God’s Weapon of Choice
By, Eddy Cienda
And the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Ephesians 6:17
In the spring of 2012 I travelled to West Africa to minister for 3 weeks. One evening, Pastor Jules Kanlekou, my host asked me to come with him and pray for a certain lady who attended his church. She had reported to him that there were horrible demonic manifestations in her house. Often times she would hear noises or see giant creatures in her sleep trying to molest her. She would wake up screaming and sweating. Her body would be aching and showing signs of physical intimacy even though she was alone in the room.
As I sat there listening to her talking about her “spiritual troubles”, I quickly realized that she didn’t need me or any other minister to pray for her. All she needed was to stand firm in the word of God and fight those attacks. I started by showing her the promises we have as Christians to be victorious. Our God given authority is to resist the devil. (James 4:7).
Surprisingly, she knew all those verses. I could see a smile on her face. The more I kept talking, the more her face brightened. Finally we all started laughing hysterically. The word of God always brings joy and excitement to the hungry soul.
We prayed with her and recommended that she begins to use the word of God as the sword of the spirit to fight those manifestations. For the three weeks I stayed in that country, she never came back for more prayers. She was set free by the knowledge of the truth of the word of God. John 8:32 Alleluia!
Paul describes the word of God as the only offensive weapon that the believer possesses in spiritual warfare. (Ephesians 6: 17). In other words, your soul depends on your knowledge of the Word of God to attack and push back your enemy. If you don’t use the word of God in your fight against Satan, you will be defeated.
I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. Do a study in Matthew 4:3-11; Jesus withstood Satan with the words “It is written”. What do you think would have happened to Jesus if He didn’t rely on the written of God during his temptation? He would have been defeated by Satan.
Someone may wonder: I thought prayer or fasting was the most powerful weapon in spiritual warfare. That’s a big mistake. You see, prayer and fasting are very important in the believer’s life; however, prayer or fasting done without the word of God is not going to give you victory over Satan.
What does revelation 12:11 say? They overcame Satan by prayer? No, they overcome him because of the blood and their confession of the WORD.
Did Jesus say in Matthew 4:3-11; “Oh dear heavenly father I beg you to rebuke this devil from me” No, He said: “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve”. And the scripture adds: Then the devil left Him. This passage, and many more, reveal that Satan is overcome when we stand firm in the word of God and declare it over ourselves or over those who request our prayers.
A Christian, who doesn’t know how to speak the word of God, will always be on the defensive. He will always fight the invasion of Satan. Satan may slam him with physical pains and sickness, He won’t stand on Isaiah 53:3-4 and speak it over his body. His best defense will be to run around town looking for the most anointed pastor to lay hands or feet on him. You will see him placing phone calls, crying and begging to be anointed with olive oil.
The sword of the spirit is not philosophy or denominational interpretation of the bible. If you add a little man made philosophy to the word of God, you restrict your soul from willing the sword. (Mark 7:13). The sword of the spirit is not your word. It is God’s word in you.
Your word, your ideologies and interpretations are like plastic toy guns. They look like guns but they cannot help you in a fight. Your personal interpretation of the Word of God may sound good, but it won’t get Satan off your case. No responsible government will deploy soldiers in the combat zones without guns or ammunitions.
Most Christians engage Satan without the word of God in them. No wonder they always come down with fear, depression, and all sorts of paraphernalia. Do you have your spiritual sword or do you just have your spiritual plastic toy gun?
The word is God’s weapon of choice. When Jesus will come back to this world, He will destroy all the rulers who advocated evil of this world. What weapon will he use to execute his judgments on them? Revelation 19:11-16 says that it will be: The word of God out of his mouth like a sword.
This is God’s weapon of choice. He used this weapon to separate light from darkness in Genesis 1:3. In the wilderness, for forty years He used this same weapon to heal Israel (Psalms 107:20). When the raging waters threatened to destroy his disciples, He used his weapon of choice, his word, to calm the waters (Mark 4:39).
All throughout the bible, we see men and women grabbing God’s weapon of choice and witness unparalleled display of his power. Men like Elijah and Elisha wielded the word of God to bring down rain and put an end to famine (1 Kings 17:1; 2 kings 7:1, 18); Peter and John, Joshua and David; Deborah and Marie depended on this weapon to win battles.(Acts 3:6;Joshua 10:12-14;I Samuel 17:45-51; Judges 4:1-16; Luke 1:38)
Ephesians 6:17 shows us that our only offensive weapon is: the word of God. We can literally use the word of God as we read it in the bible to stop evil from destroying us. We can stand firm on the written word of God and command mountains to be removed.
Satan cannot overcome a man who stands firm in the word and declares it over his life. When you declare the word of God you are like a man throwing a bomb in his enemy’s house. That is just awesome. You can blow Satan’s army up with the word of God.
The bible says “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him” Isaiah 59:19. How does the Spirit of God raise that standard against Satan? Ephesians 6:17; when we stand firm in the word of God and declare it.
Another scripture that goes along with this promise is Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn”. How does Satan’s weapon loose its power against you? When you condemn it. When you counterattack with the word of God. Satan uses men’s tongues to shoot at you. How do you counter that? You place the word of God in your mouth and fire back.
I encourage you to invest in the word of God. Read it, meditate it and make it your weapon of Choice.
HEALING
By Eddy Cienda
The bible teaches us clearly that sickness is not God’s will for us. God’s will for you and I is total Healing and good health. Healthy bones, healthy ligaments, healthy internal and external organs. Healthy, Only Healthy, Nothing but healthy! Alleluia.
Sometimes, sickness can be caused by the devil. We read in Acts 10:38: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”.
Notice a few things from this verse:
1) Healing is good
Jesus went about doing good and healing. Sickness in contrast to health, is not good. Jesus did not go about hurting people and making them sick. Healing is God’s nature. Exodus 15:26.
2) Healing all
Healing is not for a few selected good people. Everybody has the right to be healed. God wants to heal every person; regardless of gender, creed, religion, ethnicity, social status. Psalms 103:3.
Someone may ask: Do I have to be a Christian to be healed?
The answer is simple: No. However, being a devoted Christian is essential in order maintain the healing that we receive from the Lord. John 5:14.
3) Healing all who were oppressed by the devil
The devil tends to oppresses humans with sickness. Luke 13:16. God does not oppress humans unjustly with sicknesses. Whereas Jesus is our healer, Satan is the oppressor. Psalms 107:20
4) For God was with him
Healing is one of the manifestations of the presence of God. Malachi 4:2 says this “But to you who fear my name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings”.
Jesus paid the price for your Healing
Isaiah 53:4-5 declares “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed”.
When the son of God hanged on the tree, He paid the price for our redemption. It is not always a wise decision to conclude that sickness is a blessing from God in our lives. Deuteronomy 28: 22 teaches us that sickness can be a sign of a curse.
Jesus suffered to deliver us from all curses, including the curse that can produce physical or mental sickness. We have to be convinced deep inside our hearts that God wants us to enjoy a healthy life. God wants to heal us and keep us healthy. 3 John 1:2
HEALING
By Eddy Cienda
The bible teaches us clearly that sickness is not God’s will for us. God’s will for you and I is total Healing and good health. Healthy bones, healthy ligaments, healthy internal and external organs. Healthy, Only Healthy, Nothing but healthy! Alleluia.
Sometimes, sickness can be caused by the devil. We read in Acts 10:38: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”.
Notice a few things from this verse:
1) Healing is good
Jesus went about doing good and healing. Sickness in contrast to health, is not good. Jesus did not go about hurting people and making them sick. Healing is God’s nature. Exodus 15:26.
2) Healing all
Healing is not for a few selected good people. Everybody has the right to be healed. God wants to heal every person; regardless of gender, creed, religion, ethnicity, social status. Psalms 103:3.
Someone may ask: Do I have to be a Christian to be healed?
The answer is simple: No. However, being a devoted Christian is essential in order maintain the healing that we receive from the Lord. John 5:14.
3) Healing all who were oppressed by the devil
The devil tends to oppresses humans with sickness. Luke 13:16. God does not oppress humans unjustly with sicknesses. Whereas Jesus is our healer, Satan is the oppressor. Psalms 107:20
4) For God was with him
Healing is one of the manifestations of the presence of God. Malachi 4:2 says this “But to you who fear my name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings”.
Jesus paid the price for your Healing
Isaiah 53:4-5 declares “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed”.
When the son of God hanged on the tree, He paid the price for our redemption. It is not always a wise decision to conclude that sickness is a blessing from God in our lives. Deuteronomy 28: 22 teaches us that sickness can be a sign of a curse.
Jesus suffered to deliver us from all curses, including the curse that can produce physical or mental sickness. We have to be convinced deep inside our hearts that God wants us to enjoy a healthy life. God wants to heal us and keep us healthy. 3 John 1:2