Sword of the Spirit

Ephesians 6:17
“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I was so excited about the helmet of salvation and protecting our minds from satan’s attack in my last post that I decided to break this up into two entries and really give undivided attention to the sword of the Spirit.

We need to remember that Paul is writing to the Ephesians a group of Christians that lived in Ephesus. The time was about 60 A.D.

It is believed that this letter was intended to circulate throughout all the different churches (first chain letter.) I doubt if he requested anyone to send dishcloths or a recipe to the first person and add their name to the bottom though.

A sword is a weapon. It is used to fight the enemy and many people read this verse and relegate the sword of the Spirit to the Bible, the Word of God and that is what it means by very broad definition. However, if we look at this a bit closer I think we will all be blown away at exactly what God has placed into our keeping to fight the enemy with.

In a fight a soldier had to be adept at many different types of swords. There was not only one sword that fit all occasions. There were long swords, short swords, broad swords, and daggers. A soldier had to be equipped to fight with each different type of sword and in order to use the sword effectively a solider had to study and practice and know the parts of his sword.

If you look above at the sword you will see that there are many different parts to the whole. There is the pommel and the grip; this is where a solider would hold the sword. The cross-guard protected the hand of the swordsman from his own sword and the pommel gave (It is impossible to fight if the arm is rendered useless.) As we move down the body of the sword, to the blade itself we can see that there are different attributes and benefits. The pommel helps hold the hilt together, but what you cannot see is so important. It’s called the tang. You do not see the tang when you examine the sword, but it is placed there during a swords’ creation and is essential for joining the blade and hilt together.

While moving down the sword, just beyond the hilt to about halfway down the blade is the strongest part of the sword. It is also called the “forte”. Forte also refers to someone’s strength, something at which they excel.

As we move down the blade, we reach the central ridge. This is the weakest part of the sword and is also called its foible. A foible is also translated to mean a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect.

Now that you probably know more about swords then you EVER wanted to know, lets look again at Ephesians 6:17.

“…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

There are many of us that are misunderstanding this verse. It is not applying to just “The Bible.” We have to go deeper and look at how the King of Kings wielded this mighty weapon.

Each verse is a sword and we have to understand The Word, read The Word, and memorize The Word so that we may fight. Satan knows the bible; he knows the Word of God and cannot stand against it. Look at Mathew 4:1-11. Satan battles Jesus in the desert. He tempts Him and Jesus, verse by verse, wields the sword of the Spirit and defeats the King of Lies. But Jesus had to know the scripture, just as we have to know it. He had been in the desert 40 days, he was physically hungry and his body was weakened. Satan attacked during what he perceived as a weak period.

Satan said to him, “ If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

How many times have you been tempted? “If you only had ______, if you could only do ______, but it is only ________, then you would be _______. You can fill in the blanks, we all have the blanks and the weaknesses and the temptation.

But Jesus knew His heavenly Father’s Word and fought back against that temptation by saying,

“It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Can’t you just hear the clanging of the blades as they come together? See the sparks fly? Feel the vibration flow down the blade into the hilt and up the arm. We are at war and the battles will be intense.

Sharpen your sword and make sure your blade is straight and true. Reading our bible and comprehending and memorizing scripture makes your sword arm strong and perfects your aim.

Accepting God into your life connects your hand (the hilt) to God’s word through the tang (Holy Spirit) living in you. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, but the Holy Spirit is absolutely imperative to hold it all together.

And we must come together as soldiers in this war so my strengths and weakness can be complimented or covered over by your strengths and weakness. (Forte and foibles)

Find a bible that you can understand and memorize God’s word, discuss it with fellow Christians and get involved in learning more every day about how to fight the good fight. God wins the war, but the battles are intense. Armor up and ensure your blade is sharp. We are in the thick of this battle, up to the hilt. From head to foot, protection is important, but the most important is what you use to fight back and defeat the enemy. Sharpen your sword.

Helmet of Salvation

Ephesians 6: 10-18


The Armor of God

Today I want to draw your attention to two parts of this passage. First, verse 17 states,

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

The helmet of salvation. It’s not a stretch to understand the importance of protecting our heads. We wear helmets when we ride a bike, motorcycle, or play football (go Heels), etc. Many jobs require us to wear helmets as well.  A helmet is required to protect our skulls from injury. There are people that refuse to wear a helmet because it doesn’t look cool, it’s uncomfortable, or they are under the false impression that nothing could happen to them. Unfortunately, there are many examples of people whose lives are forever changed all due to the fact they were not wearing a helmet and were injured or died. There are also a lot of examples of people who were wearing helmets, which protected them when involved in horrible accidents. I know that you all know the importance of protecting our skulls from injury but what about our minds and our thoughts?

When we put on the FULL armor of God that requires the helmet of salvation but you don’t walk around day to day with a helmet on, (perhaps if you are as prone to accidents as I am you should though). Again, we are talking about imagery. Understand what a helmet does, what it protects but also because it protects, what does it allow you to do? When you have on a helmet you can walk into a construction site and your skull is protected from falling debris, low hanging beams, harmful things that are all around you. You can walk with confidence and concentrate on your job. The helmet of salvation does the exact same thing.

Ephesians 1:13 (New International Version)

13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Having believed. We are required to accept the word of truth, that God sent his one and only Son, SO THAT, who ever believes in HIM shall have eternal and everlasting life. The helmet of salvation covers our mind because satan will come at us intellectually, tempting us to question, to doubt, to distrust. He did it with Adam and Eve in the garden. There wasn’t 1,001 different temptations running around the garden, there was only one and Satan used it, “did God really tell you that you would die if you ate of the fruit of this tree.” Doubt, loop hole, temptation.
But God…

God knew that we could not defeat Satan on our own and so He, in his wisdom, provides us with a beautiful set of instructions on how we are to fight my friends. We are to protect our minds but reading God’s word, praying and deepening our relationship with God.  We are to trust God in all that we do, not just when it’s convenient or when we are going through things that are really hard. How long do you want to be in a relationship with someone who only comes to you when they want something?

There are so many things about the helmet of salvation and all that it covers (pun intended) but for today, and due to the fact I have to get to work, accept that your salvation covers you from the head down, it protects you from a horrible existence (hell) and it also enables you to walk through this life and do the job that God has created you to do.

God, thank you for the awesome gift of salvation that you gave to us when you sent your son to walk on this earth, lead by example a perfect existence, and then paid the ultimate price by being nailed to the cross. Help us to honor that gift every day in our walk with you God by living each day as your humble servants. You are wonderful and marvelous and how amazing it is that You love each one of us. Thank you God.

 I thought we would cover both the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit but we will talk about the sword tomorrow (Saturday post!!!). I’m also going to be doing a giveaway this weekend for my birthday so be sure to stop back by.

Ephesians 6:16 Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6:16

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

I have always pictured a shield this way. A single component, used in a battle one on one.

However, a shield can also be implemented with a group of soldiers in a very effective way. There are several references made to how Mark Antony used the shield to overcome insurmountable odds, however, the soldiers had to work together.

Cassius Dio writes about the testudo when describing the campaign of Mark Antony in 36 B.C. : "this testudo and the way in which it is formed are as follows. The Baggage animals, the light-armed troops, and the cavalry are placed in the center of the army. the heavy-armed troops who use the oblong, curved and cylindrical shields are drawn up around the outside, making a rectangular figure, and, facing outward and holding their arms at the ready, they enclose the rest. the others who have flat shields, form a compact body in the center and raise their shields over the heads of all the others, so that nothing but shields can be seen in every part of the phalanx alike and all the men by the density of the formation are under shelter from missiles. Indeed, it is so marvelously strong that men can walk upon it and whenever they come to a narrow ravine, even horses and vehicles can be driven over it. "

A shield protects from a direct or glancing blow. It protects in close battle and in attacks made from a distance, but, if we do not know how to use a shield then it becomes useless. Shields can be very heavy and awkward to use without pratice and strenthening our muscles. A young man trained from a very early age with lighter, less cumbersome pieces of armor until he became comfortable and then he would be given increasingly heavier weapons. A solider was equiped for battle over a period of time, he did not just wake up one morning and ta-da, he was a soldier ready to go to war. We do not wake up and “poof, we are Christians ready to do battle.” Just as a solider prepares for battle every day of his life, Christians must prepare every day. Our shield of faith is part of that preperation.

Satan will attack from each and every corner of our lives. Areas that we feel we have in control, Satan will undermine, relationships that we think are solid, Satan will try to erode, beliefs that we have held as sacred Satan can attempt to chip away. Friends, it is all around us, every single day we are in a battle with the king of lies and deceit. By weilding the shield of faith we can protect not only ourselves but those around us from satan’s attack. How do we use this weapon though? Dr. Martin Luther writes it better then I ever could. Read his words on faith here.

faith is God's work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God. (John 1:13)

So our faith is something that we can only obtain by our trust in God the Father. Faith is not created out of what we “do” or how “good” we are. (You can’t do enough and you can’t be good enough.) We do not know what lies ahead. (But that’s okay, God does) We cannot know what tomorrow is going to bring. (But that’s okay, God knows). We can only move forward in faith believeing that our Heavenly Father will be there to give us the strength we need to get through each day.

That strength comes through faith, and we strengthen our faith by using it daily, so we can boldly step into battle, raise our shield and know that with the shield of faith in place satan’s arrows will fall short, his blows will be glancing, and he will not be able to get to our hearts. We will be able to hold everything together with God’s truth (belt of truth), that our hearts will be protected with God’s armor (breastplate of righteousness) and because we know that what we believe is The Truth we will be able to stand firm because are feet are fitted with the gospel of peace. And just like the soldiers who stood together and lifted their shields, how much stronger are we as Christians when we come together and stand side by side, and can move as one, protecting our brothers and sisters and moving through this battle together.

Start working your faith muscle. Trust in God starting today in ALL THINGS. Allow Him to lead you in this battle. Reach out to your friends that are Christians and stand beside them. Your shield doesn’t have to be huge. Your shoes don’t have to fit perfectly, your belt doesn’t have to be through each belt loop and your breastplate can be a little small right now. It’s okay, but stand my friend. Put it all on, others can help you get used to it. There is no time to wait until you “get it right”. We are at war and today is the day that you can lift your shield of faith and step into battle.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.

A breastplate was used during a time of battle to protect the heart, the internal organs, the weakest and most vulnerable part of the body. Righteous by definition is:
 
right·eous (rī'chəs) adj.
          1. Morally upright; without guilt or sin: a righteous parishioner.
          2. In accordance with virtue or morality: a righteous judgment.
          3. Morally justifiable: righteous anger.

To be without guilt or sin. Are any of us without sin? No, that is why we have Jesus, and with Jesus we can embrace the relationship with God, a relationship that is without guilt and without sin. To go boldly before our heavenly Father, to thank Him for our blessings that He bestows and to ask for His aid in our endeavors.

That’s the explanation for the verse but how do we apply it? We have already covered the fact that we are at war. The battles that are waged daily between Satan and God’s children are brutal. Our first step is to recognize the enemy and how he attacks. Satan comes against us is our hearts, our emotions, and our feelings. Feelings can be influenced and changed. Feelings are not always constant and we need to realize that Satan knows that too. He can use the lies that he whispers to make us doubt, to make us feel that God cannot forgive us, to harbor unkind feelings towards our family or friends. But with the Breastplate of Righteousness we can move into battle with our heart protected and our feelings true, because they are protected.

When Satan attacks he has many things in his arsenal, but in my opinion, one of his most powerful weapons is to attack our faith. If we start doubting God’s word, His truth, then Satan has made what could be a fatal blow directly to our heart. By striving to be virtuous, moral, without guilt or sin, we can heal the wounds from the past and reinforce the armor for future attacks because my friends, the attacks will come. We need to protect our hearts with the breastplate, to keep all the tender parts safe, our heart whole, and we must step boldly into battle with the knowledge that we are morally upright, without guilt or sin, and wrap our hearts with righteousness because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.  Armor up, the battle is at hand.

The Belt Of Truth

Last week I started talking about the armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-20 but my ADD kicked in and I got distracted. Seriously…it did…oh look…shiny…

Other things had come up, like the porcine plague and I put the armor of God on the back burner. It’s my blog and I can do that.

So today I wanted to talk more about the armor God has equipped His followers with and how we can use it today. Not many of us have need for real chain mail or plate mail armor. It looks really neat but it’s hard to keep polished and really uncomfortable on the commute to work, not to mention all the weird looks you would get from the carpool at your kids’ school. No, the armor that the Bible talks about is figurative. I had never heard about the armor of God before until last year when I was trying to find something to speak about at the She Speaks conference. I am a very visual speaker, I move a lot and I like to have things for people to relate to. That way if they don’t remember what I said, maybe one of my visuals will lock in a thought or an idea that will simmer in their subconscious and God will use that as a trigger for how they can apply it.

In my talk about the armor of God I was equipped with what I pictured as my “belt of truth”. It was a tool belt that I blinged out with rhinestones and crosses (hey, I told you I saw something shiny). In my tool belt I carried my journal, my bible, my coffee cup and my pens and markers. But we are talking about the belt today. The belt of truth. Ephesians 6:14 states,

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist..”

Yes, there is more to it, stop rushing me. Truth. Truth is the key to everything. If you know the truth then nothing can come against you. Satan uses lies and misunderstandings, criticism and blame, to cause a rift amongst believers. If Satan can cause two Christians to come against each other, then he has won half the battle already. Think about this for a moment, how many times have you jumped to a conclusion, went with the wrong information, ran off at the mouth, spread gossip, or whispered a secret that caused pain or hurt to someone else? All action, all detrimental and all something you probably shouldn’t have done, but look back up at the scripture, “stand firm…” Don’t move, be still (and know that I am ...sorry, ADD moment again.).

Truth.

Jesus starts so many of his lessons with, “I tell you the truth...” John 14:6 states,

                          “ 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
                            No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So your belt, what holds it all together, what binds you, what ties all the rest of your armor together is truth. God’s truth, which can be found in His son, Jesus.

I believe that it’s listed as the first piece of armor because in order to have the rest of it, you have to have that piece first. None of the other works without the truth. I cannot have righteousness, or readiness, or peace, or faith and I cannot fight the Evil one without Jesus, without truth. If Satan is the king of lies, then who do you think is the King of Truth? The truth that God equips us with through His word is how we fight Satan but we can only fight when we know how to use the weapon. We have to learn God’s truth. Satan’s lies permeates everything, the television we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, conversations we have, conversations our kids have, Satan is everywhere, but the cool thing about that is, so is God and His truth works against every single one of Satan’s lies. Get out your tool belt, bling it up if you want to, and put it on. Equip yourself with the truth, God’s truth, so that you can fight Satan’s lies, the ones that come against you in your day to day battle, not only with the outside world, but with the lies that Satan whispers in your head.

Here are a few weapons for your arsenal.

Psalm 139: 13-16

Philippians 1:9-10

Romans 8:38-39

These are only a few of the wonderful truths that can be found in scripture. Read them, study them, and understand that they were written for us and for the battle that we are fighting every single day.