Ephesians 6:17 “Take the . . . sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
So far, we have put on our belts of truth, our breastplates of righteousness, our shoes of peace, our shields of faith, and our helmets of salvation. With this armor, we are protected from Satan . . . but only at a distance. As long as he stays where he is supposed to, we won’t get hurt.
But Satan doesn’t do that, does he? He doesn’t always play fair. Many times, he sneaks past the enemy line, and appears right in our faces! At these times, we are forced to do hand-to-hand combat. All of our armor, so far, has been defensive. If we are fully outfitted, we still may have to just curl up in a fetal position while Satan and his demons kick us and punch us from every side. Even with our armor, that is a pretty scary situation. Even with our armor, those blows can hurt!
But God didn’t leave us without an offensive weapon! He gave us something to fight with – His Word! Hebrews 4:12 – 13 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” I’d say that’s a pretty good weapon to have, when fighting a spiritual battle.
But remember, Satan knows God’s Word even better than most of us do. God’s Word alone has little effect on Satan. Rather, His Word is the sword of the Spirit. If we go around swinging our swords without the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit, it won’t have much effect. But when we use God’s Word in conjunction with the author Himself, we wield a powerful weapon, indeed.
James 4:7 tells us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” By submitting to God, and filling our minds and hearts with His Word, we prepare to do battle with the devil himself. Then, the Holy Spirit will bring the exact Word that applies to any situation, thus handing us our swords. When we wield that sharp, double-edged sword at Satan, he will run like the . . . well, like the devil! We will be left standing victoriously, holding our swords in the air, declaring that our God is the champion!
Dear Father, Thank You for the sword of the Spirit, which is Your Word. Please help me to fill my mind, my heart, and my life with Your Word. Help me to submit to it, and to live it each and every day of my life.
Amen
Thank you for your encouragement and prayer on my blog. Aunty is better but still not recovered. Please keep us in prayer
Will do, Amrita. Glad to hear she is better.
It is to our advantage that we are strongly equipped with the Word of God, which is our double-edged sword where you can attack at both sides, and do a frontal piercing attack. No blunt sides means your constantly on the attack while wielding the sword.
Yeps! We can maximize the use of His Word at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. That way we know how to fully utilize the swiftness of the sword and know when is the best time to strike.
Awesome post in the series of the Well Dressed Warrior! 🙂
Thanks, Daniel! Good points.
Dear Renae,
I like the idea that it is the Holy Spirit who is the penetrating force swinging the sword.
When I was young I often witnessed and even participated in combats where people stroke one another in the head with the Bible.” The bible says this, yes but the Bible also says that.”
Awful using the word of God as a mean of power winning a debate.
So different when one is reminded of a suitable word by the Spirit to help or to find the right way.
I still think that what we did in Sunday School; learning verses by heart, is a good way of having access to the sword when needed.
Being on the wrong side of fifty, I tend to forget, but what I learned in my youth stays.
You are not only a skilled writer, Renae. The heart and mind behind your preaches are even more blessing.
From Felisol
Thank you so much, Felisol. I know what you mean about memorizing scripture when we are young. Though other things fade, those seem to remain. And yes, God brings them to mind at just the right moment, doesn’t He?
I am trying to be diligent in making sure my own children memorize as much scripture as possible. It is so important to hide that “sword” in our hearts, to pull out whenever the enemy may sneak up!
Thanks again, dear sister, for your encouragement.
–r