I am really excited to share this with you today. As I write this, I am sitting in my “secret place” where I spend every morning with Jesus. This is the very place where I sit every morning and pray for you! Yes, you! I always pray over our Unstoppable partners and everyone who will read these posts. I really am praying for you!
Today I want to encourage you with a beautiful truth from the Word of God that may be new to you. The Words of the Bible are more than mere precepts and commandments that you passively take into yourself as you read and study them, and they are more than external truths that we bring inside ourselves in order to grow and to build.
Yes, it is true that when we take in the Word of God that we are taking in God’s very nature–think of it, His very being–inside ourselves, replacing the old and broken with the new and glorious, but there is more, friend. We are to take the Word of God that we read and study and sharpen them so they become more effectual in our daily lives and warfare! It is up to us to do the sharpening, not God!
When you take in the Word of God, it’s as if God is giving you a sword. We know this from several Scriptures. In describing the full armor of God that we are to take up, Paul says in Ephesians 6:17:
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
Also in Hebrews 4:12, we find that the Word of God is likened to a sharp two-edged sword:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
I always read this verse and thought that the Word of God always came into my hand pre-sharpened. That makes sense, right? God’s Word is perfect and battle-ready. But I want to show you something that changed my life and I’m sure will change yours forever.
The Word of God does not come into your hand pre-sharpened. You must sharpen it yourself in order to wield the Word of God in its full strength and ferociousness in spiritual battle against the forces of darkness.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says,
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
In this familiar passage, Moses speaks the Words of God to the people of Israel, reviewing His covenant to them that He made on Mount Sinai. When I studied these verses more deeply, I discovered something amazing that you simply don’t see when reading most English translations of this passage. The Hebrew word for “teach them diligently” carries the idea of whetting, sharpening, and piercing. Literally, this word is used to describe the sharpening of a weapon.
With this one exception in Deuteronomy 6, this word was used exclusively in the Bible in reference to sharpening something for battle, piercing, or describing a sharp weapon (such as an arrow).
The Amplified Translation, Classic Edition brings this out beautifully:
5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might.
6 And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then]
7 You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.
The concept of teaching your children the Word of God still holds, but I want to point out a deeper meaning behind these words. When you receive revelation from the Word of God, you receive, as it were, a sword in your hand with which to do battle against the enemy with. But the story isn’t over. Just because you’ve received a Word from God doesn’t mean you know how to use it, and it doesn’t mean you are ready to start hacking apart your enemies in the heat of battle–at least not yet.
No, you and I must learn to sharpen our swords! We must “whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate” the enemy’s defenses. This means we must meditate on the Word that we receive. When the Holy Spirit quickens a Word to our hearts as we read the Bible or we hear His whisper in prayer, we must continue to spend time in that Word. We must take that Scripture He breathes on and literally spend time sharpening it, turning it over and over in our minds, praying over it, studying it, and getting acquainted with it.
When you get to the point where you look upon that Word as a trusty, reliable, and well-known friend, you will find yourself wielding the sword of the Spirit masterfully in battle, and the heads of your enemies will roll. In this way, you can sharpen the Word that God gives you, for it is indeed “sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow…”
Here are some practical tips to sharpening your sword:
1. Write it down. You’ll thank me later.
2. Pray over the Word. Ask the Lord questions about it. Here are some things I typically ask: What does this mean to me? What does this mean for my family? How do you see me walking in this Word, Lord?
3. Study the Word. God gave us a brain, and it’s vital that we use it! Studying the Word by looking up similar Scriptures, looking into the Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) words helps shape and mold our understanding to the Word of God through physical neural pathways in our brain, plus it literally connects the dots with the whole counsel of Scripture concerning the subject you are studying. You don’t have to be a scholar to study the Word! If you are hungry for the Word of God, you will be a good student of the Word.
4. Meditate the Word. Meditating the Word causes your heart to believe the Word. To meditate means to mutter or to turn something over and over again. Meditating the Word is the primary way revelation gets deep down into your spirit! Once you receive revelation, don’t just move on. And certainly don’t just say, “Oh, that was nice. Thank you Holy Spirit,” and quickly forget about it. Spend time in quietness, rolling that Word over and over in your mind. As you do, ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on that Word and renew your mind to the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will often bring other supporting Scriptures to mind. Write those down too!
5. Speak the Word. An eternal truth is that “you will have whatsoever you say.” (Mark 11:23) One of the fundamental laws of faith is believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth to realize God’s promises (Romans 10:10). I don’t have time here to teach on this here, but suffice to say that the reason it is called a twoedged sword and not a single-edged sword is because the first sharp edge is there because God spoke the Word to you, and you, by your believing and speaking, place the second sharp edge on the sword. This truth comes from a study of the Greek word behind twoedged (which literally means “double-mouthed”) in Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 2:12.
Isn’t that amazing? I love how God brings everything into partnership–He doesn’t just spoon feed us, but He calls us into a deeper place of relationship with Him at every step of the way! He provides the sword of the Spirit and personally teaches us how to obtain maximum effectiveness with what He has given us. He calls us to “whet and sharpen [His Words] so as to make them penetrate…” I pray you are whetting and sharpening His Words to you today so you can wield God’s Word with maximum potency against the enemy in your life today.
With all my love, peace, and joy in Jesus,
