Pick Up Your Sword and Fight
I recently put armor of God charms onto a charm bracelet I have. As I was worshipping, I was looking at it and God showed me that the sword is the only weapon in the armor of God.
There are 6 pieces in the armor set: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:14-17). As I was going through each piece, God showed me that we often try to use what is meant to be our armor as a weapon.
I remembered times I had tried to do battle with my armor. I had tried to fight my battles by reminding myself and the enemy that I am saved (the helmet) or by repeating the truth that I knew (the belt). Sometimes it worked, but then I would be discouraged the times it didn't. Against minor attacks, these things may work, but they were never meant to be what we fight back with. They are meant to guard us and keep us protected when we get hit. They don't attack the enemy, though. Only the sword can do that.
You might not be harmed when fight back by just using the protective pieces that you are meant to wear, but it doesn't wound the enemy. These pieces are meant to protect you. They keep you level headed and remind you of where you stand. They remind you of your status as a child of God, but they don't tell the enemy anything he doesn't already know. They don't scare him off. While you may be protected from that attack, it doesn't mean the enemy fled. He just stands and waits until he can get you again. But, when you attack with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible, there is more power. The enemy gets wounded because, as Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) points out, "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."
The sword of the Spirit is the only part of the armor that is alive, so when you go into battle with it, you are using the supernatural. You are using His strength and so the Holy Spirit comes into the battle with you. Sadly, I think that we've watered down the power of the Bible and the Holy Spirit because we don't use them as much as we should. We are no longer fascinated by its strength. Instead, we are fascinated with the history of how powerful it was, though it seems to have fallen into the status of a myth. Honestly, I want to immediately argue with that sentence, but I can't because if we truly thought it was alive and wielded that much power, why wouldn't we see it at play in our lives?
We have in our hands the fiercest weapon anyone could have in this spiritual battle, yet we wield it as though it can do no harm. We are losing battles and not seeing God's power at an Acts and Gospels level because we don't believe in the power of the weapon He gave to us, and so we are not using it properly. If we would only pick up the sword and actually use it in battle, we would see more dramatic victories.
It is only when we grab hold of the sword of the Spirit (along with the rest of the armor) and use it to fight the enemy that we will truly "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10 NIV).
There are 6 pieces in the armor set: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:14-17). As I was going through each piece, God showed me that we often try to use what is meant to be our armor as a weapon.
I remembered times I had tried to do battle with my armor. I had tried to fight my battles by reminding myself and the enemy that I am saved (the helmet) or by repeating the truth that I knew (the belt). Sometimes it worked, but then I would be discouraged the times it didn't. Against minor attacks, these things may work, but they were never meant to be what we fight back with. They are meant to guard us and keep us protected when we get hit. They don't attack the enemy, though. Only the sword can do that.
You might not be harmed when fight back by just using the protective pieces that you are meant to wear, but it doesn't wound the enemy. These pieces are meant to protect you. They keep you level headed and remind you of where you stand. They remind you of your status as a child of God, but they don't tell the enemy anything he doesn't already know. They don't scare him off. While you may be protected from that attack, it doesn't mean the enemy fled. He just stands and waits until he can get you again. But, when you attack with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible, there is more power. The enemy gets wounded because, as Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) points out, "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."
The sword of the Spirit is the only part of the armor that is alive, so when you go into battle with it, you are using the supernatural. You are using His strength and so the Holy Spirit comes into the battle with you. Sadly, I think that we've watered down the power of the Bible and the Holy Spirit because we don't use them as much as we should. We are no longer fascinated by its strength. Instead, we are fascinated with the history of how powerful it was, though it seems to have fallen into the status of a myth. Honestly, I want to immediately argue with that sentence, but I can't because if we truly thought it was alive and wielded that much power, why wouldn't we see it at play in our lives?
We have in our hands the fiercest weapon anyone could have in this spiritual battle, yet we wield it as though it can do no harm. We are losing battles and not seeing God's power at an Acts and Gospels level because we don't believe in the power of the weapon He gave to us, and so we are not using it properly. If we would only pick up the sword and actually use it in battle, we would see more dramatic victories.
It is only when we grab hold of the sword of the Spirit (along with the rest of the armor) and use it to fight the enemy that we will truly "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10 NIV).
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