The Helmet of the Hope of Salvation

 "And take the helmet of salvation ..." (Ephesians 6:17)

Yes, the Helmet, the head gear to protect our minds, our thoughts, our heads.

It's really amazing how many fiery darts come shooting at us every day.

And for the longest time, I was constantly tempted to put out these fires on my own.

The past two weeks, it has fully and finally dawned on me how fully encompassing is the Cross of Jesus Christ!

He has paid for all our sins: past, present, and future.

There is nothing more that needs to be done. There is no more extra work or effort needed to pay the price, to count the costs, to settle the bill.

Jesus dropped the charges because He took on the entire punishment!

If there is any tension, any shame, any condemnation, or sense of fire or anger or bitterness or condemnation in the back of my head, the answer is "It's already paid for."

That has been Satan's scam with me for the last fifteen years. I constantly thought all those bad feelings or those fearful feelings were something that I had to deal with.

All of that was mere aftereffects from wrong believing.

Now that I no longer see bitterness from bad memories through any other lens, the bitterness is all gone!

It was never about suppressing the memories or running away from the bad events in my life. It's ALL about seeing that the condemnation is gone!

"I should have done this!" -- PAID

"I wish I had said that!" -- PAID!

"I can't believe I let him get away with that!"  -- PAID!

"Why didn't I see that coming?!" -- PAID

There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). It's all been paid for, and the feelings, the upsets, all of that was paid for, too!

I cannot describe the wonderful rest and refreshing that I have felt in my mind, especially in the back and the base of my head. There's the ongoing feeling of a river, of a fountain just surging in the back of my head. I feel real peace!

I get the fullness of the Cross, and I now understand why it seemed that so many of my prayers were not answered. The issue was that I didn't see all of those negative feelings as already paid for!

Now, there is no confusion!

Thank you, JESUS!