a beautiful life ministry

Armed With the Sword of the Spirit

The 2016 presidential race is now history, but the cloud of negativity associated with the campaign will most likely linger.

Seemed so easy for one or two sentences, from any of the candidates, to be taken out of context and deliberately misconstrued in a negative ad or Internet post. “Fact checking” became a necessity to secure the actual truth.

There were times I fell into the web of deception. Enticed to view the political narratives. And afterwards feeling the evil scum, that had just been smeared about another human, fill my own heart.

A decisive victory for Satan.

I know better. I know words of truth. Might not have it all memorized, but Philippians 4:8 is one of my favorites. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy…think about such things.   

Colossians 3:2 also comes to mind: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.   

However, I think I had totally forgotten this one:  But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.   John 16:13

Why wasn’t I listening to the Spirit of truth inside of me? The voice of truth instead of the father of lies?

I asked my LifeGroup for prayer. Prayers that I would be filled with peace instead of useless anxiety. Prayers to stand strong against the temptation to read the smear campaigns.

For those who have read any of my previous posts, you might recall my association with numbers viewed on digital clocks. Sometimes the numbers can remind me of a specific Bible verse, a person’s birthday, or a special date, resulting in a sweet prayer time.

What I really have fun with is waking up, strangely enough, to what I “think” is an audible sound, such as a text alert from my cell phone, and noting the time on the clock.

That’s what happened the morning after I asked my LifeGroup to pray. I thought I heard the sound of a text alert on my phone and sat up in bed. No text. But I did note that it was 6:11 and time to get up.

Reading online devotions and having a quiet time with the Lord while drinking a cup of coffee is my morning blessing. That particular morning I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the strength (again) to resist logging on to Facebook. However, when I saw it was a friend’s birthday, I gave in. While there, I scrolled down. Viewing a post about another “Breaking News Alert” concerning the election, I read it.

Then I heard the familiar still, small voice. Put on the armor of God, Brenda! Stand against evil!

I couldn’t recall the exact Scripture, but knew it was in Ephesians, so I Googled “the armor of God.” When I saw my computer screen, I was overwhelmed!

So that explained the 6:11 wake up call. The Spirit of truth had done some “fact checking” and provided God’s wisdom.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes.                  Ephesians 6:11

Even though Satan got his foot in the door, the Holy Spirit was there to protect my heart from the flaming arrows of the Evil One (Ephesians 6:16), arming me with the sword of the Spirit; the all powerful, never failing, truthful word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

The election may be over, but Satan will not stop waging his campaign of deception. He will continue his schemes to plant seeds of deceit into the hearts of those who aren’t prepared to stand strong against his tactics.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  I Peter 5:8

Praise be to God that the Spirit of truth living inside of us doesn’t rest either! He’s always ready to “ fact check” the lies Satan tries to weave into our daily lives.

The Holy Spirit, God’s empowering, indwelling presence, is available to fill our hearts with the truth, hope, and encouragement found in the word of God.

So that we sin less and become more like Jesus.

Armed with the sword of the Spirit—giving us the power to stand against the lies of the world.