Hit Him With Your Sword

I was just hanging with Alex and we were talking about the importance of memorizing scripture... My dad is big on this and I am beginning to see why. Alex and myself were talking about victories that we both have experienced by quoting scripture in the face of temptation... It is a brilliant strategy... I learned it from Jesus (Matthew 4). But, I want to share with you a quote in its entirety that should encourage you to memorize scripture...

"The Devil is real and he hates you with a vengeance. He prowls around like a roaring lion eating Christians. You know what he feeds off of? FAITH. The Devil has one appetite; Faith. He eats faith so that you can't have it. He claws at your faith. That's the only thing he cares to destroy. He cares not one lick about whether you're healthy or not. In fact if he can get your faith by making you healthy, he will make you healthy. If he can get your faith by making you sick, he will make you sick. 

How do you fight the Devil? There is one offensive weapon and it is the Word of God and when you jew him with it he flees. You should have short ones and long ones. Long swords and short daggers. Those are short verses and long verses. Whole chapters and little tiny phrases. This should all be stored up. So I add to meditate, Memorize! O' memorize the bible! I have never met a weak Christian that memorizes the scriptures." - John Piper at When I Don't Desire God conference

Luke 4- Saturate Your Mind With the Word

In Luke 4 I want you to notice something that Jesus does. He is fasting and praying in preparation for the start of his 3 year ministry stint that eventually leads him to the cross. So, first notice the preparation that he does; prayer and fasting. If you want to do great things for the Kingdom it begins with those two disciplines coupled with an understanding of the Word which Jesus displays as he interacts with the devil in verses 4, 8, and 12.

The thing I want you to notice is that Jesus quotes scripture. When Jesus is faced with a trial or temptation he quotes a piece of scripture to help fight off the attacks of Satan. If you want to be successful in your walk with Christ then you need to equip yourself with the "sword of the spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) You need to memorize verses to help you when the time is needed. It is not enough to simply have your sword at your side... You need to know how to pull it from the scabbard and wield it mightily. As tough times come it will be of great benefit to have verses come to your mind that you can use as an offense against Satan. When you go to battle you need a weapon. A shield is not enough although it will help when the attack comes. But if you have left your weapon at home then I promise the battle will be tiring and you will never have an opportunity to advance on you enemy. You can hold up your shield of faith all day but if you never strike a blow then Satan will not depart from you. The Word of God is your sword, it is your weapon and we need to learn verses that will help us when the battle lines are drawn.

There are a couple resources that will help us with this... Navigators Ministry has an introductory level of memory verses that will give you a foundation. Here is a link to some free downloads
http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/cdm/about_cdm/resources/books/items/27%20Series/items/0E1F31B58F962D2BE0440003BAAC64DB
Another great resource is available from Desiring God Ministries. They offer a memory verse kit called "Fighter Verses". There are over 500 verses that you can learn and use mightily for His Glory! It is $12 dollars but I think that is a wise investment into your eternity.
http://www.childrendesiringgod.org/product.php?id=2
Let's be a youth group that is saturated with the Word and able to use it like our incredible Rabbi! I want so badly to be like Him. And my prayer for you is that you would be like Him too!