Sword… Have you noticed all the pieces of the armor we’ve looked at are for protection? Did you notice there’s nothing for the back side? We are to stand, not run. (see Armor / Feb.4th) Stand…that implies a continued action. We are called to face the assault. We have protection, and we have one weapon to fight with.
‘Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get….Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You will need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon.’ (Eph. 6”13-17 The Message)
We are not to fight with our idea of what is right, (truth), but His. We can’t fight armed in our own good behavior (righteousness), but His. We don’t overcome what we face while sitting on our hands, simply on the strength of faith. ‘faith without deeds? Can such faith save?‘(James 2:14) We have to act on what we say we believe. We are provided what is necessary to secure ourselves, but we are still vulnerable and will never take out the enemy without this one weapon He provides for our armor. The Sword of the Spirit…God’s Word.
God’s Word. Communication from the Almighty. What God has said has been recorded for us by a host of different writers, in 3 different languages, under all sorts of circumstances, from every social rank, kings to peasants, highly educated to absolutely no education, Jews and Gentiles, most of them completely unknown to each other, living over the space of some 1600 years, all telling the same story…. the relationship between God and man, how it started, what went wrong, and God’s rescue…the redemption story.
What God says IS. Period. He said ‘let there be….’(Gen.1) and there WAS. He is the same God, what He says packs a powerful punch…and the opposing forces can NOT over-rule His say-so. What satan can and does do, is deceive us about what God has in fact said. (we make it easy when we haven’t a clue what He said in the first place!)
The first sin was a result of not being sure of what God had said. Satan asked Eve, “Did God really say,’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen.3:1 NIV) Read the complete story for yourself, see how that happened. Learn the tactic the serpent used. He uses it still. Look for God’s Word in that story, what DID He say?
Satan’s agenda is to keep us ignorant of what God has said or make us believe his version (lies) of what God has said. That devil will try to make us question and doubt God’s character and intent about what He has said and why. God has a reason for what He has said, always always a good reason, and for our ultimate good.
You can’t fight without something to fight with. You’ll get slaughtered standing against an enemy with no weapon to take that enemy down. You may manage to stand a short while…but you’ll not stand long, the enemy will USE his weapons. His weapons are a distortion of God’s Word. You are wise to find out the truth of what He says.
