Dear beloved: The last piece of gospel armor that we put on is the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive piece to be carried or strapped to the girdle over the loins. Ephesians 6:17b, and the sword (gr.machaira) of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The sword obviously is very sharp and is used to pierce and cut the enemy. The best description of the sword is given in Hebrews 4:12, for the word of God is living and active (KJ quick and powerful) and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and the spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge (discern) the thoughts and intents of the heart. And so we see that the sword is used to pierce, to cut, to separate, and that it is powerful, quick, and sharp; with a weapon as mighty as that we should definitely keep it with us at all times.
Psalm 119:49 Remember the word to Thy servant, in which Thou hast made me hope. v50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that Thy word has revived me. v103 How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! v104 From Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. v105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto Thy path... When Satan came to tempt Jesus and tear the kingdom of God away from Him as recorded in Matthew chapter 4, three times Satan tempted Him and three times Jesus replied, it is written, it is written, it is written, and then Jesus quoted the old Testament scripture that would counter that temptation. Jesus defeated Satan with the word of God, and that is the example for us in our daily battle with the enemy; pull out some verses of scripture and recite them back to the enemy and watch him flee! In every situation, start agreeing with what God's word says about the situation, and not what the enemy is saying. Speak to the enemy of your family, your health, your children's salvation, your freedom from addictions, your finances, speak the word of God and watch; the enemy of our soul has no weapon that can defeat the word of God, so therefore, he has to go!
The enemy has a sword also, but it is nothing compared to the word of God. Psalm 37:12 The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him; For He sees his day coming. v14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. v15 Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken. Beloved, we are in battle. Please read today the tenth chapter of Joshua. Joshua goes up against the five kings of the Amorites, they are all representatives of the demonic kingdoms that we fight against every day. But in Joshua 10:8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you." v28 Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. ....and then Joshua went on to strike down all the kings of the Amorites, and their people, and he left no survivors. That is our example of warfare; strike the enemy, and leave no survivors.
Beloved, in the days ahead there will be attempts to separate the children of God from the word. Already in some places in America persecution is arising because of the word of God, note the "hate crimes" legislation which is intent on silencing the truth of the gospel. Also there are attempts being made to zone out church construction, home based bible studies or church meetings. This is just a foretaste of what is to come. Hide the word in your heart, study it, memorize it, quote it to yourself, to your children, to your friends, and to your enemies. Keep it handy so you can slice up the enemy with it whenever he comes to defeat you. Paul sums it up in Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. We are conquerors, rejoice! Our weapons are mighty! God bless you as you go into battle this day, in Christ, Jim
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