S213P4 – The qualities of God’s word: offensive

Eph. 6:14-18a

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

I knew that God had shown me my gifting and my calling, and I also knew that He wanted me to start walking in them.  It was like nothing I had tried to do previously, and the newness of the work created questions in my mind.  From the outset of my project, the enemy was quick to whisper in my ear and try to turn my questions into doubt.  I could ignore those whispers for only so long.  Eventually, I had to fight back with my own weapons.  It was no longer an issue of being defensive but of being offensive.  I would have to stand on my faith in what God called me to do by confessing my faith in his very promises. In fact, the only offensive weapon in my arsenal was the word of God itself.

The armor of God is largely defensive.  The enemy tries to come at different parts of us, so we have different pieces of armor to protect those areas.  The helmet guards the mind while the breastplate guards the heart.  Of all our armor, we have only one weapon.  That weapon is the sword of the Spirit, which we can use to cut down the enemy.  That sword is the word of God, and the way we use it is by confessing that we believe in its truth.  When the enemy tries to tell us that we are alone, we confess that God is with us as He has promised.  When the enemy tells us that we are sinners, we confess that we are saints as God calls us.  All we are really doing is diffusing lies with the truth.

When we wield the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, we are utilizing the power of the Father of truth to neutralize the father of lies.  The devil only wins if we buy in to his deception.  All we need to do is discern what is the truth by relying on the word of God.  Once we have identified the truth, then we speak that word as our weapon. When we swing that sword, we need not question whether the blow we strike will be effective.  The devil’s lies cannot stand against God’s truth.  The word of God will prevail, but we must believe in it fully.  Father, keep your word fresh in our minds that we would be prepared to wield our swords at all times.