I struggle to bring my thoughts together as I begin to write this blog with an intent to empower you to step into the battle fully equipped for victory. The full armor of God is necessary for the Christian as we engage in the spiritual war waging around us. Our level of engagement may be passive or active, but make no mistake, we are engaged in a war. I, personally, intend to engage actively, in pursuit of nothing less than victory. There isn’t much I do in life where defeat is satisfactory. The spiritual war I battle in is no different. These words keep coming back to me. It is time. To pick up your sword.
I pray today, in this moment, each of you who read this blog are encouraged and empowered to head into whatever battle you’re facing fully equipped with the whole armor of God but importantly, today, you pick up your sword.
I, like many of you, have been engaged in battle after battle, for quite some time. As soon as I see victory on the horizon the battle heats up. For a while I have been donning the armor intentionally because my goal is to be left standing firm when the battle is over.
I have no doubt the devil is a defeated adversary. However, it is my job, as a soldier, to prepare for battle with the intensity it deserves. So, I’ve invested time and energy in preparation and training. As with soldiers headed to war training is intense, requires sacrifice, strong devotion, unwavering commitment, and deep determination long past what I imagined when I started the journey.
Mornings have come with the sound of an alarm I’ve not desired to hear. Afternoons have seemed to do everything they could to leave the day without time for prayer. Evenings have proved stressful and exhausting only to deplete my tank from near empty to fumes. Nights have proved restless as sleep escaped me and I longed for just one solid hour before morning light broke through the dark.
People have come and gone. Some I did not anticipate. Friends and family I thought I knew intimately, I found I did not. As much as I envisioned we were on the same page I abruptly realized we weren’t even reading the same book. Expectation as a demand in the form of an ask to set aside biblical Truth disguised as an ask of truth, hurt to decline.
And, much like many of you, in the middle of this, I’ve engaged on the battlefield, wounded.
As I have intentionally prepared for the bigger battles yet to come in the war of good and evil for the soul, here are a couple things I’ve learned along the way.
First, I had to examine myself. My motives. The intentions of my heart. Clean up my heart from any unforgiveness or bitterness held from hurts, wrongs, aches, and scars. I prayed diligently for God to examine my heart, show me anything offensive to him, and to set me on a path of righteousness leading to everlasting life (Psalm 139:23-24). Psalm 51:10-13 came to life in my heart as I sought forgiveness, restoration of the joy of the Lord, chasing after obedience to His ways not my own from a broken and contrite heart that he will not deny.
Here, in this place, I’ve spent much time studying His Word seeking to understand with new depths than ever before. Asking each time I opened the Word for Jesus to show me Him. Let me not lean into my own understanding lost in my own thoughts instead bring me your thoughts as they are higher than mine. Here is where the (S)Word is first picked up in preparation for the battle. Here is where I discovered more about myself than I had ever been aware of before. There were times I wondered just how the God of all creation could ever love someone so filthy like me. His Word thankfully assured me that He does because of who He is, not, who I am.
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
On the journey of training I had to study His Word seeking out truth from Him relevant to world in which we live today. How do I have gracious and effective conversations with the lost leading to Christ in love when merely speaking gospel biblical truth is considered hate spewing. In my prayer closet as I kneel before Almighty God on behalf of others, for them and then over them as opportunities arise, what are my words. I am merely a human with a limited flawed perspective through a broken lens. Not every prayer is uttered in groans I do not understand. Those are the prayers I fully trust Gods infinite wisdom in. But my effectual fervent prayers some times require words. Words I struggle to find. This is where I have to lean into Jesus more, trusting he will meet me where I find myself lost. Often, in this moment, I pick up my Bible and turn to a page beginning to read His life giving Word for direction and guidance. As the letters on the page take on new life I find Him just where I need Him to be.
Here is where we pick up the (S)Word in our battle, again.
“Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:17 NLT
Finally, not lastly, I have struggled to know when the right time is for sharing the goodness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world calling for it to be silenced. A world looking for an altered form of the gospel that fits their lifestyle without requiring rejection of sin. A world looking for a middle ground that is palatable and easy to digest. A world, some calling themselves Christians, looking for a version of the gospel that unites good and evil in harmony for the sake of accepting the sin calling it love for others. A world where immorality dances in the streets and people cannot see it. A world where speaking truth is considered spewing hate. A world where satanic religions are masked as social movements. A world where conformity is sought in the name of unity. The world in which we live. Today. This world.
This is where I desire to empower you the most. The days in which we live are not for the faint of heart. The path home is narrow and few will find it. I pray I do. I pray you do. I pray we take as many with us as willing to go. The desire of God is for none to perish. The reality is, some will. Our job is to share the gospel boldly, confidently, in truth, unaltered, pure, in love, and with good teaching. This, we will not accomplish, if we step on the battlefield without our sword. The word of God never fails. It is everlasting. It is The Ultimate Authority. His Word gives life. His Word is our only hope. Man cannot live by bread alone. We must live by the Word of God feeding our spirit life, power, renewing, and authority.
The lost world will NOT find their way to Christ in our silence.
Pick up your (S)Word and get on the battlefield.
“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”
2 Timothy 4:1-5 NLT
