PICK UP YOUR GREATEST WEAPON
We all have daily wars we wage inside ourselves.
We battle against guilt, anger, depression and insecurity. We fight fear, lust and addiction. Our minds and our hearts are under attack relentlessly by an enemy that wants to paralyze us and trap us inside our own minds and keep us constantly on the defensive.
It amazes me how often we try to fight these battles without the most powerful weapon at our disposal - God's Word.
Far too often, the weapon sits within our grasp at arms reach, but remains untouched as the world fires a barrage of bullets aimed straight at our hearts. The book sits on our coffee tables uncracked and the app sits on our phones unopened. Determined to fight the battles alone, we do not pick up the one weapon that has already won the war.
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have the divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."
When Satan attacks us with the well-crafted lies of the world, then, we do not have to remain on the defensive, as we so often do. There is not a lie the Enemy can craft, not a single stronghold he can build, that the timeless truth of Scripture cannot obliterate. Let's take a look at just a few examples:
When the world says you are not beautiful enough, the Lord says:
"For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13)
When you face a task that seems to large or too difficult for you to accomplish, God says:
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13) and "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
When you struggle with guilt over your past, and believe that will always define you:
"Therefore, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
When you battle over and over again with the temptation of sin, and feel like you do not have the strength to overcome it, you can remember He has already overcome it:
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
When you are paralyzed by fear of the unknown:
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7)
I could come up with so much more, simply from day-to-day examples I have encountered in my own life. From those experiences I have learned there is not a single word in the Bible that does not destroy the lies of the enemy. No matter what the weapon is, His word is stronger.
His word is the Sword of the Spirit. It is, indeed a mighty weapon, for which there is no hate in the world strong enough to stand against His love and His grace. It can transform hearts, and transform the world.
Like any weapon, though, we have to train ourselves to use it.
God's Word does not do me any good if never pick it up. If I do not open it and find out what it says, if I do not take time to listen to people who teach it, if I never take the time to hear it spoken, or read it's pages, then the weapon is useless to me.
But when I invest the time to know it's promises intimately, there is nothing that can stand against it. When I sit at the feet of the Author of the Universe and draw from His wisdom and love, I begin every battle from the high ground.
Words of hate are strong, but His word of love is stronger.
Whatever battle you face today in your mind and in your heart, just remember He already won. You just need to pick up the weapons of His word and fight
We battle against guilt, anger, depression and insecurity. We fight fear, lust and addiction. Our minds and our hearts are under attack relentlessly by an enemy that wants to paralyze us and trap us inside our own minds and keep us constantly on the defensive.
It amazes me how often we try to fight these battles without the most powerful weapon at our disposal - God's Word.
Far too often, the weapon sits within our grasp at arms reach, but remains untouched as the world fires a barrage of bullets aimed straight at our hearts. The book sits on our coffee tables uncracked and the app sits on our phones unopened. Determined to fight the battles alone, we do not pick up the one weapon that has already won the war.
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have the divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."
When Satan attacks us with the well-crafted lies of the world, then, we do not have to remain on the defensive, as we so often do. There is not a lie the Enemy can craft, not a single stronghold he can build, that the timeless truth of Scripture cannot obliterate. Let's take a look at just a few examples:
When the world says you are not beautiful enough, the Lord says:
"For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13)
When you face a task that seems to large or too difficult for you to accomplish, God says:
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13) and "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
When you struggle with guilt over your past, and believe that will always define you:
"Therefore, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
When you battle over and over again with the temptation of sin, and feel like you do not have the strength to overcome it, you can remember He has already overcome it:
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
When you are paralyzed by fear of the unknown:
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7)
I could come up with so much more, simply from day-to-day examples I have encountered in my own life. From those experiences I have learned there is not a single word in the Bible that does not destroy the lies of the enemy. No matter what the weapon is, His word is stronger.
His word is the Sword of the Spirit. It is, indeed a mighty weapon, for which there is no hate in the world strong enough to stand against His love and His grace. It can transform hearts, and transform the world.
Like any weapon, though, we have to train ourselves to use it.
God's Word does not do me any good if never pick it up. If I do not open it and find out what it says, if I do not take time to listen to people who teach it, if I never take the time to hear it spoken, or read it's pages, then the weapon is useless to me.
But when I invest the time to know it's promises intimately, there is nothing that can stand against it. When I sit at the feet of the Author of the Universe and draw from His wisdom and love, I begin every battle from the high ground.
Words of hate are strong, but His word of love is stronger.
Whatever battle you face today in your mind and in your heart, just remember He already won. You just need to pick up the weapons of His word and fight
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