la-la land. The word without truth becomes nonsense stories we believe and then fight over. And that is why the enemy is the deceiver. He’s most afraid of the truth and he works his hardest to keep you confused and without God’s truth. So yes, Paul begins teaching us about the Armor of God for our spiritual battle, first with the belt of truth. This is what holds everything together. You begin with truth, otherwise everything else is wrong. You may be climbing a ladder, but what good is it if the ladder is against the wrong wall. You may be fighting for what you think is right, but if what you think is right is actually wrong, it doesn’t matter how much you believe in what you’re fighting for, it’s still wrong. What is the TRUTH about this God who created you, chose you, loves you and saves you? What is the truth about this one life you have been given to live? What is the truth about mercy and grace that covers you and makes you whole? What is the truth about a deeper calling on your life and a heavenly purpose for your days? The devil’s first tactic is always to confuse you and deceive you. Do you know what you believe? Do you know why you believe it? You will get tripped up on your way to the battle if you don’t. God has a whole lot of his daughters running around without their belts on! We’re confused, we’re naive and we have been deceived. Now he says, “MY GIRL, PUT YOUR BELT ON!” Have you ever asked God to help you know the truth? Have you sought him for a heart that really understands his will? GOD ANSWERS THAT PRAYER. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Solomon is a young man and he’s made King, but he’s afraid because he doesn’t know how to lead his kingdom. In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asks God to give him an understanding heart to know the truth, to know right and wrong. And here is God’s reply – verses 12-13, “I will give you what you have asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has ever had or ever will have. AND I will also give you what you did not ask for – riches and fame” You want the truth – ask God for it! He will give you a heart that understands. And with the truth comes even more things you didn’t even ask for. Start there. The belt of truth. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Yesterday we studied the importance of becoming strong in the Lord before we try to armor up for battle against our enemy, the devil. Again, what good is the best armor in the world if the soldier has no strength to stand? God is strong and he wants his girl strong. God is strong and he’s not raising weak daughters. Remember, how do you gain this strength? By supernatural infusion! It’s our CONNECTION with Jesus that allows God’s strength and power to flow in and through us. Now, the next 2 verses in Ephesians 6. Verses 11 & 12, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Spending time with Jesus and growing in your relationship with him through connection then makes us ready for God’s armor. Piece by piece, we will put it all on. But don’t miss this – you are in a battle you cannot see, but you absolutely feel. Some of the pain you’re carrying didn’t start with a person – it started with a battle you couldn’t see. All those wounds you carry in this life of struggles, hardships, broken relationships … that’s proof of the unseen battle. Hurt people hurt people – but behind a lot of hurt people is a deeper enemy who has been wounding them for a long time. The devil and his demons have created a whole lot of hurt people who are now making real messes in real life. You see that mess, but you haven’t see the real battle happening creating those messes. Colossians 1:16 tells us, “God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see.” It’s foolish for us to deny the reality of all things just because we can’t see them. I’m a strong 7 on the enneagram. I avoid all things negative, all darkness and all threats. I have a tendency to stick my head in the sand and pretend everything is okay. That makes me an incredibly fun person to be around … and potentially oblivious to the true threats happening on the daily. But God has made me aware of these things through personal encounters with the miraculous as well as the darkness. I’ve witnessed the hand of God and I’ve experienced the presence of evil. I’ve spent over 2000 episodes of this podcast generally avoiding the topic of evil, but what good does that do you when you’re in a real spiritual battle with the unseen? I’ve avoided talking about evil for a long time – but avoidance doesn’t make it less real. Scripture doesn’t just acknowledge a spiritual world – it shows us active engagement on all sides. With God and with the devil. With angels and with demons. The Bible makes it clear that there is a real interaction between us and God. God promises when we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. (James 4:8). God says, “Call to me and I will tell you great and unknown things.” (Jeremiah 33:3). God is literally working within you. (Philippians 2:13). On the contrast, the bible also makes it clear there is real interaction between us and Satan. One of Jesus disciples warns us that the “devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus tells Peter how “Satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31). That’s real. He’s here and he’s roaming this earth actively. There are also real interactions between us and angels, God’s agents sent on his behalf. In Psalm we read, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11). Lot is visited by 2 angels. Abraham is visited by 3 angels. The angel Gabriel speaks to Mary. The angel Michael fights for Daniel. An angel rescues Peter from prison. Girl, you have no idea how many times God has sent help you never saw. But even so, there are interactions between us and demons. Demons are the fallen angels that chose to follow Satan in his rebellion. Many believe scriptures are describing 1/3 of the angels in Heaven became Satan’s demonic warriors. Yes, fallen spiritual beings opposed to God – and therefore opposed to us, his girls. Nope, I don’t like it, but it’s foolish of me to pretend it’s not real. How will you battle what you won’t even acknowledge as real? Here’s the thing about these spirit forces – God, the devil, angels and demons – they are invisible to human eyes, but look around – their fingerprints are all over our world. We see the beauty and we see the distraction. We see the miracles and we see the evil. The wounds from the spiritual battle are felt in our lives and in our families. What if it’s time to stop just surviving your spiritual life – and start walking in the strength God is actually offering you? Don’t you think it’s time you learn how to be the warrior God created you to be, stand on his side, and join the forces of good against this evil? There’s an old saying, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” If we do nothing, darkness grows and consumes. Darkness grows not because it is stronger – but because light stays silent. We have a light within us that must be unveiled. DON’T HOLD BACK WHAT GOD HAS PUT WIHTIN YOU! Don’t just walk by – shine your light. Don’t settle for doing nothing – shine your light. Evil triumphs when God’s girls do nothing about the darkness, the hurting, the suffering, and the evil around us. There was a time in my life where I did nothing about the darkness growing in my own family. I just made it look pretty on the outside and ignored the reality within. That darkness was given power because my light was silent. I played little. I don’t do that anymore – how about you? Oh that God would open your eyes to see the real battle happening in the unseen places. May he make you SPIRITUALLY AWAKE AND AWARE. We’ve been sleeping, girls. Many of us have been spiritually dulled – distracted, overwhelmed, and constantly stimulated – while unaware of the deeper battles affecting our minds, our peace and our relationships. We’ve been hypnotized by our screens and lulled by TikTok. And you know what is happening … the enemy has been attacking our minds, making us depressed and anxious, making our families distant, twisting our desires to be all about our image and our imagined influence. Lord, WAKE US UP!!!!!!! In 2 Kings 6 there’s a story of Elisha facing a battle where he and his soldiers are outmatched. Elisha’s young servant boy was terrified at the sight of the enemy’s great army with chariots and horses surrounding their city. But Elisha had such a connection with God, such an infusion of supernatural strength and power, that he knew about the UNSEEN. And this is what Elisha prays for his young servant who was afraid, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.”. Then verse 17, “The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and then he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” The army of God was already there – Elisha just had the spiritual awareness to know it. Heaven’s army was there, fighting for them. Battles in the unseen heavenly realms. What do we have to be afraid of when we understand Heaven is literally on our side when we stand with God? Oh that our eyes of faith may be opened. Dare to believe there’s MORE happening all around you! Here’s what you have to know, while the devil and his demons are real, they are already defeated. Jesus defeated them at the cross. But the defeated Satan and his demons are still present trying to do their damage. It’s a whole lot like this story: A little girl was riding in the car with her father. She cries out, “There’s a bumble bee in the car!” The father grabbed the bee, got stun in the hand, and released the bee. The little girl cries again, “There’s a bumble bee in the car!” But the father answered, “No problem, I’ve got his stinger in my hand.” Yes, Satan roams around like a roaring lion looking to kill, steal and destroy, BUT HE HAS NO TEETH. A lion with no teeth. Your Heavenly Father took away his bite. Satan is defeated – but he is not silent. He still roars, still pressures, still intimidates. But he is a lion without authority over those who stand in Christ. But here’s the problem … when we don’t connect with Jesus for our infusion of supernatural strength, then put on the full armor of God for the battle, we end up being gummed to death by Satan. He just chews away at us. He can’t bite, but he sure can chew. That’s what he does – he just chews away at you. He discourages you and wears you out. He roars and scares you into settling for a little life. He keeps you cornered and makes you play little. Even a toothless Satan is stronger than us when we don’t use our divine resources to defeat him. Every single believer and follower of Jesus is involved in spiritual warfare to some degree. Every believer is powerless in this battle unless they rely on the resources God has given them. But every believer can achieve victory over Satan if we receive strength in our connection with Jesus and then put on the full armor of God. Every piece of armor is important and every piece is effective. You may not even realize how spiritually tired you’ve become. May God awaken your spirit – not to fear the battle, but to finally see it clearly. Up next in our series, we will study each piece of the armor. Gear up, Sis. The battle is real … but remember, he’s a toothless lion! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” This comes BEFORE you put on the armor in verses 11-17. Putting even the best armor on a weak soldier does no good in the battle. The soldier must be strong to use the armor. Maybe you’re weak right now – girl you don’t need heavy armor – first you need to be strengthened. How do we gain this strength? “Be strong IN the Lord and in his mighty power.” IN THE LORD. Strength comes IN union with God. The original greek used a passive verb literally meaning “be strengthen by someone else”. We are strengthened by God, not by ourselves. If we run into battle without HIS strength, we will lose. If we are strong but without God’s armor, we will be defeated. We must have his strength AND his armor. But his strength comes FIRST. Before we are given weapons to fight, we must gain strength and learn how to use our weapons. (Soldiers in basic training). We are called on to actively stand against the enemy, but we are never expected to do so in our own strength—that would be suicidal. “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” This is a divine-human partnership. Not for a moment are we to fight the devil with our own ideas, our money, our strong will, or our own talents. Let’s look at this scripture in different translations (Ephesians 6:10) • MSG – God is strong and he wants YOU strong. • TPT – Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. Think about an infusion. An infusion is the delivery of fluids, medications or blood from an OUTSIDE source, flowing directly into a person’s bloodstream through an IV. The IV is the connection allowing the flow. Without the IV, there is no connection and there is no flow. No flow, no infusion of what is needed. God’s word is telling us WE MUST HAVE A CONNECTION TO BE INFUSED BY HIS STRENGTH. That connection is our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we connect with Jesus, we are infused with God’s supernatural strength flowing in us and through us. We don’t generate that strength, it is divinely infused strength. Spiritual power through connection. Now, with that image, read Ephesian 6:10 TPT again, “Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you.” (See yourself hooked up to an IV receiving everything you need just flowing into you from an outside source. Strength, healing, power. Receive that!) Jeusus assures us in John 16:33 that, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. BUT TAKE HEART, BECUASE I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” That’s the power of Jesus and that’s the power that flows through you when you are connected to him and infused by God’s strength! Will there still be problems? Yes – and here’s why – because there’s still a spiritual battle happening. Our problems are like visible wounds from the unseen spiritual battle. Behind most every problem is a spiritual battle to distract us, discourage us, dismiss us or distance us. Our problems are the visible wounds of the battle. Addictions, problems in your marriage, problems with your children, financial struggles, health battles – yes, those are the visible wounds of spiritual battles. But always remember this – 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.” MSG, “The Spirit that is in you is far greater than anything in the world.” If you’re feeling weak from the battle, my sister, it’s time for your infusion. Before you step into the next battle, before you make another decision, before you quit or before you move forward, be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. Isn’t that the answer for what you’re facing? Yes. Isn’t that the answer for how you’ve been feeling? Yes. You’re in a battle and before anything else, you need to be supernaturally strengthened. You only receive that through connection with Jesus. Seek him, lean into him, spend time with him, talk to him, rest in him, connect with him. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Remember how yesterday we talked about Jesus and Peter needing to pay their taxes, and Jesus tells Peter to do what he’s always done – go fishing. But this would be a completely different fishing experience because this time, Peter was fishing with Jesus – and Jesus is the difference maker. God had perfectly aligned just the right fish with a valuable coin in its mouth to bite Peter’s hook. That coin was the extraordinary way Jesus would provide that day. Right place at the right time. Not an accident – absolutely miraculously divine. Well let me tell you what happened yesterday at retreat. We had taken a train from Venice to Lake Garda. Not the original train we had planned – a different train, so our arrival had been a little delayed. Once at the lake, we hopped on our private chartered boat for the most gorgeous adventure. About 1 hour into our adventure on the water, our captain drove the boat under the drawbridge of a castle where we docked for lunch. At the precise moment all 11 of us are stepping off our boat, a frantic mother comes running up screaming, “Have you seen my son?” She can barely put together a cohesive sentence. “My son, my son, he’s missing. 5 years old. My son.” All the BIG Life girls spring into action. We scatter in all directions, yelling, “5 year old boy. White shirt. Missing.” Most everyone we encounter responds with, “Haven’t seen him” then continues on with their day. But not my girls – we’re searching for this missing boy. It’s one thing to be missing your child in a crowd. It’s another thing to be missing your child in a crowd on the edge of deep water. We all felt the desperation. Eventually, far from where we had started, someone heard us and shouted back, “He’s here!” We found him. And he was in the complete opposite direction of where the mother had run. There was no way the boy would have heard his mom. There was no way she was going to find him with such a distance between them. BUT GOD. God perfectly placed a boat full of 11 BIG Life Girls from all the way around the world at precisely the right moment to step onto that dock, hear her desperate cry and spread out on a mission to find her boy. Watching that reunion left every one of us in tears. Right place, right time. We got to be part of Jesus’ extraordinary plans. We were the fish with the coin. Ordinary girls with a changed travel plan, stepping on shore later than scheduled, equipped with precisely what was needed. That, my friends, is how God works! Now, let’s go even further. Here in Venice we seem to be having encounters with hurting souls in need of the Jesus we carry. I bet it’s not just Venice – I bet it’s in your town too. Hurting souls – they’re absolutely everywhere. In need of what we have. But have you ever just gotten in your own way? Have you ever talked yourself right out of doing precisely what the Holy Spirit has prompted you to do? Have you ever felt way too ordinary to be used for God’s extraordinary purposes? How can you possibly be their answer? Well, you’re not their answer. You simply CARRY THEIR ANSWER! Remember that. You’re a contagious carrier of Jesus. Allow contact so it spreads! That’s it. Why make it more complicated than that? Here’s the barrier with the hurting souls we’ve been coming into contact with here in Venice … we don’t speak their language and they don’t speak ours. Well that’s simply NOT a problem for our EXTRAORDINARY GOD! Let me tell you a little story from your Bible. Imagine you’re in the middle of this story. Okay, picture this … you’re one of Jesus’ closest friends. You’ve given up your job and your home, you’ve left everything and everyone you’ve ever known, to go with Jesus on his mission. You’ve been personally walking with Jesus. You’ve been part of some absolutely crazy miracles. You’ve seen his power. You know it’s real. And you thought you would be doing this with Jesus for the rest of your life. But just 3 years into you and your tribe of 12 doing all these miraculous things, Jesus gets killed. Your leader is crucified. And now what? It’s easy for us to rush to the rest of the story, but remember this – Jesus’ friends didn’t know the rest of the story as they were sitting in it. They never saw this hardship coming. They never, in a million years, thought Jesus could be killed. Now what were they going to do? They had given up everything to go with him. They are afraid. Afraid they too would be killed. Afraid everything they had believed in and worked for was ruined. They were confused. Then, Jesus shows up in the room where they are hiding. Now remember, Jesus has died. They saw him hanging on the cross. They knew his body was put in the tomb. They also knew the doors to the room where they were hiding were locked. And boom, here’s Jesus, standing right there among them. And this is what Jesus says to them, Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Then Jesus is taken into heaven. Jesus tells them to go. But HOW? Jesus, how are we supposed to go into ALL the world and preach to EVERYONE? We don’t have an airplane. The internet sucks here. We are poor fishermen, how are we supposed to go do all of this? We have no education. We have no resources. We have no connections. Jesus, I heard what you said, but we’re just so ordinary. For 10 days they waited. For 10 days they must have wondered how Jesus expected them to tell everyone about God. For 10 days they must have felt so unequipped and unqualified for the calling. But on the 10th day, they were all together for the day of Pentecost. This was the day all of Israel gathered in Jerusalem to offer to God their first harvest of wheat for the season. There were people from Judea, people from Asia, people from Egypt and Rome, people from every nation all gathered to make their offering. Also there were Jesus’ 12 friends, his disciples. Suddenly God’s power came and rested on each of them and Acts 2:4 says, “Everyone present was filled with the Hoy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” These ordinary men spoke Aramaic, but now filled with the Holy Spirit, they were speaking every language of the entire crowd. All of these people from every nation, all with their own languages, miraculously heard the magnificent acts of God being declared in THEIR OWN language. This is how God would use these 12 common friends of Jesus to fulfill his purposes. This is how they would go into ALL the world and preach the Good News to EVERYONE as Jesus had told them. God would do it through them in ways they could have never imagined. He would speak through them. His power would flow from them. He would give them the words which they couldn’t even possibly know. Literally a different language – hundreds of languages, spoken perfectly through common men who were unsure how God could use them. Now, back to you, Miss Ordinary. Why not you? Whatever it is that has been blocking you from being the hands and feet of Jesus wherever you are – you just need to know the Holy Spirit can perfectly equip you with absolutely anything and everything needed to spread what you’re carrying. You’re a contagious carrier of Jesus. Make contact! How exactly? Well I don’t know. When exactly? Well I don’t know that either. But here’s what I do know … you will have to show up unsure, uncertain, feeling totally unequipped, and be available for God’s Spirit to equip you. The disciples spent 10 days wondering how they were ever going to do what Jesus had asked them to do. It seemed an impossible task for them to tell the world about the good news of Jesus. And in that 10 days, they must have been drawing maps and making plans. They must have been overwhelmed with such a huge task and unanswered questions. Just like you … you’re in your 10 day waiting period that may have stretched out to cover a few years. You’re waiting and wondering. Questioning. Planning and preparing, but all of it seems inadequate. But my sister, the answers you’re seeking can’t be found in your elaborate 10 year plans. These answers are only found in the power of the Holy Spirit. God will equip you! He will enable you to do what you’ve never done before. He will bring everything together just as it needs to be, and you just need to show up and be available for it. At the end of Acts chapter 2, we see what God was doing by enabling Jesus’ 12 friends to speak all these different languages – THREE THOUSNAD WERE BAPTIZED THAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!! What the Bible doesn’t tell us is the conversation Jesus’ friends must have had AFTER Pentecost. Imagine their after work dinner that night. Matthew says, “Dude, I was speaking to an Egyptian in his language, saying things I don’t even know how to say.” Then John says, “Dude, me too! Did you hear me talking in Latin?” And of course, here comes my favorite, wild and impulsive Peter and he says, “Guys, I don’t even know what language I was speaking, but that was awesome!!!” Then there’s a pause and they all realize … ohhhhh, so THIS is how we’re going to go into all the world and preach the Good News to all people.” God has given us the power to do it and it’s already started. Now, let’s just keep going! You are the contagious carrier of what every person in this world needs. You’re surrounded by hurting souls who are desperate for the Jesus you carry within you. MAKE CONTACT! Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com