In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
We've all heard this verse countless times. However, few know that it is not taught completely (or even correctly). How many times have your heard about the Logos, word of God (synonymous with scripture), being given to the believer to confound the enemy & win the day?
A rhema is a specific word spoken for a specific purpose. It can be a scripture verse, of course. But more commonly it is just the anointed speech of a believer which cuts through the clutter and accesses the heart of the listener. It is the Holy Spirit speaking in a specific situation to accomplish a specific purpose.
It reminds us of the verse in Hebrews 4:18 which also talks about the abilities of the Word. Even though the Hebrews quote uses the Greek word logos (the overall word of God), the image used above for rhema comes alive.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.