by Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:17

What does the helmet mean? The helmet is what protects your thoughts from lies. We are dealing with the wiles of Satan; his lies, schemes and deceits attack our minds to believe his lies and not the truth in Christ Jesus. The helmet protects your head and your head represents the center of activities for every human. If something happens to your brain, you will lose the ability to do things rationally. Your helmet protects your soul and heart; from where all the issues of life come from. When your heart is well guarded, the devil is not be able to penetrate it.

How do I overcome thoughts from the enemy? Go after every thought of the enemy, capture them and make them bow to the word of God. Refuse to dwell on those lies. Speak out the words of God as Jesus did. Use words against those evil lies of Satan. Every thought that doesn’t exalt Jesus Christ must not be allowed to roam in your heart instead subject it to the truth of God’s word. Don’t let the devil’s lies change the truth. The enemy can give you imaginations and suggestions that will create fear in your heart but you need to capture them.

Let the Bible be your only source of truth. The greatest wrong you can do to yourself is to believe everything you hear from human beings. Learn to think for yourself by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The bible says ” judge all things” (1 Corinthians 2:15). Avoid exposing your heart to demonic deceit because if it gets your heart, it will break your faith. People who contradict God’s word are in the dark, irrespective of whatever bible verse they quote.

Don’t take your focus from what Christ accomplished for you on the cross. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it. The devil will try to move you away from this, never forget that you are already reconciled with Christ through His death. Continue believing in the gospel you have heard – don’t drift away from it. My life is a great example of this. When I accepted the lies of the devil, I lived a defeated life and I had no testimony of victory. I was toxic and I spread that same lies I believed thinking it was the truth. However, when I sought the truth, God opened my eyes and turned my situation around. I had peace, no stress and victory. The life of God’s love began to show through me with no effort. The Lord was at work in me.

We cannot be empty vessels that lack the message of Christ. We need to have rich revelations of Christ. Empty vessels are playgrounds for the devil. If you don’t continue to fill your heart with the word of God, you will become empty and a habitat for the devil to breed. Whenever you run into challenges, you ought to run to God first and not the world. Many people first run to the world before they run to God.

The gospel is not about what men do but about what Jesus did. The blood washed us clean, that’s why we can walk boldly into the presence of God. When He died, we died, buried and rose with Him. There is no mention of what we did in the life of Christ. It was a gift that God gave to us. It was pure grace from God. Eternal life is the life of Christ that He came to give us. It has been given to us already.  It is not something God plans to do; it is something He has already done. All you need to do is receive Jesus into your life and you will have this life.

The gospel reveals God’s righteousness which is being offered to you. God 
 has credited you with His righteousness because of what Jesus did (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are safe from the judgement to come because of what Jesus did. Let people know that Christ is able to keep them from the wrath of God. God has put the judgement of our sins on Jesus.

Our message should give hope and enlightenment to the people and not crush their spirit. Minister grace whenever you speak. Let them hear you and feel revived. We have been delivered from the power of Satan and sin has been dethroned in our lives, we are no longer slaves to it. If you believe, you experience it all.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of the Living Word Church, New Jersey