The Sword of the Spirit!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And 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 Lord’s people.” – Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

Gracious words may comfort us and encouraging words may encourage us, especially through tough times. We often remember those words repeatedly. My mentor has been encouraging me many times, such as telling me that I am valuable to the church. What encourages me the most is that she has much hope in me becoming a Christian Writer. This surprises me as I believe her hope for me is greater than mine. She also gives me Christian books to have a read.

Although close people may encourage us mentally and spiritually, we have to understand that it is much better to rely on God’s word rather than human words. This does not mean that we should separate unity whenever we are trying to meditate on His word. It is good to encourage each other spiritually especially in times of need, so we may gain courage in what is coming ahead. However, what happens if we lose contact with each other? We may lose hope and confidence. Nevertheless, as long as we have right resources, God’s word is always with us in spite of the fact that we have to read and meditate on it. I always carry my iPad with me wherever I go so I downloaded “Bible.is” application and changed it to “Youversion.”

Apostle Paul has stated that the Bible was written to teach us and through encouragements of the word of God, we might have hope (Romans 15:4). Since we have learned that the Bible is the guide book of how to live eternally and we know that God is eternal, His word is supposed to penetrate through our spirit by His Spirit (Hebrews 4:12). We cannot understand His word without His Spirit; we consider them foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). In fact, we cannot understand any theology or Spirit-related talks without Him. While I was “not true” or “not yet” Christian, one senior member of the church often came up to me and tell how glorious God is and marvellous His deeds are. However, I could not understand Him because I was unwilling to believe in Jesus Christ and seek Him. In other words, I had not received His Spirit. After receiving the Spirit of God, I realised that I am able to understand theology. Although I lost contact with the senior member, my wish is to have more of theological conversations. My mentor told me that I should become a living word through Christian Writing. She also told me that I use same formatting every time and because I have been starting to notice it, I have to allow the Spirit to penetrate through my spirit as I meditate and write devotionals.

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 2 and ask yourself this question: “Am I allowing God’s Spirit to penetrate through my spirit as I am reading and meditating on God’s word?”