Monday, July 23, 2018

The Unseen Battle


“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I love God. I love my husband. I love my family. I love life! My husband and I live our life on this earth doing everything we can to provide, support and strengthen our daughters. Our objective since they were very young was to equip them with the skills to live victoriously on this earth. We desired for our daughters to know Jesus and give their lives fully to follow Him!

We wanted our daughters to develop strong character, to have self control, respect for others, and have a “never give up” spirit. 

Providing food, shelter, clothing, emotional stability, security, a good education and times of celebrations of their life is important, but equally important, if not more important, is teaching them the truths that are in God’s Word.

The truth is that there is an unseen battle between good and evil. Hollywood writes movies about it. People stand in long lines over and over again and pay a lot of money to watch the battle of good and evil in theaters.

In the Christian life we are in a battle! We can deny it, we can try to ignore it, we can pretend that it is just mere fantasy, but the truth is in the Word of God, “For 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.” Ephesians 6:12

In the Christian life, we battle against the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by Satan, who is a vicious fighter. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “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 good news is that through Jesus Christ, we are victorious! Colossians 2:15 says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He (Jesus) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

At the cross, Jesus disarmed the devil’s powers and in Christ, we are victorious!

One of the tactics of the enemy is that he fights with lies. He whispers lies to our mind. In John 8:42-45 Jesus was speaking with the religious leaders. The religious leaders were unable to understand Jesus and they refused to listen to Him. Satan used their stubbornness, pride, and prejudices to keep them from believing in Jesus.

This is what Jesus said, “If God were your FATHER, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

What lie has the enemy, the devil, whispered in your ear? The tactic of the enemy is for you not to recognize his stealth approach. Consequently, when the lie comes, you are unable to recognize the true danger (i.e. the voice of the enemy) and instead you see it as an insignificant and small little blip that you can easily manage and take care of and overcome. But the reality is, the lies that are coming at you are fully loaded with destruction in mind and will attack you in the fiercest way and when you least expect it.

I know that it is not popular to write or even discuss about spiritual warfare. Who wants to talk about the devil! Not me! But I must. Some may think this is crazy – “the devil, come on”.  The truth is this, we are in a spiritual battle BUT God has given us all the tools to detect the enemy’s weapons towards us.

We can live VICTORIOUS and above all the powerful lies of the enemy IF we apply His teaching to our lives.

We can live VICTORIOUS IF we apply the weapons He has given us in His Word.

We can live VICTORIOUS through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Has your peace been stolen?  Is your heart filled with fear and anxiety? Are you fearful of the thoughts that are whispered in your mind? Do you feel hopeless?

Let me share some thoughts from God’s Word of what I have learned over the years of studying the Bible. To withstand the attacks of the enemy, God has given us armor – it is called the Armor of God.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And 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 Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:10-18.

God has provided us the Holy Spirit within us, the power of prayer and the Armor of God surrounding us! 

“And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10-11