Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Eph. 6:16-18 (KJV)

I will like to use this media set to welcome all into the mouth of April. From the beginning of this year 2020, the world has been shut down by the pandemic, Corona Virus. Ten thousands of people have been sent to their early grave and the world is struggling for the vaccine to exterminate this pandemic from our world. The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2). The disease was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019.

However, there have been in circulation various sources of information about the origin of the Covid-19. Some claim it is a biological weapon by the Chinese against the USA. Others claim USA is the brain behind it all. Conspiracy theorists have embraced the novel coronavirus as a source for spinning new joke, and they received a major boost.

In a series of tweets, Zhao Lijian promoted the theory, without evidence, that the U.S. military is responsible for the pandemic by bringing it to China last October, giving new fodder for a narrative churned out on the Chinese internet. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has meanwhile branded the outbreak the “Wuhan Virus,” named after the Chinese city where coronavirus first started to spread, since March 5. That’s prompted accusations from some as stigmatizing Chinese people, but a State Department official told ABC News that it’s a deliberate effort “to counter [Chinese Community Party] disinformation,” like Zhao’s.

Altogether, it is a sign of not just the tensions between the two world powers, but also the growing battle over information in the 21st century with Russian disinformation efforts also spreading conspiracy theories about an alleged U.S. role, according to U.S. officials.

For China, the intentional spread of disinformation about the outbreak is as much about casting its response as superior to America’s as it is about defending its reputation at home, where the Chinese public has expressed strong dissatisfaction online with the government’s slow, opaque response – including an effort to crack down on whistle blowers in the early days of the outbreak.

Fellow believers, I know someone reading this devotion now is confused and asking if this is part of the needful Christian information. It is, since we are part of the culture. The word of God in 2 Corinthians 2:11 admonishes us; “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (KJV)

From the text I provided at the opening of this devotion, Paul is advising us to put on the “helmet of salvation”. In my subsequent presentations this week, I pray the Holy Spirit helps us understand how we can handle information coming from different sources so that the mindset of the believer in Christ, will not be infested.

Prayer: From today, I employ the efficacy of the heavenly helmet over my soul in Jesus’ Name…. AMEN!