37. SPIRITUAL WARFARE

In Old Testament times when an attack was launched against a city or town, one of the first strategies was to bring in a battering ram, this was to demolish the gates and defeat the inhabitants. Today you are at war against Satan! Only when you recognise and fully understand that, is victory possible. And the Good News is ‘ The weapons we fight with have the power to demolish him and his strongholds.’ This necessitates being dressed DAILY in the whole armour of God. Why? Because Satan doesn’t text you and let you know when he is coming, No! he loves to use the element of surprise to attack you when you least expect it. You will find the ‘Armour of God listed in ‘Ephesians 6:11’ read it everyday and ask God’s Holy Spirit to dress you in it each morning so that you can not only be prepared for the devil but, be able to defend yourself through his attacks. He’s our enemy and he never lets up. He wants you and I to think he has equality with God. He hasn’t. God is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. That means He can do anything, anytime, anywhere. So rely on Him, I have found the more I trust God, the more help I get from Him. Trust denotes Faith, you wouldn’t believe someone you didn’t trust. God wants to see your faith demonstrated by your trust in Him. Satan is a formidable foe, but there are limits to what he is permitted to do. Read (Job 1:12). Your mind is your command centre, it’s where victory or defeat is decided and that’s what Satan wants to control and will use any means fare or fowl to get that control, he doesn’t play fare, so guard your mind that is what he is after, if he can get to your mind and get control of it, you are on dangerous ground and very vulnerable. So keep the armour of God as your dress-code it will keep you safe. In (2 Corinthians 11:3) “ Paul says I fear lest your minds be corrupted.” Don’t let that happen to you. Satan knows that Christ’s return is very close and he is raking up the opposition. The way you win the battle is through; (1) Praise, Praise and worship are the only things we can give to God, The Scripture tells us He lives in the praises of His people, That’s why it’s called the “garment” of praise. (2) Abiding in Christ, Your source of spiritual growth and fruitfulness. This means keeping His commandments and thus staying in His love. (3) knowing His Word. “Which is living and active and sharper than any two edged sward.” It’s designed to defeat the enemy. When Satan comes against you, combat his lies with what God says. (His Word) that’s what Jesus did in the desert, and that’s what disposed of Satan. If the word of God was good enough for His Son, surely it will be good enough for us. (4) You must also walk in love towards others. Others will pray, council and correct you, don’t be too proud to ask for, acknowledge, accept and act on the advice of people more experienced than you are. It’s impossible to be victorious when you’re wrapped up in yourself. When the first plane hit the World Trade Center in September 2001, we thought it was an accident. But,when another plane hit it, we knew New York was under attack. Doctor Robert jeffrees says, “Knowing the source of the problem is crucial,..”A navigational accident demands one sort of response. While a hostile strike requires a completely different strategy. Everyday our world is invaded by what we consider random events. Are we under enemy attacks?. Couples divorce, so we develop marriage guidance; the drug use increases, we educate our children to “just say No”. Pornography among Christians rises, so we organise accountability groups; Churches threaten to split, so we employ arbitrators to help with conflict resolution, Christians battle depression and suicidal thoughts; so they get medicated with the latest drugs. (Please understand I am all for such programmes) but, what if in fact the source is more than random events and we are under enemy attack? Would we change our strategy? Through the Scriptures we understand there is an unseen world and it’s at war against God and His followers. Paul writes,”Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against. the spiritual forces of wickedness, we can’t just shrug our shoulders and say “We don’t have a horse in that race.” You and I are living in the crossfire of this spiritual war... the enemy is determined to destroy everything and everyone important to us. And those who dismiss such words as being over the top – do so at their own detriment. Martin Lloyd-Jones said “Not to realise you’re in a conflict..means, you are so hopelessly defeated..that you don’t even know it.” We are in a very real war, the stakes are high, the enemy skilled, armed and determined. The possibility of loosing thousands of souls to Satan is real. We must be aware of what’s happening and be prepared to fight for our Faith and the Souls of our families and friends It’s important to know when you’re under attack – and when you’re not. Henry and Richard Blackaby said “There is a tendency among Christians to view anything unpleasant as spiritual warfare.” Rather than admitting we are merely reaping what we’ve sown. If you have neglected your role as spiritual teacher to your children, they may fall into sin, if you’ve been dishonest God may let you reap the consequences. It would be foolish to ask Him to ease your discomfort if He is disciplining you to get your attention. How tragic never to make the connection. Understand this, all our actions have consequences, good actions have good consequences which we can rejoice in, and bad actions have bad consequences which we have to wear. Don’t make the mistake of thinking sorrow for sin takes away the consequences of sin, it doesn’t, it takes away your offence against God (SIN). God’s discipline wont help you if you dismiss it as Satan’s doing. If you misunderstand you may blame Him for not answering your prayers or failing to protect you; meanwhile, God’s warning you of danger. In (1Peter 1;6-7) we read “For a little while you may have to suffer..that your faith may be proved genuine. God wants genuine faith-filled Christians whom He can trust to take His Word to all “Nations, Peoples, languages and Tongues,” and on Those He will pour out His gifts to accomplish His Will through them. A Blacksmith with a chunk of metal on an anvil envisions what he wants to make. But it means melting down the old chunk, recasting it, removing scars and repairing cracks, filling voids, and purging impurities until what was useless becomes valuable. Finally he plunges it into cold water until it hardens into an unbending useful tool. Max Lucado says ‘An instrument is useful only if it’s in the right shape. A good Blacksmith keeps his tools in shape, and so does God, should He place you on His anvil, be thankful. It means He thinks you’re still worth reshaping.” Thank you for reading my thoughts on “Spiritual Warfare” Never has our world needed God’s people to stand up for the principals of Almighty God as it does now, So don’t be ashamed, embarrassed or unwilling to let the world know where you stand and who you stand for, Remember Jesus said “He who stands up for me before man, I will stand up for him before my Heavenly Father.”What an advocate!! God bless us all Phaline. ---------------------------------