Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

Spiritual Battle — Sword of the Spirit

Our Offensive Weapon – the Sword of the Spirit

Are we prepared to meet the challenges of our generation with the sword of the spirit? The apostle Paul knew from personal experience the need to resist and stand your ground in the evil day. Whether dealing with rioters or facing incarceration based on false charges, Paul was prepared for spiritual battle. He advised the brethren to put on the armour that God provided. God’s armour would help them meet their daily challenges.
It was daunting at times to live as followers of Christ in a pagan society. They were constantly in conflict with the cultural norms of their time. They understood that there is a spiritual battle to be fought daily. So besides the defensive armour of breastplate, helmet, and shield, God provides our one offensive weapon. Are we making a daily effort to take the sword of the spirit that God is offering us?

Jesus Used The Word as a Sword

The sword of the spirit is the word of God. And God’s word is enduring, anchoring our hope in the reality of God’s promises. When Jesus faced his time of testing with Satan, it was the sword of the spirit, God’s word that helped him fend off Satan’s attacks. When Satan tried to use scripture to tempt Christ and cast doubt on his Messiahship, Jesus countered with scripture.
Yes, Jesus could have turned stones to bread, he was the Messiah. But knowing the scripture and Satan’s intent Christ had the perfect response from God’s word. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” Satan tried to tempt Christ offering him rulership of the world, if Jesus would worship Satan. But, Jesus quickly responded with God’s word, “You shall worship the Lord God, and him alone.” Challenged by Satan to throw himself off the cliff, Jesus quoted from God’s word and applied it correctly, “Do not put the Lord God to the test!” Jesus put Satan to flight by using the sword of God’s word effectively. He parried Satan’s misapplication or misuse of scripture by properly apply the word of God to each situation.

Paul Faces His Enemies

Are we prepared to wield the sword of God’s word to drive off the evil thoughts, doubts, or deceits that Satan hurls our way? Paul understood the nature of our spiritual battle and the need to bring every thought into captivity to obey Christ, the Word of God. He had experience with enemies whose objective was to subvert, capture, or kill the followers of Christ. But he also knew the power of God’s word, the sword of the spirit, to put his enemies to flight.

Paul was bold in challenging his detractors, and he did not shrink from the spiritual battle. He went on the offensive, speaking the truth in love, and boldly proclaiming the message of scripture. He characterized the word of God as a sharp two-edged sword that could help him discern people’s true intents and motives. And though at times, Paul was an ambassador in chains, he prayed for the boldness and power to still stand and speak the word of God.

Are we Preparing our Sword of the Spirit?

As followers of Jesus the Messiah, the living Word of God, we too must wield the sword of the spirit. We have his example to follow, for he always had the appropriate scripture ready to answer those who tried to attack or subvert him. Are we preparing ourselves for battle, by knowing the scripture? Can we “rightly divide the word of truth” as Jesus did, and apply it correctly? Have we taken up the sword of the spirit so we can effectively counter all those ideas, feelings, and actions that oppose God’s word? We can have confidence in our spiritual battle, if we are skillful in our application of God’s word, and put our trust in Jesus’ testimony.

View the message here:
https://youtu.be/n_d9aYh6j88

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Spiritual Battle – Helmet of Salvation

Fighting the Mind Worms

Everyone who believes Christ’s message is engaged in spiritual battle. Yet, too many Christians are losing the war by playing old worn-out scripts in their heads. They have developed a negative mindset, and constantly their thoughts replay familiar refrains. And these messages, the “I will nevers” prove to be a stumbling block to spiritual engagement. When the mind worms of “I will never succeed” or “I will never change”, or “I will never measure up”  or “I can never leave the past behind” start gnawing at us, do we have a strategy to combat them? Are we able to put on the helmet of salvation and overcome our cultural scripts, negative mindsets, and destructive thoughts? Paul gave us some advice in fighting these spiritual battles. He knew the source of the power to beat back the ugly, discouraging thoughts that sometimes seem to overwhelm us.

The Helmet of Salvation

Paul reminded the Corinthians that they had “died” to their old way of thinking, so they could live for Christ. He understood that we, all believers, have a helmet of salvation. The sure knowledge that having been bought by Christ we have an unchanging hope for the future…this is our salvation. Having had our sins forgiven, and our freedom purchased, we could rid ourselves of negative thoughts. Paul, was also a realist, and knew that changing our thoughts was a process that would take time. But with our hope in our future salvation secured, we could face our daily mental battles wholeheartedly. Replacing the dark thoughts with God’s words to enlighten us.

The message of salvation brings with it a deep understanding that we are God’s children — his family. He has moved us out of darkness and into the light. And now he dwells with us by his spirit. But to remain in this relationship we must do battle with an implacable spiritual enemy, daily. So God’s advice as a Father to his children, is that we guard our thoughts with the helmet of salvation.

Capture Every Thought – Spiritual Warfare

Christ made it clear that the things that ‘defile’ people are not physical, but spiritual. It is the vile or evil thought, that when entertained leads us to foolish action that separates us from God. So Paul warns believers to be diligent, alert, and sober-minded. We must root out the evil thoughts that defile us and are motivated by: guile, pride, foolishness, laziness, deceit, and selfishness. Why? Because, we are God’s children and want to be diligently thinking and doing the things that represent his values.

Our spiritual warfare helps us to capture every negative thought that makes us vulnerable. We can recognize the thoughts that are the enemies tactics: doubt, negativity, hate, hypocrisy, fantasy, and falsehood. And we can guard our thoughts with the helmet of salvation, the promise of eternal life with our Father. When the evil thoughts are attempting to overwhelm us, we can have direct contact with our Father. Through prayer and study, our Father will fill our minds with his thoughts. His thoughts will give us the correct perspective on any situation. His thoughts will be a source of stability and protection in our daily conflict with evil. And his spirit will guide us into an ever deeper understanding of God’s love for us as his children. This will give us confidence.

God asks us to guard the doors of our minds. We do this by focusing on the future that God has promised to his children. If we have the humility to walk with him, he will be our joy and delight. God will hear our prayers, supply our needs, and help us succeed. This is God’s plan for us. We must put on this helmet of salvation daily, in order to effectively combat the old ways of thinking and put on the mind of Christ. Are you prepared to fight the battle of the mind, and engage in spiritual warfare?

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Spiritual Battle — Gird with Truth

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Are We Prepared for Battle?

Our spiritual enemy is powerful and relentless, so scripture tells us that we need to gird our loins with truth. Jesus having done battle with the Adversary, knew we needed to stay alert and be prepared. In his final prayer before his crucifixion, Jesus asked the Father to protect the disciples from the evil one. They had to live in a world under the sway of this enemy, but they would not belong to his world. They were a part of the Father’s Kingdom and could rely on his help to do spiritual battle. Jesus in his example prayer reminded us to pray that the Father would rescue us from the evil one, the Father would not fail to do his part. So are we preparing and doing our part?

We Need Spiritual Armour

Paul and Peter, both admonished the believers that times would come when people would be caught up in the false doctrines of demons and deceived by spiritual wickedness. There would be strong adversaries who would attempt to undermine God’s people. So Paul gave us the warning to protect ourselves, when he commands, “Put on the full armour of God!” Paul realized that he did not have the strength to combat spiritual wickedness. He knew he needed power from God. And God provides that power in the form of spiritual armour that we must ‘put on’ so it will be effective. God wants us to steadfastly resist the evil and stand our ground, so we will be victorious.

When we gird our loins with truth, this piece of armour, helps us stand tall and face the enemy with confidence. It is the truth, the reality, that sanctifies us, or makes us ready for God’s service. If we are girded with truth, we will not embrace the lies, fantasies, or delusions of the Devil. We will understand that the Adversary is the source, the Father of lies. We will have discernment to determine fact from fiction. We will not be fooled!

The Truth Gives Freedom and Strength

The truth liberates and strengthens us. When we walk in the truth we are free from the penalties of living deceitfully. And we are strengthened by Christ’s spirit – the spirit of truth. We are strong because we are living without hypocrisy and there is no disconnect between our belief and our practice. If we are rightly dividing God’s word of truth we will not be deceived by human traditions. Nor will we be tripped up by false assumptions. The truth frees us, but it also requires us to be truthful. We must not only understand the truth, but we must live it! So that what we do and say reflects the truth.

“Gird our loins with truth” is a call to action. In Paul’s time, the band around the hips was used to hold the other weapons and tuck in the loose ends of a garment to allow for swift and agile movement. This freedom of movement was part of the spiritual preparation for battle. Peter wrote of “girding the loins of your mind” so it was as much a matter of mental preparedness and readiness to do the work that needed to be done. It was also the part of the armour that kept the other essential pieces in place. And importantly, it protected the reproductive area of the body, in a powerful metaphor of truth keeping our creative and generative capacity intact.

The Truth Transforms

The truth transforms our mind, so we are conformed to God and not to the world around us. Truth gives us direction and clarity of purpose. It is truth that helps us to discern light from darkness, friend from foe. Truth helps us to know what we are fighting for, and how we are to fight. For in fighting our intentions must be clear, our motivations transparent, and our actions sincere and truthful. It is the truth that will give us consistent character and the strength to stand against spiritual enemies.

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Spiritual Battle – Forewarned & Forearmed

Forewarned is Forearmed

It is challenging to be a Christian! Do we have the armour of God to help us? We live in a world that, as Paul said, has been enslaved to a dark lord for millennia. John’s writings in the book of Revelation envisioned a future age, our age. There will come a time in which a great evil power will control the whole world and deceive its inhabitants. And yet, there was hope, because Christ will return and his kingdom will finally be established. And how will the evil empire be defeated? By the blood of the Lamb, Jesus the Messiah, and the sacrifice of those who had sworn allegiance to him. God will have his Christian soldiers, but their warfare is not on the battlefield.

Christ’s Warriors and their Weapons

Christian soldiers are those who have been given a new life, and the courage and resources to endure as lights in the darkness. Since a Christian’s lifestyle is often at odds with that of the society around them, life can be a series of running battles. For there are never-ending conflicts with the adversary and foes both domestic and foreign. But Christ is returning as a warrior king to destroy the wicked, and it is those who are faithful to him that will join him in spiritual battle. And, though we must do battle even now, our weapons are not the same as those of the world around us. We need the armour of God.

Spiritual Armour for Spiritual Warfare

God gives us what we need to prevail in battle. He provides a full complement of all the defensive armour and offensive weapons that we need for spiritual warfare. Christ our commander encourages us to meet the enemy and stand our ground. We must continually wear our spiritual armour and follow Christ’s orders with unflagging steadfastness. We do not fight as the world fights for we see the spiritual reality. God’s weapons are able to destroy human reasoning and counter false philosophies. They help us to discipline ourselves so we can bring every thought into captivity. And they give us strength to take courage and not be overwhelmed by our fears.

The armour of God, that the Lord of Hosts provides, is perfect, complete, and essential to our resisting the enemy and overcoming. That is why we must put on all the armour of God so we can stand firm in our spiritual battles. Do you know the weapons at your disposal?

Watch the video:
https://youtu.be/bkdOxv30ssI

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