Prepare for War!

Sometimes I have to write an honest and solemn post, and today is a day for one of those. Life these past few days have been tough. To put it plainly, I have been under spiritual attack in my body, relationships, and ministry, in addition to the regular day-to-day challenges. I suppose I could complain, roll over, play dead and wallow in self-pity if I didn’t know my Father, his affections towards me, and what he has for me to do. I suppose I would do all of that if I wasn’t watching and praying or if I didn’t see the enemy working overtime to stop the work of my hands. I suppose I would surrender if I were uncertain of the end, but I am not uncertain. I am sure that regardless of the enemy’s schemes, I win.

 Spiritual warfare is ongoing all of time, even when we aren’t paying attention or recognize it. Sure, there are some deep theological discussions and books on the topic, but I want to break this down in fairly simple terms so that it means something to everyone who reads this blog.

You see, I wasn’t raised by scholarly people. My family and the community that raised me were down-to-earth folks who lived simple lives. They may not be able to articulate all the happenings of the Reformation or write an academic paper on eschatology, but most of them love Jesus and believed that Jesus loved them. That’s simple enough.

They know a good sermon when they hear one. They can ‘sang’ like nobody’s business because it’s not some cute Sunday morning performance—they actually believe the words. We held fast to some hymns but sometimes reverted to old negro spirituals, and songs that articulated theology as best we understood it.

We sang songs that included lyrics like:

I’m going to the enemy’s camp to take back what he stole from me.

He’s under my feet and ain’t no devil of Hell gonna walk over me.

Most of the people who sang those words could not give a good exegesis of the spiritual passages on which the song was based, but for consideration, I would suggest something along the lines of:

Satan is the enemy of all God’s children and the Bible refers to him as the Ruler of the Kingdom of the Air (Eph 2:2). In other words, he lives in the world where you breathe and NOT in Hell where his marketers would allow you to believe. This earth is his camping grounds and he prowls around it seeking those he can devour (1 Pet 5:8). He is a thief who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). That’s his purpose for you and me. So we have to choose, “Are we going to allow the enemy to rob us in our daily lives?”

That’s the bad news, however, devote Christians know the end of the story, “We win!” Satan is under our feet because he is defeated by Christ (Gen 3:15, Rom 16:20, Heb 10:13-14). He was defeated by the authority of God’s spoken Word, and our Father God is in control of the entire world. It is settled. The war is already won, but how about our individual battles?

While Satan may be condemned to Hell and the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:10), he is not currently there. Today, he is at work in the earth. (NOTE: He is not God’s opposite. In other words, Satan is not as equally evil as God is righteous or equally as strong as God is powerful. He is not omnipresent like God. He can only be in one place at a time. He is a created being so let’s not give him too much credit.) On the other hand, we know that he has fallen angels or demons working on his behalf (Isaiah 14:12, Matt 25:41) and those minions are quite busy! They are busy working against you and against me! Yet, we do not have to worry because greater is the Holy Spirit that is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), and greater are the angels who are standing on God’s side, and defending my position than those who are with Satan (powerful historical story of this truth in 2 Kings 6:8-17).

Scripture Reading, Meditation, Reflection, and Prayer – Ephesians 6:10-18

Be encouraged when under attack. After you have done all you can, STAND!

© Natasha S. Robinson 2012