The Helmet of Salvation: Words from the Lord

Hello, welcome to, um, YouTube and Facebook and to Instagram. I know it's early in the morning. Typically I don't go live this early, um, but I have a full day today and I have got to get out what God has given me. And so I don't plan on being up here long today. I do have a, a meeting in about 45 minutes, so I want to get up here and, um to share with you all what God has, um, given me. Thank you so much. Good morning, Tessa. Um, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you so much. And so if you guys aren't able to stay, I'll leave the replay up as well. Um, but today I do want to share a specific, um, word that God gave me, and whatever he want me to actually break it down for, um, you guys. All right, and so again, my name is Shakeeta Torres. I am God's prophetess. I am, uh I always say I'm God's daughter most importantly, okay? Um, I love God's people, I love God's sheep, um, I love the word of God, um, I just, I just love God, I just love God, you, um, God. And I'm also a therapist, I'm a life coach, and so many other things, but most importantly, I'm a daughter of the Most High God, okay? And so before we get started, I do want to go into a prayer, and then, um, I'll share a couple things with you all, and then we'll go right into the word that God gave me. Um, so first and foremost, um, if you have not purchased my book yet, Unashamed, it is available on Amazon. If you go to Amazon and put in my name, Shakeeta Torres— you can see that Instagram, here you go, YouTube and Facebook— you will be able to, um, put my name in and you'll be able to read, I think, like the first 8 pages of the book to kind of get an idea, uh, what it's about and what's in here. But it's a book and slash workbook to, um, help you to become unashamed. You You can, um, also follow the, uh, the Instagram page for this, um, called Faith and Mental Wellness. I just launched a Faith and Mental Wellness directory for those who are faith-based providers like therapists, life coaches, um, those who are nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, health, um, coaches, fitness coaches, for those who, um, want to market their services and they are led by the Holy Spirit. Okay. So check that out, www.faithandmentalwelnessdirectory.faith. Okay, um, also I just launched my, um, program to certify Christian life coaches. If you're interested in that, enrollment is now open. I'm so excited about, um, who we have so far who's a part of the program. I'm excited to pour into them and to help them to hone down on their niche and things like that. So you can go to www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com to, um, read more about that program, okay? Enrollment is open now and it closes in about a week or so, all right? Also, um, Seed the Season, um, part 4 is loading. I will go live with that on next week, okay? Next, next week. It was important that I got this out first, and then I'll get the other word out for that, for that series on next week, okay? So I want to go into prayer and then we'll get into the word. And so, Father, I just bless you this morning for just, um, giving us life, health, and strength. God, I ask you, Holy Spirit, to speak through me. Whatever you want me to say, God, I'll say. I've studied, I sat before you, I've heard what you had to say, God. And so, God, I ask you, God, to go before me and, God, meet your people right where they are. In Christ's name I pray, amen and amen. And so I always have a story, y'all, how God give me like words, okay? And this time is no, no different, okay? Whenever you receiving words from, from the Lord, it— to— for me, it could be a trickle, like a little bit here, right, then a little bit there, right? And so I've actually been like this been stewing with me all week, and every day I wake up, this word keep coming to me. So I'm like, okay God, I got to press and make time to push this word out. Because last night I wanted to go live, but it was late, y'all. I was so tired, I did not want to go and come up here and go live and not really give, um, the word of God, um, its honor and due diligence, right? And be tired. I didn't want to do that. Um, and so I want to share the story of how this word, um, came about. And so this past Sunday, um, me and my daughters had went to Walmart to, um, get some cake decor for my youngest daughter's birthday party she having on this Sunday coming up, okay? And so I'm sitting there minding my business at Walmart looking at cake decor, okay? And this girl comes up to me, you know, ran up and say, hey, excuse me. I'm like, yeah? She said, do you want to, um, do Bible study with me? I kind of paused for a second. I looked at her for a second or two. I said, no thank you, I don't want to do— I don't want to do that. And I said no, um, because I know especially in my area there are a lot of cults out here, a lot of cults out here in human trafficking. And I know especially at the mall, there's been a lot in the newspaper, in the news about, um, these ministries, quote unquote ministries, I'm trying to lure people to them to, um, either traffic them, basically, mainly through like labor trafficking, right? And like occultic practices per se. Okay, so I said no thank you, right? And then she's like, oh, well, she said, well, um, do you believe that God is a woman? And I said, well, I said, no, I don't. I said, but God is whoever you need him to be. He's neither male, male or female. And so she was like, oh, so I'm looking at my notes, you guys. So I'm saying, what happens? She said, well, do you believe— I know she was like, uh, well, do you know that most Christians, um, are doing it wrong and they're, um, not attending the right Sabbath? She said, well, do you know when it is? I said, yes, the Sabbath's on Saturday. I know that. And she was like, well, how come Christians go to church on Sundays? I said, honestly, I said, you know, God is not looking at that. He's looking at heart posture. He's looking at us worshiping him in spirit and truth every single day, not just a certain day of the week, right? And she's like, well, I mean, she's hard to get. Like, she's coming back at me, I'm coming back at her with the word of God, okay? And then she was like, well, do you know that God has certain standards to worship him and we cannot approach him any way any kind of way. There is order and laws. I said, actually, I was like, yes, God doesn't have— I said, God does have standards on how you worship him. I said, but the word of God says once again to worship him in spirit and in truth. Because of Christ Jesus, we can approach God at any given time. We can pray and worship him every single day. We don't have to wait till we, um, check up all these boxes in order to worship and pray and honor God. And I said, what Bible are you reading? She said, KJV. I said, well, your interpretation is not— it's not— it's not right, pretty much. So, you know, she begins, you guys, to get like a little belligerent with me. Her eyes start getting big and she keeps talking, and I'm like, Lord, this girl is crazy. I said, ma'am, please walk away. I said, this is over. I said, please walk away. I'm here with my kids. I don't have time for this. Please. And she's like, well, the word of God said— and she keep— she's getting louder and louder. And my little girl was over there looking at toys, like, you know, I could see her where I was standing. And my other daughter, she's older, she was sitting beside me to my left, and she was like, Mommy, something is wrong with her. Like, she was determined to get me to see what she was saying. And immediately I said, God, she's operating in the spirit of legalism and the spirit of religion, and she has no fruit of the Spirit, because that is not how you minister to God's people when you're doing evangelism. That's not how it's supposed to go. She didn't mention anything about Christ Jesus. She didn't— she was not operating in love. She was operating in control, manipulation, trying to dominate me to make me believe and think what she's thinking and what she's believing. She had no pamphlet in her hand or nothing. Now, this ain't the first time someone came up to me and mentioned, you know, different beliefs to me, but for the most part, no one has ever, you know, tried to attack me in that, in that way, right? They would give me a manual. They would share with me what they, um, their faith. I share with them my faith, right? And we really do have a healthy back and forth dialogue about it, okay? There was no yelling and getting loud or anything of that nature. It honestly was like a respect there, you know? So I'm like, this girl is crazy. And so, um, she didn't have anything of that with her. So y'all, she's still talking to me, I'm walking away. I'm like, girls, come on, let's go, let's get out of here, because I felt myself, I felt my flesh rising up. I'm like, Lord, I'm about to snap on this girl. She better get out my face. Okay, so, uh, me and the girls, we leave, right? And, um, I didn't think anything was of it, but later at Walmart, I saw her again with two other women, like two other girls, uh, that was like walking down the aisle. It was passing the aisle, and she's like, excuse you. I said, you are excused. I'm like, what is the problem? Like, I'm not bothering you, leave me alone. So I knew that I had made her upset, you know, but you're not about to come up my face and like try to like forced me to believe what you believe in. All right, so I get home, um, I told my husband about it. He was like, wow. He was like, you killing that really well. Because I say, yeah, I was like, I was trying my best to. And honestly, that let me know, y'all, I know I know the word of God, but that really show I have truth living on the inside of me because I was able to come back with her with the word of God. And this is exactly how we need to be as believers in the body of Christ, okay? When people are coming to you, I'm not saying doing it in a, you know, a bad way or be, um, rude or disrespectful. Display the fruits of the Spirit: love, patience— she didn't have patience— kindness, right? Um, and be able to articulate what you're saying. But also the word of God says this: if a person is not willing to hear what you're saying, it says dust off your feet and keep on going, keep on moving, right? Keep on moving, right? They're not hearing you. You can't make anybody hear you. All right? You can't change anybody, only God can. And so, um, you know, my daughter said, Mommy, I think you should do a live about this, um, at some point. I said, you're right. I said, I'll pray about it and I'll see, you know, what God— what God says. So that same night, y'all, I went to sleep. I was actually reading my word, reading some things that God has shown me in my dreams, trying to get revelation on some things, right? And so that same night, about 12:30, um, AM, First off, I heard the Lord say, my people needs the helmet of salvation. They need to remember to put on the full armor of God. But really, the first thing he said was helmet of salvation. I saw myself putting on like a helmet on my head when I was asleep, and then he began to give me more interpretation of what I was actually seeking him for. And so I— and so then right after that, y'all, the Lord Holy Spirit woke me up, like my spirit Like, I woke up like that, right? Like, so I was wide awake. I'm like, okay God, let me go ahead and write this down. Let me go ahead and get it written down because I knew that it was very important and God had woke me up so that way I won't forget. Sometimes we can kind of forget, right? It's 12:30 at night, you know, I don't wake up till, you know, the next morning, okay? So I got up, I wrote everything down, and then, you know, I went back to sleep. Well, I tried to anyway. Well, the next day, you know, God begins to just minister to me even more. And what I love about God is that he will often remind me of my own journey, of things I've experienced with him, to make— to drive his word home. And so here in this next part, I'm going to start going into scripture, and I'm start giving you what God— what God gave me. So the first thing, um, is that this girl was operating in the spirit of religion and legalism for sure. In Christian theology, legalism is the idea that by doing good works or by obeying the law, a person earns and merits salvation. So she was trying to say that we had to do certain things to get God's attention and certain things right to pretty much like earn our salvation, otherwise be doomed. She was trying to tell me that, okay. But it says here salvation is not earned according to Ephesians chapter 2 and 8, for it is by grace You have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by work, so that no one can boast. And so people like her— I've seen people like her throughout the years who, they're always bragging about the things they're doing, and, oh, I wear this and I don't wear that, and I don't wear makeup and I don't wear jewelry, and I don't do these certain things, right? But their heart is far from God. They're operating in religion. God is not looking at the outside. And not only that, God is the one that changes us from the inside out, right? And so as leaders, you know, wherever you are across the world, wherever you're ministering to God's people, you have to minister to them the good news of Christ Jesus, you guys. And as you draw them in, God is the one that's doing the work in them, not us. We don't give them salvation. Salvation is a free gift. You don't earn it. All we have to do is receive it by faith, by faith, okay? That's it, by faith, okay? All right, and so I put here, I was reading some more, okay, God, and God was just giving me boom boom boom boom so much last night. So a religious spirit places emphasis on doing outward things to show others that God accepts him. We deceive ourselves into believing that we can win God's approval through a religious dress code, certain spiritual disciplines, particular music styles or even doctrinal positions. We deceive ourselves into believing that we can win God's approval through, um, what we say and what we do for other people. And but most importantly, God wants to deal with your heart. And so in the New Testament, this is what the Sadducees— um, this is what the Pharisees and Sadducees did. They were always trying to, um, prove themselves by the outward appearance, but their heart was wicked. Okay, they was very judgmental. They put more pressure on the people that followed them than they did on them, on themselves, to make them earn salvation. There is so much scripture, you guys. If you go right now and go to Google, uh, explain to me about the Pharisees and what they did to God's people, whatever, it'll come up in scripture. Okay, so take out time to go and look at that. So let me share my quick testimony with you all about how God had to break the spirit of religion off my life. Okay, and so I, you know, was, um, when I first came into the things of God, it was beautiful, all right? But this ministry also had religious viewpoints and also legalism, and I didn't know that as a babe in Christ. I didn't realize that that's what that was. I had no idea that even existed, you know? And so, um, one of the things that was, um, heavily, um, pushed was to pray, pray, pray, which is great, right? Pray, pray. But I was conditioned at some point to think that I had to pray to God, you know, a certain way, a certain time, a certain posture. And so at this point, we're not at this church anymore. Um, God had actually sent me and my family to a valley season, to be honest, okay? And so me, my husband, and my oldest one— she was like maybe, what, 1 at this time, not even 1 year old yet— we were living in Georgia. And, um, so in Georgia, you know, we had left everything that we had known, right? I was definitely in postpartum. I mean, it was so— I mean, I just felt like God, like trying to find a church home, and God had not planted me anywhere. And I understand that. I understand why, because God was trying to pull some of the old stuff off of me and transform my mind in certain areas that I had picked up from, from this other ministry. And so I remember, um, you know, at this time I was working, and I had a job out working in hospice. I loved it, but I also was like very spiritually sensitive too to the environment. I remember one day I was in the kitchen and I was cooking, my husband on the couch watching TV, and I was like, oh my God, I said, God, I'm so tired. I said, Lord, I'm so tired. So when I get done cooking this food, I said, I'm gonna go, um, tonight when, you know, everybody goes to sleep, I'm gonna go to my prayer closet, I'm gonna pray and just ask you to just refresh me, right? And so I said that, and then in that moment my husband says this, babe, do you feel that? Did you feel that wind? I said, feel what, y'all? By that time, this gush of wind like came through my body twice, and through my back, whoosh, and I fell to the floor. And I was like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And so you got— I'm sorry, I hope my, uh, thing did not cut me off. They say I have 5 minutes. 5 minutes left on Instagram because of my, um, my timer. But in that moment, I felt light as a feather, and I was like— and I felt like I was floating, and I was like— it's hard to cry because in that moment, I'm like— the Holy Spirit was like, you're trying to wait to come to me, you know, at a certain time and make sure you do this and make sure you do that, when all you have to do was ask me right now in this moment, and I will do it for you. I didn't have to wait until I went to bed at night. That's religious. That is like a form of also legalism, right? And so we don't have to wait till we get to church on Sunday or on Saturday, wherever that you go, on Wednesday night or Thursday night, whenever you go to seek the Father, to ask God to do, you know, to refresh our soul, to praise him. And so, excuse me, for me, you know, I praise God all throughout the day. Like, sometimes it just hit me randomly and the Holy Spirit begins to minister to me. And so, so you got to think, our time is not God's timing. Okay, God so desperately wants us to rid our minds of this mindset that we have to worship him or honor him a certain way, right? And you do, he has standards, but the pure— but, but, um, the number one standard is worshiping and worshiping God in spirit and in truth, you guys. Coming to him with your heart, coming to him with, you know, a pure heart, right? First of all, asking God, forgive me of my sins, I, I repent, Lord Holy Spirit, come into my mind, come into my heart. And God can do that at any given moment. We don't have to have a checkbox, you guys, to worship God. And so in this, what God was showing me, that in this next hour, and this what's going on now and what's to come, we can't afford not to, you know, afford to operate in religion. We need to operate in spirit and in truth, because what I experienced is only the beginning. It's only the beginning, you guys. We're gonna encounter so many people as believers who are gonna try to challenge us and make us forfeit and make us, you know, I'm not believe that Christ is real and so much more. And God told— I said, okay God, you told me the helmet of salvation. So the helmet of salvation protects what? It protects your mind, it protects your identity, it protects how you see God, it protects your— it just protect— it protects so much. Think about a helmet in the natural realm. A helmet in the natural realm, like riding a bike, riding a motorcycle, it protects what? Your head. Your head, you guys. Put on the full armor of God according to Ephesians chapter 6. Read it. If you can't read it, I urge you every day. I also did a live, um, probably I think in the fall last year. I did two different ones. One was called The Power of the Armor of God where I shared, um, my testimony and I broke down the different parts of the armor and what it mean and what it's for. And then I also did one called Are You Spiritually Deceived where I also share my story about how I used to be deceived by people so much so And God had to really train me and break that off of me too so that I can be operating in truth, you know what I'm saying? And so like, none of us are exempt from being deceived, okay? If you go look at, uh, you know, YouTube now, wherever you are, I saw this man say he was— I forgot the guy's name— he said he's the Messiah. This man that came forth and said he was Jesus, y'all, in the— he— Lord have mercy. And I was looking at this, and the first thing that came to me was that many would come in my name, you know, claiming that they are the Messiah. He's not the Messiah. He— and people believe him. He has thousands of people following him and believing him that he is Jesus, okay? And so then not only that, um, also I saw another, uh, YouTube video where a man of God who was supposed to be a pastor was saying how he had went to heaven and he had went to hell, and he was explaining it. And I think— I'm not sure if you guys know a guy named Nick Jones on, um, on YouTube. I follow him and look at some of his stuff sometimes too. And you know, he, uh, shared a video. He was saying, what do you guys think? And in that moment, I heard the same thing. Holy Spirit said, many will come in my— will come in my name claiming to be the Messiah, right? And so when people are saying they've been to heaven or they've been to hell, like, especially when it's fresh, like, your reaction, your response trying to explain it is not going to be calm. Yeah, I went— you're going to be like excited, you're going to be on fire, you're going to be like in awe because experiencing those things is like none other, you know. I've never been to heaven before, as far as I know, you know. I have it, you know, or hell, you know. And but I just know this, when I have encounters with God himself, it will— it blows your mind. It blows your mind. This man was acting like it was like nothing, like another day. I'm like, no, you didn't— you didn't go to heaven or hell, sir. You did not. Because your response and how you're responding and all your videos that you're showing us does not show any fruit or any of that, of that nature. All right, so you guys don't be deceived. Um, also, I think it was Oh, it was time to time you guys out. Hopefully— there we go. Uh-oh. All right, can you guys hear me on Instagram? Okay, I'm back. So, um, also, um, me and my husband, you know, we were in prayer. Like, let me see, what's the day? Thursday. I think it was that Tuesday because Sunday that happened with the girl. Um, same night God gave me the word. So that, I think it was Monday or Tuesday, I can't remember the exact date. And, um, he was saying that God was saying that he was so disappointed with so many believers because we are allowing ourselves to be so easily deceived and swept away by what people are saying and about what, um, people are doing. We have to seek the Father, you guys, in this hour, because you will be swept away and you will be deceived and operate in error. You— I don't care who they are, if it's me, your pastor, whoever it is, like test the spirit by the spirit. Look in the word of God— excuse me— ask God questions. God, is these people from you? Father, show me. And sometimes people can, you know, teach in error and not realize it. I had before— I've definitely taught before things. I'm like, oh man, I'm not really sure about what I just said. And I go back, I'm like, oh, let me get that right. I try my best to go back and correct it. But any of us can operate in error, but operating in error and deception is two different things. It's not Okay, even with Aaron, go back and read it. Go back and read it, you guys. Read the word. Okay, see what else the Lord gave me. And so here, a scripture too about, um, the law. So Romans chapter 6:14 says this: For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law but you are under grace. And so the New— the Old Testament is, you know, law, right? We have the Ten Commandments. Now I'm not saying that they're not important for us today, because they are. But Christ came and he was the sacrificial lamb for us, because he knew that in our own strength we could not withhold the Ten Commandments, y'all. We cannot, okay? And not only that, he ripped the veil. He ripped the veil so that way we can have access to God at any given time. In the Old Testament, they— only the priest could go to God. Only the priest, you know, he had to take a, you know, a lamb or whatever God had him take and sacrifice it for the people, okay? The people were not able to even, you know, access God in that way. But because of Christ Jesus and what he did for us, you guys, we have access to God. You have access to God, okay? Remember that. And this is why I have this book that God told me to write called Unashamed, because many times, um, shame will cause us to hide from God. Shame will cause us to, um, feel like God doesn't love us or care about us, right? But God wants to break that condemnation spirit. Condemnation is not of God. Does God correct us? Yes, he does. Does God convict us? Yes, he does. But he does not condemn us and want us to sit in the mistakes we have made and things we have experienced in our lives. So I encourage you to get this book, workbook slash book. It will bless your life. We'll get it for somebody else who you think may need it. Um, So this is all I have, you guys. I thought I'll be here a little bit longer, but guess what? God is good. So I'm gonna pray us out and I will let you guys go, and, um, I will talk to you guys, uh, later. Um, if you want to watch the replay, the replay, it will be up on, um, Instagram, Facebook, and on YouTube as well. And I probably put it on my podcast too. I try my best to do that today whenever I have, um, whenever I have a chance. Um, so Father, I just thank you right now, Lord God, for your word. Holy Spirit, I pray, God, that you said what you— that, um, I pray that, God, Holy Spirit, I've said what you wanted me to say. Um, Holy Spirit, I pray for your people today, God, that you'll be a hedge of protection around them. Holy Spirit, continue to encourage them. Continue, Lord God, to show them who they are, that, God, they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Holy Spirit, I pray, God, that they would not operate in the spirit of deception but in truth. God, God, help them to understand truth. Help them to understand and come into the full knowledge of who you are, and that God, you are a good, good Father. You are a loving Father. You are always waiting for us to come back to you, Lord God, and to seek your face. God, help us, God, to seek your face in this hour. Help us, God, to take everything to you and test it, Lord God. Test it through your word. Test it through the Spirit. Test it by waiting on you and not being hasty and not trying our best, Lord God, to, to just make something be what it really isn't, God, because the enemy is lurking. He is waiting for any chance he can get to sweep God's people away and cause us to forfeit or to be powerless. Lord God, we are not powerless. God, through your son Christ Jesus, God, we have authority, we have power, we have wisdom, we have insight, we have knowledge. So God, show us, God, how to tap into that, Lord. And so Father, as we go about our day on today, Lord God, be with us. Lord, speak to us. God, minister to us, Holy Spirit. In Christ's name I pray. Amen and amen. Amen and amen. So let me see if you guys have any, uh, comments up here before I end that you want me to answer. Okay, so good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning. So yes, all I have for you all, and I will see you guys soon. All right, um, bye to Facebook and Instagram. Thank you so much for joining in, and I will see you guys next time.