Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

One Serious Job Description

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Matthew 10

Would you, after reading the job description for a disciple, sign up? God describes what he’s looking for in a disciple here in Matthew 10.

A disciple:
1. will be taken to court
2. will be beat up
3. will be dragged before governors and kings
4. may be turned into the authorities by their brother, father, or child
5. may be executed
6. will be hated
7. will be persecuted
8. will be saved in the end because no one can kill the soul.

Well, at least number 8 sounds good. Anyone who says being a child of God translates into good health and hefty bank accounts is lying.

The Gospel of Jesus is offensive, and if you proclaim it there will be people who hate you. The Gospel reveals our sin, our depravity, and our hopelessness. The Gospel tells us we aren’t enough, that we will never be enough. And friend, no one likes to hear that.

“But hang on,” Jesus says. “Endure to the end!”

The Gospel is worth it. Jesus is worth it. Jesus promises that when we believe in Him we are saved. Scripture says when we confess our sins we are forgiven. We’re promised that when we are weak HE is strong. When we don’t have the words, HE gives us the words. When we are helpless, HE is able.

These disciples signed up, went on a mission trip, performed miracles, told the Truth, and came back excited about being disciples. They no doubt faced opposition, but it prepared them, strengthened their faith, and in the end eleven of them went to their deaths proclaiming Jesus as the Savior of the world.

So, Christian, are you ready to put feet to your faith? Read the job description carefully. Then sign on the dotted line. You’re signing up for war. It won’t be easy. But it will be blessed beyond what you imagine. In the end, you will face Jesus and hear Him say, “Well done, my faithful servant, my warrior. Come home!”

Arm Yourselves.

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Nehemiah 1-4

They weren’t at war with their neighbors. But there certainly was the threat of war. They had been lied to, disrespected, bullied, discouraged, and when that didn’t stop them, their lives and the lives of their children were threatened. So what did they do?

They armed themselves – and kept working.

The Jews were repairing the wall around Jerusalem. And when I say the Jews I mean builders and masons, perfumers and goldsmiths, government workers and artsy folk, sons and even daughters. Hundreds of Jews working together.

It’s a picture of the Church. And like they, we are living with the threat of war. We’ve been lied to, disrespected, bullied and discouraged in our attempt to build God’s kingdom. We and our children are being threatened.

We aren’t at war with our neighbors. But there certainly is the threat of war. What should we do?

We could take a page from the lives of these Jews we read about in Nehemiah. Let’s take up our sword; let’s be diligent about guarding our efforts from intruders. But let’s keep building, keep sharing the Gospel, keep introducing Jesus to people who need Him.

Let’s not use inferior material and think the end justifies the means. The Gospel is the Gospel. Jesus is the only way. Truth is true. Sin is sin. The Jews didn’t slap cardboard up there because it was easier. They built a structure that would stand against storms and enemies. We should do the same.

“It’s too hard,” you might say. “People are offended by the message we bring.” “I can’t stand up against my family, or a mob, the government or the false teaching.”

Hear God say to you what he said to the Jews through Nehemiah:

Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes. (4:14b)

Arm yourselves. And keep working.

Let’s Call It What It Is

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Psalms 17, 35, 54

These psalms seem to support the idea that seeking revenge on someone who has wronged us is acceptable. David is asking God to “get” his enemies, to pay them back with the same treatment they have treated him. Is that the pattern we should be taking? Of course not!

If you are a Christian, you know how Jesus wants us to treat our “enemies.” Love them. Do nice things for them. Pray for them. Turn the other cheek. I’m afraid that philosophy is lost on our narcissistic, feelings-driven, reactionary society these days. People who are offended by someone’s opinions (or pronouns) feel justified in attacking the supposed offender both verbally and physically.

Christian – do we need to be reminded our enemies are not people? We do not war against flesh and blood but against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Let’s call it what it is – SIN.

I think we all ought to pray like David prayed: God, destroy Satan’s influence on this world, annihilate evil forces, put to death the influences of self, of hate, of perversion, of lies, and save those who are caught in the web of sin.

We cannot win this war if we are fighting the wrong enemy.

It’s not the homosexual we should be rallying against, but the sin of homosexuality (a sin Jesus died to forgive). Not the transgender person, but the perversion that has entangled them. Not the woke millennial, but the lies. Not the atheist, but the lack of understanding of who God is.

Let’s quit fighting windmills and turn our efforts toward defeating the real enemy. Let’s call it what it is. It’s not a war against those on the other side of the aisle, or those outside the Church. It’s a spiritual war against Satan.

Let’s put on the whole armor of God, pray for those who need the Savior, and go and make disciples like Jesus commanded. Our world will not survive, and people will spend eternity in hell, if we don’t.

Where Do You Go?

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Psalms 27, 31, 34, 52, 55-56, 120, 140-142

These psalms were written at a time when David felt hemmed in by his enemies. He felt alone, mistreated, under attack with no ability to fight back. So he called out to God. He humbled himself, submitted to the will of God, then trusted God for the outcome.

I have friends right now who must feel as helpless as David did. The husband is in the hospital fighting for his life, and as I write this, the doctors can’t pinpoint the cause. Kidney failure. Blood loss. Pain. But the doctors are still running tests with no definitive answer. The wife can only sit by his side and pray, and trust others are praying for him, too.

I have another friend who can only sit by helplessly while her drug-addicted son slips further and further into his addiction.

I have friends working in the public school system who are facing career-ending choices if they refuse to teach immoral curriculum, and if they support truth instead of teaching made up pronouns, and rewritten history.

My enemy continues to tempt me, to discourage me, to try to pull me away from Truth. I doubt any of us can say we’ve never been under attack. What do we do? Where do we go when our lives spin out of control?

David reminds me that there is really only one right answer to those questions. We run to God. We let go of the reigns and submit to His will. And we thank Him for the privilege of running to Him. We thank Him for His faithfulness, His power, and His great love.

Our God fights for and with us to destroy our enemy rather than being destroyed. He is God. And He can be trusted.

Where do you go?

He Will Not Win (The Revelation of John)

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God allowed John to see the big picture. He showed him the Church, our role in the world, our blessings for obedience, and God’s judgment for disobedience. John saw God’s enemy at work, and the fact Satan only has power given him by God.

I think we miss the point of John’s revelation when we try to fit it into a material box, or try to place events on a timeline. John’s vision is both an encouragement for us, and a warning we need to heed.

The fact is, there is a war going on, and all of us must choose a side. The enemy is clever. He uses both force and subtleties, to bring people to his side. He is cunning, and a pretty good imitator of God.

But he is not God.

And while Satan tries to cloud the Truth that is Jesus, while he tries to put up a smoke screen against the Gospel, he cannot and will not change the Truth. God will be reckoned with. And only we who are on God’s side will escape God’s wrath.

Oh, Satan has and will continue to enjoy certain victories along the way. God’s Church will be beat up, persecuted, and ignored.

But take heart, dear one. Satan will not win this war!

The Choice (Esther 1-5)

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Mordecai would not bow or pay honor to Haman, even when the king had commanded it. Haman didn’t like being disrespected, so he plotted to kill, not only Mordecai, but the whole Jewish race because of it.

Mordecai still refused to bow.

I haven’t seen the movie “Infidel” yet, but I think I need to. It’s about a Christian journalist who is arrested and sentenced to death in the Middle East because of his faith. I understand it looks at the persecution of Christians, and I think it probably ought to be seen by all of us who think it can’t happen here in the good old USA.

I listened to a FOX News interview with the star of the movie, Jim Caviezel. What he said in that interview came to mind this morning as I read about Mordecai’s unwavering stand.

Mr. Caviezel quoted from Ronald Reagan’s “Time for Choosing” speech (1964). Reagan said we were (and I believe we are again) facing the choice between providing for our children “the last best hope of mankind on earth,” or choosing to set our children on a path to destruction.

My friend, I believe it will take Christians refusing to bow.

Caviezel said something that hit me. He pointed a finger at liberal, tolerant churches, Christians, priests and pastors, and said the problem with our “policy of accommodation is appeasement” and plays right into the hands of the enemy. He cautions us that when Satan delivers his final blow “our surrender will be voluntary…We will be so weakened from within spiritually, morally, economically,”our surrender will be seamless.

As I read about Mordecai’s courageous stand, and consider what is happening in our world today I want to encourage all of us who know Jesus as our Savior to stand. Our enemy wants to make us afraid when Jesus tells us we have nothing to fear. Look at God’s promises in His Word and believe them. If we are faithful, HE WILL BE FAITHFUL!

Caviezel said, and I agree, that maybe it’s time we “tell our enemies there is a price we will not pay, a point beyond which evil will not advance.” Do you know where that line is drawn in your life? Are you ready to take that stand?

It’s time to make a choice. Are we with God or not? Are we going to stand for Truth or not? Are we going to speak up or go along with the crowd?

Let’s pray for each other. Let’s pray for our pastors, priests, teachers, parents, children and great-grandparents. Let’s pray for voters and lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats. Let’s pray that God will move in the hearts of people and find us willing to bow only to Him.

Let’s choose God while we still have that choice.

Check Your Weapon (Jeremiah 46-48)

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Do you get tired of this spiritual warfare you are fighting? You face the enemy, you resist temptation, flee from sin, and God gives you a victory. But you turn around, and there’s Satan again at the door with a new arsenal ready to lead yet another attack using another temptation, then another, and another.

God, through Jeremiah, is talking about judgment on the nations that rejected Him. The truth is, anyone who rejects God faces judgment. And every time we sin, we are rejecting God.

That’s why I don’t read about “them” in Scripture. What was true in Jeremiah’s time is still true today. Like this:

“Ah, sword of the Lord,” you cry, “how long till you rest? Return to your scabbard; cease and be still.” But how can it rest when the Lord has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast?” (47:6-7)

If you aren’t weary of the spiritual warfare, you aren’t fighting the spiritual enemy. How can you think about resting when God has commanded it? Hear what He has to say about that:

A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s business! A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed! (48:10)

How clean is your sword? Is it stained with Satan’s blood because you have stood up for Truth, you’ve resisted temptation, you’ve introduced someone to the Savior? Do you go to bed at night spent, exhausted from being a soldier in God’s army, doing this and that, going here and there, speaking to this person and that person, tending to the needs of others God brings to mind, studying God’s Word, growing, maturing, being stretched and pulled as He transforms you into someone who isn’t afraid to strike a blow in the heart of Satan?

Or are you lax in doing God’s work? Have you put away your sword and are content to leave it there shiny and new? I don’t see anywhere in Scripture where God retires his soldiers. I don’t see an age limit to picking up your sword and using it in the fight for the kingdom of God. I don’t see any army or any soldier in Scripture who went home after winning one battle. This is war!

Check your weapon. I pray it is nicked, and stained, and ready for another battle. I’m checking mine.

Snap To It (2 Samuel 19-21)

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David gave Amasa a position of great power. “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.” (19:13) With that word, Amasa became the most powerful man in Israel, second only to King David.

But we really don’t read much about Amasa’s role as military leader. In fact, his first and only mission was an epic fail. And really, what David told him to do shouldn’t have been that difficult for the commander:

“Rally the troops! Get the men together and get back here in three days.”

Granted, they didn’t have phones back then. There was no texting or social media, no TV or even snail mail to get the message to soldiers sitting at home. I can see that it would take some coordinating effort and time to get the word out, then for the men to gather.

But Scripture tells us Amasa “took longer than David had set for him.” (20:5) So the king put the army under Abishai’s command, and set them out to battle instead. He wasn’t about to lose a war waiting for Amasa to do his job.

I don’t know why Amasa didn’t meet his deadline. Were the men resistant? Was he so inept he couldn’t get organized in time? Or did he simply not take David’s time frame seriously? Does is matter?

Well, I think it matters a great deal in my life. There are things my King would have me do in this war against His enemy. I’m wondering if I see my response to God in Amasa’s response to David.

God lays on my heart a person whose heart is ready to hear the Gospel. How quick am I to respond? Do I find myself thinking I’ll get around to it eventually? Do I tell myself I don’t know what to say? Do I shrink back at a little resistance? Do I not feel the same urgency God feels for that eternal soul?

God nudges me toward a ministry, toward teaching Bible study, toward serving in the nursery, or mowing my neighbor’s lawn. Do I snap to it? Or do I drag my feet, hoping maybe God was just making a suggestion?

In the account we read here in 2 Samuel, David appointed someone else to do Amasa’s job. And, seriously, there have been times when in the back of my mind I think if I don’t go, God is going to send someone else anyway. Whew! Ball’s in their court.

Amasa’s failure at the task that was given put him in a position that cost him his life. That’s a bitter pill to swallow. God may give my assignment to someone else, but there are consequences for blowing off the King.

Besides, I want to look at God’s commands, those nudges into service, as a privilege to serve my King. I love Him so much I want to obey with enthusiasm and do the best job at whatever He is asking me to do because He deserves my 100% effort. Why would I want anyone else to have the blessings that are mine as an obedient soldier in His army?

This is war. When my King gives me a command, I want to snap to it.

A Season For War (2 Samuel 11-12; I Chronicles 20)

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There is a phrase in both 2 Samuel and I Chronicles that caught my attention this morning: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…”

Why spring? It sounds like the start of baseball season or something. I did some research and this is what I found:

Spring was the ideal time for going to war because, first, the rains were over which meant the soldiers could march on solid and dry ground. There was grass in the fields, fruit on trees, and ripe corn, food for both soldiers and horses. There was wisdom in the timing.

Now, soldiers could suit up at any time of the year. Not all battles were fought in the best circumstances. But if a king could wait until spring before going into battle, he had a better chance of success because his soldiers didn’t have to fight the enemy AND the elements.

I am reminded of Paul’s second letter to Timothy when he told the young preacher to “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season…”

We, like the Old Testament soldiers can suit up at any time. In fact, we are told to put on the armor of God every day. We are instructed to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope we have in Jesus. Our battles, and our opportunities to share the Gospel, don’t just come at prime time. We are told to be prepared to preach the Word at all times.

But I am challenged today to plan my battle strategy, to look for the signs that tell me the time is right to go to that person God has laid on my heart to confront their sin in order to lead them to their Savior. Sometimes we might be tempted to barge in when it’s convenient for us, only to be met with the challenge of fighting the elements of distractions or resistance or misunderstandings while we are trying to fight the battle against sin.

I want to wait for God’s timing, because He is preparing the ground for battle. I want to recognize His season for war against Satan, and be prepared to fight the fight He is leading. Not my season. But His.

May I be prepared every day by putting on the whole armor of God, by being ready to give an answer, to share the Gospel whenever the opportunity presents itself. May I be sensitive to God’s timing. And may I be a faithful and obedient soldier so that when God says, “Charge!” I’m the first to go.

Just Move On (Genesis 20)

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Sometimes I read about Isaac and the feud with the Philistines over the wells, and think, “Why didn’t he fight for his rights? Why didn’t he stand up to the bullies and tell them he’d dug those wells, so they should just go and dig their own? Why should Isaac lose what he’d worked for?”

Instead, Isaac gave in, packed up and moved on to another location, dug another well. Then, when the Philistines came and claimed that well, too, Isaac reacted the way he’d reacted before. He packed up and moved on to yet another location, and dug yet another well. The Philistines took the second well right from under Isaac, and Isaac appears to not even have objected. He simply moved on.

That just isn’t done in 21st Century America. I mean, people have gotten into fist fights, even pulled guns on one another over parking spaces at the grocery. You don’t step on the  perceived rights of an American these days.

Was Isaac so weak, did he have so little faith that God would fight for him over the wells? What gives?

This is what I hear God say to me this morning: It wasn’t that Isaac didn’t trust God. It’s that Isaac trusted God a great deal. After digging the third well, and without any objection from the Philistines this time, Isaac said:

Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land. (26:22)

The truth is, sometimes battles present themselves that God does not want us fighting. Sometime we don’t need to respond if someone baits us with a political position, or a moral dilemma. Sometimes God wants us to back away, move on instead of taking up our battle position.

Yes, there are times God wants us to go to war. But sometimes war is not His will, even though Satan would love for us to jump into the fray. God may want us to move on instead.

Isaac was sensitive to God’s leading, and God led him to greener pastures where Isaac could flourish. I know you’ve heard it said, “Pick your battles,” and I think that is sound advice. Here might be the better advice, though:

Pick God’s battles.

Notice in the verse I quoted above Isaac said, “… the Lord has given…”

It wasn’t about winning a fight, it was about waiting for God’s best. And God always gives His best when we are in a position to receive it. Sometimes we just have to keep moving on until we are in that position where God can and will bless us.

Let’s determine to be in God’s Word every day, to pray without ceasing, and to be sensitive to God’s leading in every situation. Then let’s let God move in our hearts as to whether we fight or just move on. May He find us obedient however He leads.