Take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are learning how to take the sword of the Spirit and use it with great skill. We are doing this so we will not only pass Jesus final exam, but, will become producers of a hundred times what was sown.

Mat 25:35-36 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me. This exam decides WHERE we will spend eternity; but, we don’t want to just barely make it. We also are learning how to use the sword of the Spirit to be the very best there is in Jesus.

1 Cor 3:12-13 (NIV) If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. Once becoming a Christian, some just desire, study, pray, believe, love, and take faith-action fulfilling the basic minimum requirements. Others put everything they have into the Christian life.

This is what we are doing so as to go into eternity with great rewards from Jesus: Phil 3:13-14 (NIV) Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Mat 13:19 (NIV) When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. We can feel picked on, abused, unappreciated, and misunderstood. We can feel so sorry for ourselves that we are unable to see that we have a lot of faults, sins, shortcoming, failures, and misdeeds of our own. We can’t repent because we are too busy blaming everyone else for all that is wrong with us.

If we take our sword of the Spirit and attack all these bad attitudes in our heart and life, we will be set free. 1 John 1:8-9 (NIV) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. This helps us stop blaming others and be able to deal with our own spiritual problems.

Mat 13:20-21 (NIV) The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. As you run into people’s opinions, criticisms, resistance, rebukes, and lies, you have to be ready to go to God’s Word for Scriptures that defend you.

Mat 5:10-12 (NIV) Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. We use wonderful Scriptures like this to defeat the opposition to our faith and love for Jesus.

Mat 13:22 (NIV) The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. We have to learn how to apply Jesus’ Biblical principles to our career, our job, our finances, and our debt. If we end up spending most of our life “making a living,” we will be a lake. It will all be flowing into us with little or none flowing out.

When we take up our sword of the Spirit, we will use Scriptures like Luke 6:38 (NIV): Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. You can start being a river; AND, the more you measure out, the more Jesus will measure it back to you.

Mat 13:23 (NIV) But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Fulfilling the requirements of Jesus’ final exam makes us good soil. Rom 10:9-10 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

We saw in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 what this “he produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Mat 13:23b) is all about. So we picked up our sword of the Spirit and used Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. It helps us get a desire, a commitment, and a determination Phil 3:14 (AKJV) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Mat 15:6 (NIV) He is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. We have a lot of philosophies, beliefs, principles, and concepts that we have received from the world. Some of them were taught to us from a very early age; so, we accept them as truths and base our lives on them. But, the truth of the matter, they are destroying our businesses, marriages, families, friendships, relationships, and lives.

We pick up our sword of the Spirit by going to Scriptures like Rom 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will. This speaks faith, truth, and power into us that heals our will, mind, heart, and brain. We reject all these world-training ideas and replace them with the truths of God.

Luke 11:28 (NIV) He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” There are a lot of things we can do in reaction to hearing some part of the word of God. We can ignore it, disagree with it, not apply it, put it on a shelf for some other day, or we can apply The Six Biblical Principles to it and be empowered to obey it.

We then take up our sword of the Spirit and use Scriptures like John 1:12 (AKJV) But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. This puts us in a place where we are able to do what we do because we are who we are. As children of God, power flows into us enabling us to hear the word of God, understand it, and apply it by using the sword of the Spirit.

John 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The reason our sword of the Spirit is so powerful, effective, and easy to use is because we aren’t applying it ourselves. Jesus is flowing in and through us giving us Himself as the sword of the Spirit for every situation.

John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. When we have Jesus flowing in and through us as our sword of the Spirit, it becomes obvious why the Scriptures we use are so powerful and effective.

John 15:3 (NIV) You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 2 Cor 5:21 (NIV) God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus has made us clean; now it is just a matter of using our sword of the Spirit to stay clean. 2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, SO THAT the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.