I have a friend who works in Federal law enforcement. Every few months be must take a course to recertify in the M-16 and 9 mikimeter Baretta. In addition he is a certified weapons instructor. My friend always tells his students that they will not learn fancy techniques of shooting. But they will always hit their target if they stick to the basics.

Sanaurai warriors lived by the sword. They never drew their swords in combat unless it was for one purpose. To strike with a deadly blow. For centuries the samaurai ruled Japan by the sword. They would practice for hours a day until they were one with their weapon.

The Roman soldier was another warrior who knew his weapon. He again was quite skilled in the use of the Roman short sword anf could use with deadly results.

How well do we know our weapon? We have the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God? How well do we know it? By knowing it I mean is it in us? Jesus demonstrated a skill in using the word by resisting the devil through the use of scripture. We are told to resist the devil by standing firm in the faith. How do we resist the devil? Doing what Jesus did. Using the word.

In 1 John the writer says young men you are strong. The word if God lives in you. You have overcome the evil one.

Question, why are threads on the word so conveniently overlooked. I listened to a message by Keith Daniels on the word if God. I posted a positive response on it. Only one person responded?

Does anyone in this forum believe the scriptures are important to ones walk with Christ? The persecuted are willing to die to own a copy of the Bible. Yet I think many of us believe the Bible is not that important?

Ok. So here is the question. How well do we know our weapon? To put it another way. Is it really all that important to know the Bible? Anyone want to answer this before this thread slips quietly into oblivion.

Posted by Bearnaster from the den.

There is a scripture where God says His word will not return to Him void. (I cant recall where it is. I once had a good memory but have memory damage now and things are always foggy...like swiss cheese.) Certainly some know the Word better than others cuz they spend more time in it and as a result they are gonna use the Sword of the Spirit more. You can always tell when a person spends a lot of time in the Word and those who don't. And the people who only read it at a Wednesday night Bible study.

PLEASE NOTE: It is not always necessary to know the chapter and verse of a scripture. When JESUS rebuked the devil during His temptation in the wilderness did He recite chapter and verse numbers? No, He did not. He just said, "It is written..." That is what is most important.

Anen brother. Don't need to know the chapter and verse. Just the content. I pray God restores your damaged memory.

Bearmaster.

_________________
Matthew Guldner

I agree with mguldner... he makes a good point.

Rarely do I post on something that I am in agreement with. What would be the point? I agree... nothing else needs to be said, ya know?

Maybe you have not noticed but there are a LOT of theads, many with pages and pages of responses, discussing scripture. I dont know what you have been reading on here where scripture is not being discussed... but I would disagree with you on that point.

Krispy

I think the reason why you may not get lots of comments is because when you make the reference to the word being as a weapon which is true...(also look at what we make war against)... Today's majority of Christians only recognize one side of Jesus. I heard a Pastor sum it up well when he said that someone said to him....."Jesus doesn't hate, he is love". The Pastors response was "Jesus does hate, and so do I. God loves men therefore he hated abortion". There were a few other references but that one made it clear as day to me. Many of these lukewarm Christians like to use versus in the Bible out of context...Judging being the greatest to my ears. I usually laugh, then explain what the Bible says, then bring it to the Lord that they may come to an understanding of the true word of God.

OK..back to weapons. Because weapons have the potential to destroy, great responsibility comes with them. How can you give a gun to a person without training? The likelihood of an accident in percentages will be so much greater (accidental discharge, shooting self, shooting unintended target, gun malfunction, etc...). All weapons need training and if you give a weapon to use, you better ensure you are training the person you are giving it to. If a Pastor only gives bits of scripture to their flock, this is what their flock will likely use against the adversary when they need it. Look in Acts 19:11 (sons of Sceva). - AND in contrast, look in Jude 1:9...See the contrast in the word?

When the word of God is truly truly understood...the magnitude of the lethality of it as a weapon of spiritual warfare can be clearly seen. In Acts...the demons rebuked the sons but in the book of Jude, satan himself was the one rebuked and turned away.

I see many churches today arming their congregations with balls of cotton to do battle against fire breathing dragons. Kind of a different picture when compared in contrast to the picture of a sword extending from the mouth of Jesus in Revelation.

Contend for the faith Brothers and never forget your fist love. Amen.

I really haven't been here that long; about 51 months or so as of this post, but long enough I suppose to be a "regular".

I have to say that overall it does seem that there has been a shift from scripture based discussion to more ideological topics; like an OP-ED Christian topical discussion board. Maybe there was something in the water then, but in the days that I came aboard, the Arm/Cal wars were raging, KJV/every-other-translation-heresy war too, and waves of minutia about the intricacies of the jot and tittle.

I have tried to refocus my ideas and posts with scripture, overall, and I know that most here respond as such, and if not directly, as a fruit of inward, grounded faith according to the Word.

Another insight may be that it is a community, and the sum of the whole fluctuates some. Anyone with a computer can join, Worldwide, and many more do now, often without the Bible-base that many of us have here and accept as the norm. I'm not sure, but in the last few years it would not surprise me if SI has not doubled or tripled in members and volume..[ especially counting Utube [ 10 million hits+], Facebook, and Twitter ].[ Greg would know. ]

This is a good admonition to me, to be more diligent to see Scripture as THE base for my ideas and thoughts.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ!"

That's a good start, Tom.........now....repent!

Bear,
God has gifted me with the time to be in the Word of God very morning, before dawn, and i am so grafeful to Him.

i heard Len Ravenhill say, "you know the Word of God, but do you know the God of the Word?"

thats where the blessed ministry of secret prayer time comes in, to know Him, and to listen.

secret travailing prayer is probably the most difficult ministry a saved sinner could undertake, when you lie underneath the Searching Gaze of God, Who can see right into your heart, its almost unbearable, it involves tears, it involves getting broken....forgive me, if it seems like i'm lecturing...no, i'm testifying brother.

Jesus did say this, as far as "weapons" are concerned, "sell your cloak, buy a sword"...of course, our dear brother Peter had to ramp it up, and say "buy two!"....and Jesus told him, "thats enough".

God bless you Bear, back in the den, neil

Bro Bunyon said pray and read and read and pray. For a little from God is better than a whole lit from men. Prayer and the word are the weapons of righteousness for the left and right hands. God bless you richly as you do both.

Bear from the den.

May God richly bless you Brother Tom!

Your post stood out as the most inspiring response to this thread. Oh that many would get what you wrote and quit all this self justification. Oh that some would quit being so erratic and all over the place with unkind words and telling other people to repent but would look in the mirror at themselves.

Tom just so you know that I wasn’t even thinking of you as one of those so erratic and all over the place with off the wall words but you hold your words very carefully and your character stands out.

Tom, I saw you let the Lord speak to you through what was stated and you didn’t criticize someone else but took it to heart. You took it as admonition for yourself and even went so far as to tell yourself to repent. Tom I said this to you a long time back, and I meant it, you are truly an inspiration and I believe you have been through some things few people have, and have acquired wisdom above many, and you can be such a blessing to others with all the understanding of scriptures that God has graced you with. I may not like how hard you come across sometimes in your posts but I do respect you and your wisdom from God. I truly see you as someone who encourages the Christian to be a true disciple and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ to be completely formed to his image.

Blessings to you brothertom and to all on SI…from brother rbanks

Ps. Tom, please don’t take this wrong but be careful on the discernment of heresy (even though I do believe you have a lot of wisdom in discernment) and I love it when you just elaborate on the scriptures!