The Sword of the Spirit
“Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3 | ESV
When I find myself in a dry “season”, my weapon of choice is to go back to the sacred songbook of praise and worship written predominantly by King David: the book of Psalms. This is the season I have recently found myself to be in, and that’s comprised of multiple factors. A trans-atlantic move, establishing a new peace and normalcy for my 1.5-year-old daughter, culture shock, overwhelm, grief over a miscarriage that took place three months ago, and rejoicing over the gift of my current pregnancy–which also means a slew of hormones (and all God’s men said hallelujah). You know when you have an overflowing extension cord with seven different outlets? And when you plug the last one in, sparks erupt and the power shuts off? Emotions can have the same effect on some people; myself being one of them.
I love reading through the book of Psalm for many reasons, but one of those is because when I do, the Holy Spirit brings scriptures to my mind that I hadn’t thought of in a while, but are relative to my present circumstances—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. These are scriptures I’ve clung to in the past that He has recalled on my behalf for moments such as these, and what I needed to hear from Him was that I needed to trust Him and not give way to doubt.
It’s humbling (and also frustrating) when we have to constantly be reminded of something so fundamental whenever we default to the flesh; I can feel embarrassed, inadequate, or ashamed, so I inadvertently punish myself by not meditating on God’s Word and spending time with Him because I feel like an unworthy imposter. This is a lie from the pit of Hell. And we know that because Yeshua said, “...Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners” (Mark 2:17 ESV). While it is true that we are unworthy to be in the presence of God and worship Him, we were made worthy in Christ Jesus, and we reject His gift of grace, and ultimately Him, when we avoid Him. And for this, I have confessed and repented.
When we’re in those seasons of “doubt”, not trusting our Maker—even after He has provided us a few thousand pages of black-and-white, fine-print evidence that He CAN and IS to be trusted—we feel “dry”, don’t we? I pray these following words bring clarity to you; they are not to bring guilt or shame. Doubting God is sin; it’s one of those quiet sins that we don’t think about. The ugly nature of “sin” is that sin separates. Sin separates us from God. And all it takes is a cunning serpent to distort the very words of God and cause His children to doubt…
So let’s go back to Genesis and reminisce on Adam and Eve’s time in the Garden of Eden. God had given those two everything they could have possibly needed to live beautifully, joyfully, happily-ever-after. And He had commanded Adam (before Eve had arrived on scene), “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16 NKJV). Those were God’s words. In the following chapter, we will see how these very words of God were perverted in a scheme of deception by Satan: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Genesis 3:1-3 NKJV).
Now let’s bring this into focus:
God’s words: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Serpent’s rendition of God’s words: “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”
Man’s rendition of God’s words: “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”
Interestingly, neither rendition of God’s words by either the serpent or the woman are actually what God said. God said “you may freely eat” which is a statement of freedom. Both the serpent AND man inaccurately translated God’s words to be, “You shall not eat” which is a statement of restriction. Both ignored God’s statement of freedom at the beginning of His command, and instead, focused on the “you shall not eat” clarification portion at the end of His command, manipulating freedom into restriction. You see how easily the serpent’s words influenced those of the woman? Satan’s “subtle” twisting of words would ultimately lead to the casting out of the Garden and the demise of man…
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” Immediately causing her to question God and His Word. That’s what Satan causes man to do—question and doubt our Maker. The deceiver continues, “‘For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Here Satan attacks the character of God after he rebuttals His command unto man. Furthermore, Satan even twists the meaning of the word “die” by referring to a physical death, which God was not talking about at all. God was referring to spiritual death, that they would die because of sin, not that they would die physically.
After Satan hisses doubt into the woman, she doubts and questions God and gives heed to the serpent, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6 NKJV). Why Adam chose not to intervene and allowed the serpent to so much as glance at his wife—that’s with the Lord, but the responsibility is not solely on Eve, as many like to point out, because the passivity of her husband played a role in their separation from God, too. Because God is Holy, and because His children gave way to sin, and because sin separates us from God, God had to escort Adam and Eve out of the Garden. And as a Good Father who loves and adores his children, it broke His heart to be separated from them.
But He is good, we can TRUST Him to do what He says He will do—the Bible is cover-to-cover evidence of that. He reconciled His children back to Him—through the shedding of the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. He did exactly what He said He would do.
And now we get to spend
eternity with Him.
Though he may try to convince us that he does, Satan does not know, and has no way of ever comprehending, the thoughts or ways of God, so he can only take what’s at face value and use that which is only on the surface to deceive man. And, like Eve in the garden, isn’t it so natural for us to see what’s at face value and feel completely doomed or discouraged? We forget again what the Lord God says, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:9 NKJV).
This is why it’s crucial for Christians to know Scripture and meditate upon the Word of God. Because even Satan knows Scripture, and he uses it incorrectly and distorts it in order to deceive us. Therefore, we need to be watchful and able to discern when the Word of God is being distorted against us, and God has given us His word, “...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17 NKJV).
You are a child of God; do not allow some conniving serpent who only knows the dust of the ground to distort the words of your Father and cause you to doubt. Do not allow the deception of a snake to come between you and your Maker. No, we combat lies with the Truth, just as Jesus modeled in Matthew chapter 4. Three times Satan tempted the Lord, the second time quoting scripture, and three times Jesus combatted the deceiver with the Sword of the Spirit. And the devil fled from Him.
Satan would love for us to think that God’s word is intimidating, confusing, and unattainable to know—another fantastical lie. Because he knows that if we know the Word of God, we can resist him, and he will have no effect on our lives. Therefore, I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to cling to the Word of God; meditate on it; and TRUST that the Holy Spirit will guide you, counsel you, and teach you. It is the Holy Spirit who brings clarity and reveals the truths of God as we lean into Scripture.
If you are in a season where you are doubting your Maker and wrestling with trusting Him; I urge you to look back over the course of your life, or your present circumstances, and identify where God sustained you. Do not dwell there, but just identify those points where God sustained you, where God “showed up” for you, and watch how the pattern of God’s provision is thematically evident in your life. The serpent does not have the final say; the Sword of the Spirit does. And by the Sword of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, our wells will never run dry.
“Thus says the Lord:
‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the
wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
‘Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.’”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 | ESV
