Several years ago, God laid scripture art on my heart. It came in a season where my husband had to leave for over a year to go to a Christian based rehab out of state. He struggles with drug use, and he has searched for, and ran from, freedom for most of his life. But, in that season, he had to be gone for 14 months and I was left alone with God, my thoughts, my hurt. The first thing God laid on my heart was to surround my home with scripture. So, off to the store I went and bought every piece of scripture art that called to my heart. Hung it up, I was so proud of myself. What an obedient child of God I was. For several weeks, I thought that was the end of it. Then, that whisper…you know that whisper. It starts that something isn’t quite right, what I had done was a good thing, but God wanted something deeper. It took me a minute, several minutes that turned into several weeks, but He finally got me there. He wanted me to create the scripture art that He laid on my heart. Scriptures that He would lead me to and then let my artistic freedom run wild on what to do with it. Here I was, God was speaking to me scriptures I so desperately needed to hear. And then, a part of me came alive, a part of His creation of me, an artistic side that had been dormant since high school. So, I started slow, creating a piece here and there. Then, God had me start making pieces for people He would bring into my life that were hurting or needed encouragement. What an amazing thing God’s word can do in someone’s life. Then, to have a piece of art that was made just for them, their circumstances…God is so good at the details. Anyway, I did that for several years. I have several pieces that He led me to make that didn’t have a particular person in mind. So, I wait to hear from Him on who they belong to.
So, fast forward to now. A few months ago, the Lord led me through a thought. I would see these scriptures, create this art and it was always in answer to something in that person. I felt this nudge, this question, “Why do they need this encouragement? Why do they need to be reminded?”. I realized it was because they had started listening to the world and following its direction. God wanted them to hear something else, His voice, His wisdom, His way. Then, it hit me, it jolted me, God was asking a question “Which voice will you follow?”. I realized that what God was using in the scripture art, was a weapon against the lies of this world. The lies we were choosing to believe from the enemy of our soul. You know the one, the liar, the destroyer, the thief. Why we would believe anything from a liar, or a thief is beyond me…or is it. I realized that I believe them all the time. When I look in the mirror and don’t see the image of God, when my husband would use again and I would get angry at him, when I became discontent with my job, when I looked at others and wished I had something they had. All those things stem from a lie. The lie comes first, it always does. Second, we have a choice to go to battle over that lie or believe it. The Word says that we don’t battle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12). This battle begins with just a thought. If we agree with that thought, we just surrendered to this dark world, and it has its way with us and those we love. If we call that out as a lie and decide to believe what God says, we have decided to fight. God wants you to hear His voice. He wants you to follow His voice. He won’t yell louder than a whisper, but in that whisper is power. Power over the rulers, power over the authorities, power over this dark world, power over the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But you must decide, almost minute to minute which voice you will follow. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of fighting. I feel like the battle of me walking in freedom is constant, unrelenting and in my weakness, the lies are convincing. This is what has triggered this blog. I believe God wants to teach me, and anyone that happens to find this, the power of His truth, His Word.
Ephesians 6:10-17 – The Armor of God
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit, they are both leveraging the Word. The shield that represents Faith, that is faith that the Word of God is true, and you can stand on it. He is who He says He is. He will do what He says He will do. His promises are true. He loves you. If you can believe those things, then that is the shield from any attack of the enemy. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, an offensive weapon to fight off the enemy of our soul. God’s Word is power, believe it, let it dwell in your heart, unleash it, FIGHT!
I’m going to use this time to figure out “Which voice will I follow?”.
Which Voice Will You Follow? 