“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” – Ephesians 6:13-17
Imagine if you have the shield of faith only, without the sword. You will find yourself continually blocking strikes from the devil; as he continues to beat down on you continuously. As we always see in movies; the starring receiving blows and blows on his shield while he is on the ground; continually defending himself from the enemy without anything to retaliate. This gives the enemy an opportunity to cause the starring to get tired as the blows keep coming down on his shield. It gives the enemy the encouragement and hope to continue beating harder and harder because he knows that if the starring gets up; chances are he is going to lose. This is how we eventually see our faith fade away. The enemy will not stop attacking you until you pick up your sword and fight back.
This is why it is important to keep studying the word of God; which is the sword of the Spirit. By studying the Word of God, you are arming yourself with the sword to strike back at the enemy. You are practicing for a sword fight; training for a battle which is eminent; bearing in mind that the enemy also knows the word of God; so he knows where to attack. Sometimes you do not even have to block anything with your shield because you strike the enemy before he can even approach you and you continue striking him until he is totally useless and destroyed.
As a child of God, never respond to a situation with worry or doubt; because the enemy will use anyone to try and steer us from the prophetic word spoken through God’s servants or through His Word directly. But in response, we need to ONLY respond with “God said”. Putting the Word of God ahead as our response is what we mean when we say “Jehovah ke botshabelo”; even in our wrong, we need to acknowledge our wrong through His word.
When we say “God said”; we are raising our sword to strike the enemy; and the scripture is the blow. When he retaliates, we lift our shield of faith which gives us the opportunity to say “God says”. And the more we say “God says” or “It is written”; and follow with scripture; we beat down the enemy to a pulp until he is conquered.
Therefore keep studying the word of God and hold it firmly in your heart; meditate on it day and night so that it becomes the first thing that comed out of your mouth when a situation arises. When it is continually your meditation; there is no way that you can miss it.
T.W.Moagi