By Josie Siler

Do you ever have trouble communicating with others? Do people have difficulty grasping what you are saying? I’m fairly confident you answered yes to at least one of those questions. Communication is difficult. Communicating while living with a chronic illness is even more difficult. We struggle to find the words to explain how we feel or why we can’t do something. We struggle to remember what we need to talk to our doctor(s) about. We live in a “brain foggy” world and find it difficult to understand what’s going on around us. We hear the “womp, womp, womp” of adult voices from Charlie Brown instead of words, as we give others the blank stare of confusion.

We all know that communication, as difficult as it may be, is important. In fact, it’s a crucial part of the spiritual armor we’ve been talking about. Most people say there is only one offensive weapon as part of our spiritual armor – the sword of the Spirit that we talked about last week. However, I believe there are two offensive weapons. In the same breath as Paul tells us to “take up the shield of faith…and take the helmet of salvation…and the sword of the Spirit” he finishes the sentence with “…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication (Ephesians 6:18a).”

Prayer is an incredible offensive weapon; it is our lifeline to God. It’s what sustains us, encourages us, humbles us, and connects us to our Maker. In prayer, we praise the Lord, giving glory and reverence to our God. If you’re intimidated by the thought of praying, let me ease your fears. Prayer is simply talking to God. Yes, it’s an incredible privilege and a holy experience, but God wants us to come to Him. He wants us to talk to Him about not just how amazing He is (though we need to do that too), but about our pain and struggles as well. He wants us to ask Him for help. Like any good father, our Heavenly Father loves to give good gifts to His children. Matthew 7:7-11 (MSG) confirms this.

Sometimes life hurts too much to know what to pray. We don’t understand what’s happening and have no idea what to say to God. In that case, God offers us help. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:28, ESV).”

Prayer is crucial in spiritual warfare. Do you remember a couple months ago when we first started talking about the spiritual armor God gives us? In Ephesians 6:10-12 (ESV) the Apostle Paul tells us to...

There is a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realms and it affects us here on earth. The battle is for our hearts, for our souls. When we cry out to God and ask for His help, He will help us.

My favorite Psalm is Psalm 34. Verses 4-8 say…

That’s why I believe prayer is the second offensive weapon in our spiritual armor. When we pray, the Lord saves us. He sends His angels to encamp around us and to fight for us. He is so good, and if we take refuge in Him, we are the most blessed of all His creation.

Today I challenge you to put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; take up the shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation. Grasp the sword of the Spirit and pray at all times. If you do this, you will be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might – and you will stand against the schemes of the devil. Shout the battle cry! Victory is yours for the taking!

© August 29, 2013

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

For over a year, I have had the privilege of studying the fruits of the Spirit. I admit that when I first began, I didn't think there was too much to learn. In my mind, I knew what love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control were and how they relate to God. How complicated could it possibly be to write a book about these things? Yet the more I have studied these character traits of God, the more I have realized just how naive I have been when it comes to the things of God.

I began studying the fruits of the Spirit in conjunction with a book I am currently writing. The idea is that for those living with a chronic illness, it's much harder to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit because often, we don't feel like God loves us. We don't feel like He's been faithful or good to us, so why should we be faithful and loving to Him?

These are questions often asked by believers who are suffering. They are questions which need to be answered because if we don't believe God cares about us, then it's incredibly difficult to have a good relationship with Him.

As I began my research, I was shocked at how little I really knew about the fruits of the Spirit. The English translation is greatly lacking when it comes to describing what God said in the original text. God has a lot to say when it comes to trials and suffering, and those of us suffering with a chronic illness need to hear what He has to say.

There have been many surprises for me along this journey, and one of the first came when I discovered the original Greek word for trials. The word is peirasmois and it comes from the Greek word peirates. Look familiar? If it doesn't, cross out the first e in the word peirates. See it now? It's where we get the word pirates.

I have to admit, I found this fascinating. Anyone dealing with a chronic illness knows that it has stolen a lot from them. Illnesses steal our health, our independence, our money, and our peace of mind. I've met some who have allowed their illness to steal their dreams, their families, and their happiness.

I think we can all agree that the word pirate is a pretty accurate description for a chronic illness, and for a person who doesn't have a personal relationship with Christ, there is little hope. But I've discovered verse after verse which says if we have a relationship with God, then we don't have to allow the pirate in our lives steal our treasure. Because of God, we can actually steal from the pirate. We can get joy and peace, despite having the presence of a pirate in our lives. We can know God's love, faithfulness, and goodness in a way we didn't know was possible. We can be so close in our relationship with God that the presence of a pirate no longer scares us. But it's our choice.

We determine if we allow our sickness to rob us blind. Every day we are alive, we have the choice to decide if we will become bitter, angry people or if we will live every day rejoicing because we serve an amazing God.

I don't know about you, but I want to be the one with the treasure at the end of the day. What about you?

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way...Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life." ~ James 1:2-4, 12 (The Message)

© May 2, 2012

By Josie Siler

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” I’m guessing most of you will recognize this line immediately. If not, you’ve been deprived! It is a classic line in the movie The Princess Bride, one of the most quoted movies ever made. My brother and I watched it so many times when we were kids that we can quote almost the entire movie. In the movie, Inigo Montoya is someone who has practiced sword fighting almost his entire life for the sole purpose of exacting revenge on the six fingered man who killed his father. I can’t help but think of this movie as I prepare to write to you about the sword of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:17 tells us to “…take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Today, we pick up our first offensive weapon. It’s the sword of the Spirit, which the Bible clearly tells us is the word of God. Why would the word of God (aka: the Bible) be called the sword of the Spirit? The sword that Paul is most likely thinking about here is the short stabbing sword the Romans used during battle. It’s a small sword, but it can inflict great wounds because it’s easy to wield and accurate. (Information found in video below.) When we are familiar with God’s Word, we’ll know how to use it accurately to fight off the attacks of the evil one.

If you’re having a foggy brain day, this may all seem a little much to take in, so let me give you an example. Let’s say you woke up this morning and it feels like you were run over in your sleep by a Mac truck. You’re in pain, you’re exhausted from another night of restless sleep, you haven’t bathed in four days, and it’s been three months since you were last able to attend church. It’s moments like this when we become vulnerable to attacks from the evil one (aka: Satan). At first, the attack seems small, insignificant, not worth the energy to fight him off. He starts to feed you half-truths that build to full-fledged lies. The more discouraged you get, the stronger the attack becomes. Before you know it, you’re under a full-fledged assault. 

What can you do? You try using your defensive weapons. You put on your belt of truth and try to remember what God says about you. You put on your breastplate of righteousness and remember that you are in right standing before God because Jesus died for your sins. That reminds you that you are saved and you put on your helmet of salvation. Finally, you find the strength to pick up the shield of faith. You trust in God’s goodness and you have faith He will come to your rescue. Before you know it, you’re wielding your shield like a highly skilled Roman soldier. You’re blocking arrows and darts and even mortars with your shield. However, the attack is escalating. You need something more. That’s when you remember the sword of the Spirit. You ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of Scripture. You remember what we’ve talked about in Ephesians 1-3 and recount who you are in Christ Jesus. You get out your Bible and start reading. With each word you read you hear a gasp and a stumble. You realize you’ve been wielding the sword with the skill of Inigo Montoya. And before you know it, you’ve won the battle with the help of God’s Word. You cry out to God (like we’ll talk about more next week) in prayer and ask Him to fight with you and for you. Your bad day turns into a fantastic day because you were an overcomer. 

You were victorious because you are a child of God who is trained well for battle. Life on this earth is hard; it’s not the way it was meant to be. Life as a chronically ill person is even more difficult. We have to fight for our rights, we fight for medication, we fight for dignity, we fight for equality, and we fight for understanding and compassion. We are in the fight of our lives, both physically and spiritually. 

However, if we rely on God and use the weapons He has given us, WE WILL BE overcomers!

“The same Man, the Great I Am. The One who overcame death. Is living inside of you. So just hold tight, fix your eyes. On the one who holds your life. There's nothing He can't do. He's telling you. You're an overcomer. Stay in the fight ‘til the final round. You're not going under. ‘Cause God is holding you right now. You might be down for a moment. Feeling like it's hopeless. That's when He reminds you. That you're an overcomer. You're an overcomer.” –Overcomer by Mandisa

© August 20, 2013