This is the daily benefit with Dr. Chokes, starting on their right with the super short Devotional Award class. Hey guys, today's reading is taken from Ephesians up to 6 of 17. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The last of the armor of God mentioned in Ephesians up to 6 is the sword of the Spirit. Interestingly, this is the only piece of armor which isn't just used for defense, but also for attack. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. God's word is our main weapon to fight trials and challenges of this life.
In Hebrews, the Bible is compared to a sword for the word of God. For the word of God is alive and active, it says. Shoppier than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Wow, I love this verse. It says that the Bible is like a scalpel, like a surgeon's knife and cuts through the soul and spirit and it helps rearrange our wrong thoughts and negative attitudes. In John 1 it says that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The word was God.
God is true to his word. In essence, we can't separate him from his word. So when we use the sword or the word of God in times of trial, really what we're using is God to fight our battles. In Matthew 4, Jesus gave the perfect example of how powerful the word of God is when he was tested in the wilderness.
He was attacked over and over again by the devil, but Jesus hit back with scripture with God's word. It is written, he responded, every time. The sword of the spirit is key. It also links to the other parts of the armor of God and so is not used alone or in isolation.
The belt of truth, for example, holds the sword of the spirit, linking truth and the word of God much like an actual soldier's belt would hold the soldier's sword and other weapons. So today let's use the truth we know and the word of God we freely received to navigate lives from rough places and reorder our thoughts and actions. Pray with me, Lord, thank you for your spoken and written word. May I embrace the fullness of what you have to say to me and use it in my day to day in Jesus' name.
Amen.