The Undeclared War
Many of us have heard the term "spiritual warfare" before, especially if we are Christian. Yet, how many of us take that seriously? We should and I'll give you some scriptural reasons why. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul, had much to say about it. Many have heard this scripture before...
Ephesisans 6:10-18 (The Armor of God)
“10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
These verses are just as important today as when Paul wrote them back in the first century. I know you know what I'm talking about. Marriages and churches are under attack, people struggling with habitual sins, our nation as a whole is moving away from Christian values, and I feel we are rotting to the core. This warfare stuff is so important that Paul repeats himself again in 2 Cor 10:4 “4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
Again we see this warlike imagery in Romans 12:13 “12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
What is Spiritual Warfare
So.... What's with all this armor and weapon imagery? Why does Paul feel the need to bring it up over and over again? The term “Spiritual Warfare “ refers to an ongoing battle in the heavenlies as evil forces continue to wage war against our Creator and try to defeat Christ's church.
I realize that Spiritual warfare is not something that many people like to talk about. Especially in churches. In fact some of you may actually be squirming in your seats right now just thinking about it. You may be thinking, “oh great, here she goes with the old hell, fire, and brimstone routine!" However, that's not my intention.
It's uncomfortable for Christians to talk about war because we follow the Prince of Peace. Why do we need to know of warfare? I'll tell you why; it's Biblical! The scripture uses warfare language and it would be wrong of us to reject it for exactly what it is. Which is why I feel it's very important to talk about.
Many of us would like to believe that if we just ignore Satan he'll go away. Even more sadly, many of us may not even believe he exists at all. Let me assure you that just because you can't see him doesn't mean he's not there, and just because we are Christian, doesn't mean we cannot be affected by him in one way or another. The Bible is crystal clear about the struggle. Satan and his demons played a significant role in Jesus ministry and Jesus didn't ignore them. So why do we?
The Battlefield is in the Mind
Now, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then our fate has been sealed. We have been bought with the blood of Christ, and belong to Him. However, Satan is still out to hinder our relationship with God. He knows that this deeply wounds Him. It hurts God to see his children pried away by their sins, anger, lust, sadness, and hate. All God wants from us is a personal relationship, but for many of us, it's easy for us to be dissuaded and distracted. The battle is for our mind. Satan wants your mind.
Listen to the song by Casting Crowns entitled “Slow Fade”. It's been around for a while now. The band hits the spiritual nail on the head with this song. Casting Crowns shows us how Satan works. Satan tells us lies, and finds our weak spots. Little by little we give ourselves over to the impure. Since it is just a little bit at a time, it is easy for us to miss the fact that we are sinking. He de-sensitizes us. What used to seem so sinful, is now, not so bad after all.
“It's a slow fade when you give yourself away.
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid.
When you give yourself away.
People never crumble in a day.
It's a slow fade”
The song also says, “The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than your thinking, be careful if you think you stand. You just might be sinking.”
See it's not always so obvious. We are desensitized and lied to in our schools, on TV, in books, magazines, music, and in movies.
It may not be the rated R movie God's worried about us watching. It might be that PG movie with a hidden anti-Christian agenda. Satan might have us thinking, "at least I'm not cheating on my spouse, it's just pictures." Or how about, "I'm just going to try this stuff one time to see what it's like. It's not like I'm an addict."
This is the kind of stuff Satan lets us believe, and he uses society to do it. Our morals have become so gray we don't have a clear picture of anything anymore. We're being desensitized to a new norm all the time!
Satan doesn't need to be a mindreader to know our weaknesses. He can observe by our actions where our weaknesses are. Our actions are an extension of our thoughts. Satan will tell us that we are not good enough, not talented enough, not loved enough, not skinny enough, not pretty enough, that we aren't worthy, that we aren't worth saving, or that we should just give up. He will also lie to us about others, and how they feel about us.
Satan loves to take God's truth and pervert it...distort it. I have been in at the bottom of the pit, and I know for a fact that the only way out is with Jesus. Satan will try and tell us there is another way, that you can fill the hole in your heart with other things, but it's just not true.
Another thing that pulls us away from God so easily is materialism. Satan knows that the more conveniences, and the more "stuff" we have the less we rely on Christ. I am reminded of two mission trips I went on. The first was to Zambia, Africa. The people there were living in poverty and had nothing, by worldly standards. Yet by the end of our trip we had about 2,400 people indicate that they had accepted Christ. These people knew that God was their only hope, their only provider, their only physician. They had no reason NOT to believe. Many of the jobless have plenty of time to sit and read the Bible if they can, or hear it preached at local church. The next summer I went to Taiwan. I was stationed in Kaohsiung, the second largest city in the country besides Taipei. This was a huge city that very much resembled any major city in America. They have great doctors. Also, most people (at the time) had decent paying jobs in a stable economy. They are well educated. Materialism is just as rampant there, as it is here. Satan has given them the same false securities we have here, and these people didn't think they needed Jesus. They were all doing just fine on their own. All of our teams combine had about 75 people come to know the Lord. Such a huge difference from Africa. This is one of the sneakiest ways Satan works, it's also one of his favorite. He knows that if we are self reliant that our pride gets in the way, and we don't need God.
Peter felt spiritual warfare is such an important point that he said in 1 Peter 5:8-9, “8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
We need supernatural power to fight a supernatural battle. Thankfully we've got God on our side. How wonderful that he's promised to guide us and give us the tools we need!
Increasing Our Spiritual Welfare
So what do we do? I would like to suggest that we beef up our spiritual welfare. It is our best defense against what ails us. Read, study, pray, and obey. John 10:4-5 says 'But they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a strangers voice.” How comforting those words are to me. This verse is promising that the more time we spend with him, the more we know his voice.
The more we train to listen, the more recognizable his voice and truth are! You see if we are immersed in Him, then there is little room for anything else.
Our discernment comes from the Holy Spirit. It's not based on knowledge or how much we read. It's not based on education, but rather, on our intimacy and relationship with Jesus. Thank goodness we don't all have to be scholars!
I mentioned the Sword of the Spirit earlier, God's Word.
Notice that the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive piece of equipment in that whole section. The rest are defensive. If we know the scripture it's much easier to do battle when evil thoughts invade our minds. Jesus gave us the perfect example when he was tempted by Satan in the desert. He used scripture to fight back.
See, God's not going to allow us to go through something without giving us a way out. God promises to preserve his children though his Holy Spirit but we have to seek him and ask him for help. We have to pursue the relationship with Christ. All Christians are called to submit to God and resist the enemy.
It is our job to be mindful and be careful of what we allow into our mind. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us where we are weak and ask for help in those areas. He will be faithful to show us.
It is our job to read, study, pray and obey. This is how we increase our Spiritual Welfare. The whole point of this is that God loves you. He loves you so much that it grieves him when we put him on the back burner. He wants us to know his character. All he wants is some one on one time with us. And this one on one time is what refreshes the Holy Spirit in us. People can see in us, when the Spirit is fresh. They can tell when you're genuinely in love with Jesus. The Holy Spirit has a way of changing our physical and spiritual countenance. Folks, it's going to take each of us to be the salt and light in our community to make them want what we've got. We could be the closest thing to Jesus some people ever see. How's your Spiritual Welfare these days?
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