Lately, I’ve been reading through Romans and truly loving every minute of it. Each chapter and verse has so much depth and meaning and has encouraged me to draw nearer to God in all I do, and this morning want to share what I’ve been finding with you. I want you to take a moment to let yourself think of the worst thing you’ve done– the biggest amount of shame you’ve ever felt. Remember those feelings you may have felt of regret, unworthiness, or embarrassment. Try to feel the weight it put upon your shoulders; the burden it may of caused you.

Well, guys, we made it. This is the end, and I could think of no better way to wrap up this Armor of God series than to talk about the only weapon we’ve been given. It also turns out, it’s the only weapon we’ll ever need: the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. First of all, sword imagery is found all over the Bible. From Genesis, when God placed an angel with a sword of fire at the gates of Eden after the fall, to Revelation, where it says a sharp sword will come from Jesus’ mouth to strike down nations– swords are used as a vehicle to explain things in the heavens and on earth.

We cannot hide from God whatsoever. To some people, this is a beautiful thing, and to others, it’s a scary thing. To me and where I am in my walk now, it's so beautiful, but I understand from my own past experience why others would find it scary. God sees everything you do and everything you're going through before you even encounter it. He is at your right hand not to condemn you, but to guide you. When we aren’t doing the right things, we tend to view Him like a father who is going to be ashamed of us.

A little over a year ago my family and I were at a wedding in Texas. During the reception, I received a text from my aunt asking me to have my dad call my uncle. I remember feeling a check in my spirit that something was really wrong. I watched my mom and dad from a window as they stepped outside to make the call. The distraught look on their faces confirmed the uneasiness I had.

My grandmother has had the same morning routine for years. She wakes up and makes herself a cup of coffee, frothed with piping hot milk because that’s how she likes it. Once she has that all-important cup, she sits down at the kitchen table with her iPad, a notebook, and her Bible. As she works her way through her morning coffee, she worships, reads devotions, takes notes, and prays.

It just absolutely blows my mind how God can completely use us in the most insane ways when we are “all in” for him! When we have a strong passion to glorify him in everything that we do and we put all our trust in what he has for us, we are unstoppable. Without God, we are mere weak human beings with no strength or wisdom. We think we can map it all out, but when God sets foot in our lives, forget about it! However, when he starts to direct our path, it's like nothing words can even describe. And when you put together a group of people determined to see God's will be done, amazing and beautiful things are most certainly bound to happen.

When I was five years old, I thought I knew what love looked like. It looked like daring tales involving glass slippers or enchanted castles; a prince in disguise that swept the beautiful heroine off her feet in all the Disney-saturated technicolor of the late-90s.

Let’s get right down to it: We are missing out on such a great opportunity to have a beautiful love story with Jesus when we are living the lukewarm Christian life. When we allow ourselves to be lukewarm, we are literally forcing ourselves away from all the beautiful blessings He has waiting for us. We are denying ourselves of His grace and His Holy Spirit.