If someone handed you a sword today would you know how to use it? Would you know how to hold it properly? Wield it safely and effectively? Defend yourself against an enemy? Protect your family from harm? Why do we need a sword anyway?
We have been handed a sword—a God Sword. Ephesians 6 addresses the Armor of God that we are to put on daily to protect ourselves from spiritual attack. Verse 17 says this, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” We had a pretty cute discussion about spiritual “helmet hair” last week in one of the Facebook groups, but this sword of the Spirit is a different matter. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God—my Bible. How many of us have a Bible in our home, on our night stand or bookshelf, or in our car and we rarely use it? Do we really know what is inside it? Do we know the One the Book reveals to us? We are missing out on the power of God in our lives because we do not learn how to use our weapon.
If a warrior was sent into battle the same day he was given his sword, chances are good the warrior would not come back alive. That same warrior needs training and experience to be able to handle his sword effectively. Owning a sword does not make him an effective warrior, using the sword does. Lisa says she had a revelation that “many of God’s daughters in this generation are unarmed…ill equipped and unprepared. It…means they are at risk and incredibly vulnerable to deception” (p. 19).
The Bible warns us against the double-edged sword of false teachers/prophets and deception.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). The only way to know the truth, to be able to test the spirits, is to know God. You have to know His character, see if what the teachers (or people in general) are saying is consistent with what you know about God. Are the teachers teaching the “whole” gospel? There are many factions of believers in the world who are holding to small pieces of the God sword. Each piece, used individually, is ineffective to defend and protect us from the evil one.
What good is a blade with no point, or a handle without a guard? The sword bearer will be injured and perhaps killed if not properly equipped. A broken sword is useless to the warrior, BUT useful to the enemy. As Christ-followers we need to be properly equipped with the whole Bible, not just the pieces we like and disregard the rest. Let’s figure out how to unite our fellow believers so that we are using the whole counsel of God against our enemies.
Lisa says, “All that we require to reassemble these weapons of battle in this season can be found in God’s Word. Every piece large and small is already awaiting our unified, living declaration. If it takes a furnace of hardship to bring us to a place of unified prayer so that what was separated can be seamlessly joined together, so be it” (p. 23). It is time for the Mighty Warrior Princesses to study, pray and declare the Bible is TRUTH as a whole and learn to use it to influence others. “The Word of God is ALIVE, POWERFUL, PERFECT, and PURE” (p. 23).
There was one more very profound truth on page 23. “Satan is not afraid of a disjointed church that wields pieces or fragments of God’s mighty Word, but he will tremble in terror at the church that rises up with the sword of his Word re-forged and expressed through our lives.” We have to know more than our favorite verses. That piece may get us through sometimes, but we need to know ALL the Word to help us through a LIFETIME.
The world will truly see REVIVAL when the church unites to use our strengths to work together instead of tear each other apart. Let’s learn to use our swords. It’s time to TRAIN. We have to get strong in the Lord and be of good courage. Oh, and one more thing, “swords are used on enemies, not friends.” Let’s band together, sharpen each other as we practice using our God Sword and fight the enemy!
Lift your WHOLE sword high,
Teresa
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Let’s Pray:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the sisters You have given us to sharpen us. Thank You that we can speak truth from You into each other’s lives. Lead us to a deeper understanding of Your Word and help us to hide it deep within our being. Enable us to use the truth to defend and protect us from the deceiver and false teachers. Guide and protect us as we band together and learn to wield the whole counsel in the Bible and not just our favorite parts. Your Word is Holy and complete. We do not want to be found guilty of diminishing its value in our lives. Thank You, Father for the opportunity to be in this place, in this time, to stand for You. Help us as we learn new skills to apply to our lives. AMEN.
