“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn. This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17 The Amplified Bible)
There has probably not been a week that has gone by that I have not heard someone say, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” The people quoting from this verse seem to understand that the Lord will protect and uphold His servants. Surveying a group of faithful believers, I asked them to identify weapons that we face today, referring to things that try to defuse, defeat, or discourage the efforts of Christians on the battlefield for the Lord. Here are some of the everyday weapons they named from a personal perspective: Debt complicated by compound interest, the haunting effect of chronic and certainly seriously health challenges, defense mechanisms, obstacles interfering with face-to-face communication with beloved family members, the internal control of what is spoken by out tongues, the seductive activity of our enemies; Satan, self, and the secular world, all which can have an unrighteous influence on our judgement and our choices, church hurt from past experiences, negative thinking, the lure to walk by sight and not by faith, time robbers that prevent the godly from spending quality time in the word, authority figures in the world whose actions are not aligned with the word of God and therefore not in agreement with the will of God, the noise of the world, the pressures of family and sometimes so-called friends to depart from the narrow path of righteousness, non-biblical based books, articles, and postings on social media, the battle with depression, the memories of loved ones who have departed from this life; especially on special days and holidays, the self-doubt that comes from wondering if one’s faith is strong enough, cultural influences and behaviors modeled in our childhood acculturation, and the phenomenal trend of people migrating, not geographically, but spiritually, away from the church, and any hint of hypocrisy by the highly regard redeemed people who claim to be children of God.
This was a synopsis of what my survey revealed regarding weapons formed against us, weapons that we as believers face today. The list above, of course is not exhaustive, not at all. However, this survey exercise probably will prevent participants in the survey and people reading this posted meditation, all followers of Christ, from just repeating these words as a mantra or a motto, and to move from saying the quote without thinking about our weapons. For your edification, since I cannot take the time to counter all the weapons revealed in the survey on this daily meditation release, take some time and see how the word of God can equip you to successfully face each one of them.
I’m going to close, but I hope I brought a thought to your consciousness. I would like to close by telling you that in any battle where weapons are used, those in the battle are fitted with the equipment to withstand the attack. Scripture has provided you and me with a description of how we should be fitted on the battlefield for the Lord. For real? Yes! Read the familiar closing verses. Be blessed!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:10-18 NASB)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King
Although I just provided one weapon that is formed against me, it was an important one. In this case, it’s not the time robbers that create the weapon formed against me. Unless I can be considered the time robber. That reality is not exercising my strength in the Lord to make the right choice. I’ll keep working on that.
That’s all He expects of us, to keep working on areas we need to work on and be happy about the fact that He will help you, shape you into better as you live by his words. Remember He is the Potter and we are the clay. Thanks for your response! Be blessed!