Pick Up Your
Sword
"BUT
THOU, 0 MAN OF GOD
... fight the good
fight of faith.' (1
Timothy 6:11,12)
Devotion by Kenneth
Copeland
When you're up
against the wall,
don't start begging
God to break through
it for you. That's
not the way He
works. He'll give
you the plan. He'll
give you the power.
And He'll guarantee
the victory. But our
hand, not His own,
is the instrument
He's going to use to
get the job done.
You're going to have
to stretch forth
your hand by
speaking and acting
on the Word, even
when circumstances
are against you.
God gave me a
striking revelation
of that over 20
years ago through a
vision He gave me in
Beaumont, Texas. I
was preparing to
minister in a
service there,
spending some time
in prayer, when
suddenly I saw
myself standing in
the pulpit of the
church. Looking up,
I saw a dragon - a
horrible, ugly
thing-poke his head
through the front
door of the church.
As he came into the
church, his body
expanded like a
balloon, filling the
whole room. He was
snorting fire and
smoke. When, in the
vision, he turned it
on me, he almost
burned my clothes!
As I fell back onto
the floor, I saw
Jesus standing
nearby with a sword
in His hand. ''Why
doesn't He do
something about
this?" I thought.
"Can't He see I'm
hurting?"
But He didn't move.
He just stood by
with a frown on His
face. I could tell
He was really put
out with me. The
Bible says God was
not pleased with
those who were
overthrown in the
wilderness (1 Cor.
10:5). And He wasn't
pleased with me
either as I lay
there on my back in
defeat.
Then Jesus held out
the sword to me and
pointed at the
dragon. The look on
His face said, "Get
up!"
I reached up to
catch hold of the
sword, and an
instant before I
touched it, Jesus
turned it loose.
The sword stayed in
midair of its own
accord. I grabbed it
and began to pull
myself up. Not only
did it hold firm,
but it began to lift
me!
I stood and touched
the dragon's chin
with my sword and it
split him from one
end to the other. It
laid him open right
before my eyes. In
amazement, I looked
down at the sword.
"Why haven't I used
this before?" I
thought.
Don't wait for God
to slay the dragon
in your life. You
have the sword of
the Spirit, the
all-powerful Word of
the living God, at
your fingertips.
Pick it up and use
it today!