Brain Attacks -- My Helmet

      The latest theory about the cause of my illness these past two years is a brain stem injury suffered during a fall I had on my dock at the lake. Maybe I should have been wearing a helmet!

      I know Satan attacks me most of all in my brain-- those accusing thoughts of guilt, inadequacy, doubt, discouragement, not to mention all sorts of temptations, usually stemming from my curiosity. But then, why should I be surprised?  What tree bore the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? The tree of knowledge of good and evil! (Genesis 2:17, 3:1-7)

      Isn't it amazing how God has provided beforehand for all of our shortcomings, and instructed us just how to protect ourselves from falling? Look at Ephesians 6:10-17, where Paul describes the "full armor of God," and pay particular attention to Verse 17. I don't remember exactly when I learned that Jesus' name in Hebrew is "Yeshua," meaning "salvation," but I know that it was one of my most life-changing, or at least thought-changing moments. From then on I began to think of Jesus (from the Greek form of Yeshua) as my Helmet, protecting my mind from evil and damaging thoughts, thoughts that take away my power as a witness to God's glory. At some point nearly every day, whenever those "brain attacks" begin, I find myself praying, "Jesus, be my Helmet!"

      "Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.... Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head." (Isaiah 59:1, 16b-17a NASB)