Sword of the Spirit
The Sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon and it is the Word of God. Every other piece of the armor is defensive. The only way we can combat our enemy is by the Word of God. Jesus gave us the perfect example of that in Matthew 4:1-11 & Luke 4:1-13. Each time Satan tempted Jesus, He responded with "it is written." We are to follow that example ourselves.
The Cowboy always carries a knife on him for any time an emergency occurs. The knife is a multi use tool and is a part of the cowboy, an extension of him, if you will. The Word of God should be the same for us.
I can remember a time we were at River Valley for an event and I took one of our newer horses at that time, just to see how he would do. As I was getting the stalls prepared for the horses I left them tied long to the fronts of the stalls so they could graze on the grass as I went around putting in the bedding, filling water buckets, and hanging the hay nets. Now, tying a horse long is a bit of a no-no, but my horses understand how to handle a rope around their feet. This new horse though did not and got his foot caught over the rope and panicked.
He was continuing to hold pressure on the rope so I was unable to untie it, and I didn't dare slip his halter off as he was hard to catch. Out comes the old handy pocket knife to cut him loose. But I couldn't find it. I had left it on the stack of hay from cutting the twine. Thankfully my partner, Sheri, was there and handed it to me and we got him out of his mess.
As I got him settled, I turned around to see my horse standing there with her leg over the rope, caught up in it, but just standing there waiting for me to come untangle her. She knew where to go for help and to wait for me to get her. We should take a lesson from these horses. One had a sense of trust, understanding, and patience. The other had none of that and I ruined a good rope. Yesterday I was at a funeral, and the thought hit me, how does one go through life without the Lord to walk beside them, guide them, and give them comfort? Those with a strong relationship with the Lord and can readily pull out the sword are like my mare, who don't panic and make a mess of things. Those who do not are like the gelding, who can't handle life and the struggles that it brings.
Make sure you are familiar with God's word. Read it for yourself, don't rely on the translation of man, for they are fallable. The word of God is infallible, just like He is. Get it straight from the horse's mouth so to speak. Read it, meditate on it, apply it, and when the enemy comes prowling around, you have your weapon to destroy his lies.
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