{"id":11379,"date":"2022-02-07T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T17:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/uncategorized\/how-satan-dulls-the-sword\/"},"modified":"2022-08-30T11:56:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T18:56:20","slug":"how-satan-dulls-the-sword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/daily-devotions\/how-satan-dulls-the-sword\/","title":{"rendered":"How Satan Dulls the Sword","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 3:1 \u2013 Now\u00a0the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the\u00a0Lord\u00a0God had made. He said to the woman, \u201cDid God actually say, \u2018You shall not eat of any tree in the garden\u2019?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ephesians 6 speaks of the full Armor of God, including the \u201csword of the Spirit\u201d, which is the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Here in Genesis 3, Satan assaults Adam and Eve using God\u2019s own Word, thus dulling the sword they\u2019re supposed to use for battle against the enemy.<\/p>\n

Below are three ways Satan dulled the sword, attacking the Word of God, in Genesis 3 and how he continues to do so today. As we\u2019re mindful of this, we can more easily recognize the enemy\u2019s attacks and use the Word to fight against him rather than allowing him to use and abuse God\u2019s Word in his attacks against us.<\/p>\n

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  1. Subtraction<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This takes place in Genesis 3:1 when Satan tries to tell Eve that God didn\u2019t actually tell them not to eat of any tree in the garden. This is also similar to Thomas Jefferson taking the Bible and a razor blade and cutting out the sections he didn\u2019t like or agree with. God gave Adam and Eve a grace garden and told them not to eat from one singular tree. The way Adam and Eve reacted to this would be like a parent telling their kid they could eat from anything in the refrigerator or pantry but just to avoid the bleach under the sink and the kid thinking they knew better and drinking it anyway.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Addition<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Satan deceives and confuses Eve when, in Genesis 3:3, she tells him that God told them not to eat OR touch the fruit of the tree, but that\u2019s simply not the case. He ONLY told them not to eat it. When God finishes speaking, it\u2019s complete, and He doesn\u2019t need us to pick up from where He left off.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Rejection<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        In Genesis 3:4, Satan tells Eve that she won\u2019t die but instead her eyes will be opened, and she\u2019ll be God-like if she just eats the fruit she\u2019s not supposed to eat. Satan is essentially telling her that God is lying, and that freedom is possible apart from God. In actuality, true freedom comes from our dependence on God because we are dependent creatures and can never be fully independent and apart from God. Adam also rejects God’s Word, just ignoring it rather than obeying it.<\/p>\n

        Have you ever tried to remove, reject, or add to God\u2019s Word? Ask God to bring to mind and forgive you for any of these ways you may have tried to dull the sword of the Spirit. <\/em><\/p>\n

        To help you study the book of Genesis with us,<\/strong> we have the first of three free e-book study guides here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

        To get daily devos sent texted to you Monday-Friday, text DEVOTIONS to 99383. Click here to find the sermon series<\/a> that accompanies this devotional series.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Genesis 3:1 \u2013 Now\u00a0the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the\u00a0Lord\u00a0God had made. He said to the woman, \u201cDid God actually say, \u2018You shall not eat of any tree in the garden\u2019?\u201d Ephesians 6 speaks of the full Armor of God, including the \u201csword of the Spirit\u201d, which is … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":6,"featured_media":9189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[],"ministries":[],"topics":[211,237,243],"series":[375],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11673,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379\/revisions\/11673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"ministries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ministries?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=11379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}