A sword for the fight

Have you ever seen a sword fight? I haven’t seen one in person. But my family watched The Princess Bride last night. The sword fights are replaying in my mind this morning. It’s really quite impressive how the sword is both offensive and defensive. As the enemy takes his stabs, the sword blocks or deflects them to protect from deadly injury. And when the enemy lets his guard down, for a split second, the sword pierces the flesh and puts an end to the battle once and for all.

The Bible calls the Word of God our sword. In fact the imagery in that portion of scripture is very much about a battle.

Take a look:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:11-17

Yeah, this warrior is ready for battle. And the final two things noted are incredibly important to ensure a victory. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Protect your mind and prepare your weapon.

Your salvation is your assurance that you are in His hands. It’s the thing that enables you to fight with authority and confidence. Not in your ability, but in His. So as the enemy swings his sword you can take your stand against his schemes. As the first arrows fly, let your faith be the shield that they bounce off of.

And take up your sword. When the enemy gets up close and personal with his sword…use yours to deflect. What does that mean? Are we supposed to swing our Bible around like a sword?

Not exactly.

We are supposed to put the Word into our heart so that when the battle heats up we can speak it out of our mouth. In Revelation Jesus is depicted with a two-edged sword in his mouth. In the wilderness, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, He spoke scripture from his mouth to defeat him.

This is our example.

When we are in situations that seem too much for us we can say, “I overcome by the blood of the Lamb and word of my testimony”. When the lies of the enemy come to our mind to make us feel like we are not good enough we can say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. Or when we feel uncertain of the outcome of a situation we can say, “I trust you, Lord, with all my heart”. The Bible has a Word for every situation.

But we have to know the scriptures.

We can’t speak out of our mouth what has not been deposited into our heart and mind. And the only way to make that deposit is to read it. Well, you can hear it too. I suggest searching scriptures on specific topics and writing them down by category. Then reading those lists out loud. I even write prayers from scripture and pray them, out loud.

If there’s ever been a time to take up your sword it’s now. Fight for peace in your home. Fight for healing and hope. Fight for a steady heart and mind.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1