Forged in Fire
We live stream our services and it is a wonderful alternative if you’re away or sick, but when you can, there is an importance for you to be IN the house. You can’t get hugs online and you can’t have people pray for you while you’re watching cyber-church; connection and physical interaction are vital components of a healthy church. So, what does the bible say about who belongs in the house? 1 Kings 8:33-37 says that God will hear the prayers of the defeated, depleted, diseased, and displaced, if they pray for God’s forgiveness, provision and protection. In vs. 44-45 it says, “When your people go to war against their enemies…and when they pray to the Lord TOWARD THE HOUSE I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer, and defend their cause.”
Isaiah 54:17 is a well-known scripture which says, “no weapon formed against you will prosper.” I like how The Message reads, “I create the blacksmith who fires up his forge and makes a weapon designed to kill. I also create the destroyer, but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.” There is a show on TV called “Forged In Fire” where the contestants compete by designing intricate swords, knives and other weapons. Their weapons are judged for their strength, design, and quality of execution and contestants are eliminated when their weapons do not perform. In order to create their weapons, they take raw metal and stick it into intense fire, so the metal can be “forged” into the desired shape. Going back to Is. 54, that word “forged” really gives a more visual picture of the enemy slowly and methodically forming his weapons. They’re not pitchforks and swords, but weapons designed with intricate knowledge of what will destroy you.
Satan wasn’t always bad, he was once an angel, created by God. So, God knows Satan, how he thinks and how he operates, and therefore, why He tells us that nothing Satan can scheme or dream can defeat us, as long as we are knowledgeable of God’s truths and have faith to withstand Satan’s weapon-of-the-day. Don’t be defeated by the devil; pray towards the House and go to battle with the weapon of all weapons…the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Know God’s promises to you so that when you’re under attack, your weapon is deadlier than that of your enemy.