We hear a lot about Spiritual Warfare these days. It is a real war and we need to take it seriously but we need to see it for what it really is. If you are a believer in Jesus and have received Him as your Savior, you are in the body of Christ, and this means you are in the spiritual war between God and His enemy.
1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
The fact of the matter is that you are in this fight! The fight of your life for your life!. You and I have an enemy. His name is Satan, the devil; his mission is to Steal, Kill, and Destroy.
John 10:10 (HCSB) A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance
If everyone was a Christian, living like Christ mandates us to live, there would be fewer problems because, at least, we would be on one accord. But it's not just us. Add to the mix some non-believers, some outside influences on our children, some mechanical issues with our cars, a hail storm that damages our roof, and on-and-on and now things seem a little tougher to manage. And we wonder, what is wrong?
.
A lot of believers either don’t realize that they are in a war or don't take it seriously. So they are not actively engaged in the war,even though they are on the receiving end of the consequences of that war. They are attacked and become wounded and incapacitated because they are totally unprepared to face the enemy.
In order to survive, the first thing we have to realize is that there really is a war and we really do have an enemy. What we must realize is that our enemy is God’s enemy. In fact he is our enemy because he is God’s enemy. The mere fact that you are a child of God means that you are subject to attack at any time. You may believe you don’t have to engage in the battle, but you do.
Satan does exist and he has a military force. The war is never over because the enemy never never gives up. Jesus has defeated him but he continues to engage in gorilla warfare.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
This is a spiritual war, but it’s every bit as real as the conflicts that we see being waged the world today. The Bible is clear that this is not a battle which is fought on a physical plane at all, but rather a spiritual one.
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Who are these principalities, powers, rulers of darkness? They are the soldiers of Satan’s military. He works through a vast army of demon spirits. Remember Satan is a created being and not omnipresent, so he can only be in one place at a time, but he has a large demonic spiritual army.
He is very powerful, but let's not give him too much credit.
Yes, you are in a fight. Have you made preparations for the battle? This is a winnable war. Are you ready?
1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
The fact of the matter is that you are in this fight! The fight of your life for your life!. You and I have an enemy. His name is Satan, the devil; his mission is to Steal, Kill, and Destroy.
John 10:10 (HCSB) A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance
If everyone was a Christian, living like Christ mandates us to live, there would be fewer problems because, at least, we would be on one accord. But it's not just us. Add to the mix some non-believers, some outside influences on our children, some mechanical issues with our cars, a hail storm that damages our roof, and on-and-on and now things seem a little tougher to manage. And we wonder, what is wrong?
.
A lot of believers either don’t realize that they are in a war or don't take it seriously. So they are not actively engaged in the war,even though they are on the receiving end of the consequences of that war. They are attacked and become wounded and incapacitated because they are totally unprepared to face the enemy.
In order to survive, the first thing we have to realize is that there really is a war and we really do have an enemy. What we must realize is that our enemy is God’s enemy. In fact he is our enemy because he is God’s enemy. The mere fact that you are a child of God means that you are subject to attack at any time. You may believe you don’t have to engage in the battle, but you do.
Satan does exist and he has a military force. The war is never over because the enemy never never gives up. Jesus has defeated him but he continues to engage in gorilla warfare.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
This is a spiritual war, but it’s every bit as real as the conflicts that we see being waged the world today. The Bible is clear that this is not a battle which is fought on a physical plane at all, but rather a spiritual one.
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Who are these principalities, powers, rulers of darkness? They are the soldiers of Satan’s military. He works through a vast army of demon spirits. Remember Satan is a created being and not omnipresent, so he can only be in one place at a time, but he has a large demonic spiritual army.
He is very powerful, but let's not give him too much credit.
Yes, you are in a fight. Have you made preparations for the battle? This is a winnable war. Are you ready?
The Winnable War
Taken from “the winnable war” by Harvest Ministries
The day you make a commitment to Jesus Christ, a very real spiritual war begins in your life. Conversion makes our hearts a battlefield.
The Bible often uses the picture of military battle, fighting, and warfare to describe the Christian life. Paul exhorted Timothy, “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3 NKJV). He also wrote that he had “fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV).
Jesus told His own disciples, as they were going out into the world and being an influence for Him, that the gates of hell would not prevail against them as the church (see Matthew 16:18).
We may not fully understand the meaning of this phrase, but the disciples would have. In that day, when a military offensive was launched against a city, one of the first strategies was to bring in a battering ram, knock down the gate, and defeat the opposing army.
When it comes to the Christian life, we will either gain or lose ground. We will either win or lose. But we have to be involved in the spiritual battle. Spiritual pacifists will be knocked down, because the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground.
It is up to us to fight the good fight of faith. So we need to suit up and learn the principles from God’s Word that teach us how to be more than conquerors in Jesus Christ.
First, we need to put on the full armor of God as we engage in the spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (NKJV).
The phrase “put on” carries the idea of doing something once and for all. It speaks of permanence. The full armor of God is not something we put on and then take off again. We are to keep it on all the time.
Second, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan is not the equal of God. The devil would like us to think that whatever God can do, he can do, as though they were two sides of the same force.
Although Satan is a powerful spirit being, he is far from God’s equal. You see, God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. God can do anything that He wants to do, anywhere and anytime.
Satan is none of those things. He has limitations as to what he can do.
Third, we need to realize that the devil will primarily attack us in the realm of the imagination. The apostle Paul mentioned this in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (NKJV).
The devil knows that if he can get us to think about something, we are only a step away from actually doing it. He knows that our minds are “command central.” It is here that we reason. It is here that we remember. It is here that we dream.
Our minds are the hard drive, the place where everything originates. Satan knows that it is only a short step from a thought to an act.
Last, we need to understand that the devil works with two very close allies: the world and the flesh. “The world” is the world system that is hostile toward God. It is living for personal gratification, our own will above all else.
Then there is the flesh. When the Bible speaks of the flesh, it speaks more of the depraved, fallen human nature in which we are gratifying sensual appetites.
The apostle John gives us this definitive look at the flesh: “For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16 NKJV). All temptation basically falls into one of these three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
So realize that, in Jesus Christ, you have been positionally placed into the family of God. Don’t let the devil cheat you out of that truth. Live as a child of the King, and walk in close fellowship with Him.
We may lose a skirmish here and a battle there. But no doubt about it, we will win the war.
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