Picture this scene:  You are sitting around the pool at the campground, soaking up some warm sunshine with other women from our group studying Girls With Swords.  Ah, how relaxing! 

I was sitting there with you.  As the sun beamed down upon my face, tears of conviction rolled down my cheeks.  You see, I was reading over the handout sheet Teresa, Jennifer, Tonya, and Diane gave us for Chapter 8 in regards to WORDS—words that I had spoken unkindly to others, words others had used to persecute me, and words that I had omitted speaking as a witness for Jesus.  It was a time of judging myself, and asking forgiveness of the times I had grieved the heart of God.  It was also a time of blessing others who had persecuted me.

Though I didn’t realize it at the time, God was untangling me from some of the weeds I had allowed to grow in my heart that had gotten me off the path of holiness that we would be discussing further in Chapter 9.   Oh yes, those tears actually felt good.  Not only did they seem to serve as a cleansing stream, but cleared a path to go forward.

Before I knew it, it was time to head on down to the campfire to hear what my friends had to say about Sword of Harvest.  Come, go with me.

Teresa: 

Lisa points to the fact that there is only one native North American, all-purpose sword—the machete.  It is made to be used for hard work…clearing a path to walk on, insuring safety, as a tool for many purposes, and even food preparation.

Our sWord is much like a machete—it clears our path and ensures our safety.  For example:

• Deuteronomy 5:33   Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow.  THEN you will live long and prosper in the land you are to enter and occupy.
• Psalms 1:6   The Lord watches over the path of the godly, the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
• 2 Samuel 22:29   God, your light floods my path; God drives out the darkness.
• Proverbs 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.
• 1 Kings 2:3  Do what God tells you.  Walk in the paths He shows you. 

At some point in your life, you will find yourself with a choice.  Which path will you take…the one that ascends to light and life, or the one that descends to darkness and death?  There is no middle way.

I urge you to get to know the Leader and follow His path. Let Him carry the machete and clear your path.  He has a plan that is best for you.  

Jennifer:

According to Jeremiah, God’s people have wandered off the path of holiness (Jeremiah 18:15).

Lisa tells us how to get back on the path:

•  Just as a machete clears paths in the wild, the sword of God’s Word has the power to sever what entangles us.  
• Through the power of His Word, He makes a way where there seems to be no way.
•  Sometimes you need to make a radical environmental change – turn off your television, get off the Internet, and hang up the phone. When all these voices are silenced, you have a chance to quiet yourself as well. This isn’t an invitation to meditate on a deeper revelation of YOU but to experience a deeper revelation of HIM.
• To avoid a hostile re-invasion from the enemy, you mustfirmly establish a new lifestyle and environment 

What changes do you need to make today in order to return to the ancient path…to be a trailblazer like Jesus?  God does not really want us to be comfortable. He wants us on a mission, to reach the lost and hopeless, to be trailblazers for His Kingdom.

Tonya

Lisa examined the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist.  (John was the herald and Jesus was the heralded.)

Herald means:  an official crier or messenger, one that precedes or foreshadows, one that conveys news or proclaims, one who actively promotes or advocates—messenger, crier, foreshadows, proclaims, conveys news, promotes, advocates.

Quoting Lisa: 

•  ” In times of harvest, paths must be cleared and maintained so the harvesters can get to the fields”
•  “John was a forerunner who understood his season and purpose; like him, we should herald the One to come.”

We have been assigned many titles—woman, wife, mother, daughter, friend, employee, girls with swords, warriors—and now we are also heralds. 

Are we clearing the paths or are we adding more barriers for those trying to reach Him?

Diane

Genesis 3:15 says:  Satan will strike His heels (referring to Jesus), but He (Jesus) will crush Satan’s head. 

When we are on God’s path for us, we will encounter Satan, the snake, in many forms. The snake wants us on his path. He will pull out all of his tricks to discourage us on our path for God.

Lisa said:  “Even if the snake is not positioned to strike, it must be removed. Snakes are a threat, but not to God. When we are living our life for Christ, snakes lose their threat to us.”

We have all power and all authority of God behind us, ready to take on that snake! Philippians 3:21 The Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.

We have God’s mighty power behind us, the work has already been done, Satan is already dead, we must continue on God’s path and be prepared princess warriors with the machete of God’s word in our hands and on our tongues at all times!

************   

After Diane spoke, I sat quietly while Praise and Worship began.  I was letting all the words that each lady had spoken sink in. But, tonight God was driving home to me something Diane said about the snake slithering around trying to have us.

It brought me back to a time a few years ago when I was unloading several bags of groceries out of the trunk of my car onto the driveway.  I was going through a hard situation at the time, and I was singing to the top of my voice as I unloaded the groceries:  “The Lord is my light and my salvation.  In whom shall I fear, in whom shall I fear.”

About the third bag I picked up to carry into the house, a tiny lizard jumped out of the bag.  I threw the bag up in the air.  When it met the ground, jars of mayonnaise, pickles, and grape jelly, splattered all over my driveway. 

The Lord spoke ever so gently to me:  “Satan is no more than that tiny little lizard, but yet you allowed it to scare the living daylights out of you.” 

As I recalled that memory, suddenly I began to laugh and laugh and laugh.  My laughter caught on with the other ladies, and suddenly Holy Laughter began to spread all around that bonfire. 

I believe we all were set free and our eyes were opened to see the fields that surround our lives that are white and ready for harvest.

*****

Let’s Pray: 

Father God, how I thank You for Your Word.  It is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.  As Lisa said:  I want to use Your Word to create environments that encourage others to flourish.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.