Spirit Application

 

    The sword of the spirit is application of God's Word everyday.  When you are reading God's Word you pray for the Holy Spirit to draw you closer, reveal truth, and guidance over what you read today.  This is how God's character is revealed to you.  You start to understand His love, wisdom, how to identify sin, avoid temptation, understand truth, and reliance on God.  

    When you are done with your alone time with God, then you should be ready to face the world.  You have what you need to practice being more like Jesus, overcome temptation, apply discernment and wisdom in action or words, and be a powerful agent for the Holy Spirit.  You want to be in the Bible everyday to renew your mind, but also to become bold.  You will never feel like you know enough, but you can stand by your convictions when you understand how to be a witness.

    You will face challenges today.  You will face them with God or pushing Him out of the way.  You will face it, but you can do so with confidence that you faced it well with God.  The Holy Spirit has given you spiritual gifts, use them to be bold in serving God and facing challenges without sinning.  It takes work to live in peace.  You need God's Word to understand how to apply the full armor of God to face the true battle which is invisible.

John 14:23-26, Acts 1:7-8, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 5:16-23, Ephesians 6:10-18, & Hebrews 4:12-13

Spirit Lifestyle

 

    For the sword of the spirit to become a part of your lifestyle you have to invest into your relationship with God.  The spirit led lifestyle includes surrendering your personal stuff to God daily, renewing your mind in His Word, and being led by the Holy Spirit.  If you ever question if you are walking with God, then all you have to do is turn to the Bible and compare how you live to what He says on the subject.  

    Your sword becomes an offensive weapon as you mature in your walk with God.  You learn, start having discussions, and then teach what you are learning.  When things get challenging and hard to understand you lean into God in faith, trust, and prayer for the truth.      

    The spirit lifestyle is when your time in the Bible becomes a strategy to get to know God better.  You use it to defend your faith when needed, but that is never the primary purpose.  You are being intentional about your relationship with God and securing your spiritual armor because you know an attack will come.  It is only a matter of when and how. 

    Allow the Bible to enlighten, encourage, and empower you.  Your virtue, worth, and existence come from God.  Never forget how loved and wanted you are.  The Bible and the Holy Spirit builds your confidence and purpose in this world.  Allow your worship display the sword in your hand.  Live your life in this manner to produce holy fruit.  

John 4:21-24, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 3:14-19, 6:10-18, & 2 Timothy1:5-7

Spiritual Protection

 

    The full armor of God is the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit.  They are all defensive, except the sword which is offensive.  It is using the bible to call sin for what it is: sin.  It is to be accountable, hold onto integrity, and uphold morals given by the Holy Spirit.  

    The Bible deals with you and your personal battle with Satan.  You use it with other people to teach, correct, or disciple.  It works as well as you are committed to it.  As you embrace your identity in Jesus you are able to size up your enemy.  He is powerful, but not as powerful as God.  The Bible gives you the beginning, life, and the end.  He provides boundaries and makes life worth living.  You find all you need in the Bible.

    You find protection in the Bible as you learn it.  The more you know the better you can pray.  Pray over scripture that you are reading to seek true understand of who God is, context, and how to apply it to your life.  Go to your Bible everyday and over time you will see a difference.  Challenge yourself to dig deeper.  Challenge how you think, view the Bible, and read it critically to make sure you do not get stuck on biases or human teachings.

    The Bible will prepare you for spiritual warfare, facing temptation, and revealing Satan's lies.  When you read the Bible, pray over what you read, meditate on it, and work at memorizing scripture you are fortifying yourself for battle.  You know you can be victorious because God has given you all that you need to win over temptation, fear, doubt, or anxiety.  The more you see the truth the more you see Satan for who he is.  The more you get to know God the more you trust Him.  

Psalm 91:1-8, 119:105-112, Matthew 4:1-11, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Ephesians 6:10-18, & Hebrews 4:12-13, 6:16-20

Sword of the Spirit

 

    The sword of the Spirit is God's Word.  It is a double edge sword that separates sinner from saint, conviction from contempt, sin from righteousness.  It is your primary offensive weapon in spiritual warfare.  God's Word is where you find the truth.  It exposes your true heart and soul.  It holds you accountable to God.

    When you are going through a trial, then it is God's Word that shows you the way.  When Satan is feeding you lies it is God's Word that gives you the truth.  Pray faithfully and you will find what you are looking for in the Bible.  

    God's Word has the power to give your soul life.  It gives you the power to stand firm in your faith and defend what you believe.  It cuts, but it is a clean cut.  The cuts are meant to reveal truth not kill.  It is better to have scars than to loose your soul.  Use God's Word to honor His name.   Do not use God's Word to be the winner of every battle because that is pride not faith.

    When you are being tempted you are able to use the scripture you have learned to send Satan away.  The Bible empowers you to have what you need to avoid, flee, or escape sin.  God will open ways that did not exist to protect you.  Satan knows scripture too, but he twist and manipulates it to serve His purpose.  You have to learn it in context and to know God better.  The closer you get to God the more it makes sense.

    If you are a Christian, then your body is the temple that the Holy Spirit lives within.  You use the Bible to keep yourself holy.  The Bible is a weapon, guide, boundary setter, and love letter.  It gives you what you need when you need it as long as you trust the Holy Spirit.  

    When you use the sword use it in prayer.  The Holy Spirit will guide your words, but never speak without praying over it first.  Be persistent and alert to know how best pray and use the sword.  Be humble and confident in your use of God's Word.  Be self-disciplined enough to use God's Word to do good.  Do not abuse the power that God has provided you or you will pay the price.

Isaiah 55:10-13, Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:15-17, Ephesians 6:13-18, 2 Timothy 1:5-7, 3:14-17, Hebrews 4:12-13

How to use Salvation

 

    You you use your salvation in spiritual warfare will depend on how victorious you will be.  Salvation is a one time event where you embrace the truth about Jesus, believe it, and start applying it to your life.  The helmet of salvation is put on every day when you choose to follow Jesus wherever he leads.  You use the helmet to protect your mind against Satan's attacks.

    You have to be a Christian to be able to have the helmet of salvation.  You start to use the helmet in prayer.  Your prayer life has a direct correlation on how well the helmet protects your mind.  You use prayer when you are in God's Word to build that relationship with God.

    Use prayer to discover the strongholds that Satan has over your mind and how to remove them.  Use prayer to identify where you are allowing negativity into your heart.  Use prayer to know how God wants you to fight in spiritual warfare.  Use God's Word to know what God expects from you.  Apply God's Word with prayer to know where you need to strengthen your thinking, attitude, and heart resolve to do good instead of evil in the world.

    Satan will take advantage of any opportunity he gets to mess with you, so make sure you protect your mind.  Take care of your armor to make sure you are being protected.  Your value is found in Jesus.  No other opinion matters.  If you believe Satan's lies, then you cripple yourself, but he doesn't have the power to take you out.  Seek God's approval and your mind will be fortified with love, faith, kindness, and mercy.  Walk with God and there is no room for insecurities.  

Acts 4:8-12, Romans 6:21-25, Ephesians 2:8-10, 6:13-17, & Philippians 2:12-13

Salvation Application

 

    The Helmet of Salvation is based on reality that Jesus took your sins upon himself to make you righteous.  The truth is you only have to believe that and start following Jesus to have salvation.  The truth changes everything.  The truth declares your identity as a child of God.  To have salvation means you are a Christian.

    You have to believe that you are a part of Jesus' family to be able to embrace the power and authority that comes with that position.  It is a position of service not leisure, but it also comes with great responsibility and love.  It makes you an ambassador for God.  It also makes you a citizen of Heaven.  Remember that and Satan can't cripple you mentally or emotionally with doubt or fear.  

    Knowing the truth makes you strong with confidence that nothing can destroy you because God is fighting for you.  The what ifs go out the door because God is in control.  If it happens, then He allowed it for a good purpose.  You will never understand everything, but that is why it is called faith.  

    God handcrafted you personally.  He put you together in your mother's womb.  You are precious to Him and He make you for a purpose.  You never have to doubt that you are worthwhile, valuable, or loved.  You are not a mistake, flawed beyond repair, or unforgivable.  Put on the Helmet of Salvation and embrace the truth that will protect you from Satan's lies.

    The application of your salvation is putting on the helmet to embrace the truth that your identity is grounded in Jesus.  When you apply the truth it will renew your mind to embrace your inheritance as a child of God.  Your salvation is a weapon against Satan if you figure out how to use it to fortify your mind with truth instead of lies.  Salvation gives you the power to break and destroy strongholds to become complete in Jesus.

    Salvation is powerful that is why it makes you an enemy of Satan.  It puts you in spiritual warfare.  It requires you to be vigilant in your relationship with God.  Use scripture to encourage and help you implement the truth into your life every day.  

    You don't get to relax when you are in spiritual warfare.  All you can do is prepare, endure, and fight with God.  You need to know your identity in Christ, so you can live victoriously.  Your salvation is not about comfort but instead being in the position that God designed for you to be close to Him to fulfill His plan for your life.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 139:1-18, Romans 1:16-17, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, Ephesians 2:4-10, 6:13-17, Colossians 3:1-4, 1 Peter 1:8-9, 5:8-9, & Revelations 7:9-10

Salvation Lifestyle

 

    The helmet of salvation is a critical piece of the armor.  It protects your mind as you go live life in the world.  There is no reason to go out unprotected.  Use your Bible and prayer to use your mind for spiritual warfare.  You have a mind that can focus on what God has done, is doing, and promised to do or you can focus on the attack and be weakened.  It is your choice on how useful your salvation is to your lifestyle.

    Salvation should build your confidence because God is telling you that you are a part of His family now.  Jesus paid for your helmet, so all you have to do it put it on and use it.  Using the helmet of salvation in your lifestyle is fighting negative thoughts or doubts with God's truth.  When you feel unworthy, unloved, incapable, unwanted, unforgiveable, invisible, insignificant, or lost then remember what God has already declared over you.  God says you are holy, blameless, cherished, wanted, forgiven, seen, have purpose, chosen, and eternal.  

    Live out your salvation in boldness and courage because you know God is protecting you.  Take strength in God's promises, so Satan can't tear you down.  Speak truth to your mind and you will live a fuller life.  Allow Satan's toxicity into your mind and you limit what your life can be.  How you think affects your body and lifestyle.  The helmet of salvation can transform your mind to see God more clearly enabling a powerful life.

    Satan can't make you do anything, but he has the power to influence you.  You have the power to reject him and send him away in the name of Jesus.  The more you allow the victim mentality the more deficient your life becomes.  The more take responsibility and accountability over your life the more you can see the truth.  God can remove your doubt, fear, insecurity, spiraling thoughts, and victim mentality to replace them with life, love, joy, kindness, and faith.

    You have to take responsibility to dismantle the negative thought patterns and put in the work to change how you think.  The Holy Spirit is there to lead the way, but you have to put in the work to remove all mental strongholds.  You do this by replacing the lie with the truth.  You may have to repeat it over and over until it really sinks in, but it is done by taking every thought captive to be holy.  As you choose the way you think everyday it become your lifestyle.  God's truth is meant to be lived, a part of your life, and strong enough to cut away the lies.  The truth allows you to live in freedom.

Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:1-10, 6:13-17, & Philippians 4:8-9