Jordan and his Master's Thesis

Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
Ecclesiastes 7:13 (NIV)

God is always having the last laugh. (Marc Driscoll)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 (New International Version)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (New International Version)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 (New International Version)

Redeemer
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Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
and Who told the ocean you can only come this far?
and Who showed the moon where to hide ’til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives:
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives, yeah.

The very same God that spins things in orbit
runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I’m broken
They conquered death to bring me victory

Now I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer, He lives
To take away my shame
And He lives forever, I’ll proclaim

That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He gave
But now He’s alive and
There’s an empty grave.

And I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer,

I know my Redeemer
I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
I know that I know that I know that I know that I know my redeemer lives
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
I Know I know
He lives He lives yeah, yeah I spoke with him this morning
He lives He lives, the tomb is empty,
He lives I gotta tell everybody

Words and Music by Nicole Coleman-Mullen

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 (New International Version)

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:18-21 (New Living Translation)

After last week’s enumeration of the parts of our Armour it’s time to go into some detail…

Today I’d like to share some thoughts about the sword of the Spirit.

Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…
Ephesians 6:17 (New International Version)

After having a quick look at our whole equipment again (a short repetition never hurts ), we can observe something really interesting…

• Belt of Truth
• Breastplate of Righteousness
• Sandals of Peace
• Shield of Faith
• Helmet of Salvation
• Sword of the Spirit
• Prayer and Supplication

Nothing special… I guess… well… if we take a closer look at the purpose of every single piece we might be able to notice something.
There is only one thing in the list that can be used as offensive weapon. It’s the sword of the Spirit. You’re right, swords can be used to fend off attacks of our opponents but mainly they are used to actively attack the enemy.

But there’s more… the bible tells us that it’s the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Again the devil is in the details (a gross play on words ).
This is a battle we fight with words! Words originating from and backed up by the Spirit of God. Sounds like a pretty powerful weapon to me!!

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (New International Version)

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)

This one is for you online-bible-readers out there (I’m one myself, it’s not a bad thing )
Keep in mind that we haven’t reached the point where we have internet access all the time…
There might come the day when you need to look up a bible verse quickly. Not even knowing if the scripture is to be found in the new or old testament could become really embarrassing (just sayin’ ^^). It’s very important that you’re familiar with the print-out version of God’s word too!

Read the word of God and memorize it! Educate yourself so that you will be able to resist false promises and invalidate false claims and arguments.
There’s a valid reason why kids in Sunday school are taught to learn bible verses every week!

In a nutshell:
You can’t use a weapon effectively without reading the user’s manual. Make sure you keep your sword sharp and train your swordplay skills on a daily basis to stay in excellent form!

During the research for this post I came across a very informative and well-written article from
‘The Living Word Library‘. Check it out!

Then the devil took him [Jesus] to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:5-7 (New International Version)