Sword Fighting

One of the most memorable moments I have of any English class I ever took was during my sophomore year of high school.  We were studying one of Shakespeare's plays (Caesar maybe?) and our school brought in a group that helped us reenact some of the scenes for a week.  One of the most exciting days was the day we learned how to sword fight.  Of course, we weren't using real swords, but the thrill was still the same.

However, there is a way to sword fight that you don't have to take a class to learn (I don't remember anything they taught us, except something about a circle and a lasso).  If you have a Bible, you hold one of the most powerful weapons on earth, and you don't even need a permit!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) says, "¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For 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. ¹³Therefore 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. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."


If you notice, the passage begins by talking about putting on armor and then goes through and explains each piece.  All but one of these things are defensive.  I'd like to focus on the weapon.  The passage says, "Take the helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."  I find it interesting that the Sword of the Spirit is so explicitly labeled as God's word (Scripture) and that they are so closely related.  It's also interesting that we rarely intertwine them.  Often times, we either keep the reading and memorization of Scripture separate from our prayer life.  However, we should be using them together!  It is not bad or wrong to use them separately, but when you mix two things that are so powerful together, they become incredibly more so.  In Beth Moore's book "Praying God's Word", she tackles this subject by showing how praying Scripture is one of our best defenses against the enemy.  It can be used to prevent Satan from getting a foothold in various areas of our lives, as well as help us to freedom from the areas where he has taken us captive and allows us to give ourselves fully to Christ.


I was recently convicted by this and I'm going through the book, taking one chapter a week.  So this week, I'm focusing on praying Scriptures to abolish the idolatry in my life.  No, I don't worship statues of cows or do rain dances or rub a buddha figurine.  Those are all forms of idolatry, although they are not the only ones.  For some people, idolatry may come in the form of a celebrity or piece of entertainment.  For others, idolatry might be food or a relationship or a career.  For some, idolatry might simply consist of self.  An idol is basically anything that a person puts above God or in place of God.  I struggle with self-idolatry (basically pride) and career-idolatry the most, so those are the two that I am primarily striving to abolish.


In this book, verses and prayer examples are given, so if you are not sure how to pray through Scripture, there are a lot of good places to start.  Also, I would encourage you to write some on your own and pray through those, not just once, but over and over again.  Memorizing Scripture is a great way to have the Sword ready at all times, and allows you to renew your mind and allow Christ to overtake it and fill it with Himself.


So I invite you and challenge you to come on the journey with me.  You don't have to go out and buy the book (though I would highly recommend it), but let's transmogrify our way of fighting spiritual battles together.  I will try to consistently write about my efforts to do so, and I'd love to have some feedback about verses you have discovered or how this is working in your life!  


Are you on board?  Awesome!  Today's verse is Isaiah 44:6-8: 
⁶ "This is what the LORD says—
       Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
       I am the first and I am the last;
       apart from me there is no God.
 ⁷ Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
       Let him declare and lay out before me
       what has happened since I established my ancient people,
       and what is yet to come—
       yes, let him foretell what will come.
 ⁸ Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
       Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
       You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
       No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."


Today's Challenge:  Turn this verse into a prayer.  Praise God for his power and greatness, putting Him first.  If you have trouble doing all three verses, I would encourage you to pick one of the three or do 6 and 8.  I would also encourage you to memorize this passage or write it and put it up somewhere that you will see it often.  Let's start Sword fighting!

And that's the way the cookie crumbles!

This evening I hung out with a guy who was one of my best friends until about 2 years ago.  It was definitely a God-thing!  We went to dinner, tried a new church, then got coffee and hung out at Starbucks for almost two hours!  We talked and laughed, picking up our friendship right where we left off!  Saturday evening I'll be preaching on 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Justin (my friend) is a perfect example of that!  As a new follower of Jesus, it has been awesome to watch him become a new creation through Christ!  God has been working in such awesome ways in his life, freeing him from many things that he was trapped in.  As we were talking, I realized that Proverbs 17:17 is so true!  A true friend does love at all times!  Even during the times they are separated, during the times that are painful, during the times that are easy.  Even though at one point he pushed me away, I never stopped praying for him and being there.  Companionship is one of the best gifts God has given us.  We are planning to meet once a week while I am home for summer and do Bible study and talk and pray together.  I am so excited to watch how God continues to transform him into something new.