What is the strength of your steel? It’s an Important question, because the harsh reality is, we are at war. There is a battle raging all around us. Even as you read this, forces of good and evil are vying for control of our communities and cities.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul tells us that we are not fighting ‘flesh and blood’, but that our warfare is in the spiritual realm. In this same book, we are told to ‘put on’ the full armor of God. There is a helmet of salvation, and a breastplate of righteousness. There is the belt of truth, and your shield is faith. Your feet are clad in the gospel, to move you out into gods work. And you have a sword. It is the Word of God.
Jesus is salvation, truth, righteousness, and the gospel itself, so, if you’ve ‘put on’ Christ, you’ve got the helmet, breastplate, belt and shoes in place.
But you have to pick up your shield and take up your sword.
It’s not automatic. And the bigger your faith is, the better your shield will be. But that may be for another post. Right now I need to address the focus of this particular vision; Your sword.
So, what is the strength of your steel?
Lately, we’ve had multiple words, visions and prophecies about the fire of God, and I’m convinced this is the heart of God for his church in this hour. There are also visions, at times, of water. This is not a contradiction, because the strongest swords are made of tempered steel.
When a sword is being forged, it is heated until it is red-hot. During this treatment it is hammered into shape, but near the end of the process, it is plunged suddenly into cold water. This is what tempers the steel, and keeps the blade from becoming too brittle. The strongest swords are a product of both fire and water.
To be a sword in the hand of God, we need to have the Word of God as a sword in our hand. Both you and your sword are forged and hammered in the fire of God, But both are also tempered by being plunged into the living water of the Holy Spirit.
We’ve been given the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, as our weapon, as our sword. But we have to take up our sword, tempered by the infilling and leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s an act of our will, that requires our diligence, to arm ourselves daily, and to keep our weapon sharpened. It is a warrior mentality. We are at war.
Father God, forge us, temper and sharpen our swords, and help us to be diligent to keep them sharp, in Jesus Name, Amen.
dreams&visions7 