The Two-Edged Sword

 

Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

We cannot lose the understanding that the fights we face are not with people but with the darkness that has invaded their minds and hearts. Deception is a cruel thing as it creates comfort in its victim. The one under deception would rather stay in deception than face the bright light of truth. Because if they face the truth in one aspect of their lives, then they must face it in all aspects of their lives. As the light is given access, it will light up every dark corner. Most are not prepared for that to take place.

Coming to terms with deception and being given the truth hurts. Its a hurt that I am very familiar with as in my journey in Christ, many things had to have light shed on it. The first feeling you have when God casts the light of truth on your heart is betrayal. You feel betrayed by yourself, as now you see the error of your way so clearly. Why didn't you see it before that moment? You look back at whatever transgression, deception or lie you held onto as truth and you see the pain it caused you and those around you and grief strikes your heart. For you see the cruel deception you held onto as truth has caused massive harm to you and others. You then realize that the person who revealed the truth to you is the same person you harmed the most, which is our Lord and God. 

For me, coming to the realization of something I had done wrong, came by asking God to reveal any wrong in me. I asked to be judged and found guilty. It would be like a criminal walking into a court room and asking the judge, I know I am not a good person by the standards of this court yet I don't know what I have done wrong. Please judge and try me and show me the errors of my ways. Then your file gets pulled out and He grabs your attention and shows you the error of your ways. 

When the evil in our hearts is exposed as a grievous crime against humanity and heaven, grief strikes at you hard. I have cried for hours knowing how badly I hurt those around me and more importantly, my God. See, He is the one that had patience with me the entire time I was doing my selfish behavior. It was Him that cried for me, worried for me, called to me, and loved me through all my darkness. He's the one who showed me the light and held His arms out wide to greet me as I came to understand my transgressions.

When Simon Peter, realized that the Messiah stood before him, when he had just thrown a fit moments before about casting his nets out one more time, he fell to his knees and said depart from me I am a sinner.

It's like that you know, when God exposes your sinful heart to you. As you realize the deep darkness of your heart, the only thing you can do is grieve and say why did you put up with me for so long Lord? Why did you pursue me, a filthy sinner? His response always gets me, because I love you! When you realize that fact, the water works really start to flow. The terrible ways of your heart were bad enough to deal with but in the midst of your condemnation against yourself He reaches in and hugs you and says you are loved.

I'm tearing up just writing this. His love conquers all the darkness we could ever have and as His love shows us our errors, its also healing our wounds.

Have you ever heard of God's word being as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

It is two-edged for a reason, as God pierces our hearts and exposes our sin to us, He is also cutting that out like a surgeon would cut out a tumor. When the sword does its job and gets pulled out, it heals us on the way out and we are left healed and new. God not only exposes our wrongs but He heals us as He's doing so. If we have faith in Him to do this process, after a while, the  sword isn't as painful as the first time you experience it. 

I've been run through by God's sword so many times I have lost count but each time it gets sweeter and less bitter. As we let God carve us up like a Thanksgiving turkey, we lose who we were and with each cut, we lose the flesh and gain Him. The first cut is always the most painful as we cannot bear the brunt of our sins being exposed to us, but as we continue in Him, each exposure gets us closer. 

Can we agree that when we first get married, there are things that get on each others nerves. We love one another and the little things like not picking up the clothes or not putting the toilet seat down is at first overlooked. Small hints are dropped and maybe a small discussion briefly introduces our aggravation, until one day the pressure builds beyond capacity and the volcano erupts. We've been there when Mount Vesuvius erupts and kills all life in its wake. The dam has broken and every small thing that has been annoying comes flying out of their mouth. It hurts and feelings are stomped on but if you are mature enough and you love enough to change, instead of the emotional explosion destroying your relationship, it helps it. You change your ways, they love the change and everyone is good.

It can go the other way with God and with spouses as our sins are revealed, the sorrow of our deeds leads us to self condemnation and instead of running into the arms of our beloved and asking for forgiveness, we instead drop our heads and walk away, mad and depressed.

Instead of us seeing the sword as a tool for healing, we see it as a tool of condemnation and we fall into a pit of despair.

I've been there too. Before I knew the sword was plunged into my heart out of love, I only thought of how filthy and wretched I was and instead of letting God's love welcome me, I withdrew thinking my filth was too much for Him to handle. If you've ever worked or been around homeless people, they think they aren't worth being loved by someone. Sure, they know their situation and they know they will get sympathy from time to time but love is not for them. 

We must learn that God is out for our good and that He loves us unconditionally. When His pure light shines into our darkness, it is overwhelming and all sorts of remorse, happiness and snot start flowing. We must let Him cut away at us though. It's the only way to be healed from our diseases. 

I started out with exposing the enemy is not of flesh and blood and diverged into the enemy is within us. It wasn't the direction I thought I was going with this but it turns out we need the enemy exposed in all of us. See, we think the enemy is out there in others or out there in the spiritual realm yet the most deadly enemy is living within your own heart and mind. Once we grasp that, we can then begin to let God do His carving. A person cannot be healed until they admit that there's a problem. If we stop living in denial and actually want change, then God will show up, fully scrubbed and ready for surgery. 

Now you know why they call Him the great physician. He diagnoses the problem, shows you the issues, cuts you open to remove the problem, stitches you up and makes you new. He even gives you a lollypop of love as you come out of the hospital. 

We have ways of denying we need help. We have ways of projecting our failures on others or our environment. We have ways of fleeing the light yet we need to be exposed and healed. God will not do surgery unless we sign the contract and say it's OK to do so. He's not going to jump you and take your kidneys and sell them on the black market. His love prohibits Him from being that way. He needs your permission for the procedure. So, what are you waiting for. Ask Him to expose your heart to you. Ask Him to show you if there's anything that is in you that is not of Him. Ask with anticipation for healing and a greater relationship with Him. 

To God be the Glory!