Sunday, November 27, 2005
~NE BITES ARTICLES~
For all to know how to bite the devilTruly Armed Christians -Having weapons is not enough, we need to use it effectively-
Most of us would know offhand what is the sword of the Spirit. It is the Word of God, for those of us who do not know (Ephesians 6:17b). It is the only offensive spiritual weapon the bible mentioned we Christians have. In Singapore, this weapon is something that we have the privilege to publicly own. Thus, we are all armed Christians, in a way.
However, being armed is not enough. We need to be
truly armed. I have never seen successful & powerful military armies that just arm its soldiers with the latest & the best weapon only. Every time, they would train them to use it effectively to bring out the maximum firepower in that weapon.
Similarly with us, we don’t just arm ourselves with the Word of God by possessing a bible. We must learn to use it effectively to counter every spiritual attack from the devil. We need to undergo a spiritual training to hone our skills in using this versatile weapon.
Let me illustrate the need to sharpen our skills in using this double-edged weapon: In the famous war of words between Jesus & the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), both sides exchanged part of Scriptures. The devil used the Scripture to tempt; Jesus used it to resist the devil ‘s attacks. In this illustration, we can see that the Word of God, in a way, is a dangerous weapon, if we don’t train ourselves in it, it could backfired.
To become truly armed, we need to possess 2 important keys to help us familiarize with the sword of the Spirit.
The first crucial key is desire. Are we desiring to be truly armed Christians? God
only speaks when we tell Him, “HERE I AM!” We are using a spiritual weapon. A spiritual weapon requires spiritual training, which comes when we desire for God to train us up.
Desire is very crucial. The devil will send obstacles to stop us from spending time to study your weapon. If we desire to know the Word well, nothing will ever stop us! We will take hold of every single opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Word.
With desire comes diligence, which is the next important key in unlocking the power in this book we possess. The Bible consists of
66 books, which is a lot to learn. That is why we must be diligent, taking time to explore every corner of our weapon. I believe that every soldier will put in effort in experimenting which way of holding a weapon is more comfortable or more accurate in hitting the targets etc. They would not wait till an enemy attack then fumble around with their weapon.
Thus, hard work is important, we can’t afford to wait till the devil attack then we go flipped the entire bible to search for that passage to counter him. In one recent drama I watched, a character phrase my thoughts aptly, “You don’t ask the enemy to wait for you to get ready before they attack.” Put in effort in reading the Word daily.
Another tip I would give here is to keep a journal of all your time with God. Truthfully speaking, every day we are trying to remember so many things. It is difficult to keep in your mind every single verse or passage that inspired you. Thus, keeping a journal helps. Whenever I am searching for a verse or passage, I would flip through my journal & scan for the verse or passage I needed. This saves much precious time & effort. Writing it down helps us to remember the verse better too.
Diligence involves consistency too. Don’t give up or slacken your efforts halfway. The Word is a versatile weapon. Knowing just a part isn’t enough. To maximize the power of the Word, we need to put in
equal or more effort to study every part. Every part of the Bible is of equal importance. When we put them together, every part complements one another. If you got a multi-purpose equipment, you would make full use of every single function, not just a few.
When we combine desire & diligence together, it will develop in our walk with God a heart of
continually seeking. In my hunger to know the Word deeper, I bought a study bible, which aided me in better digesting the Scriptures. In fact, if I have more time, I would love to supplement my daily dosage of the Word with bible commentaries, which are available all over the net. Another resource readily available is bibles of other translations. Since the bible was written in Hebrew, Greek & other languages, one word can have a variety of meanings. To have a wholesome understanding of a word, explore all kinds of versions! 1 All these ways requires us to have diligence as it is a lot of hard work & needs us to have the desire to help us sustain the habit.
Before we conclude, let us return to Matthew 4:1-11, the devil made use of the Scriptures to fight his battle. In our lives, he will turn this weapon against us. But bear in mind one thing; he uses it in the wrong way. That is why we need to
apply these 2 keys so as to know the Word well & deep within our hearts so that we can use it in the correct manner, the manner that would grant us victory against the devil. Remember, just as faith without deeds is dead (James 2:17), desire to hear from God without having diligence to work towards it would reap no fruits.
Truly armed Christians bite. Do you bite?
1The Message version (MSG) is a version that gives a rather clear insight compared to other versions, though it may be a bit lengthy. Explore other versions such as Contemporary English Version (CEV), New Living Translation (NLT) to give you different insights on the passage.
YK
Author ‘s Words:
-This article is written especially for NE so I sincerely hope you all had enjoyed this little article.
-Any comments/improvement points, kindly tag or email me. Would also appreciate any ideas for future articles (:
-I would like to recommend a book I am currently reading by the late Bill Bright, “Discovering The Book God Wrote”. This is an interesting book about studying the Word of God. For more information about it, feel free to ask me.
; northeast ROCKS!
-4:57 PM
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