Artist bio

Joshua McKoy is a artist from North Carolina. After giving his life to Christ, he realized the talent God gave him to be a artist and use it for ministry. Now Joshua desires to introduce others to the gospel through his gift.

Title

Sword of the Spirit

Medium/Genre

Hip-Hop / Rap

Artist Statement

The artwork for Sword of the Spirit includes a sword, a vest , smoke fog and a red scarf wrapped around the sword. The sword represents the Word of God and the red scarf symbolizes God’s Spirit. Bright and red like fire, these flames burn and purge us from all evil (Mental, spiritual and physical). In the book of Ephesians it is the only offensive weapon listed in the armor of God.
The blade and scarf also represents the flaming sword held by the mighty cherubim in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24).
The smoke represents Gods presence and the bulletproof vest is a modern day version of the breastplate of righteousness.

All of these elements I was able to come up with through prayer. I had many more ideas (including a number of swords that I was going to purchased) but the Lord told me “Stop over thinking it and use what you got!” so I did, and thank God I did!

How it fits into contest

The artwork in my video relates specifically to Ephesians 6:17.

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,"

Though we live in this world we battle against so many forms of evil (sicknesses, diseases, hatred, violence, injustice) and even though we see it happening in the flesh all of it stems from the spiritual realm. When it comes to True healing, True love, True peace and True justice prevailing it may seem hopeless but with this weapon (which is the word of God and prayer) we can rebuke the devil and all the forms of evil that comes against us.

Before this song was written, I prayed to God about what to write and He gave me a answer through my own past life experience:

“ I remember one night studying scriptures in my car/ This guy approached me like a shadow from afar/ He tried to run up on me/ Though I was sitting lonely/ Looked and saw the Sword/ Turn and ran from me…”

One night (while at work) I was in my car reading the Bible in the parking lot. Weeks ago, I had just given my life to Christ and I was beginning to read and understand scripture. But because I was so tired I decided to take a nap but I kept my Bible opened on my lap. So I laid my head back and doze off and about twenty minutes later I could hear someone tugging on my car door handle. When I opened my eyes I looked up and saw this man staring facedown at me trying to get into my vehicle. As he stood there I began to think “This is probably the last moments of my life and where is my gun when I need it!”. But as he continued to stare at me he looked down in my lap and froze; his eyes got bigger, then he lifted his hands off my car. As he held his hands up in the air he began to motion with his lips saying “ My bad bro, I apologize” then he back slowly away from the car and ran away.

I’ll never forget that night neither that look on the mugger face when he looked down in my lap. I often wonder and say to myself “What did he see that made him so afraid?” Was it a Walmart employee reading the Bible? Or was it the Angel of the Lord wielding a flaming sword?

All I know is that I was in a helpless situation and His Word (sword) was the only thing that protected me. Though it’s a spiritual sword, this weapon protected me from physical harm as well. Now that I can look back over that night, I know that Jesus was watching over me and I thank Him and for His angel being encamped around me (Psalm 34:7).

Credits

Video Director: DreamLoud Creations
Production (beat) by: iinfynite beats
Sermon by: Pastor James E. McKoy
Actors/Supporting Cast: AJ (Playing as the robber)
Supporting Cast: Kady McKoy (wife), James and Cathy McKoy (parents)

How to Purchase this Artwork

Song: Sword of the Spirit
Album: Watch in the Night
Artist: Joshua Salvation
The song is available on all digital platforms/stores (iTunes, google, Spotify etc.)

Other Goods & Services Available from this Artist

Art Mediums: https://www.behance.net/jlmckoy

Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/173078593X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9Js4EbM551E42

Apparel: https://teespring.com/stores/gods-image

Music / Sound Sources

Lyrics by: Joshua McKoy
Production (beat) by: iinfynite beats

Transcript / Lyrics

{Intro}
The last thing were dealing with on tonight...
In Ephesians...
Brother Josh can you read me verse number seventeen...

{Verse}
All I need is one knife, one sheath/
One sword, one blade/
A verse with one scripture and one page/
Only thing I need is the Word/
The Swordsman of the Spirit/
With the Sword of the Spirit/
The Holy Living, the Word of God/
Now some hate and say it’s fake/
When I say the name Jesus/
But the soul cannot fake when He penetrates/
I seen the hardest fall/
But not from no gun or knife but the Word of God/
It cut right through the darkness, the heart invisible/
The joints and the marrow of the bones the physical/
The soul, mind, body slice right through the spiritual/
Exposing sin in plain sight making it visible/
Spiritual war man it ain’t what you see/
I’m fighting demons and they hard to defeat/
But all I need is one blade, one knife/
One sword, one strike/
One cut and one slice/

{Chorus}
All I need is one blade/
All I need is one knife/
All I need is one sword/
All I need is one strike/
All I need is one cut/
All I need is one slice/
All I need is one name/
All I need is Jesus Christ/

{Verse}
Before I reached kindergarten or even first grade/
My mother and father schooled me they taught me how to pray/
To close my eyes, and bow my head and bend my knees/
And form my hands into the shape of a blade/
But when I became of age I quickly fell astray/
From the words of the Bible and what the scripture had to say/
Concealing a gun and knife yeah thinking I was cool/
But sooner or later really I knew I had to choose/
His Word in my right hand or this gun up in my left/
Now the real question what weapon will protect/
Out of all of the fist fights, shoot outs in the night/
Prayer was the only weapon that really save my life/
I remember one night studying scriptures in my car/
This guy approached me like a shadow from afar/
Tried to run up on me/
Thought I was sitting lonely/
Looked and saw the Sword/
Turned and ran from me/

{Chorus}
All I need is one blade/
All I need is one knife/
All I need is one sword/
All I need is one strike/
All I need is one cut/
All I need is one slice/
All I need is one name/
All I need is Jesus Christ/

{Verse}
To that man holding his gun robbing shooting at night/
Now he holding the Word preaching and saving a life/
Patients with diseases that no cure can fix/
Speaking the name of Jesus and laying hands on the sick/
Police flashing their badge but still believing in God/
Stopping pulling me over and flashing lights in my car/
But ain’t no need for no permit this weapon that I can carry/
In court in front of the judge, standing in front of the jury/
In prison, in solitary still holding the blade/
Till the day I’m buried and I’m laying in my grave/
Tell my kids take the weapon to school where it’s not allowed/
Plead the blood of Jesus when they start shooting up the crowds/
Even for soldiers all across the globe/
Fighting toe to toe with all of they foes/
Standing on the battlefield with the armor of God under they clothes/
Fighting for freedom and fighting for souls/

{Chorus}
All I need is one blade/
All I need is one knife/
All I need is one sword/
All I need is one strike/
All I need is one cut/
All I need is one slice/
All I need is one name/
All I need is Jesus Christ/

All I need is one blade/
All I need is one knife/
All I need is one sword/
All I need is one strike/
One cut/
One slice/
One name/
Jesus Christ/

{Outro}
This same word amen...
Praise God, this same word turns into a weapon for you to use...

Submit Your Artwork Today!

Curious? Interested in submitting artwork to our contest? Know someone who might be? Through April 14th, 2022, the Engage Art Contest is open to the whole world! Get your foot in the door by claiming your Artist Page now!