The Sword of the Spirit, Part 4

I know first hand that God’s word is powerful and living. God’s word is full of life. There might be a million great books in the world, but none of them has the power of God’s word. It is God-breathed. It pierces and divides, sorting out the good and evil. It heals and restores our souls and mind.  When God speaks to us, and we step out and say what we heard, we will see situations shift in our lives. We will see:

3. The temptations and attacks of Satan defeated.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not  tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Christ beat the devil back with the word of God. Often, Satan’s attacks are against the words (rhema) we received from God in the last, prophetic season of life. Satan attacked Jesus right after Jesus received a resounding endorsement from His heavenly Father: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Jesus’ identity was affirmed, and immediately, Satan tried to steal the word of God to Jesus. 

He will do the same with us. When God reveals a promise to us, don’t be surprised if the devil goes after it. It’s essential to stand up in those moments and use the rhema of God, the Sword of the Spirit, to fight off the attack and keep the word of God in our hearts. We have to talk back to the devil. Jesus didn’t defeat the devil with thoughts—He defeated the devil with spoken words.