This is a scary time for the entire world. And I have had my moments of tremendous fear like many others. After one such day, my daughter stayed up late looking up and writing down scriptures to encourage me (I'm so blessed!). She not only reads her bible, she prays scripture over whatever or whoever she is praying for. Does a momma's heart good to know that your kid is wielding her sword 😊.
With that said, as I was praying this morning, the Lord popped into my prayer time and wanted to have a little chat. It's something I have long known, but He added a little more insight to this subject. I saw a Christian wearing the full armor of God. His head was covered with the helmet of salvation. He had on the breastplate of righteousness, and a full shield of faith in front of him. Of course, this is referring to Ephesians 6:10-17. All of those pieces of armor are all 'protective coverings', with the exception of one part- the weapon. The two edged sword- the Word of God. I saw that this Christian had great faith, and in battle he was using his shield, which served him well. But his sword was missing. I must ask, how much more effective is the Christian that has his or her sword in hand? It is the ONE weapon that God has given us in the entire armor. We only need that one weapon because that one weapon is powerful. I normally have my sword with me, but fear got the best of me this time and I dropped my sword for a little while. I knew where to find it though and where to go to pick it back up. This got me to thinking, how many of us have never even used our swords? Or know that God has given us swords?
My thoughts drifted over to King David. I'm sure you remember the stories of the lion and the bear that came looking for the sheep that he cared for and that David made short work of both, killing them. The most famous story of all, when David went up against Goliath. He had only a sling shot and some stones, but through God, David defeated Goliath. One of the things that stood out to me as I was mentally going over the life of David, was that yes, he had great faith in God to protect and keep him (very important), but he never went to war without his weapon- common sense, right? Just think about that for a moment. A soldier out on a battlefield with no weapon. The bible doesn't tell us that he had a weapon when he killed the lion and the bear, but it does tell us that he went after the lion and the bear. Action and faith mixed.
God has given us a weapon, so I am sure that He means for us to use it. This is what He has to say about His Word:
Jeremiah 1:12 I am alert and active, watching over My Word to perform it.
Isaiah 55:11 My Word will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
2 Timothy 3:16 Every scripture is God-breathed
Hebrews 4:12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two edged sword...
Psalm 33:9 For He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent; Has He said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?
Hebrews 6:18 So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence.
Psalm 18:30 and Psalm 30:5 All the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. // Every Word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to Him for protection.
God gave us His Word to use in battle. Not only to use in battle, but also for instruction and encouragement and just to let us know how much He loves us. I wrote a post a while back ago titled, 'Make the Word Personal!'. In that post I talk about how to pray the Word. That right there, is how to use our sword. The sword that God equipped us with. I'm going to refer to some scriptures here that have been helpful for me. You can make these a prayer for yourself and/or your family, friends, etc., and I do encourage you to do so- each day.
Psalm 91- very important one to pray!
Psalm 121
Psalm 46
These are the ones that my daughter wrote down for me:
Matthew 6:25-34
Psalm 91:9-10
John 14:27
John 14:1
Psalm 31:24
Colossians 3:15
Proverbs 3:5
Isaiah 41:10
Psalm 55:22-23
Psalm 33:11-22
Judges 6:23
2 Timothy 1:7
Since we all have so much time on our hands, I'm going to let you look them up 😁. It will be time well spent and if you write them down as prayers, you will be praying some powerful prayers that will not return to Him void.
PS I just want to add that I've seen some very critical posts on social media slamming pastors for shutting down their churches in the midst of Covid-19. Don't criticize them, please! It is not a lack of faith, but they are using wisdom. God does expect us to use wisdom and common sense as we go through life. Even Jesus, when the devil told Him to throw Himself down because the angels would catch Him, refrained from doing so. Did He think that the angels wouldn't catch him? Did He have a lack of faith? I hardly think so. He said, "It is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God." Jesus Himself was an example of common sense and wisdom. Let us too, do the same. Stay safe.
It's all about the grace ~ 💖
Barb
