The Sword of The Lord

Trying to be faithful to the Holy Spirit's leading can be a difficult task, especially when no words are being spoken. We sometimes think we see "signs," but are they from God, or from someplace else?

(Sign #1)

In the spring of this year, on a Sunday morning, I saw three boys hanging out together in our church's vestibule. They were just talking by themselves. So, I approached them.

"Are you guys going to VBS this summer?" I asked. Suddenly they all got quiet, almost standing at attention. Oh no! An adult!! (Actually, I was their Vacation Bible School teacher the previous year).

"Uh, no. We graduated out. We're too old."

(Sign #2)

Then, on my way to worship a few weeks ago, a thought popped into my head. It concerned those three boys I just mentioned. I spoke to our pastor about it. He liked the idea.

Someone once told me, if you get an idea suddenly, proceed with it. If it is from the Holy Spirit it will succeed. If not, it will fail. Perhaps it was from this guy . . . Gamaliel.

"But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. ³⁵Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. If it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” - Acts 5:34-35, 38-39

(Sign #3)

I asked two of these boys to help me with some work I was doing at the area high school. When I went to pick up one of the boys he HAD to show me the sword he had just purchased.

"It's Strider's!"

(Lord of the Rings)

As we worked that day, I asked one final question.

(Sign #4)

"Do you miss VBS?"

"No," was the answer.

I began connecting the dots. Of course they didn't miss VBS. They're not kids anymore. They're young men!

And there it is: For the past few weeks I have been creating a young men's Bible study, tentatively called The Fellowship of The Sword. 

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." - Ephesians 6:17

I'm kind of excited. Stay tuned!

God blesses us all of the time. We are the ones who miss many of His blessings, or mistakenly think they come from somewhere else.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

"God blesses those who obey him; happy the man who puts his trust in the Lord." - Proverbs 16:20

"Psalm 34:8